Privacy Policy

Last updated: 14 July 2026

1. About This Privacy Policy

Staycays respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information.

This policy explains:

  • What personal information we collect

  • How and why we use it

  • Who we may share it with

  • How long we retain it

  • Your rights under UK data protection law

  • How to contact us about your information

This policy applies when you visit our website, contact us, make an enquiry or book accommodation with us.

2. Who Is Responsible for Your Information?

The data controller is:

Jo Smith
Staycays UK Ltd
Amber Hill
Marton cum Grafton
York
YO51 9QJ

Email: jo@staycaysuk.co.uk

The data controller decides how and why your personal information is used.

3. Information We Collect

Depending on how you interact with Staycays, we may collect:

  • Your name

  • Email address

  • Telephone number

  • Home or billing address

  • Arrival and departure dates

  • Property preferences

  • Number and names of guests

  • Information you provide in an enquiry or booking

  • Payment and transaction information

  • Records of correspondence with you

  • Reviews or feedback you choose to provide

  • Technical information about your device and website use

  • Cookie preferences

  • Marketing preferences

Please do not include sensitive personal information in an enquiry unless it is necessary for us to support your stay.

4. How We Collect Your Information

We may collect information:

  • Directly from you through our website forms

  • When you email or telephone us

  • When you make or manage a booking

  • Through our booking platform

  • When you subscribe to marketing communications

  • When you leave a review or provide feedback

  • Automatically through essential website technologies

  • Through analytics or advertising technologies, where you have provided the required consent

  • From third-party booking or accommodation platforms where you use those services to book with us

5. How We Use Your Information

Enquiries and Booking Requests

We use your information to:

  • Respond to questions and enquiries

  • Check availability

  • Provide information about our apartments

  • Prepare and manage a booking

  • Communicate with you about your stay

Lawful basis: Taking steps at your request before entering into a contract, performing our contract with you and, where applicable, our legitimate interests in managing enquiries.

Managing Your Stay

We may use your information to:

  • Confirm your booking

  • Process payments

  • Provide check-in and access information

  • Respond to requests during your stay

  • Manage changes, cancellations or refunds

  • Contact you about important matters relating to the accommodation

Lawful basis: Performance of our contract with you.

Payments, Accounts and Legal Records

We may use and retain information for:

  • Payment administration

  • Bookkeeping and taxation

  • Fraud prevention

  • Handling disputes or legal claims

  • Meeting legal and regulatory requirements

Lawful basis: Performance of a contract, compliance with legal obligations and our legitimate interests in protecting the business and establishing or defending legal claims.

We do not normally receive or retain complete payment card details where payments are processed securely by a third-party payment provider.

Customer Service and Business Improvement

We may use enquiries, feedback and booking information to:

  • Improve our apartments and guest experience

  • Train and support our team

  • Understand common customer questions

  • Maintain accurate business records

Lawful basis: Our legitimate interests in operating and improving Staycays.

Marketing

Where permitted, we may use your contact details to send information about Staycays, availability, offers or local travel inspiration.

We will use consent where required. In limited circumstances, we may contact existing customers about similar services where the law permits this and an opportunity to opt out was provided when the information was collected.

You can unsubscribe at any time by:

Choosing not to receive marketing will not affect service or booking communications.

Lawful basis: Consent or, where the relevant legal requirements are met, our legitimate interests.

Website Security and Essential Operation

We may process technical information, including IP addresses, browser information, dates and times of access, and security logs, to:

  • Deliver the website

  • Keep it secure

  • Detect suspicious or malicious activity

  • Diagnose technical problems

  • Prevent fraud and misuse

Lawful basis: Our legitimate interests in maintaining a secure and functional website and, where applicable, compliance with legal obligations.

Analytics and Advertising

Where appropriate consent has been provided through our cookie controls, we may use analytics or advertising technologies to understand website use, measure marketing performance and improve our advertising.

Lawful basis: Consent.

You can change or withdraw your cookie choices using [link or name of cookie settings tool].

6. Information Required to Provide Our Services

Some information is needed so that we can respond to an enquiry, accept a booking or provide accommodation.

Where required information is not supplied, we may be unable to process the enquiry or booking.

7. Who We Share Information With

We may share personal information with trusted suppliers where this is necessary to operate Staycays, including:

  • Our website and hosting provider Squarespace

  • Our booking platform Innstyle

  • Our payment processor 

  • Email and communications providers

  • Accountants, professional advisers and insurers

  • IT, security and website support providers

  • Cleaning, maintenance or property-management providers where information is needed to support your stay

  • Analytics or advertising providers, where you have provided the required consent

  • Government bodies, regulators, law-enforcement agencies or courts where required by law

  • A buyer, adviser or relevant party in connection with a proposed sale or restructuring of the business

These providers may only use information for the agreed purpose and must protect it appropriately.

We do not sell or rent your personal information.

8. International Transfers

Some of our service providers may store or process personal information outside the United Kingdom.

Where a restricted international transfer takes place, we will ensure that an appropriate legal safeguard is used. This may include:

  • UK adequacy regulations

  • The UK International Data Transfer Agreement

  • The UK Addendum to approved standard contractual clauses

  • Another safeguard permitted by UK data protection law

You can contact us for further information about the safeguards relevant to your information.

9. How Long We Keep Your Information

We keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary.

Our usual retention periods are:

  • General enquiries that do not result in a booking: up to 24 months after the last communication

  • Booking, payment and transaction records: generally six years after the end of the relevant financial year

  • Guest communications connected with a booking: generally six years after the stay

  • Marketing information: until you withdraw consent, unsubscribe or we determine that the information is no longer current

  • Cookie consent records: for as long as reasonably required to demonstrate and manage your choices

  • Security and technical logs: according to the retention periods set by the relevant website or security provider

  • Information connected with disputes or legal claims: for as long as reasonably necessary to establish, exercise or defend those claims

We may retain anonymised information that no longer identifies you.

10. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Our website may use cookies, pixels, scripts and similar technologies.

Some are essential for the website, booking tools, security or your requested preferences to work. Other technologies, including certain analytics and advertising tools, will be used only where the appropriate consent has been obtained.

Our cookie notice or cookie settings tool explains:

  • Which technologies are used

  • Who provides them

  • What they do

  • How long they remain active

  • How you can accept, reject or change your choices

You can review your choices through [cookie settings link or button].

Blocking essential technologies through your browser may affect parts of the website or booking process.

11. Third-Party Websites and Embedded Content

Our website may link to external websites or include content and services supplied by third parties, such as:

  • Booking tools

  • Maps

  • Videos

  • Social-media content

  • Review platforms

  • Local attraction and restaurant websites

Third parties operate under their own privacy policies. We are not responsible for how an external website uses your information after you leave our website.

Where embedded content uses non-essential cookies or tracking technologies, it should remain blocked until the appropriate cookie choice has been made.

12. Security

We use appropriate organisational and technical measures to protect personal information against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration or disclosure.

These measures may include:

  • Encrypted website connections

  • Password-protected accounts

  • Restricted access to personal information

  • Secure third-party booking and payment systems

  • Software and security monitoring

  • Staff access limited to those who need the information

No internet-based service is completely risk-free, but we regularly review the measures used to protect the information entrusted to us.

13. Your Data Protection Rights

Depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to:

  • Ask for access to your personal information

  • Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information

  • Ask us to delete your information

  • Ask us to restrict how your information is used

  • Object to processing based on legitimate interests

  • Object to direct marketing at any time

  • Ask for certain information to be transferred to you or another organisation

  • Withdraw consent at any time where processing relies on consent

  • Complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office

Some rights are subject to legal conditions and exceptions.

To exercise a right, email jo@staycaysuk.co.uk. We may ask for information to confirm your identity before responding.

We normally respond within one month, although the law allows additional time in certain circumstances.

14. Automated Decision-Making

We do not currently use personal information to make solely automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects.

15. Complaints

Please contact us first if you have concerns about how your personal information has been handled:

Email: jo@staycaysuk.co.uk

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

Website: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/

16. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy when our website, suppliers, services or legal responsibilities change.

The latest version will be published on this page and identified by the date shown at the top.