Terms and Conditions - Best Student Halls

BestStudentHalls.com

These Booking Terms set out the terms and conditions that must apply to all Bookings made through our Website. When you make a Booking, you must accept these Booking Terms by checking the box to indicate your acceptance during the Booking Process. If you do not indicate your acceptance by checking the box, your booking will not be accepted by the Website.

Best Student Halls is the operator of the Website. We are a limited company registered in England and Wales (Company Number: 08732209). Our registered office is at The Hatchery, 4^th Floor, Wynn Jones Building, Ellison Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST.

General
1. Best Student Halls Limited (“we”, “us” or “our”) acts as both an accommodation agency and online booking platform for students who wish to book accommodation around the UK.
2. Unless the context clearly indicates to the contrary, wherever you see an apparently Inappropriate Use of Capital Letters, the words or phrases concerned are defined for the purposes of these Booking Terms as follows:
  1. Accommodation Provider: means the landlord of the property to which you are trying to place a booking for.
  2. Agency Fee: the fee that you pay to us for handling your booking request, which is non-refundable save for as provided at clause 3.8.
  3. Arranged Booking: has the meaning outlined in Clause 2.2.1 of these Booking Terms.
  4. Booking: the combined name for both Arranged Bookings and Direct Bookings.
  5. Booking Form: the form you complete (whether on the Website or by email) during the Booking Process in which you confirm your details and other information pertinent to your Booking.
  6. Booking Process: the process of completing the Booking Form and submitting it to us along with your payment of the Agency Fee and, where applicable, the Direct Deposit and any advance Rent.
  7. Booking Terms: these Booking Terms.
  8. Business Day: a day other than a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday in England when banks in London are open for business.
  9. Card Transaction Form: available by request by email to [email protected]
  10. Direct Booking: has the meaning outlined in Clause 2.2.2 of these Booking Terms.
  11. Direct Deposit: shall be the sum indicated on the website and confirmed during the Booking Process that you will pay in order to secure your booking and which shall be held by the Accommodation Provider during the term of your habitation of the Property in accordance with the Provider Terms and applicable law.
  12. Fees: the Direct Deposit, advance rent and the Agency Fee, all as specified on the Website and confirmed during the Booking Process.
  13. Personal Data: has the meaning set out in section 1(1) of the Data Protection Act 1998.
  14. Property, Properties: the accommodation detailed on the Website and, where the context implies, selected by you for the purposes of the Booking Process.
  15. Provider Terms: the terms imposed by the Accommodation Provider that will apply to your habitation of the Property and which, for a Direct Booking, you may be required to accept during the Booking Process or you may be required to sign in hard copy before your Booking is confirmed.
  16. Website: www.beststudenthalls.com
Our Role
1. All Bookings made through the Website, shall be subject to Provider Terms.
2. We provide our services to you in one of two ways, depending on the Property that you wish to secure.
  1. Arranged Bookings: These are where we act as an intermediary between you and the Accommodation Provider. We will contact the Accommodation Provider to arrange the Booking. We supply our services to you on the basis of these Booking Terms but if your booking request is accepted by the Accommodation Provider, you will be required to accept their Provider Terms subsequently. In the case of Arranged Bookings, all rental payments and deposits will be taken directly by the Accommodation Provider. All Arranged Bookings are provisional only until confirmed in writing by the Accommodation Provider and may be declined by the Accommodation Provider at its absolute discretion.
  2. Direct Bookings: For some Properties, we are able to confirm your Booking immediately. For these Properties, we will take payment from you of the Direct Deposit and advance rental payments together with the Agency Fee as part of the Booking Process. Where Provider Terms can be accepted by you electronically, you will be required to do this where indicated as part of the Booking Process. Where Provider Terms must be signed by you in hard copy (which is to say, by hand on paper), we will send you the Provider Terms for your signature and you must return them to us as soon as possible and in any event within 10 Business Days of the submission of your Booking request. In these situations, we will hold the Property provisionally in your name. If we do not receive the Provider Terms back from you correctly completed and signed, we will release the Property and return to you all payments other than the Agency Fee.
Booking with Us
1. To make a Booking with us, you must fully complete the Booking Process
2. You must be at least 18 years of age to make a Booking. If you are under 18, your Booking must be completed by your parent or guardian, who will contract on your behalf.
3. Direct Bookings are provisional until your payment of all Fees has been received in cleared funds. We reserve the right to cancel Bookings where Fees paid are the subject of ‘chargebacks’, when necessary, even after you have taken up residence at the Property in question. If you’re not familiar with them, there’s more on chargebacks here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chargeback#Chargeback_in_the_United_Kingdom. After your Direct Booking has been confirmed, your Accommodation Provider will be in touch to confirm the account to which your rent should be paid.
4. Direct Bookings shall be confirmed by email once we have received your payment of the Fees and, if applicable, you have duly signed and returned the Provider Terms.
5. We aim to confirm Arranged Bookings by email within 2 Business Days.
6. However, we cannot confirm an Arranged Booking until we have received confirmation ourselves from the Accommodation Provider. So if you have not heard from us within 2 Business Days, please contact us at [email protected] or via telephone on 020 3095 8888 quoting your Booking reference number.
7. For Arranged Bookings, if we are unable to offer you a place in your chosen Property, we will offer you an alternative which you may accept or reject.
8. From time to time, Properties apparently available for Direct Bookings have become unavailable by the time the Booking Process has been completed. Where this happens, we will offer you an alternative Property of similar standard, which you may accept or reject at your discretion. Should you reject the alternative Property (or should we fail to hear from you within the time specified) we will refund to you all Fees (including the Agency Fee) and shall retain only the bank fees we incur in undertaking the transaction.
Invoicing
1. For Direct Bookings, once confirmed, we will provide a receipted invoice in respect of the Fees in full (the “Invoice”).
2. For Arranged Bookings, once confirmed, we will put you in contact with the Accommodation Provider, who will be in touch to arrange for payments and arrangements to be made.
3. All Bookings will be charged on a 7-night basis as standard. For bookings less than 12 weeks, these will be charged upfront, and any request for variations must be made at the time of the Booking request
4. Rents and deposits shown on our Website are subject to change and may vary from time to time depending on the Accommodation Provider.
5. No payment will be accepted by us until it is cleared in either our PayPal account or bank account at which point we will confirm receipt by email.
How to Pay
1. We accept payment via PayPal, via credit and debit cards or by bank transfer
2. Please ensure that when making any payment please quote your booking reference number as the reference so that we can match your payment to your Booking. If you fail to do so, we may be unable to match your payment to your Booking and your Booking may be delayed or even rejected.
3. Please note that any additional charges in connection with sending your payment is payable by you. The sum we receive should be the total Fees indicated during the Booking Process in pounds sterling, after all transaction and bank fees have been deducted.
4. Any PayPal payments should be payable to our PayPal account for BEST STUDENT HALLS at [email protected]
5. For credit and debit card transactions there will be a 3.5% surcharge to cover the fees charged by our bank. You will be requested to fill out Card Transaction Form and return the completed version to us by email at [email protected]
6. For UK Bank Transfers, please make all payments to
ACCOUNT NAME: Natwest

SORT CODE: 54-10-04

ACCOUNT NUMBER: 94584974

SWIFT/BIC: NWBKGB2L

ADDRESS: 16 Northumberland St, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7EL
For International Bank Transfers, please note that all payments shall be subject to an additional charge of £15 to be paid alongside your invoiced amount. All international transfers should be made to the account listed in 5.6 above.
Cancellation Terms
1. If you wish to cancel a Direct Booking, two week’s minimum notice will be required. Notice must be given directly to us by email at [email protected], or via telephone on 020 3095 8888, we will then further acknowledge your cancellation via email to confirm.
2. Where two weeks notice is given, arrangements will be made between to refund your Direct Deposit and any advanced rent payments paid. Please note that your £99 agency fee paid is non-refundable in the event of any cancellation.
3. If your accommodation is cancelled either by you or discretionally under Clause 4.5 of these Booking Terms with less than two weeks notice is given, then we reserve the right to charge you for two weeks accommodation.
4. Any refunds made by us will be sent as soon as practicable and in any event, within 20 Business Days of the event giving rise to the refund, using the same payment method that was used to pay originally.
5. If for reasons beyond our control and/or the control of the Accommodation Provider, the accommodation becomes unavailable we will endeavour to find you an alternative Property. If no alternative is acceptable (or you fail to respond to our email notifying you of the issue and recommending an Alternative Property within 10 Business Days), all Fees paid, including the Agency Fee, will be refunded to you and your Booking will be cancelled with immediate effect.
Intellectual Property
1. All the intellectual property rights in Best Student Halls Limited, including all the services offered on the Website, are owned or controlled by Best Student Halls Limited.
2. All the intellectual property rights in Property descriptions and images are owned or controlled by the Accommodation Provider or someone authorised by them, either of whom has licensed those intellectual property rights to us for the purpose of delivering our services via the Website.
3. You are not permitted to edit, copy, duplicate or save any of the images or extracts found on this Website.
Limitation of Liability
1. Most of the information you find on this Website regarding accommodation, is generated by our Accommodation Providers. Consequently, we cannot state categorically whether any information you find is either accurate or up to date and you should not take reliance on anything you find on the Website without checking it first. In particular, although we try to ensure that Properties displayed on the Website are available for the dates indicated on the Website, all such dates are subject to confirmation during or at the conclusion of the Booking Process.
2. Save as provided at clause 8.3, although we monitor what is published on the Website, we shall not be liable for any possible false or misleading information that has been published on it nor shall we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your use of the Website.
3. These limitations of liability should not be interpreted as excluding or limiting in any way our liability for death or personal injury resulting from our negligence or for fraud or for any other issue for which it would be unlawful for us to exclude or limit our liability.
Data Protection
1. We shall comply at all times with all the provisions and obligations imposed by the Data Protection Act 1998 (“the Act”) when storing and processing Personal Data. You confirm that we may use your Personal Data (including Personal Data defined by the Act as “sensitive personal data”) for the purposes of delivering our services to you and for making or arranging your Booking with the Accommodation Provider.
2. Any Personal Data stored by us about you is available on request but there may be a fee payable.
Notices
1. Any notices or correspondence sent under these Booking Terms will be deemed received when;
  1. if sent by email – 11.00am on the next Business Day following the day upon which it was sent, subject to the generation of an automated read-receipt or express acknowledgment of receipt from the intended recipient;
  2. if sent by First Class Post – 11.00am on the second Business Day after the day upon which it was sent;
  3. if sent by airmail internationally to us, when received by us; or
  4. if sent by airmail internationally to you, on the fifth Business Day after the day upon which it was sent.
2. Notices and correspondence may be delivered by hand to our registered office and if so, they shall be deemed as received on the day that they are so delivered.
3. Notices or correspondence sent internationally other than by courier or airmail shall not be deemed to have been delivered at all for the purpose of these terms unless receipt is expressly acknowledged by the intended recipient, in which case the delivery date shall be deemed to be the date upon which such acknowledgment is given.
Complaints Procedure
1. We always aim to deal with all Bookings to a high standard of care and professionalism. However, if you are unhappy then please contract us immediately to discuss your concerns. We shall try to solve the problem quickly and informally.
2. If the result of your informal discussions are not to your satisfaction the please register a formal complaint in writing to ‘The Directors, Best Student Halls Limited’. This should be posted to our registered office as outlined above, and marked as ‘Private and Confidential’.
3. We shall aim to respond to all formal complaints as soon as reasonably practicable and in any event within 5 working days of receipt.
Entire Agreement
1. These Booking Terms together with the Booking Form outlines the entire agreement between us and supersedes and extinguishes all previous agreement, promises, assurances and representations made previously be either of us.
2. Agreements made for the renting of Property, whether via an Arranged Booking or a Direct Booking are between you and the Accommodation Provider. You hereby warrant and represent that you understand that our role is simply to arrange or undertake the Booking of Properties and once that Booking has been undertaken or arranged, subject to clause 8.3 we shall have no further liability to you.
Force Majeure
1. We shall not be liable for any event that is outside our reasonable control that may cause a default of one of our obligations under these Booking Terms. This includes, but not exhaustively, faults or problems with the internet, hacker attacks, viruses, power failures, changes to the law and acts of god.
Severance
1. If a court finds any part of these Booking Terms illegal, the rest will continue in force. Each clause of these Booking Terms will operate separately, unless specifically mentioned in the Booking Terms, subject to such changes as a presiding court may deem appropriate in order to achieve the clearly intended purpose of the said clause.
Assignment
1. We may assign our agreement with you (including all our obligations to you) at any time and if we do so, we will inform you by email of that assignment and the third party to whom we have assigned our agreement with you.
2. You may not assign your agreement with us to any third party at any time save with our express consent and should you attempt to do so, we may accept your purported assignment as a material breach of these Booking Terms for which we may be entitled to terminate our agreement with you (including all further obligations as yet unfulfilled) with immediate effect.
Variation
1. We may change these Booking Terms from time to time at our discretion and when we do so, we will notify you in advance of the change as soon as it is reasonably practicable for us to do so. Such changes will take effect from the date specified in the notice in respect of any Booking that has yet to be confirmed. If you have commenced the Booking Process in respect of a Property at that time but the Booking has not been confirmed, we will contact you by email to clarify whether you wish to continue. Should you fail to respond to our email by close of business on the second business day following the day upon which our email was sent, you Booking shall proceed to confirmation on the basis of the new version of these Booking Terms.
Termination
1. We may terminate our agreement with you on written notice with immediate effect at any time should you enter into any form of insolvency process including personal bankruptcy or any voluntary arrangement with your creditors.
2. We may terminate our agreement with you on written notice with immediate effect at any time should we suspect that you are a participant in any kind of fraud or that you intend to use the Property that is the subject of your Booking for purposes for which it is not intended.
3. Should we terminate our agreement with you in accordance with this clause 17, we shall be entitled to retain all Fees paid by you and we shall be relieved of all further obligation towards you in respect of the services to which this agreement relates. Clause 1 and clauses 7 to 18 shall remain in force notwithstanding our termination of the agreement.
Law and Jurisdiction
1. These terms and conditions are subject to the laws of England and Wales.
2. Any legal action or claim arising out of these terms and conditions, shall be the subject of exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.
Variation
1. We may change these Booking Terms from time to time at our discretion and when we do so, we will notify you in advance of the change as soon as it is reasonably practicable for us to do so. Such changes will take effect from the date specified in the notice in respect of any Booking that has yet to be confirmed. If you have commenced the Booking Process in respect of a Property at that time but the Booking has not been confirmed, we will contact you by email to clarify whether you wish to continue. Should you fail to respond to our email by close of business on the second business day following the day upon which our email was sent, you Booking shall proceed to confirmation on the basis of the new version of these Booking Terms.
2. Termination
  1. We may terminate our agreement with you on written notice with immediate effect at any time should you enter into any form of insolvency process including personal bankruptcy or any voluntary arrangement with your creditors.
  2. We may terminate our agreement with you on written notice with immediate effect at any time should we suspect that you are a participant in any kind of fraud or that you intend to use the Property that is the subject of your Booking for purposes for which it is not intended.
  3. Should we terminate our agreement with you in accordance with this clause 17, we shall be entitled to retain all Fees paid by you and we shall be relieved of all further obligation towards you in respect of the services to which this agreement relates. Clause 1 and clauses 7 to 18 shall remain in force notwithstanding our termination of the agreement.
3. Law and Jurisdiction
  1. These terms and conditions are subject to the laws of England and Wales.
  2. Any legal action or claim arising out of these terms and conditions, shall be the subject of exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.