Terms & Conditions
Minimum Stay Requirements
Typical minimum stay requirements are 6 nights in Special Holiday Periods and 5 nights in non holiday periods. However, we are happy to make exceptions in some cases.
Damage Deposits
Typical minimum stay requirements are 6 nights in Special Holiday Periods and 5 nights in non holiday periods. However, we are happy to make exceptions in some cases.
Payment and Cancellation Policy
Standard and Holiday Rate
- A 50% deposit confirms a reservation.
- Balance is due 90 days before travel.
- Cancellations > 60 days full refund.
- Cancellations < 60 days 100% cancellation fee applies.
Payments are to be made to Michael Hornby by wire transfer, Zelle, Venmo or PayPal (details will be sent to you to make payment upon booking).
Arrival and Departure Times:
On the first day of your rental, the villa will be ready for you at 4pm. The villa departure time is 11am. If no other guests are scheduled to occupy your villa on arrival and departure days, you are welcome to check in early and check out as late as you wish. Ask us to advise you of the occupancy schedule of your villa. You may wish to check with us close to your arrival to determine flexibility.
You will be given 2 sets of keys and one set of necessary remotes for your convenience and safety. Please keep them well guarded and return to our owner prior to departure. Any loss will be charged replacement cost only of $25/ key and $65/remote and $125/phone.
On departure day please be ready to meet with the villa representative for a departure inspection at 10am. Departure time is 11am to allow cleaning staff to fully prepare the villa for new incoming guests arriving for 4pm.
Email Address and Telephone:
It is vital that we have a valid email address. We correspond via email. Once your booking has been made and your deposit received, all further correspondence is by email.
You will also require a cell phone so there may be mutual contact you during your stay (this is both for convenience and safety).
Villa Rental Cleaning Includes:
For bookings 5 days or greater, one bedding change is provided mid-week and one additional bedding set will also be provided in each suite.
4 hours of mandatory light house-keeping is required daily and is included in the villa price. This does NOT include laundry services. Additional cleaning may be booked by arrangement for heavier cleaning, laundry, ironing and help with lunches and breakfasts etc. This is charged at a rate of $10 per hour. Experience has shown us these 4 hours per day of contracted cleaning increases your villa enjoyment significantly (depending on the size of your group you may want to consider more hours or treat yourself).
Additional bedding changes other than described above can be arranged at a cost of $20/single bed or $30/queen/king bed.
For privacy purposes only, we can move the mandatory 4 hours daily housekeeping service until the departure day with agreement. This can be arranged prior to arrival or any time throughout your stay. However, this will mean that our task of cleaning the villa on a single day will be much more difficult and time consuming. Extra staff will be required and a fee of $250 will be charged. The property must be left clean and tidy and all waste disposed of in the correct collection places.
Utility Usage and Environment
Our home is your home while you are on vacation. In an effort to keep our rental rates as low as possible, we ask you to think carefully and be thoughtfully about the usage of both water and electricity. Unfortunately, as the price of island paradise… all of our energy costs are four times your average domestic costs due to fuel surcharges. This creates a heightened environmental and financial sensitivity to wasting resources.
Unfortunately, some guests tend to be less sensitive and therefore are poor at conservation. For example, air conditioning should never be left on in rooms being unoccupied as it only takes 30 minutes to cool a room. Again, AC should never be switched on in rooms with either doors or windows open, this not only defeats the purpose of putting on the air conditioning, but can also lead to premature failure of the air conditioning units as they will be over-working trying to cool a room to a desired temperature that it will never be able to reach. Fans should also be switched off when the room is not being used, as should lights and other electrical items.
Villa rental includes the use of the pool and spa. In an effort to provide you with the best enjoyment, custom tailored pool heating packages are available, see the rates page for more details.
The jetted spa will be complimentary maintained at 102F as per recommendation of the American Heart Association upon request.
We thank you in advance for your consideration. It not only helps us to keep our rental price as low as possible, it also helps to us look after our environment as well.
A/C Surcharge
Due to extremely high local energy charges in excess of .45/KWH… there is an energy surcharge of $15/day for each of the A/C units. Please advise on booking if you require A/C. There are no surcharge fees if A/C is not used.
KettleStone was designed and built as our home with full awareness of these high energy charges. Incorporating high vaulted ceilings, ample ventilation and screened cupolas to capture the natural ocean breezes and provide natural air circulation…our goal was to eliminate the need for A/C as much as possible. In addition, all rooms have classic Hunter ceiling fans for increased circulation so you may not need A/C during your stay at all.
Force Majeure
Means any unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our normal control, the consequences of which, could not have been avoided even when exercising all due care. Such circumstances or events include, but are not limited to, war, or threat of war, riot, civil unrest, industrial disputes or strikes, unavoidable technical problems with the villa, transport, or closure or congestion of airports, terrorist activity, natural disasters, industrial disasters, fire, theft, flooding and adverse weather conditions. In the event of any of the above refunds or compensation payments cannot be made.
Our Responsibility
We are responsible for providing the services listed on our website, where it is within our control. We carefully and regularly maintain our property but we cannot guarantee that all items listed on our website will be functional at all times, however all endeavors will be made to rectify any problems as soon as we possibly can. We reserve the right without prior notice to withdraw any part or all of the facilities available, and to make such changes as may be necessary. Furthermore, it is agreed by you that the owners, operators and agents of the rental property are not the guardians of any customers safety and they, individually or collectively, cannot be held liable in any way for any occurrence, which might result in illness, injury, death or other damage, loss or theft to the customer, his property, or his family, heirs, or assigns.
Changes to Booking
KettleStone Villa and/or its representatives reserve the right to amend the booking dates. This may be due to several reasons, not limited to but including, war, adverse weather conditions, riots and or matters concerning participants’ safety, operational circumstances such as damage caused by fire, or the villa becomes unusable due to utility company work or lack of services, leaks, repair work or any other such reason. In these circumstances the booking may need to be adjusted accordingly. We are not liable for any additional costs or losses that may be incurred by the client due to the change of booking. This includes, but is not limited to, any extra hotel reservations or car rentals, or the cost of non-refundable airline tickets. Situations may arise which, in our opinion, make it necessary for us to alter the normal booking schedule. If you cannot accept the dates of any new booking that we propose then we will refund monies you have paid for to us in full. We advise that your travel insurance covers holiday curtailment.
Weather Conditions
Weather conditions can be unpredictable, and can change quickly and significantly. We cannot be made liable for unpleasant or unsuitable weather conditions and no refunds are made for such conditions.
Hurricane Policy
If a hurricane warning is issued by the National Hurricane Center for the Central Andros Island area—or for your place of residence—within 7 days of your scheduled arrival date, you may call in advance to reschedule or cancel your KettleStone Villa rental vacation without any cancellation or change fees imposed.
If you have products and services provided by third-party suppliers included in your vacation—such as airlines, hotels, car rental agencies or vacation insurance companies—you will continue to be responsible for any non-refundable payments, as well as cancellation or change fees assessed by those suppliers.
Noise Disturbance
We kindly request you respect our neighbors and keep your noise to acceptable levels. If you wish to play music in the evenings then please do so in a considerate way. Loud music should not be played under any circumstances after 11:00pm.
Villa Rental Rates and Price-Fix Guarantee
Prices quoted on our website are those in effect at the time of viewing and remain guaranteed once the reservation deposit has been paid. Once a price has been agreed and deposit paid KettleStone Villa will not change this price under any circumstances, thus guarding against any annual price increases affect the booking.
Insurance
We highly recommend that you take out adequate travel insurance, including cover for medical treatment, accidents and repatriation, and holiday cancellation and curtailment.
It is your responsibility that you arrange, or ensure your party members have appropriate comprehensive travel insurance to include coverage for illness, personal injury and travel delay/cancellation. We assume that such a policy is in force before you depart. All members of your party who use all items at the villa, including but not limited to, the pool and jetted spa do so entirely at their own risk. Please be mindful of children at all times using these facilities, remembering this is a PRIVATE POOL/SPA WITH NO LIFEGAURD. Please also note that the wet areas around the pool and the tiles can be slippery, so please ensure that you or members of your party are dry before entering the villa from the pool area, and children do not run. Under no circumstances can glassware be taken into the pool area.
Verbal Changes
Verbal changes of contract are not valid unless agreed and confirmed in writing via email by all parties.