Privacy policy is required by the law and this policy only applies to The Hostel Crowd and not to the websites of other companies, individuals or organisations to whom we provide links to our websites.
Use of Your Information
We collect your information for the safety of our guests, and to understand who we are accommodating at our properties, for the safety of our staff. In addition, website user and guest data is collected for statistical purposes.
We also collect our guests’ nationality, date of birth, gender, for statistical analysis purposes.
When you visit our websites, we may automatically log your IP address (the unique address which identifies your computer on the internet). We use IP addresses to help us manage our websites and to collect broad demographic information for analytical use.
For reservations, we send guests confirmation emails and will therefore require your email address.
Exceptions may occur in the case of us needing to contact previous guests in relation to post or lost property.
Reservation Data
In order for us to confirm a reservation for you, we do require some information. This will usually consist of:
Your name
Telephone or mobile number – in case of an emergency
Gender
Nationality
Date of Birth
Identification data i.e. Passport
Credit card details, including the three-digit code that appears on the back of your credit card
Date of arrival and departure
Email address
Upon arrival, we will require the same information from your fellow travellers, please ensure they are all aware of this to ensure a quick and efficient check-in.
Credit Card Data
In order to guarantee reservations via all channels (telephone, website or smartphone application, but not restricted to), we require a full 16 digit debit/credit card number, name on the card, card type (we accept VISA, Master card or Maestro), three digit security code and the expiry date.
Your debit/credit card details are only used to secure your booking and The Hostel Crowd will only debit the account if you do not follow our cancellation procedure. Reservations that are cancelled at least 48 hours prior to arrival are not charged for, whereas no shows or failing to cancel in excess of 48 hours will incur a charge for the first night.
The Hostel Crowd indemnifies itself against all data use on and reservations made via third party websites/agents. Please refer to their relevant privacy policy and terms and conditions.
Guests’ Personal Data
The Hostel Crowd respects guest privacy and will not sell or disclose guests’ personal information to any other person, business or third party unless in the case of an emergency and/or it is seen as part of our duty of care.
Keeping Guests’ Information Updated
As an accommodation and leisure provider, we have guests returning to our properties on a regular basis. It is your duty to inform us if any of your personal information, which we hold about you, needs to be updated. We may contact you at any time, if you have booked accommodation with us and we suspect we hold false information about you.
How We Use Cookies
When you use our websites, we aim to make your experience engaging. In order to do this, we use cookies. Cookies are small text files which are sometimes downloaded on your computer or mobile device when you first visit our website so that we can remember who you are.
Usually, cookies contain two pieces of information: a site name and a unique user ID. Cookies cannot be used alone to identify you, although they may be used to identify your IP address. Cookies help us and/or third party websites recognize your device the next time you visit and may remember details such as your username and preference, analyse how the website is performing, or allow us to recommend content we believe is relevant to you.
Generally, cookies used on this website may perform the following functions:
Essential: These temporary cookies only remain in the cookies folder of your browser until you leave our website.
Performance: These cookies are stored on your computer – they contain no personal information and are used to improve performance and assist in navigation. They remain in the cookies folder of your browser for longer than “Essential” cookies (dependent on your browser settings).
We use or allow third parties to serve cookies that fall into the categories above. We use Google Analytics to help us monitor our website traffic, and cookies may also be served via thehostelcrowd.com or any of our subsidiary domains, online surveys, and online publications.
We may also use third party cookies to help us with market research, revenue tracking, improving site functionality and monitoring compliance with our Terms and Conditions and Copyright Policy as stated in our Terms and Conditions.
By using our website, you agree that we can place these types of cookies on your device. We may change ‘How We Use Cookies’ from time to time. It is your responsibility to check the policy regularly. You will be deemed to have accepted any amendments to the policy if you continue to make use of the website after a change to ‘How We Use Cookies’ has been made.
We have links to social networking websites (for example but not limited to: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) from The Hostel Crowd. These websites may place cookies on your computer. We do not control how they use their cookies. We suggest you check their website to see how they are using cookies.
Please note that by blocking or deleting cookies, you may not be able to take full advantage of our websites.
Website Security
The Internet is not a secure medium. However, we have put in place various security procedures, including firewalls that are used to block unauthorized traffic to our website.
Third Party Websites
Our website contains links to many other websites promoting their business and needs to our guests. The Hostel Crowd indemnifies itself against all data use on and reservations made via third party websites/agents. Please refer to their relevant privacy policy and terms and conditions.
Photography and Film
No permission is needed to take photos or film at our properties. However, we do recommend asking for permission before photographing or filming other guests who are not part of your group. Verbal consent is solicited as a goodwill gesture.
On occasions we may commission crews to film or take photographs at our properties for promotional purposes. If you do not wish to be filmed or photographed, you are required to voluntarily leave the filming or photography area.
Disclosing Guests’ Personal Information to Third Parties
Other than that for the purposes referred to in this policy, we will not disclose any personal information without your permission unless we are legally obliged to do so (for example, if required to do so by court order or for the purposes of prevention of fraud).
Your Rights
By submitting your information to us, you consent to the use of that information as set out in this Privacy Policy. You may request at any time that we provide you with the personal information we hold about you. Provision of such information will be subject to proving your identity and full address with a utility bill and acceptable photo ID.
Changes to Our Privacy Policy
We may change our Privacy Policy at any time. Continued use of our website signifies that you agree to any such changes.