INFO / T&Cs

Information / Terms & Conditions

COVID-19 CHANGES (standard "Information" is beneath)


  • We are currently trialing a 24-hour access policy for bedrooms. No longer a requirement to be fully out of the hostel between 10am-4pm each day – woohoo!  You can access your bedroom all day and the communal areas are closed for just 4 hours to allow us to properly clean in time for evening guests. We know it is common for hostels to close fully during the day but we are trailing a new regime of opening up our bedrooms throughout the day (for those staying more than one night) to see if it is welcomed. Obviously, we can't keep the communal areas  open all day as it'd never be cleaned! We will review the new regime over the coming months and will see if we continue it, or revert back to a standard hostel operating procedure.


  • There is a cool box in every private room




** STANDARD INFORMATION... **

OPEN

The hostel is open all year.

RECEPTION

Reception is open 8-10am and 5-10pm 7 days a week (give or take, subject to school drop off!)

HOSTEL CHECK-IN/CHECK OUT

Check in on day of arrival – anytime between 5pm-10pm on day of arrival. If you think you may arrive after 10pm just give us a bell as we can sort something out.

Check out on day of departure – strictly by 10am.

DEPOSIT & BALANCE

A non-refundable deposit of 10% of the booking total is required to secure the booking. Until this has been made the booking is not secure.

The 90% balance is due one week in advance of arrival.

We accept cash, card, bank transfer and cheque (bank transfers and cheques must be paid in advance).  If paying by cash, bank transfer or cheque, we still require card details to be kept on file in case of damages.

INDIVIDUAL CANCELLATIONS

For individual bookings (i.e. not Whole Hostel bookings)...
  • If the booking is cancelled less than 7 days before arrival, then a charge equal to the full booking amount will be made.
  • If the booking is cancelled 7 or more days before arrival, you will just lose your 10% deposit.
  • In the event of a no show or booking reduction (after arrival date) the full cost of the booking is charged.

BOOK EVERY BED / WHOLE HOSTEL CANCELLATIONS

For Whole Hostel bookings, our cancellation charges depend on the notice period given...
No. of days before arrival:
63 or more days
49-62 days
35-48 days
21-34 days
21 days or less
Cancellation Charge Payable:
10% of total cost 
30% of total cost 
50% of total cost 
70% of total cost 
100% of total cost

GROUPS OF 9+

Please note that groups of more than 8 (who are not booking the whole hostel) MUST contact us directly so we can confirm whether the reservation is possible.
Reservations of 9+ (who aren't booking the whole hostel) who do not contact us are NOT CONFIRMED

CHILDREN (under 18's)

Infants under 3 are welcome and can either share existing bedding, utilise our travel cot (free of charge) or have their own bed – please note if this latter option is chosen full adult rate will be charged.

Children aged 3 to 15 are subject to the full adult rate.  Anyone age 15 and under is welcome to stay at Ballater Hostel as long as they are accompanied by an adult (18+) in the same room. They are welcome to stay in any room (including shared mixed dorms). The adult staying will be held accountable for the child.

Children aged 16 to 17 are subject to the full adult rate.  Anyone aged 16 or 17 is welcome to stay at Ballater Hostel on their own. No adult is required to be with them. They are welcome to stay in any room (including shared mixed dorms). The cardholder on the booking will be held accountable for the young adult.

PETS

Sorry, Ballater Hostel does not accept pets.  If you are found to have brought a pet into the hostel for the night without our prior consent, there will be an automatic £50 charge made to the card on the booking.  If damage greater than £50 is found, further charges are possible.

 WiFi

Free WiFi available throughout the hostel.
 

TOWELS

All private rooms include towels - superior private, budget private and 4 bed private.
Beds in shared mixed dorms, as well as sole use of dorm rooms (the 6 and the 8 bed), do not include towels.
Whole hostel bookings do not include towels.
Towel hire is available @ £2 a towel (for duration of stay, not per day!)

LAUNDRY & DRYING ROOM

To ensure you at least start off dry at the beginning of the day we have a drying room with a dehumidifier and a fan heater, lots of hanging space (at least 4 clothes horses) and plenty of newspaper to stuff your boots with.

We also have a washing machine and tumble dryer available for guests to use (£4 charge per machine, washing powder included).

SMOKING

In accordance with the law there is no smoking permitted anywhere within the property.

Sorry, no smoking permitted anywhere inside the hostel. Smoking is only permitted at the table and chairs area outside, where an ashtray is also provided. Please do not smoke by the front door / in the porch – it puts people off entering the hostel and the smoke carries back inside. If you are found to have been smoking in your room or anywhere inside the hostel there will be an instant £50 fine automatically charged the card on the booking, plus any extra charge required to re-locate future guests and additional cleaning charges.

PARKING

Unfortunately, we have no dedicated parking. By all means please pull up to unload but then please move any vehicles (including motorbikes) to either Albert Road, Monaltrie Road or there is a large free car park just off Church Square (behind the church – 3 min walk).

Please do not leave any vehicles (including motorbikes) outside the hostel for prolonged periods of time (especially not overnight) as our neighbours need constant access and have to turn around in the lane.

IRRESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOUR

Ballater Hostel does not tolerate irresponsible behaviour. Anyone found to have acted irresponsibly (extreme drunkenness, disturbing other guests, making undue mess and not cleaning it up, showing no remorse, putting other guests’ safety at risk) is at risk of being banned. We charge a £25 per hour cleaning fee, for any non-standard cleaning.  For any guests disturbed by your irresponsible behaviour you will be liable to pay them compensation.

DATA PROTECTION NOTICE

What personal data is collected, why and for how long?
When you make a booking we will ask you for information that we need in order to process the booking. This will include your name, email address, contact number, home address and your payment details.  You are not obliged to provide us with any of your personal data; however, if you want to make a booking you will need to provide us with this information. If you don't provide us with this information, we won't be able to process your booking.

The main reason we need your personal data is in order to process your bookings and to deal with any queries or issues that arise in relation to those bookings.

We keep personal data for no longer than is necessary for the purpose for which we collected it.

Who do we share your personal data with?
99% of the time - absolutely no-one – just ourselves to manage your booking.  On very rare occasions our customers can get into difficulties whilst travelling. Where we think that there is a risk to your health or wellbeing, we may share your personal data with third parties in order to get you help (e.g. we might be asked to assist with locating a missing person). We may also receive requests from law enforcement agencies for personal data that we hold. In such circumstances we will only share your personal data with such law enforcement agencies in compliance with data protection law. Finally, if a guest acts irresponsibly at our hostel, we may share your details with other hostels within the UK network in order to help prevent other hostels being subjected to similar activities (assisting in detecting and preventing crime).

Your rights under data protection law
You have various rights under data protection law in connection with our processing of your personal data. For example, you have the right to request a copy of your personal data that we hold and to request that we correct any errors in the personal data that we hold.

You have the following rights under data protection law:
  • Right to access your personal data - You have the right to request a copy of the personal data that we hold about you, together with other information about our processing of that personal data.
  • Right to rectification – You have the right to request that any inaccurate data that is held about you is corrected, or if we have incomplete information you may request that we update the information so that it is complete.
  • Right to erasure – You have the right to request us to delete personal data that we hold about you. This is sometimes referred to as the right to be forgotten.
  • Right to restriction of processing or to object to processing – You have the right to request that we no longer process your personal data for particular purposes, or to object to our processing of your personal data for particular purposes.
  • Right to data portability – You have the right to request us to provide you, or a third party, with a copy of your personal data in a structured, commonly used machine readable format.
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