Our Pledge

We promise to always do our best to be fair, respectful and compassionate people. We try to apply these principles to all aspects of our business and all those we interact with. Please contact us with any issues before, during or after your stay, and we will try to find a way to resolve them in a mutually satisfactory way.

 

We really want both parties in this transaction to have an enjoyable, fair and amicable experience.

Please read these terms and conditions and make sure you are happy with them before signing and finalising your booking.

 

General

Ecotone Cabins are offered as self-catering accommodation. Entry (unless otherwise agreed) is after 16:00 on the date of arrival and departure is 10:00 on the date of departure, subject to the Hiring Terms and Conditions.

 

Booking your Property

To ensure the best rates, real person-to-person communications and to get the most out of your stay, we recommend that you book directly with us. Direct bookings can currently be made by email, phone or direct online booking.

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Cancellation Protection

It seems like unforeseen and unfortunate disruptions are a common occurrence these days! We really don’t want you to lose your holiday funds because of something like this. Therefore, we very strongly recommend that you have travel insurance in place to cover all eventualities. This will provide you with peace of mind if an unforeseen event forces you to cancel your booking. We offer booking protection as an optional extra during online checkout, or you may already have an existing policy in place. Whatever you choose, please have something in place to protect yourself, as unfortunately, we are unlikely to be able to provide that protection for you.

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Guests using our online booking system are offered optional booking protection by Booking Protect.

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Payment for your property

The initial payment is a 25% non-refundable, non-transferable deposit. The remaining balance is payable no later than six weeks prior to the commencement of your let. If the full balance is not received by six weeks before arrival, then the booking will be deemed to be cancelled. If you are booking within six weeks of the start of your let, payment in full is required with your booking form.

 

Payment can be made via BACS to:

 

Bank: Royal Bank of Scotland Business Account Name: ECOTONE

Account Number: 00150198 Sort Code: 83-28-10

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Cancellations & Refunds

In the very unlikely event, we have to cancel your booking, you will always be entitled to a full refund.

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To protect our business, the initial 25% deposit is always non-refundable if you cancel your booking, regardless of the circumstances. In the event you need to cancel your booking, this must be notified to us immediately and must be confirmed in writing/email. If you cancel your booking within 6 weeks of arrival, then the balance (if already paid) will only be refunded if we can resell your booking. Therefore, if we are able to re-sell all nights of your booking, we will refund 75% of the total cost minus any transaction costs. We will do our best to do this, but it is not at all guaranteed. This is why we really recommend that you have your own cancellation protection insurance. 

 

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Damage Deposit

We require a £250 deposit against the costs of damage or loss. This deposit must be secured before the start of your stay and will be released 3 days after departure. We use Yapstone to collect your card information, and the security deposit is made in the form of a hold/pre-authorization. In the event of any damages, this gives us the authorization to deduct the costs from the card. On the third day after your departure, this hold/pre-authorization will be removed and the card details deleted. Please note that the deposit sum of £250 will not be charged or leave your account at any point (unless any loss or damage occurs), it will therefore not appear as a refund or return of funds after your stay.

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Security

We use SuperControl and Yapstone to process our booking and online payments. These companies take the security and integrity of your data very seriously. Sensitive user data, such as account passwords, are stored in encrypted form. Credit card data is never transmitted, processed or stored on their servers. They use PCI DSS-compliant external tokenization service. When they send the data over the network, they use TLS 1.2 or above to keep the data encrypted and prevent from reading the data by unauthorized parties.

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To help protect against fraud, for card payments and deposits, the cardholder must be a member of the booking party, unless otherwise agreed with us. As part of the booking process, we will collect the lead guest's contact details and identification documentation. We must be able to match this information with the card payment information. If you arrive and the person who made the payment is not one of the parties staying, and it had not been arranged beforehand, then there will be a lot of serious questions, phone calls and checks happening before we will grant access to the property. Sorry if this all sounds a bit much, but unfortunately it’s a necessary precaution!

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Booking from Overseas

Overseas visitors are most welcome and because of the difficulties distance can impose, we understand that the booking confirmation process can take longer. The balance of charges is due six weeks prior to your arrival date. Payment from overseas should be made via international BACS or the Yapstone card payment platform. Any bank charges incurred will be payable by the hirer.

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Occupancy

Only the agreed number of guests can occupy each cabin. Other creative forms of occupancy such as sleeping in a camper van outside or a tent in the garden need to be arranged and agreed upon with us before booking.

 

The Red Squirrel Cabin is for 2 people, in 1 super king-size bed or 2 single beds.

 

The Pine Marten Cabin is for 4 people, in 2 super king-size beds or up to 4 single beds.

 

We are happy to try and facilitate the additional accommodation of infants & toddlers free of charge. Please contact us beforehand to discuss arrangements.

 

Residents are welcome to entertain additional guests (4 in Pine Marten or 2 in Red Squirrel) during the day and evening. If you would like to host more than 4 guests or to have them overnight, then please speak to us first. Sorry if this feels a bit prescriptive, but unfortunately we are aware of instances where these precautionary limits are necessary!

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Group Bookings

It is possible to book both cabins together, subject to availability.

We ask that any crockery, cutlery, pans and dishes etc moved around/between the building, by groups be returned to their relevant property, prior to departure. The person named on the booking form will be considered as the 'Responsible Person' who shall ensure that each property is left in a clean and orderly condition. As with all our bookings, the cardholder must be a member of the booking party.

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Usage

Ecotone Cabins are not suitable for partying, heavy drinking or other rowdy or rumbustious behaviour. Not that we don’t enjoy some of these things occasionally, it’s just that this is not the venue for them.

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Families & Children

We can provide a crib and bedding for each cabin, for a child up to about 100 cm tall. Please be aware that space for the crib within the bedrooms is limited, and it is likely to be a little in the way. We also provide a multi-age high chair, potty, toilet stool and infant cutlery & crockery. Please get in touch to see if we can find a way to accommodate a comfortable and safe stay for your family and young ones.

 

Accessibility

We are working on a full accessibility statement, which will be available to view on our finished website. In the meantime, here is some information that might be helpful. 

 

Both cabins are built as compact living spaces, and so regretfully there are some limitations to their accessibility.

 

• Level Access - both cabins are on a single ground-level floor with ramp access.

• Limited manoeuvring space in bedrooms & narrow doorways to bathrooms.

• Width of doorway to main living/cooking & dining spaces - 88cm

• Width of doorway to Red Squirrel Bedroom - 67cm

• Width of doorway to Pine Marten Bedroom 1 - 75cm

• Width of doorway to Pine Marten Bedroom 2 - 84cm

• Width of doorways to bathrooms - 67cm

• Staff on site 24/7

 

Please contact us if you would like any more information to help make your decision.

 

Shoes

The cabins are shoe-free spaces.

The floors are polished concrete, with underfloor heating throughout. However, when it’s warmer weather outside, the floor can be cool as the heating doesn’t need to come on much. We suggest that guests bring slippers or house shoes if they are so inclined.

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Equipment

Each cabin is fully furnished and equipped to cater for the stated occupancy. Travel cot & bedding, and high chair are available for each cabin on request.

 

Smoking & Fire

Our cabins, including the deck & vestibule areas, are NON Smoking. The hardstanding/gravel areas outside can be used for smoking. Because our cabins are made from timber and are located in a woodland, we are particularly conscious of the risk of fire. We ask that guests please be extra aware of this and dispose of any cigarette butts very carefully. For the same reason, we do not allow BBQs, candles or other forms of fire without prior arrangement. There is a fire pit and wood supplied for each cabin. The fire pit must only be used in the designated safe gravel area. The cabins are fully equipped with an interlinked smoke, heat & carbon monoxide alarm system, plus fire blankets and extinguishers.

 

Intentional littering of any kind makes us very unhappy, this includes cigarette butts. There is a sand-filled cigarette bin outside each cabin.

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Parking & Electric Vehicles

Each cabin has signed parking for 2 vehicles, plus extra space for temporary guest parking. Fast pay-as-you-go 22kW EV charging is available on-site.

 

The access track to the cabins is well maintained and is suitable for any normal road vehicle, however, it might not be suitable if you have a car with very low bodywork/spoilers.

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Pets

We are sorry, but we do not accommodate pets at Ecotone Cabins. This includes those left on the property in vehicles.

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Linen

We supply high-quality, 100% cotton linens.

Each booking is supplied with two pillows per person, duvets and bed linen, bathrobe, bath sheet, bath towel, and face cloth. Dish towels and hand towels are also provided.

 

For bookings of longer than one week, additional items of linens or towels are available on request.

 

To save on unnecessary washing and wasted resources, we ask that if you do not need any of the supplied towels or robes, you can place them in the utility cupboard at the start of your stay.

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Cleaning

All properties are cleaned to a high standard between each let. A carefully calculated length of time is available to clean properties between lets, so it is important to us that you leave the property and its contents close to how you found it. 

 

It can be hard to know what is expected at the end of your stay. We look at it like this… you tidy, and we clean. Please leave the cabins in a tidy state. 

 

To us, tidy means:

 

• Bed linens left on the beds.

• Towels left in the laundry basket.

• Dishes in the dishwasher and turned on, and/or cleaned and on the drying rack.

• All furniture and furnishings returned to their original location/rooms.

• Waste and recycling gathered and put into appropriate bins.

• Quick hoover and wipe off obvious dirt/soiling.

• Let us know of any damage or breakages.

 

A surcharge of £30 per hour may be charged for additional tidying & cleaning beyond what would normally be expected, and we reserve the right to deduct this cost from the deposit if necessary.

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About Ecotone Cabins & Leckmelm Wood

Ecotone Cabins are situated in their own clearing within Leckmelm Wood. The cabins have their own grounds and are well separated from one another and from any other buildings, accordingly, they offer good independence & privacy. However, we think it’s important that guests should know that our family also live in the woods, nearby in our own homemade cabins.

 

The wood is a 32-hectare former Forestry Commission mixed conifer plantation that we are striving to form into a more diverse woodland that offers a healthier, more productive & abundant ecosystem for the people and other wildlife that inhabits it. Our ecological timber building business, North Woods Construction, is also based within the woods, as is Kinder Croft CIC, our outdoor children's nursery. This means that there is often something interesting going on during the daytime, including timber building, forestry and outdoor education. We do our best to keep these activities away from Ecotone Cabins and to minimize any disturbance to our guests, but it is important to note that, during the day, Leckmelm Wood is an active and vibrant working woodland.

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Complaints

Any problem or complaint which you may have concerning your stay need to be immediately reported directly to us, and we will do our best to put matters right. Any complaints not reported to us/the property manager at the time and only reported after you have returned from holiday may not be considered by the proprietor.

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Your Personal Details & Privacy

We are required to keep a register of guests over the age of 16 who stay with us, this includes full names and nationality, and/or passport numbers, place of issue, details of next destination if they are non-British, Irish or Commonwealth guests. This is in accordance with the (Immigration (Hotel records) Order 1972). These records are kept for a minimum of 12 months and in accordance with the DPA (Data Protection Act 1998) and the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).