10 years
Hosteloffice - of course, it's just in the contract now so they can introduce a program such as elevate when the time is right; or as John mentioned, something else perhaps along the lines of HB Recommends etc
Accommodation supplier terms & conditions
THIS AGREEMENT is made BETWEEN HostelBookers.com Ltd of with registered offices at Holborn House, 52-54 High Holborn, London WC1V 6RL, ("the Company") and the owner of the establishment(s) detailed on the Website ("the Owner").
By creating a Login the Owner warrants that it has the right, authority and capacity to enter into, agree to and be bound by this agreement.
IT IS HEREBY AGREED AS FOLLOWS:
Definitions and Interpretation
1. In this Agreement, the following expressions and words shall have the following meanings unless the context otherwise requires:-
(i) "Property" means the hostel, hotel, apartment block, apartment, house or other accommodation building specified on the Owner's customer page of the Website including the accommodation premises, any swimming pool(s), ancillary building(s), annex(es), all contents, fixtures and fittings, grounds, facilities and services (both inside and outside) available or accessible to any Clients.
(ii) "Arrangements" means the accommodation, meals, facilities and services (or any of them), as applicable, to be provided by or on behalf of the Owner pursuant to this Agreement or any other agreement between the parties.
(iii) "Clients" means the person(s) (or any of them) using the Arrangements pursuant to this Agreement.
(iv) 'Website' means the online content on the Company's website at www.Hostelbookers.com
(v) 'Owner Content' means The content created or supplied by the Owner for publication on the Website.
(vi) The 'Login' means any registration accepted by the Company which enables the Owner to have access to certain elements of the Website from time to time.
(vii) The "Standard Commission Fee" means (i) where the Booking is in respect of a "hostel" (as determined by the Company in its sole discretion),12% of the total cost that a Client would be charged for all nights comprising their Booking; and (ii) where the Booking is in respect of any other type of Property, 15% of the total cost that a Client would be charged for all nights comprising their Booking (and "Commission Fee" is more fully defined in clause 4.1).
General
2.1. Subject to these terms and conditions, the Owner agrees to provide for the exclusive use and/or disposal of the Clients, the Arrangements specified on the Owner’s customer page of the Website and/or otherwise agreed between the parties at the rate(s) specified on the Owner’s customer page of the Website and/or otherwise agreed between the parties.
2.2. The Company agrees to act as a booking agent in respect of bookings it takes or makes with Clients on behalf of the Owner via the Website . The Company accepts no liability in relation to any contract that any Client and the Owner enter into, or for any Arrangements or for the acts or omissions of the Owner or any Client or other person(s) or party(ies) connected with the booking. For all bookings the Owner’s contract will be with the Client booking the Arrangements concerned. Reference to ‘Bookings’ in this agreement means bookings made on this basis.
2.3. These terms and conditions shall apply to all Bookings and Arrangements.
2.4. The Arrangements shall be provided directly by the Owner and/or his employees unless otherwise agreed by the Company in writing.
2.5. The Owner confirms he owns the Property (unless otherwise agreed by the Company) and has full and unrestricted power to enter into this Agreement.
Confirmation of Bookings
3.1. The Company will confirm Bookings via email to the Owner via the Owner’s unique login area on the Website.
3.2. Save as specifically dealt with otherwise in this agreement, once a Booking is confirmed by the Company, the Company shall have no further responsibility to Clients in respect of amendments to or cancellations of Bookings or otherwise.
Commission and Rates
4.1. In consideration of the provision of the services by the Company to the Owner under these terms and conditions, the Owner shall pay to the Company a commission fee (the "Commission Fee"). The Commission Fee will be equal to a percentage of the total cost of the Booking that all Clients making the Booking via the Website would be charged for all the nights comprising their Booking (whether or not that Booking is honoured or subsequently cancelled or the Client fails to turn up). The Owner shall be charged the Standard Commission Fee but the parties reserve the right to vary the Standard Commission Fee at any time, for example, in accordance with the programme(s) operated by the Company through which the Owner can vary the Commission Fee it pays and the deposit that will be collected in return for certain benefits, such as the opportunity to seek to improve their rankings within the display of search results on the Website (the "Varied Commission Fee"), in which case the Owner shall be charged the Varied Commission Fee. The Owner may be informed about updates to the Company's programmes in this regard from time to time via email or backoffice.
4.2. The Commission Fee will be collected by the Company from each Client at the time that the Client makes a Booking on the Website.
4.3.The Owner shall only confirm Bookings with a Client at the rate(s) specified on the Owner’s customer page of the Website (as applicable).
Owner’s obligations
5. The Owner hereby confirms and agrees that:-
(i) the Arrangements will be provided with all due skill, care and diligence and that all persons provided or used by the Owner (whether or not employed by him) in connection with provision of the Arrangements will be appropriately qualified, experienced and capable of competently performing the work or jobs for which they are provided.
(ii) the Property and the Arrangements will at all times remain of a good and clean standard, in full working order and safe for occupation and use. The Owner will use his best endeavours to comply with all requests reasonably made by the Company with a view to ensuring and/or improving the health and safety of all Clients.
(iii) the Property and the Arrangements comply and will at all times comply in full with all applicable national, local, trade and other laws, regulations and codes of practice (including EU legislation where applicable) relating to hygiene, fire, safety and other standards for those using the Property and/or the Arrangements and that he has and will at all times maintain in force the appropriate current certificates confirming such compliance.
(iv) he holds and will at all times maintain all necessary licences, consents and permissions required by applicable national and/or local law in relation to the Property and/or the Arrangements.
(v) he will not accommodate any Clients in any annex or other building outside the main hotel or apartment building unless otherwise specified in this Agreement or agreed in writing by the Company.
(vi) at all times the Clients will have unrestricted access to and use of all facilities and services offered or provided by or on behalf of the Owner to other users of and/or visitors to the Property unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Company.
(vii) he will not charge or seek payment from any Clients for access to or the use of any facility or service unless he has first obtained the Company's prior agreement in writing.
(viii) he will be responsible for the payment of all taxes, charges, dues, fees and other sums of whatever nature which relate to the Property and/or the Arrangements except where otherwise agreed in writing by the Company.
(ix) the Arrangements do and will at all times fully comply with the inventory, descriptions and prices posted on the Website or as set out in this agreement and/or represented by the Owner or on his behalf from time to time. The Owner agrees that all such description(s) and other wording are and shall at all times remain correct.
(x) except with prior written agreement with the Company, the prices on the Website in relation to the Arrangements are no higher than on any other website competing with the Website.
(xi) the Arrangements will at all times remain of the same standard as when inspected by the Company and/or will at all times reach the standard required by the Company.
(xii) except as dealt with in this Agreement, and any supplemental agreements between the parties, no changes will be made to the Arrangements in any respect whatsoever without the Company's prior consent in writing.
(xiii) he will notify the Company in writing of any alteration, suspension, deficiency, failure or other change of any nature whatsoever, whether temporary or otherwise, within 48 hours of the problem occurring whether or not it is continuing.
(xiv) he will at all times keep the Company informed of the current state of the Arrangements.
(xv) the Company or its representative/agent will be given full and unrestricted access to inspect the Property and/or the Arrangements at all reasonable times.
(xvi) he will provide the Company with a valid and up to date VAT/local tax number for all sales within the UK and EU.
(xvii) he will provide the Company with a VAT/local tax invoice for all sales within the UK and EU on a monthly basis, with the VAT amount shown separately.
(xviii) he will raise any query relating to this agreement and/or the services to be provided by both parties under it immediately as it arises and directly with the Company to enable early resolution.
(xix) he confirms that he will handle sensitive credit card data in accordance with PCI security standards and ensure that credit card details are used for the sole purpose of payment for Arrangements or cancellation charges in accordance with clause 10 of this agreement. The Owner hereby indemnifies the Company for the full amount of all claims, liabilities, demands, damages, expenses, losses, refunds, fines, costs (including all legal costs) and all other sums of whatever nature which the Company incurs, suffers or becomes responsible for as a result, of fraudulent use of any credit card where the Owner is identified as the party committing the fraud.
(xx)The Property has fire exits which are clearly marked and accessible with good emergency lighting: fire extinguishers are readily available on each floor and smoke alarms fitted; and all bedroom doors have printed instructions in English on what to do in an emergency.
(xxi)The Property if applicable, has a swimming pool filtration and cleaning systems which provides good hygienic standards with bottom of the swimming pool clearly visible.
Insurance
6.1. The Owner shall at all times maintain (at his own cost) a comprehensive insurance policy or policies to cover:-
(i) all risks relating to and/or arising out of the performance of this Agreement and/or the Arrangements normally covered by insurance including (by way of example and not by way of limitation) destruction or damage of the Property by any cause and all third party risks including cover for death, personal injury and illness (including all legal costs of both the Clients concerned and the Company) of the Clients and the Company’s employees, agents and representatives arising, directly or indirectly, from any act(s) and/or default(s) of the Owner and/or any person(s) provided or used (directly or indirectly) by the Owner (including employees, agents, suppliers and sub-contractors of the Owner) and/or any use of the Property and/or the Arrangements in a sum which would be appropriate if any and all proceedings in relation to any such claim were brought within the United Kingdom and
(ii) the full amount of all sums which may become payable under clause 8.
6.2. The Owner shall provide a copy of the policy(ies) referred to in clause 6.1. together with the up to date schedule(s) and receipt(s) for the current premium to the Company or its representative on demand. The Owner shall keep the Company informed of all changes and developments which do or may affect the said policy(ies). If reasonably required by the Company, the Owner shall increase the amount of any insurance cover and/or extend the risks covered. The Company shall not, however, be obliged to check the nature and extent of the Owner’s insurance cover.
Failure to comply with obligations
7. In the event of any breach of clause 5 and/or clause 6 and/or any failure by the Owner to supply the Arrangements (in full or in part or for any period whatsoever) (any such breach or failure is referred to as the “breach” in this clause), the Owner shall immediately notify the Company and the following provisions will apply:-
(i) the Owner shall immediately take all steps (at his cost) to remedy the breach.
(ii) in the event of the Owner being unable or unwilling to remedy the breach (for whatever reason) immediately or within such period of time as is agreed by the Company, the Owner shall, subject to clause 7(iii) and with the Company’s prior consent in writing, obtain comparable alternative arrangements (at his own cost) to the Arrangements in question which fully comply with the terms of this Agreement except where the Company otherwise agrees in writing. The alternative arrangements must be approved in writing by the Company.
(iii) in the event of the Owner being unable or unwilling to remedy the breach (for whatever reason) immediately or within such period of time as is agreed by the Company, the Company may, at its option, secure alternative arrangements to the Arrangements in question. The Owner shall be responsible for the cost of any such alternative arrangements.
(iv) in the event of any breach (whether or not immediately remedied), the Owner shall meet and/or indemnify the Company in respect of the full amount of all damages, expenses, refunds, fines, costs (including legal costs), losses and all other sums of whatever nature which the Company incurs or has to meet as a result of the breach.
(v) without prejudice to the rest of this clause, in the event of any breach of clause 6, the Company shall be entitled (but not obliged) to arrange alternative insurance cover, the cost of which shall be paid by the Owner.
(vi) the provisions of this clause shall not affect any other rights the Company has under this Agreement or otherwise.
Indemnity
8. The Owner agrees to indemnify the Company for the full amount of all claims, liabilities, demands, damages, expenses, losses, refunds, fines, costs (including all legal costs) and all other sums of whatever nature which the Company incurs, suffers or becomes responsible for as a result, directly or indirectly, of any breach of this Agreement and/or any other agreement between the parties by the Owner and/or any act(s) and/or default(s) of the Owner and/or any person(s) provided or used (directly or indirectly) by the Owner (including employees, agents, suppliers and sub-contractors of the Owner). This indemnity shall survive and remain in full force and effect after the termination (for whatever reason) or expiry of this Agreement.
Termination, Consequences of Termination, Variation and Suspension.
9.1. These Terms will remain in full force and effect while the Login is used on the Website.
9.2. The Company may, at any time and for any reason, terminate this agreement, deny access to the Website and delete any Login.
9.3. The Company may, at any time and for any reason, request that the Owner vary the rates specified on the Owner’s customer page of the Website.
9.4. The Company shall be entitled to suspend or terminate this agreement if the Owner’s customer ratings on the Website fall below 75%.
9.5. The terms of this Agreement may be varied at any time and all subsequent use of the Website will be governed by the newer version.
9.6 Provisions of this agreement with continuing effect shall survive termination of the agreement or any supplemental agreement for any reason.
9.7. The exercise of its rights under this clause shall not affect the rights and obligations of the parties which have accrued or are in existence prior those rights being exercised.
9.8. In the event of the termination of the agreement, the Owner shall honour all Bookings made prior to the effective date of termination until the conclusion of the Arrangements relating to those Bookings.
Cancellations by the Client
10.1. The Owner and the Client shall be directly responsible to each other in accordance with the Owner’s terms and conditions of booking in respect of all cancellations by the Client. The following shall apply unless otherwise confirmed in writing during the booking process:-
(i) all individual Bookings made must be subject to cancellation terms to the effect that Customers may cancel or amend their bookings free of charge anytime up to 48 hours prior to arrival (or as otherwise selected and overridden by you & updated through the BackOffice) and in the event that Clients no-show without cancellation, or cancel their booking within the cancellation period, the Owner may charge them for the first night’s stay and;
(ii) all Group Bookings made must be subject to cancellation terms to the effect that Customers may cancel or amend their bookings free of charge anytime up to 7 days before arrival. In the event of a no-show or cancellation within 7 days before arrival, the Owner may charge for the first night stay per Client, unless where otherwise agreed between the parties in writing.
10.2. The Company shall be entitled to retain the Commission Fee collected in accordance with clause 4 hereof in the event of any cancellation to a Booking by a Client.
Force Majeure
11.1. The Owner and the Company shall be excused performance of their respective obligations under this Agreement where circumstances amounting to "force majeure" occur for as long as such circumstances last and affect contractual performance as more particularly described in this clause.
11.2. For the purposes of this Agreement, "force majeure" shall mean unusual and unforeseeable events beyond the control of the party seeking to rely on them. Such events may include (by way of example and not by way of limitation) war, threat of war, civil strife, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, epidemics, bad weather, terrorist activity, governmental action, acts of God and all other similar events.
Client Complaints
12.1. The Owner shall deal sympathetically, efficiently and politely with all requests and complaints made by any Clients. The Owner shall further render such prompt assistance as any Clients may reasonably require without cost to the Company. All complaints and problems must immediately be notified to the Company and the Owner shall assist the Company in reaching a resolution of the same. The Owner has no authority, however, to bind the Company and must ensure he does not do or say anything to prejudice the Company's position in any respect.
12.2. Where requested to do so, the Owner shall provide all assistance the Company may require to enable the Company to deal with complaints or other problems of any Clients. Such assistance shall include the prompt provision of reports and witness statements and making employees and other staff available to attend Court in the United Kingdom. Where the Owner fails to comply with any reasonable request for assistance without good reason, the indemnity set out in clause 8 shall apply.
Building works
13.1. The Owner shall not carry out or permit the carrying out of any building or other works which will or may affect any Clients.
13.2. The Owner shall advise the Company in writing immediately he becomes aware of any actual or possible building or other works (other than minor works) or significant sources of noise taking place in the vicinity of the Property which may in any way affect any Clients in their use and enjoyment of the Property and/or the Arrangements.
13.3. The Company reserves the right to move any Clients to alternative accommodation and/or make alternative arrangements for any Clients at any time in the event of any building or other works or sources of significant noise, in the Company’s opinion, affecting the Property. In the event of any breach of clause 13.1. or 13.2., the Owner shall be obliged to meet the cost of any such alternative accommodation or arrangements and will be responsible for all compensation, expenses, costs and other sums paid to any Clients or otherwise incurred by the Company as a result.
Damage caused by clients
14. The Company shall not be responsible for any damage, loss and/or expenses of any nature caused by any Clients and the Owner must obtain payment from the person(s) responsible direct.
Change of ownership or management
15. The Owner shall notify the Company if he intends transferring ownership or management of the Property or the Arrangements in whole or part and shall, where applicable and with the Company's prior consent, transfer its obligations under this Agreement to the new owner(s). For the avoidance of doubt, a sale or transfer of ownership of the Property and/or the Arrangements by the Owner without the prior agreement of the Company is a breach of this Agreement. The Company shall be entitled to terminate this Agreement and/or cancel/terminate the Arrangements or any part of them without incurring any penalty, charge or liability whatsoever with immediate effect on giving notice in writing to the Owner in the event of any significant change in the ownership or management of the Property or the Arrangements.
Powerhostels
16. Where expressly agreed in writing by the Company, the Company shall supply appropriate technological links to the Owner to enable the Owner to load data onto the Website and to access and manage bookings made for Arrangements at the Property. ('Powerhostels')
Use of the Website
17.1. The Owner agrees to keep its Login confidential and only to allow other individuals who are validly authorised to do so to use the Login to access any part of the Website.
17.2. The Owner is responsible for all activities under the Login.
17.3. The Company shall be responsible for the hosting, operation and maintenance of Powerhostels and the Website and, although it shall use its reasonable endeavours to keep The Owner Content available on the Internet, it gives no guarantee as to continuing service availability.
17.4. The Owner accepts that The Company cannot ensure that the Owner Content in all respects is visible in all browsers and versions of these browsers. The Company shall use its reasonable endeavours to ensure that the Owner Content is visible in the most commonly used version of Internet Explorer.
17.5. The Owner accepts that any Owner Content is subject to editorial review by The Company. The Company also reserves the right, without liability, to reject, replace, omit, terminate or exclude any Owner Content, for any reason at any time, with or without notice to the Owner, whether or not such Owner Content was previously acknowledged, accepted, or published. Notwithstanding this, The Company will use reasonable endeavours to fulfill the Owner's requests.
17.6. It is The Owner's responsibility to ensure that the Owner Content is accurate by checking the Website. The Company shall incur no liability for any errors in the Owner Content.
17.7. The Owner acknowledges and accepts that the Owner Content may be reviewed either favourably or unfavourably by third party consumers and that third party review activity does not constitute the view or opinion of The Company. The Owner accepts that The Company offers no editorial services for reviews and is not in a position to investigate every review but takes reasonable steps to prevent libellous or offensive materials from being posted online, although The Company reserves the right either to maintain or to remove reviews for any reason within its sole discretion.
17.8. The Company reserves the right at any time without notice to remove any Owner Content from the Website if it reasonably believes The Owner Content would or would be likely to put The Owner in breach of this agreement or would otherwise be detrimental to the interests or goodwill of The Company. Any such action shall be without prejudice to The Company’s other rights and remedies.
The Owner Content
18.1. The Owner warrants and represents that The Owner is licensed to use the entire contents and subject matter contained in the Owner Content, including, without limitation, (i) the names and/or pictures of persons; (ii) any copyright in the material, trademarks, service marks, logos, and/or depictions of trademarked or service marked goods or services, or any other intellectual property rights; and (iii) any testimonials or endorsements contained in any Customer Content submitted to The Company.
18.2. The Owner warrants and represents to The Company that:
(i) It has the right to publish all of the contents of the Owner Content and can grant to The Company such right, and that such publication will not: (a) breach the confidence or rights of privacy of, or, without limitation, infringe the copyright, database rights, trademark rights, patent rights, moral rights or any other intellectual property rights of, any third party; or (b) violate any applicable law or regulation;
(ii) The Owner Content is legal, proper, decent, honest, accurate and socially responsible;
(iii) It has complied with the codes of practice issued by the Committee of Advertising Practice in the UK, including, without limitation, the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing, and all other relevant codes under the general supervision of the Advertising Standards Authority or any other relevant authority;
(iv) It does not collect or use personal information without permission from the user and shall at all times comply with the Data Protection Act 1998.
(v) The Owner Content, and any web site linked to by The Owner Links ("Linked Content"):
(a) will not contain anything that is indecent, obscene or unlawful;
(b) will comply will all applicable law;
(c) will not contain any defamatory, false, misleading or untrue material or material which abuses, harasses, threatens or is otherwise offensive to any other person;
(d) will not restrict or inhibit any other user from using the Website.
(e) will not contain any virus or other material likely to harm the Website;
(f) will not contain any other material which is likely to harm the reputation of The Company.
18.3. The Owner hereby expressly grants to The Company:
(i) a non-exclusive, world-wide right to use, reproduce, publicly display, the Owner Content and warrants that The Owner has the right to grant such licence;
(ii) the express right to reproduce throughout the world screen shots of the Owner Content on the Website.
18.4. The Owner will not acquire any title, copyright or other proprietary rights in the Website or its content.
18.5. The entire copyright and any other intellectual property rights in The Owner Content throughout the world (save those licensed to The Company) shall be and shall remain the exclusive property of The Owner.
The Company’s Liability
19.1. Except as expressly provided in this agreement, The Company gives no warranty in relation to the provision of services under this agreement and all warranties, express or implied, are excluded.
19.2. The Company does not limit or exclude liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence.
19.3. The Company’s entire liability to The Owner arising out of or in connection with this agreement and any supplemental agreement, including without limitation breach of contract, misrepresentation (except where fraudulently made) and tort (including negligence), is limited to an amount equivalent to the price of the Arrangements in question.
19.4. Notwithstanding the generality of this clause, The Company expressly excludes liability for any indirect, special, consequential or economic loss or damage which may arise out of or in relation to this agreement, whether arising from any failure to publish the Owner Content in a timely manner or at all, or otherwise, and for any loss of profits, revenue, anticipated savings, business, contracts, production or goodwill even if The Company has been advised as to the possibility of such damages.
19.5. Save as specified in this clause, The Company shall not be responsible for any error in the placement of, or failure to place, any Owner Content on The Website.
19.6. The Company will use reasonable skill and care in performing its duties hereunder but subject thereto:- (i) The Company hereby excludes any warranty, express or implied, as to the performance, quality, accuracy or fitness for a particular purpose of Powerhostels or of any of the contents of the Website; (ii) The Company will not be liable for any losses or damages arising (whether in tort (including negligence), contract or otherwise) directly or indirectly as a result of use of Powerhostels or the Website or in connection with Owner Content including without limitation from any technical malfunction, computer error, defect in software, loss of data or other damage or disruption to advertisements; (iii) The Company makes no warranty that the contents of The Website are free from infection by viruses, worms or trojans or anything else that has contaminating or destructive properties; and (iv) certain links on the Website may lead to resources located on servers maintained by third parties over whom The Company has no control and The Company accepts no liability arising from access to or use of any material contained on those servers.
Data Protection
20.1. The Owner warrants that it shall at all times comply with all of the provisions of Directive 95/46 EC relating to the protection of individual persons in connection with the processing of personal data belonging to those persons, as well as with the rules of the legislation implementing the directive in the country where The Owner has its establishment (as applicable).
20.2. The Owner shall only process personal data on behalf of the Company in accordance with, and for the purposes set out in this Agreement and instructions received from the Company from time to time.
Confidentiality
21. The Owner shall maintain confidentiality with regard to the provisions of this Agreement.
Severability
22. If any provision of this Agreement is held to be invalid or void for any purpose, it shall for that purpose be deemed to be omitted from this Agreement. Such omission shall not affect or prejudice the validity, effectiveness or enforceability of the rest of the provisions of this Agreement.
Notices
23. Any notice given pursuant to any provision of this Agreement must be so given in writing and sent by facsimile (followed by notice by post) or pre-paid first class post or delivered by hand to the other party's registered or principal office (and any changes to these terms may also be given by the Company via email to the email address for the Owner which is at the relevant time held by the Company). If sent by facsimile, email or hand delivered, it shall be deemed served at the moment of delivery. If sent by post, it shall be deemed served 48 hours from the time of posting.
Waiver
24. The rights of the Company under this Agreement shall not be prejudiced or restricted by any indulgence or forbearance extended to the Owner. No waiver of any breach operates as a waiver of any subsequent breach.
Proper law
25. This Agreement and all matters arising out of it shall be construed and governed according to English law. The parties agree that any dispute(s) they may have will be exclusively dealt with by the Courts of England and Wales except in relation to any proceedings brought against the Company in any other jurisdiction which involve or concern, in whole or part, the Arrangements. The Company shall be entitled to make the Owner a party to any such proceedings.
Headings
26. The headings in this Agreement are for reference purposes only and do not form part of the Agreement. They shall not affect the interpretation of this Agreement and are not to be deemed to be an indication of the meaning of the clause to which they relate.
Inconsistency
27. In the event of any conflict or inconsistency between the provisions of these terms and conditions and those set out in any agreement supplemental to his one the relevant provision(s) of the supplemental agreement shall prevail.
Assignment
28. The Company may assign this Agreement, its rights or obligations under it, in whole or part to any of its partners, agents or sub-contractors at its absolute discretion.
Restricted Nations
29. The Hostel confirms that it is not a national or controlled by a national of Cuba, Iran, Syria, Sudan, or North Korea (each a "Restricted Nation") and that the Hostel’s services are not located in a Restricted Nation. HostelBookers.com reserves the right to add or remove countries from the list of Restricted Nations from time to time with written notice to the Hostel. HostelBookers.com can immediately terminate this contract if the Hostel is in violation of this term.
10 years
Hosteloffice - of course, it's just in the contract now so they can introduce a program such as elevate when the time is right; or as John mentioned, something else perhaps along the lines of HB Recommends etc
10 years
So last year HW introduced a new contract.
At the Hostelworld conference Feargal advised us that there should have been more discussion with hostels and communication before the new contract was given.
Now only two weeks after the HW conference HB implements a new contract with no email or contact.
10 years
There is still a Rate Parity clause in Section 5(x):
except with prior written agreement with the Company, the prices on the Website in relation to the Arrangements are no higher than on any other website competing with the Website.
I consider myself to be HB’s supplier rather than their competitor, so I don't believe that this condition will apply to my own website. (If I were competing with them, then I would simply cut off their supply.)
From John Moriarty:
At the Hostelworld conference Feargal advised us that there should have been more discussion with hostels and communication before the new contract was given.
This section specifies that you have to bring any concerns you have with the contract directly to WRI:
5. The Owner hereby confirms and agrees that:-
(x) he will raise any query relating to this agreement and/or the services to be provided by both parties under it immediately as it arises and directly with the Company to enable early resolution.
In other words, if you don’t like anything in the contract, it’s up to you to say so one-on-one. “Speak now or forever hold your peace.”
I’m not thrilled with these clauses:
9.5. The terms of this Agreement may be varied at any time and all subsequent use of the Website will be governed by the newer version.
They can change the contract at any time with no need to ask for your acceptance.
9.2. The Company may, at any time and for any reason, terminate this agreement, deny access to the Website and delete any Login.
Essentially they can boot you from the site for anything or nothing at all. This opens the door for the kind of bullying and intimidation that WRI seem so fond of lately.
18.2. The Owner warrants and represents to The Company that:
(v) The Owner Content, and any web site linked to by The Owner Links ("Linked Content"):
(f) will not contain any other material which is likely to harm the reputation of The Company.
…
21. The Owner shall maintain confidentiality with regard to the provisions of this Agreement.
Does this mean “Don’t tell the guests that we keep the 12+%”?
10 years
So basically we can't talk about Hostelbookers on the internet as they can trace many of us back to our hostels.
Hmmmm. I think I need to stay quiet then :glasses:
10 years
In all honesty I’m not really sure what this means.
We can’t “harm their reputation” with our Owner Content on their website or any web site linked to by The Owner Links (“linked Content”). I don’t actually know what those last terms refer to. They’re not defined in the Definitions section. HB never linked to my own site before, but maybe they have plans for this in the future?
For the moment I’m still free to speak my mind on my own site. If they ever decide that divulging the “provisions of this Agreement” will harm their reputation, then we should leave it up to them to adopt more reputable business practices.
10 years
Think of it this way Brian - if HB was actively bad mouthing your hostel, would you be cool with it? You're always entitled to your opinion and theyre not going to penalise anyone for speaking up on this forum but if you put up posters or on your website actively hanging sh!t on them, then yes they'll be pissed. they'd have every right to be.
As far as the severing the contract clause goes; don't forget, hostels can sever the contract at any time and for any reason too.
If I've said it once, I've said it 1000 times - can we please stop pretending that hostels and OTAs are or ever have been partners!? Our interests aligned for a long time as the industry grew and now they're diverging, this really shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody. We'd all do what we can do make money at the expense of WRI, what makes them any different?
10 years
Well I am thinking of the different opportunity the courts in Germany have ruled that is putting an end to demanding rate parity.
10 years
gordo
but if you put up posters or on your website actively hanging sh!t on them
well
this is not EXACTLY the case
right now we are talking about MONOPOLY in the hostel booking world
somebody in usa sooner or later will be looking into LEGALITY of the whole situation
10 years
From Gordo:
You're always entitled to your opinion and theyre not going to penalise anyone for speaking up on this forum but if you put up posters or on your website actively hanging sh!t on them, then yes they'll be pissed. they'd have every right to be.
I have no argument with you here. As far as I can tell, they only limit what we say in the Owner Content that we post on HB so far. Like you said, it seems fair enough that they wouldn’t want us talking trash about them on their own site. Telling the truth about where the prepayment goes seems like it should be allowed, but it’s clear why they wouldn’t want me to tell potential bookers that.
I don’t know what The Owner Links (“linked Content”) refers to though. Maybe they’ll start a program where we can pay them to link to our direct websites. I doubt it, but maybe this is laying the groundwork for a similar program.
…can we please stop pretending that hostels and OTAs are or ever have been partners!? … We'd all do what we can do make money at the expense of WRI, what makes them any different?
I agree with this too, and I would look at your question in reverse to find opportunities. WRI will do anything to make money off of me, so how can I do the same?
From Hostel Office:
It is a trap. Even if a hostel got to pay 5% commission per booking it is still more expensive for hostels than if they stayed with just a few main OTA's and worked with Google to improve direct bookings.
You’ve been saying it for a long time, but it hasn’t sunk in everywhere yet. While I do thinks it's good to diversify your marketing so that you don't rely on any one channel, I’ll add my voice to this chorus: Hostels all need to focus on increasing direct bookings! That won’t happen if we rely on OTAs to do our marketing for us. It will involve spending money, time, and effort on marketing materials, website content, SEO, and a host of other things. That’s why people are so reluctant to do it. But this is what’s going to free hostels from their dependence on the OTAs and make their businesses more profitable.
10 years
Yes exactly Gordo. Google is their tool they have to pay to use and also the tool of the hostel that they do not have to pay for. So hostels can't complain when all they have to do is do the work to make Google work for them. But hostels conclude it is easier to pay OTA's than do the work.
I am pulling my hair out watching the insanity of the hostel market. The sickness that started in Australia with hostels listing with every OTA possible has moved to other parts of the world to make channel managers to appear to be the saviour of hostels.
The insanity is similar to there being an explicit definition of 'website' yet hostels cast their own interpretation of it that places restrictions on themselves!
It seems that most hostels just have to travel the journey of listing with every OTA to experience for themselves the complications that it will bring and will add fuel to the fire of agents increasing their commission rates. Only after that we may get some sanity returning to the hostel market.
It is clearly alluded to in this agreement that a hostel's commission rate can vary as agreed directly with HostelBookers. This is for chain hostels that gain bargain rates. So hostels that think they need to follow the example of the chain are like people walking in to a machine gun. It is a trap. Even if a hostel got to pay 5% commission per booking it is still more expensive for hostels than if they stayed with just a few main OTA's and worked with Google to improve direct bookings.
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