TERMS OF USE
PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT CAREFULLY BEFORE USING OUR WEBSITE AND / OR SERVICES OFFERED THROUGH IT. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE, PLEASE DO NOT USE OUR WEBSITE AND/OR SERVICES.
BY USING OUR WEBSITE AND/OR SERVICES OFFERED THROUGH IT, YOU AGREE TO THESE TERMS OF USE, THE PRIVACY AND COOKIE POLICY
1. ABOUT THE WEBSITE
The terms “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Hirasté Limited. The terms “Website” or “Site” refer to hiraste.com as well as other social media platforms linked on the Website including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter operated by us. The terms “user,” “users,” “you,” and “your” refer to website visitors and customers, whether personal or business entities, and include, but are not limited to, your agents, representatives, contractors, affiliates, and employees.
Thank you for visiting our Website. These Terms of Use (“Terms”) apply to all users, customers, and other visitors of our Website and/or engaging with our Services. By using our Website and/or “Services” (including any listing or promotion and other support provided whether paid or for free), you hereby agree to have read and acknowledged these Terms without modification.
We have endeavoured to prepare the Website content and offer our Services in accordance with English law. It does not warrant that the Website and/or our Services will satisfy the laws of any jurisdiction other than England and Wales.
2. ACCEPTANCE OF THE TERMS
You accept the Terms by remaining on our Website and / or engaging our Services, including (but not limited to) subscribing to our newsletter and / or annual membership (each, if applicable). You may also accept the Terms by clicking to accept or agree to the Terms where this option is made available to you in the user interface.
We may change or amend the Terms at any time. Any changes to the Terms will be posted on our Website and will be effective when published unless otherwise stated. If you use our Website or Services after the effective date of any changes, you therefore agree to comply with the changes and the updated Terms.
We take your privacy seriously and any information which you provide (knowingly or unknowingly) through your use of the Website are subject to our Privacy and Cookie Policy . We do not sell or license your Personal Data to third-parties for their own marketing or commercial purposes, unless you provide your express prior consent.
3. CAPACITY
To use or access our Website and / or access our Services, you must be 18 years or not considered a minor in your country of residence for the purposes of entering into a contract, whichever is older, and have the capacity to understand these Terms.
4. BOOKING TERMS
This Website is a group accommodation listing aggregator. All booking services for our property listings are not provided by us but by the third party property listed on our Website, which is contactable through the links provided on our Website (the “Property”).
Our legal obligations in relation to any listing are solely to the Property as our contracting counter-party, not to any customer and/or guest of the Property. If you wish to bring a claim for any issues relating to the Property or your booking of it, your claim will be solely against the Property and subject to the Property’s terms and conditions.
If you wish to review, adjust or cancel your booking with any of the Properties, please refer to your correspondence with the Property and follow the instructions provided or contact the Property’s Customer Service directly. Please note that suspected group bookings may be rejected or cancelled by accommodation aggregator websites as most Properties have specific procedures for group bookings so you should use the link we provide you with in our listing for the Property. You may also contact the relevant Property’s Customer Service team for more information.
We may display promotional rates, vouchers, discount codes, coupons, discounts, and/or special offers (“Promotions” ) on the Website from time to time. Unless expressly stated otherwise, we cannot guarantee that any Promotions displayed may be current at the time of your booking or apply to your intended booking, as group bookings may be subject to rules and special terms and conditions in addition to the Property’s general terms.
If a Property may have specific policies around children, accompanying travellers and/or travelling with pets, you are strongly advised to check with the Property’s Customer Service, the Property itself and/or to verify the Property’s policies, as we are not responsible for any additional restrictions which the Property itself may impose.
If you have special needs (e.g., wheelchair accessible room), please ensure that you contact Customer Service for the Property and verify that your special needs can be met before confirming your booking. We will not be liable to you for any damages or costs that you suffer due to the Property not meeting your special needs.
By displaying Properties in particular locations, we do not represent or warrant that travel to such destinations is advisable or risk-free. You are strongly advised to check the relevant travel advisories issued by your government for any country you are visiting from and to take the necessary precautions. You are also advised to have personal travel insurance, including for local / domestic travel. We shall never be held liable for damages or losses that may result from your travel to such destinations.
We shall under no circumstances be held liable for any incidents occurring during your stay at the Property, including any harm, loss or damage to your personal property and / or injury to yourself or others. You are advised to hold and maintain personal property and medical insurance at all times.
We cannot be held liable for any loss you may incur in the event of your failure to hold the necessary passports, visas and documentation for your travels. You are advised to check with the relevant embassies, consulates and/or visa departments of the countries you wish to travel to. It is solely your responsibility to obtain whatever travel documents are required.
5. PAYMENT TERMS
If you wish to book a Property, you will need to go to the website of the Property to check for availability and special conditions before you arrange applicable payments through the platform made available on the Property’s website. You agree to pay and be solely liable for the full amount of the booking amount of any Property to the Property’s representatives directly, and you agree and acknowledge that we have no involvement in any booking, correspondence or payment you make once you leave our Website.
In order to make a booking with any of the Properties you must be over 18 years old (or such other age at which majority is reached in your country or territory) and have the full legal capacity to make the transaction (or have the authorization to do so from your legal guardian). You undertake that the payment instrument you are using is your own or that you are authorised to complete the booking with the payment instrument you have provided and that there are sufficient funds to cover the cost of the transaction. You accept financial responsibility for all transactions made under your name or account.
In some locations, the Property may be required by local law to charge and collect city, bed, tourist occupancy or equivalent taxes directly, in which case you may be liable to pay the same if you confirm a booking for that Property.
Taxes and fees for any products and/or services you may purchase should be located in each Property’s terms and conditions.
6. DISCLAIMER
Use of the Website and the Services you may engage with, is at your own risk. Everything on the Website, including the Services, are provided to you "as is where is" and on an "as available" basis, without warranty or condition of any kind.
We have made every effort to accurately represent the Properties listed and the Services provided on our Website. All information on the Website, including (but not limited to) any relating to the Properties listed and Services provided, is prepared so that it is current as at the date of writing or recording. It should be noted that such information can become out of date and you must make your own assessment of the information and rely on it wholly at your own risk. We do not make any representations or give any warranties about its accuracy, reliability, completeness or suitability for any particular purpose.
Under no circumstances shall we be considered to be associated or affiliated in whatever manner with any trade or service marks, logos, insignia or other devices used or appearing on web sites that link to this Website and/or any of the Website content, including that relating to any of the Properties.
Any reviews which may be displayed on the Website are not intended to represent or guarantee that you will achieve the same or similar experience. We have not represented or warranted that a Property will match the description for the Property as listed on the Website. We have no obligation to you if the Property and Services do not match any description or listing on the Website as we have no legal responsibility to verify the same.
We will not be liable to you in respect of any business losses, including (without limitation) loss of or damages relating to revenue, profits, income, use, production, anticipated earnings or savings, contracts, commercial or business opportunities, or goodwill arising from any booking you make with a Property.
The information that we display about the listed Properties is based on information provided to us by our Properties (including but not necessarily limited to their representatives or property management companies). As such, the Properties or their representatives are fully responsible for updating all rates, availability, description, pictures, booking conditions, accommodation policies and other information which is displayed on the Website.
Although we will use commercially reasonable skill and care in performing our services we will not verify if, and cannot guarantee that, all information is accurate, complete, correct or up to date, nor can we be held responsible for any errors (including manifest and typographical errors), interruptions (whether due to any (temporary and/or partial) breakdown, repair, upgrade or maintenance of the Website or otherwise), inaccurate, misleading or untrue information or non-delivery of information. Each Property remains responsible at all times for the accuracy, completeness and correctness of the Property information displayed on the Website. Changes in market conditions or circumstances may occur on short notice which may make information displayed on the Website inaccurate or outdated, in which, please contact Customer Service for the Property.
The Website does not constitute and should not be regarded as a recommendation or endorsement of (the quality, service level or rating of) any Property listed on it. We hereby expressly disclaim any representation, warranty or undertaking in relation to the quality, status or adequacy of any Property listed on the Website for your group’s specific needs.
We have a “Premium Partner” program whereby certain selected Properties have the opportunity to improve their visibility on the Website. Such Premium Partner listings will be marked or contain wording for clarity. Under certain circumstances, we may also offer Premium Partners the option to pay for a featured or trending spot. Such sponsored listings will be marked or contain wording for clarity.
7. NO WARRANTIES
While we use reasonable efforts to include accurate and up-to-date information in the Website, we make no warranties or representations as to its accuracy. We assume no liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in the content of the Website.
None of our affiliates, directors, officers, employees, agents, contributors, third party content providers or licensors make any express or implied representation or warranty about their content or any products or services (including our Services) referred to on the Website. This includes (but is not restricted to) loss or damage you might suffer as a result of using the Website and the Services.
Any star, other denoted ratings, or any reference on the Website to a rating referred to on any other accommodation aggregator website (“Property Rating”) are provided for your information only. Any Property Ratings are only based on information we have received from the Property itself, and may take into account the Property’s facilities, rates, reviews, and services but are unrelated to any other ratings assigned by government tourism authorities. We do not independently verify star ratings. Please be aware that star ratings can vary greatly on the basis of location, available alternatives, local market conditions, practices or other circumstances.
8. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND COPYRIGHT
The Website, including any Services available on it, are subject to copyright, trademarks and other forms of proprietary rights. All material on the Website is protected by copyright under English law and subject to our rights under applicable international treaties. Unless otherwise indicated, all rights to “Intellectual Property” (including copyright trademarks and other forms of proprietary rights) in the Website content, documents, materials, products and compilation of the Website (including text, images, graphics, logos, button icons, video images, audio clips, podcasts and software) and any Services are owned or controlled by us for these purposes, and are reserved by us or our contributors.
We retain all rights, title and interest in and to the Website and all related content. Nothing you do on or in relation to the Website will transfer to you any of our Intellectual Property, including but not limited to:
(a) our business name, trading name, domain name, trade mark, industrial design, patent, registered design or copyright; or
(b) the right to use or exploit our business name, trading name, domain name, trade mark or industrial design; or
(c) our system or process that is the subject of a patent, registered design or copyright (including an adaptation or modification of such a system or process).
You may not, without our prior written permission and the permission of any other third party rights owners, broadcast, republish, upload to a third party, transmit, post, distribute, show or play in public, adapt or change in any way the content or any third party content for any purpose. This prohibition excludes materials on the Website which are available for re-use or are in the public domain.
This Website may use free stock photography or licenced photography as part of its design.
All stock images used come with an irrevocable, non-exclusive copyright licence to download, copy, distribute, use and / or modify the photos for free, including for commercial purposes. Use of said stock photography is permissible under applicable laws without permission from the photographer or attributing the work to the photographer.
As for licensed photos displayed on this Website, you may use information from the Website for your own personal use only. Except as otherwise expressly permitted under copyright law, no copying, redistribution, retransmission, publication or commercial exploitation of downloaded material will be permitted without our express permission and that of the copyright owner. In the event of any permitted copying, redistribution or publication of copyright material, no changes in or deletion of author attribution, trademark legend or copyright notice shall be made. You acknowledge that you do not acquire any ownership rights by downloading copyright material.
Certain product and company names mentioned on this Website or material displayed on this Website may be intellectual property belonging to third parties. We do not warrant or represent that if you use such material, you will not infringe the legal rights of these third parties.
If you believe that your intellectual property rights are being violated or that any work which is your property has been reproduced on the Site or in any content in any way, you may notify us at hello@hiraste.com. Please provide your name and contact information, the nature of your work and how you believe it is being violated, all relevant copyright and / or trademark registration information, the location i.e. URL of the violation, and any other information you reasonably believe is relevant.
9. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
The total liability that we may owe to you from any cause whatsoever, will be limited to the lesser of your actual damages or the price paid to us for Services contracted through the Website.
In no event will we be liable for special, direct, indirect, consequential, or incidental damages, including but not limited to loss of profits, revenues, data, or damage to or loss from staying at or dealing with the Property, damage to personal property, claims of third parties, including personal injury or death, suffered as a result of provision of the Services whether at common law, under warranty, contract, tort (including negligence), in equity, pursuant to statute or otherwise, notwithstanding that we may have been advised of the possibility of such damages or losses.
All claims against us must be brought within one year after the cause of action arises, and we waive any statute of limitations which might apply by operation of law or otherwise, to the extent permissible.
We are not responsible for any failures caused by server errors, misdirected or redirected transmissions, failed internet connections, interruptions in the transmission or receipt of reservations, or any computer virus or other technical defect, whether human or technical in nature. Limitation of or exemption from the aforementioned liability may not be permitted pursuant to the relevant applicable laws, in which case, our liability shall be limited to the extent set forth in the relevant laws.
10. INDEMNIFICATION
We do not in any way (directly or indirectly, independently or in conjunction with any party) own, manage, operate or control the Properties, or any room in such Property. The Properties are liable and responsible for providing accommodation services and serving people who have booked as their guests.
You agree to indemnify and hold us and each of our subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, representatives, employees, and agents, harmless from any and all liabilities, claims, damages and expenses, including legal fees, arising out of or relating to (i) your breach of these Terms, (ii) any violation by you of law or the rights of any third party, (iii) any materials, information, works and/or other content of whatever nature or media that you post or share on or through the Website, (iv) your use of the Website or any Services that we may provide through the Website, and (v) your conduct in connection with the Website or the Services or with other users of the Website or the Services. We reserve the right to assume the exclusive defence of any claim for which we are entitled to indemnification under this clause. In such an event, you shall provide us with such cooperation as we may reasonably request.
You are at all times bound by the local laws and regulations. Things which are legal in certain countries may be illegal in others. You should enquire about applicable restrictions. We will not be liable in case a Property refuses to check you in or asks you to leave, including for legal or regulatory reasons.
For your convenience, the Website and the Terms may exist in a number of languages and local versions (identified by different top level domain names in some cases), but have originally been drawn up in the English language. In case of conflict between the English language version and a translated version, the English language version of the Terms shall prevail.
The Terms shall be deemed severable. In the event that any provision is determined to be unenforceable or invalid, such provision shall nonetheless be enforced to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law and such determination shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any other remaining provisions. The severed provisions shall be replaced by a provision approximating as much as possible the original wording and intent.
We reserve the right, in its sole discretion, to the extent permissible under relevant law to temporarily or permanently modify, suspend, or terminate the Website and/or any portion thereof, including any service available through the Website, and/or your use of the Website, or any portion thereof. In the event of termination of the Website, you will still be bound by your obligations under the Terms, including the warranties made by you, and by the disclaimers and limitations of liability. Additionally, we shall not be liable to you or any third party for any termination of your access to the Website. The Properties have the right to change their offerings and this is outside our control.
Failure by us to enforce a right does not result in waiver of such right. You may not assign or transfer your rights unless agreed by us. We reserve the right to freely assign the Terms and the rights and obligations hereunder. We may amend the Terms at any time by posting a variation on the Website. The latest version of the Terms will supersede all previous versions. Your bookings will be governed by the then current applicable Terms of Use at the time of your specific bookings.
11. LAWFUL USE ONLY
All users shall use this Website and its Services for lawful purposes only. You agree to use our Website, any of its content and / or Services for legitimate and non-commercial purposes only. You shall not upload or transmit any material through our Website which violates or infringes our rights or those of others, or material that is threatening, abusive, defamatory, profane, obscene, invasive, or which may reasonably incite or induce criminal or illegal activity or that would give rise to civil liability or otherwise breach any law.
12. GOVERNING LAW AND JURISDICTION
The provisions of these Terms are for our benefit, and those of our subsidiaries, affiliates and third party content providers and licensors, and each shall have the right to assert and enforce such provisions directly or on its own behalf. Except as expressly stated in these Terms, none of the Terms shall be enforceable by virtue of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 or otherwise, by any person or entity who is not a party to it.
The Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law, without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of law. You further submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.
In the event of any dispute arising out of or in connection with these Terms including any question regarding its existence, validity or termination, the parties shall at first instance take reasonable efforts to settle and resolve such disputes in good faith and in an amicable manner by negotiation.
These Terms may be revised from time to time by updating this posting. You are bound by any such revisions and should therefore periodically visit this page to review the then current Terms to which you are bound. If any provision of the Terms shall be unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from the Terms and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.
Last Updated: 3rd May 2023