How To Book

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Despite the internet's advantages, holiday bookings can be a complex process of juggling our limited availability. Human contact by telephone is usually the best way - that's why we maintain a (generally) manned office. Main number below left.

Email is almost as good: rapid exchanges possible, and obviously not limited to office hours. Main address below left.

See Contact Details (menu above) for full chapter and verse on getting in touch.

Availability

1. Availability Chart (page under development)

Prices, Booking Form, Particulars

Printable downloads: click links below to download each as a Word document (.doc, requires Microsoft Word or compatible program). Depending on your browser settings, the document will either open in Word (normally runs separately, while this web page remains open), or else you will first be asked to choose whether to save the file or open it.
• Price Chart, calendar year 2011
• Booking Form (incl. details of our unique cancellation waiver scheme)
• Particulars: details of accommodation, equipment, extras, booking system etc., all on 2 sides of A4.
• New for 2011: annual update and plans for the season.

Booking Peak Dates

Weeks marked with a P on the Price Chart are peak dates, when letting is on a full-week basis from Saturday to Saturday. Guests may of course stay for less than a week in peak periods, but no deduction from the weekly rate will normally be given. Part-occupancy discounts and multiple booking discounts (see below) do not apply to peak periods.

Off-Peak Discounts & Short Breaks

All other dates (not marked with P) are off-peak and eligible for:

• Part-occupancy discounts - deduct £15 per bed unoccupied;
• Early-bird booking discounts - 10% for full weeks only, conditional upon paying higher deposit at 40% of regular weekly rate by preceding 30 November, or by 31 March for autumn weeks starting after 1 September;
• Multiple booking discounts - 10% for the third off-peak full week in a year;
• Short breaks (less than a full week Saturday to Saturday). For short break prices, please contact us (there's a scrupulously fair formula which the computer calculates, based on the number of beds, the number of nights, and the fixed cost element per house).

Priority Booking System

We try to be fair and to honour loyalty and regularity. There's nothing worse than being bounced out of your regular annual slot by a newcomer when you've been taking the same house(s) for the same week for many years (some of our guests have taken the same slot for more than 30 years!). So if we know that you want to keep a regular annual slot, we'll protect it for you. That's the main reason why we don't just allow a free-for-all online booking system.

On the other hand, we want to make it possible for new guests to break into the system and stake a claim to their own annual slot. We have therefore put a tick-box on the booking form for those who think they would like to repeat the same booking the following year.

Booking Conditions, Deposits, etc.

These are detailed on the Booking Form (see above to view/download it), but here are the brief essentials:

• No booking is treated as definite until a booking form and deposit have been received (unless otherwise agreed in exceptional cases, e.g. last-minute bookings). The deposit is currently £50 per house per week, or 40% of the week price where the "early-bird" discount applies.
• Cancellation: we offer a cancellation waiver scheme for complete peace of mind. It is unique because unlike travel insurance schemes it applies to cancellation for any reason whatsoever. It is also cheaper, because travel insurance automatically includes a whole lot of additional covers which are only needed for travel abroad and/or which duplicate your household insurance for personal belongings. For details of the scheme see the page attached to the Booking Form (downloadable above). Full details on cancellations are in the Terms & Conditions attached to the Booking Form.
• The balance of the holiday cost is payable 4 weeks before the holiday starts, together with a good housekeeping deposit of £25 which is refundable after the end of the holiday (subject to any necessary deductions).
• We also offer a very low cost accidental damage waiver scheme. Details on the page attached to the Booking Form.