1) How To Book

Once you have contacted us to make a booking, we will check the availability of your holiday, and agree the details of your booking with you.

Subject to receipt of all applicable payments (see below) we will then confirm your holiday by sending you a “confirmation invoice. This should be checked carefully and any inaccuracies should be brought to our attention as soon as possible. A binding contract between us comes into existence when we despatch our confirmation invoice to the party leader. English Law will apply to your contract and to any dispute which arises between us (except as set out below). Any dispute which arises between us must be dealt with by the Courts of England and Wales only unless, in the case of Court proceedings, you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland . In this case, proceedings must either be brought in the Courts of your home country or those of England and Wales . If proceedings are brought in Scotland or Northern Ireland , you may choose to have your contract and any dispute which arises between us governed by the law of Scotland/Northern Ireland as applicable (but if you do not so choose, English law will apply).

2. Paying For Your Holiday

a. At the time of booking, you must make the payments set out below:

i. 25% of the total cost of the holiday arrangements you have booked with us (or full payment if booking with 8 weeks of the date on which your arrangements with us are due to commence).

•  The total cost of your holiday insurance, if you are taking out travel insurance with us. Please note that it is your responsibility to ensure you are adequately covered by travel insurance when booking a holiday with us.

iii. Our standard villa damage insurance premium. Please note that all villa bookings incur a non-refundable premium of £ 3 per person to cover minor accidental damage to the property and its contents of up to £100 of accidental damage per person. If you do not wish to pay this non-refundable premium, you must pay a damage deposit of £300 per villa the week prior to the date on which your arrangements with us are due to commence. This depo sit will be refunded within four weeks of your return from holiday, providing no damage has occurred. If you or any member of your party is responsible for any damage to your villa, the cost of such damage shall be deducted from this deposit. Regardless of whether you have purchased the villa damage insurance or given us a deposit of £300, if the cost of any damage caused by you or any member of your party is greater than the damage deposit of £300 or the insurance cover (as applicable), you shall be responsible for paying the excess.

NB. Damage caused by wilful or negligent behaviour is not covered at all by the villa damage insurance .

b. Balances

he full balance of your holiday must be paid not less than 8 weeks before the date on which your arrangements with us are due to commence. This date will be shown on the confirmation invoice. If you do not make all payments in full and on time (including any surcharge where applicable), we reserve the right to cancel your booking, and apply our standard cancellation charges (see point 5). If you book a holiday within 8 weeks of departure, then the full holiday cost must be paid at the time of booking. Please note that if you pay for your holiday with a credit card or charge-card, a 1.7% handling charge (3.35% American Express) will be applied to each transaction made. Switch/delta/maestro cards do not incur a handling charge.

3. Holiday Prices

Once the price of your chosen holiday has been confirmed at the time of booking, we will only increase or decrease it in the following circumstances. Price increases or decreases after booking will be passed on by way of a surcharge or refund. A surcharge or refund (as applicable) will be payable, subject to the conditions set out in this clause, if our costs increase or decrease as a result of transportation costs or dues, taxes or fees payable for services such as landing taxes or embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports or airports increasing or decreasing or our costs increase or decrease as a result of any changes in the exchange rates which have been used to calculate the cost of your holiday.

Even in the above cases, only if the amount of the increase in our costs exceeds 2% of the total cost of your holiday (excluding insurance premiums and any amendment charges), will we levy a surcharge. If any surcharge is greater than 10% of the cost of your holiday (excluding insurance premiums and any amendment charges), you will be entitled to cancel your booking and receive a full refund of all monies you have paid to us (except for any amendment charges) or alternatively purchase another holiday from us as referred to in clause 6. A refund will only be payable if the decrease in our costs exceeds 2% as set out above. Where a refund is due, we will pay you the full amount of the decrease in our costs.

You have 14 days from the issue date printed on the surcharge invoice to tell us if you want to cancel or purchase another holiday. If you do not tell us that you wish to do so within this period of time, we are entitled to assume that you will pay the surcharge. Any surcharge must be paid with the balance of the cost of the holiday or within 14 days of the issue date printed on the surcharge invoice, whichever is the later . We promise not to levy a surcharge within 30 days of the start of your holiday.

4. If You Change Your Booking

If you wish to change your booking, please contact us as soon as possible, and we will do our best to help where possible although changes cannot be guaranteed. Please note that all changes must be confirmed in writing. Where the change is possible, an amendment fee of £10 per booking will be payable together with any costs incurred by ourselves and any costs or charges incurred or imposed by any of our suppliers.

5. If You Cancel Your Holiday

If you decide to cancel your holiday, you must let us know in writing as soon as possible. Your notice of cancellation will only be effective when it is received in writing by us at our offices. Our standard cancellation charges will apply. Where the cancellation charge is shown as a percentage, this is calculated on the basis of the total cost payable by the person(s) cancelling excluding insurance premiums and amendment charges. Insurance premiums and amendment charges are not refundable in the event of the person(s) to whom they apply cancelling.

Period before the date when your arrangements with us are due to commence.

Cancellation charges if your cancellation notified to us

Depending on the reason for cancellation, you may be able to reclaim these cancellation charges (less any applicable excess) under the terms of your insurance policy. Claims must be made directly to the insurance company concerned.

6. If We Change or Cancel Your Holiday

If we have to make a major change to your holiday, or cancel your holiday prior to the date on which you arrangements with us are due to commence, we will contact you as soon as possible. A major change is classed as :

a) a change of departure airport (NB only applicable if your arrangements booked with us include flights).

b) a change of holiday resort

c) a change of flight departure time by more than 12 hours on an individual flight (NB only applicable if your arrangements booked with us include flights).

d) a change of holiday accommodation to a lesser standard.

If we have to make a major change or cancel, we will if there is time to do so offer you the choice of:

a) (for major changes) accepting the changed arrangements

b) purchasing another holiday from us

c) cancelling your holiday and receiving a full refund of all monies paid to us.

In the event of us making a major change to or cancelling your holiday, we will also pay you compensation as shown on the scale below depending on the circumstances and when the major change or cancellation is notified to you subject to the following exceptions. Compensation will not be payable and no liability beyond offering the above mentioned choices can be accepted where we are forced to make a change or cancel as a result of unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which we could not have avoided even with all due care. No compensation will be payable and the above options will not be available if we cancel as a result of your failure to comply with any requirement of these booking conditions entitling us to cancel (such as paying on time) or if the change made is a minor one .

Period before the date when your arrangements with us are due to commence.

Compensation per adult if we notify you of a major change or cancellation

7. Force Majeure

Except where otherwise expressly stated in these booking conditions, we regret we cannot accept liability or pay any compensation where the performance or prompt performance of our obligations under our contract with you is prevented or affected by or you otherwise suffer any damage or loss (as more fully described in clause 10(i) below) as a result of "force majeure". In these Booking Conditions, "force majeure" means any event which we or the supplier of the service(s) in question could not, even with all due care, foresee or avoid. Such events may include war or threat of war, riot, civil strife, actual or threatened terrorist activity, industrial dispute, natural or nuclear disaster, adverse weather conditions, fire and all similar events outside our control.

8. Holiday Behaviour

Throughout your holiday, we would ask you to consider the comfort and enjoyment of other passengers and third parties. Any damage or disruption caused by anti-social behaviour is regarded to be the responsibility of the person concerned and The Villa Collection accepts no responsibility for any such acts. Should any disruption or damage occur, any costs involved in redressing the damage must be the responsibility of the person(s) causing the disruption. We also have the right to terminate the person(s) holiday arrangements, and we will not be responsible for providing any alternative arrangements, or compensation in any form, including any refunds.

9. Holiday Complaints

If you are dissatisfied with your holiday in any way, please contact our local agent in resort, or our UK office and we will attempt to resolve the problem. If we are unable to resolve the matter in resort, details of the complaint must be communicated to The Villa Collection's UK office within 28 days of your return from holiday.

10. Our Liability

i. We promise to make sure that the holiday arrangements we have agreed to make, perform or provide as applicable as part of our contract with you are made, performed or provided with reasonable skill and care. This means that, subject to these booking conditions, we will accept responsibility if, for example, you suffer death or personal injury or your contracted holiday arrangements are not provided as promised or prove deficient as a result of the failure of ourselves, our employees, agents or suppliers to use reasonable skill and care in making, performing or providing, as applicable, your contracted holiday arrangements. Please note it is your responsibility to show that reasonable skill and care has not been used if you wish to make a claim against us. In addition, we will only be responsible for what our employees, agents and suppliers do or do not do if they were at the time acting within the course of their employment (for employees) or carrying out work we had asked them to do (for agents and suppliers).

ii. We will not be responsible for any injury, illness, death, loss (for example loss of enjoyment), damage, expense, cost or other sum or claim of any description whatsoever which results from any of the following: -

• the act(s) and/or omission(s) of the person(s) affected or any member(s) of their party or
• the act(s) and/or omission(s) of a third party not connected with the provision of your holiday and which were unforeseeable or unavoidable or
• 'force majeure' as defined in clause 7 above

iii. Please note, we cannot accept responsibility for any services which do not form part of our contract. This includes, for example, any additional services or facilities which your villa owner or any other supplier agrees to provide for you where the services or facilities are not advertised in our brochure and we have not agreed to arrange them and any excursion you purchase in resort. In addition, regardless of any wording used by us on our website, in any of our brochures or elsewhere, we only promise to use reasonable skill and care as set out above and we do not have any greater or different liability to you.

iv. The promises we make to you about the services we have agreed to provide or arrange as part of our contract - and the laws and regulations of the country in which your claim or complaint occurred - will be used as the basis for deciding whether the services in question had been properly provided. If the particular services which gave rise to the claim or complaint complied with local laws and regulations applicable to those services at the time, the services will be treated as having been properly provided. This will be the case even if the services did not comply with the laws and regulations of the UK which would have applied had those services been provided in the UK . The exception to this is where the claim or complaint concerns the absence of a safety feature which might lead a reasonable holiday maker to refuse to take the holiday in question.

v. As set out in these booking conditions we limit the maximum amount we may have to pay you for any claims you may make against us.

Where we are found liable for loss of and/or damage to any luggage or personal possessions (including money), the maximum amount we will have to pay you is £250 per person affected unless a lower limitation applies to your claim under this clause or clause 10(vi) below.

For all other claims which do not involve death or personal injury, if we are found liable to you on any basis the maximum amount we will have to pay you is twice the price (excluding insurance premiums and amendment charges) paid by or on behalf of the person(s) affected in total unless a lower limitation applies to your claim under clause 10 (vi) below. This maximum amount will only be payable where everything has gone wrong and you have not received any benefit at all from your holiday.

vi. Where any claim or part of a claim concerns or is based on any travel arrangements which form part of your contract with us (including the process of getting on and/or off the transport concerned) provided by any air, sea, rail or road carrier or any stay in a hotel, the maximum amount of compensation we will have to pay you will be limited. The most we will have to pay you for that claim or that part of a claim if we are found liable to you on any basis is the most the carrier or hotel keeper concerned would have to pay under the international convention or regulation which applies to the travel arrangements or hotel stay in question (e.g. the Warsaw Convention as amended or unamended and the Montreal Convention for international travel by air and/or for airlines with an operating licence granted by an EU country, the EC Regulation on Air Carrier Liability No 889/2002 for national and international travel by air). Where a carrier or hotel would not be obliged to make any payment to you under the applicable International Convention or Regulation in respect of a claim or part of a claim, we similarly are not obliged to make a payment to you for that claim or part of the claim. When making any payment, we are entitled to deduct any money which you have received or are entitled to receive from the transport provider or hotelier for the complaint or claim in question. Copies of applicable International Conventions and Regulations available on request.

vii. Please note, we cannot accept any liability for any damage, loss, expense or other sum(s) of any description (1) which on the basis of the information given to us by you concerning your booking prior to our accepting it, we could not have foreseen you would suffer or incur if we breached our contract with you or (2) which did not result from any breach of contract or other fault by ourselves or our employees or, where we are responsible for them, our suppliers. Additionally we cannot accept liability for any business losses.

viii. You must provide ourselves and our insurers with all assistance we may reasonably require. You must also tell us and the supplier concerned about your claim or complaint as set out in clause 9 above. If asked to do so, you must transfer to us or our insurers any rights you have against the supplier or whoever else is responsible for your claim or complaint (if the person concerned is under 18, their parent or guardian must do so). You must also agree to cooperate fully with us and our insurers if we or our insurers want to enforce any rights which are transferred.

11. Flights booked through us.

Please refer to our Holiday Information section for further details.

12. Conditions of suppliers

Many of the services which make up your holiday are provided by independent suppliers. Those suppliers provide these services in accordance with their own terms and conditions. Some of these terms and conditions may limit or exclude the supplier's liability to you, usually in accordance with applicable International Conventions (see clause 10 (6)). Copies of the relevant parts of these terms and conditions are available on request from ourselves or the supplier concerned.

13. Special requests and medical problems

14. Passports, visas and health requirements

Please refer to our Holiday Information section for further details.

15. Financial security

We hold an Air Travel Organiser's Licence issued by the Civil Aviation Authority (ATOL number 6577 .) This means the flight inclusive holidays shown in our brochure/ on our website and/or which you book with us are ATOL protected. In the unlikely event of our insolvency, the CAA will ensure that you are not left stranded abroad and will arrange to refund any money you have paid to us for an advance booking. For further information, visit the ATOL website at www.atol.org.uk .

16. Prices and Brochure Accuracy

Please note, the information and prices shown in this brochure may have changed by the time you come to book your holiday. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the brochure and prices at the time of printing, regrettably errors do occasionally occur. You must therefore ensure you check all details of your chosen holiday (including the price) with us at the time of booking.

This brochure is our sole responsibility. It is not issued on behalf of and does not commit any independent organisation/carriers whose services are featured in it.

17. Delay. (NB Only applicable where the arrangements you have booked with us include a flight to and from the UK ).

18. Safety standards

lease note, it is the requirements and standards of the country in which any services which make up your holiday are provided which apply to those services and not those of the UK . As a general rule, these requirements and standards will not be the same as the UK and may sometimes be lower.

19. Contacting us about your holiday

If you require any information or assistance, please contact our Reservations Department on: