Terms of Service

Carefully read the Terms of Service as they contain essential information for your knowledge. Your legal rights, obligations and remedies are explained. By accepting these Terms of Service, you agree to comply and be bound by them.

Last Updated: 01 July 2020

Thank you for considering iSTAY.

Terms of Service constitute a legally binding agreement between you and iSTAY, governing your access to and use of the iSTAY website. The agreement includes the use of iSTAY Platform, which includes the website from, personal computers, laptops, mobiles, tablets and other smart device applications and any other application program interface.

“iSTAY”, “we”, “us” and “our” refers to the iSTAY trading name you are contracting with. The Terms of Service will be determined based on your Country of Residence, which will be associated with your iSTAY Account. Your Country of Residence will be determined by either your selection or by iSTAY’s assessment using data from your iSTAY account. If you change your Country of Residence, then the contract will be determined based on your new Country of Residence, from the date of change of the Country of Residence.

The data collection and use of personal information, based on your use and access to the iSTAY Platform is described in our Privacy Policy section.

All the payment processing services relevant with iSTAY platform are provided to you by the only one iSTAY Payments entity as set out in the Payments Terms of Service.

Hosts are obliged to read, understand, accept and comply with all terms, conditions, rules, regulations and laws that apply to their Listings and Host Services. All the above are based on their Country of Residence and specific cities that might have different restrictions (may need to register and get permit or obtain license before providing any services). Hosts are obliged to obtain and hold such permits or licenses, otherwise, penalties, fines and other legal enforcement may apply. If you have any inquiry, it is recommended to seek for legal advice.

Purpose of iSTAY Services

The iSTAY Platform is an online platform that allows registered users (“Hosts”) to publish their Listings on the iSTAY Platform, communicate and proceed with any transaction with users (“Guests”) that are looking to book holidays or other properties.

iSTAY has nothing to do with owning, selling, buying, reselling, providing, controlling, managing, offering, supplying or delivering any Listings or Services. “Hosts” are strictly responsible to list and provide services. As iSTAY is not a real estate broker and/or insurer, it does not become part of the contract. The contract is directly between the “Host” and the “Guest” when the “Guest” make or accept a booking. iSTAY is not an agent and does not act as one for any “Host” and/or “Guest”.

iSTAY has a plan on helping for resolution of disputes, but does not guarantee and has no control over:

The existence, quality, safety, suitability or legality of any Listing,
The truth or accuracy of any description, ratings, reviews of any Listing,
The performance and behaviour of any “Host” and/or “Guest” and/or third party.

When referring to “verified” (or similar wording) “Host” and/or “Guest”, iSTAY states that has completed an identification process and nothing more. iSTAY is not obliged to do any background or identity check for any “Host” and/or “Guest”. You should exercise a due diligence and carefully deciding to stay in an Accommodation and/or accepting a booking request from a “Guest” and/or communicate and/or interact either online or in person with any “Host” and/or “Guest”. Verified Images are only photographic representation of an Accommodation, when the photograph was taken and thus are not used by iSTAY to endorse any “Host” or Accommodation.

When choosing to use the iSTAY Platform as a “Host”, you agree that your relationship with iSTAY is limited to be an independent, third-party contractor. You are not an employee, joint venture or partner of iSTAY for any reason. You, as a “Host” are acting exclusively for your own benefit, on your own behalf and not for the benefit or behalf of iSTAY. You understand and agree that you have a complete discretion on how to manage your property, how to list it or even engage in other business or employment activities. iSTAY does not, and shall not, control you or your property.

For the advertisement and promotion of the iSTAY Platform and to maximize the exposure of Accommodations to potential “Guests” and attract more “Hosts”, Accommodations and other data may be displayed on emails, in online and offline advertisements, in applications and other websites. The details uploaded on the website may be translated, in whole or in part, into other languages, to help potential “Hosts” and “Guests”. iSTAY cannot guarantee the quality and accuracy of such translations, thus “Hosts” and “Guests” are responsible for reading and verifying the accuracy of the translations.

The iSTAY Platform may contain advertisements and links to third-party websites and/or resources which might be subject to different terms and conditions. iSTAY has no responsibility on the availability and/or accuracy of the products and/or services from such third-parties.

iSTAY, as an online platform, due to the nature of Internet, cannot guarantee the continuous and uninterrupted accessibility and availability of the iSTAY Platform. Due to the capacity limits, the security and/or integrity of our servers, or for maintenance to ensure the best possible performance of the iSTAY Platform, iSTAY may restrict the availability of the iSTAY Platform or certain areas and/or features of the iSTAY Platform. iSTAY Platform may be improved, enhanced and modified at any time. iSTAY may also introduce new iSTAY Services.

Using the iSTAY Platform: Eligibility and Users Verification

You must be at least 18 years old and be willing and able to enter into a legal contract to access and use the iSTAY Platform or register an iSTAY Account. When using the iSTAY Platform you are obliged to present that you are at least 18 years old and have the legal authority and capacity to enter into a legally binding contract.

iSTAY may make access to and use of the iSTAY Platform, or certain areas or features of the iSTAY Platform, subject to certain conditions or requirements, such as completing a verification process, meeting specific quality or eligibility criteria, meeting Ratings or Reviews thresholds, or a user’s booking and cancellation history.

User verification on the Internet is difficult and we do not assume any responsibility for the confirmation of any user’s identity. Notwithstanding the above, for transparency and fraud prevention purposes, and as permitted by applicable laws, we may, but have no obligation to

ask users to provide a form of government identification or other information or undertake additional checks designed to help verify the identities or backgrounds of users,
screen users against third party databases or other sources and request reports from service providers,
where we have sufficient information to identify a user, obtain reports from public records of criminal convictions or sex offender registrations or an equivalent version of background or registered sex offender checks in your local jurisdiction (if available).

The access to or use of certain areas and features of the iSTAY Platform may be subject to separate policies, standards or guidelines, or may require that you accept additional terms and conditions. If there is a conflict between these Terms and terms and conditions applicable to a specific area or feature of the iSTAY Platform, the latter terms and conditions will take precedence with respect to your access to or use of that area or feature, unless specified otherwise.

Modification of these Terms

iSTAY reserves the right to modify these Terms at any time in accordance with this provision. If we make changes to these Terms, we will post the revised Terms on the iSTAY Platform and update the “Last Updated” date at the top of these Terms. We will also provide you with notice of the modifications by email at least thirty (30) days before the date they become effective. If you disagree with the revised Terms, you may terminate this Agreement with immediate effect. We will inform you about your right to terminate the Agreement in the notification email. If you do not terminate your Agreement before the date the revised Terms become effective, your continued access to or use of the iSTAY Platform will constitute acceptance of the revised Terms.

Account Registration

You must register an account (“iSTAY Account”) to access and use certain features of the iSTAY Platform, such as publishing or booking a Listing. If you are registering an iSTAY Account for a company or other legal entity, you represent and warrant that you have the authority to legally bind that entity and grant us all permissions and licenses provided in these Terms.

You can register an iSTAY Account using an email address and creating a password, or through your account with certain third-party social networking services, such as Facebook. You can disable the connection between your iSTAY Account and your Facebook Account at any time, by accessing the “Settings” section of the iSTAY Platform.

You must provide accurate, current and complete information during the registration process and keep your iSTAY Account and public iSTAY Account profile page information up-to-date always.

You may not register more than one (1) iSTAY Account unless iSTAY authorizes you to do so. You may not assign or otherwise transfer your iSTAY Account to another party.

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality and security of your iSTAY Account credentials and may not disclose your credentials to any third party. You must immediately notify iSTAY if you know or have any reason to suspect that your credentials have been lost, stolen, misappropriated, or otherwise compromised or in case of any actual or suspected unauthorized use of your iSTAY Account. You are liable for all activities conducted through your iSTAY Account, unless such activities are not authorized by you and you are not otherwise negligent.

iSTAY may enable features that allow you to authorize other users or certain third parties to take certain actions that affect your iSTAY Account. No third party is authorized by iSTAY to ask for your credentials, and you shall not request the credentials of another user.

Content

iSTAY may, at its sole discretion, enable Users to

(i) create, upload, post, send, receive and store content, such as text, photos, audio, video, or other materials and information on or through the iSTAY Platform;

(ii) access and view any content that iSTAY itself makes available on or through the iSTAY Platform, including proprietary iSTAY content and any content licensed or authorized for use by or through iSTAY from a third party.

The iSTAY Platform, may in its entirety or in part be protected by copyright, trademark, and/or other laws of different countries. You acknowledge and agree that the iSTAY Platform, including all associated intellectual property rights, are the exclusive property of iSTAY and/or its licensors or authorizing third-parties. You will not remove, alter or obscure any copyright, trademark, service mark or other proprietary rights notices incorporated in or accompanying the iSTAY Platform. All trademarks, service marks, logos, trade names, and any other source identifiers of iSTAY used on or in connection with the iSTAY Platform are trademarks or registered trademarks of iSTAY in Cyprus and abroad. Trademarks, service marks, logos, trade names and any other proprietary designations of third parties used on or in connection with the iSTAY Platform are used for identification purposes only and may be the property of their respective owners.

You will not use, copy, adapt, modify, prepare derivative works of, distribute, license, sell, transfer, publicly display, publicly perform, transmit, broadcast or otherwise exploit the iSTAY Platform. No licenses or rights are granted to you by implication or otherwise under any intellectual property rights owned or controlled by iSTAY or its licensors.

Subject to your compliance with these Terms, iSTAY grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-sublicensable, revocable, non-transferable license to

download and use the Application on your personal device(s);
access and view any data made available on or through the iSTAY Platform and accessible to you, solely for your personal and non-commercial use.

By creating, uploading, posting, sending, receiving, storing, or otherwise making available any data on or through the iSTAY Platform, you grant to iSTAY a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, sub-licensable and transferable license to such data to access, use, store, copy, modify, prepare derivative works of, distribute, publish, transmit, stream, broadcast, and otherwise exploit in any manner such data to provide and/or promote the iSTAY Platform, in any media or platform. Unless you provide specific consent, iSTAY does not claim any ownership rights in any data and nothing in these Terms will be deemed to restrict any rights that you may have to use or exploit your data.

iSTAY may offer Hosts the option of having professional photographers take photographs of their services, which are made available by the photographer to Hosts to include in their Listings with or without a watermark or tag bearing the words “iSTAY.com.cy ” or similar wording. You are responsible for ensuring that your Service is accurately represented in the Verified Images and you will stop using the Verified Images on or through the iSTAY Platform if they no longer accurately represent your Listing, if you stop hosting the Service featured, or if your iSTAY Account is terminated or suspended for any reason. You acknowledge and agree that iSTAY shall have the right to use any Verified Images for advertising, marketing and/or any other business purposes in any media or platform, whether in relation to your Listing or otherwise, without further notice or compensation to you. Where iSTAY is not the exclusive owner of Verified Images, by using such Verified Images on or through the iSTAY Platform, you grant to iSTAY an exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual (or for the term of the protection), sub-licensable and transferable license to use such Verified Images for advertising, marketing and/or any other business purposes in any media or platform, whether in relation to your Listing or otherwise, without further notice or compensation to you. iSTAY in turn grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-sublicensable, revocable, non-transferable license to use Verified Images outside of the iSTAY Platform solely for your personal and non-commercial use.

You are solely responsible for all data that you make available on or through the iSTAY Platform. Accordingly, you represent and warrant that:

you either are the sole and exclusive owner of all data that you make available on or through the iSTAY Platform or you have all rights, licenses, consents and releases that are necessary to grant to iSTAY the rights in and to such data, as contemplated under these Terms;
neither the data nor your posting, uploading, publication, submission or transmittal of the data or iSTAY’s use of the data (or any portion thereof) will infringe, misappropriate or violate a third party’s patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, moral rights or other proprietary or intellectual property rights, or rights of publicity or privacy, or result in the violation of any applicable law or regulation.

You will not post, upload, publish, submit or transmit any data that:

is fraudulent, false, misleading (directly or by omission or failure to update information) or deceptive;
is defamatory, libelous, obscene, pornographic, vulgar or offensive;
promotes discrimination, bigotry, racism, hatred, harassment or harm against any individual or group;
is violent or threatening or promotes violence or actions that are threatening to any other person or animal;
promotes illegal or harmful activities or substances;
violates iSTAY’s Content Policy or any other iSTAY policy. iSTAY may, without prior notice, remove or disable access to any data that iSTAY finds to be in violation of these Terms or iSTAY’s then-current Policies or Standards, or otherwise may be harmful or objectionable to iSTAY, its users, third parties, or property.

iSTAY respects copyright law and expects its users to do the same. If you believe that any content on the iSTAY Platform infringes copyrights you own, please notify us in accordance with our Copyright Policy.

Service Fees

iSTAY may charge fees to Hosts in consideration for the use of the iSTAY Platform but no fees for the “Guests”. More information about when Service Fees apply and how they are calculated can be found on our website.

Any applicable Service Fees (including any applicable Taxes) will be displayed to a Host or Guest prior to publishing or booking a Listing. iSTAY reserves the right to change the Service Fees at any time, and will provide users adequate notice of any fee changes before they become effective.

You are responsible for paying any Service Fees that you owe to iSTAY. The applicable Service Fees (including any applicable Taxes) are collected by iSTAY Payments. iSTAY Payments will deduct any Host Fees from the Listing Fee before remitting the pay-out to the Host. Except as otherwise provided on the iSTAY Platform, Service Fees are non-refundable.

Terms specific for Hosts

Terms applicable to all Listings

When creating a Listing through the iSTAY Platform you must

provide complete and accurate information about your Host Service (such as listing description, location, and calendar availability),
disclose any deficiencies, restrictions (such as house rules) and requirements that apply (such as any minimum age, proficiency)
provide any other pertinent information requested by iSTAY.

You are responsible for keeping your Listing information (including calendar availability) up-to-date always.

You are solely responsible for setting a price (including any Taxes if applicable, or charges such as cleaning fees) for your Listing. Once a Guest requests a booking of your Listing, you may not request that the Guest pays a higher price than in the booking request.

Any terms and conditions included in your Listing, in relation to cancellations, must not conflict with these Terms or the relevant cancellation policy for your Listing.

Photographs, animations or videos used in your Listings must accurately reflect the quality and condition of your Services. iSTAY reserves the right to require that Listings have a minimum number of Images of a certain format, size and resolution.

The placement and ranking of Listings in search results on the iSTAY Platform may vary and depend on a variety of factors, such as Guest search parameters and preferences, Host requirements, price and calendar availability, number and quality of Images, customer service and cancellation history, Reviews and Ratings, type of Service, and/or ease of booking.

When you accept or have pre-approved a booking request by a Guest, you are entering into a legally binding agreement with the Guest and are required to provide your Service(s) to the Guest as described in your Listing when the booking request is made. You also agree to pay the applicable Host Fee and any applicable Taxes.

iSTAY recommends that Hosts obtain appropriate insurance for their Host Services. Please review any respective insurance policy carefully, and in particular make sure that you are familiar with and understand any exclusions to, and any deductibles that may apply for, such insurance policy, including, but not limited to, whether or not your insurance policy will cover the actions or inactions of Guests (and the individuals the Guest has booked for, if applicable) while staying at your Accommodation.

Listing Accommodations

Unless expressly allowed by iSTAY, you may not list more than one Accommodation per Listing.

If you choose to require a security deposit for your Accommodation, you must specify this in your Listing. Hosts are not allowed to ask for a Security Deposit after a booking has been confirmed or outside of the iSTAY Platform. iSTAY will use commercially reasonable efforts to address Hosts’ requests and claims related to Security Deposits, but iSTAY is not responsible for administering or accepting any claims by Hosts related to Security Deposits.

You represent and warrant that any Listing you post and the booking of, or a Guest’s stay at, an Accommodation will

not breach any agreements you have entered into with any third parties, such as homeowners’ association, condominium, or other agreements,
comply with all applicable laws (such as zoning laws), Tax requirements, and other rules and regulations (including having all required permits, licenses and registrations).

As a Host, you are responsible for your own acts and omissions and are also responsible for the acts and omissions of any individuals who reside at or are otherwise present at the Accommodation at your request or invitation, excluding the Guest and any individuals the Guest invites to the Accommodation.

Terms specific for Guests

Terms applicable to all bookings

Subject to meeting any requirements (such as completing any verification processes) set by iSTAY and/or the Host, you can book a Listing available on the iSTAY Platform by following the respective booking process. All applicable fees, including the Listing Fee, Security Deposit (if applicable) and any applicable Taxes will be presented to you prior to booking a Listing. You agree to pay the Total Fees for any booking requested in connection with your iSTAY Account.

Upon receipt of a booking confirmation from iSTAY, a legally binding agreement is formed between you and your Host, subject to any additional terms and conditions of the Host that apply, including the applicable cancellation policy and any rules and restrictions specified in the Listing. iSTAY Payments will collect the Total Fees at the time of the booking request or upon the Host’s confirmation pursuant to the Payments Terms. For certain bookings, Guests may be required to pay or have the option to pay in multiple installments.

If you book a Host Service on behalf of additional guests, you are required to ensure that every additional guest meets any requirements set by the Host and is made aware of and agrees to these Terms and any terms and conditions, rules and restrictions set by the Host. If you are booking for an additional guest who is a minor, you represent and warrant that you are legally authorized to act on behalf of and be responsible for the minor.

Booking Accommodations

You understand that a confirmed booking of an Accommodation is a limited license granted to you by the Host to enter, occupy and use the Accommodation for the duration of your stay, during which time the Host (only where and to the extent permitted by applicable law) retains the right to re-enter the Accommodation, in accordance with your agreement with the Host.

You agree to leave the Accommodation no later than the checkout time that the Host specifies in the Listing or such other time as mutually agreed upon between you and the Host. If you stay past the agreed upon checkout time without the Host’s consent, you no longer have a license to stay in the Accommodation and the Host is entitled to make you leave in a manner consistent with applicable law. In addition, you agree to pay, if requested by the Host, for each twenty-four (24) hour period (or any portion thereof) that you Overstay, an additional nightly fee of up to two (2) times the average nightly Listing Fee originally paid by you to cover the inconvenience suffered by the Host, plus all applicable Taxes, and any legal expenses incurred by the Host to make you leave. Overstay Fees for late checkouts on the checkout date that do not impact upcoming bookings may be limited to the additional costs incurred by the Host because of such Overstay. If you Overstay at an Accommodation, you authorize iSTAY (via ISTAY Payments) to charge you to collect Overstay Fees. A Security Deposit, if required by a Host, may be applied to any Overstay Fees due for a Guest’s Overstay.

Booking Modifications, Cancellations and Refunds, Resolution Center

Hosts and Guests are responsible for any modifications to a booking that they make via the iSTAY Platform or direct iSTAY customer service to make (“Booking Modifications”), and agree to pay any additional Listing Fees, Host Fees and/or Taxes associated with such Booking Modifications.

Guests can cancel a confirmed booking at any time pursuant to the Listing’s cancellation policy, and iSTAY Payments will refund the amount of the Total Fees due to the Guest in accordance with such cancellation policy. Unless extenuating circumstances exist, any portion of the Total Fees due to the Host under the applicable cancellation policy will be remitted to the Host by iSTAY Payments pursuant to the Payments Terms.

If a Host cancels a confirmed booking, the Guest will receive a full refund of the Total Fees for such booking within a commercially reasonable time of the cancellation. In some instances, iSTAY may allow the Guest to apply the refund to a new booking, in which case iSTAY Payments will credit the amount against the Guest’s subsequent booking at the Guest’s direction. Further, iSTAY may publish an automated review on the Listing cancelled by the Host indicating that a booking was cancelled. In addition, iSTAY may

(i) keep the calendar for the Listing unavailable or blocked for the dates of the cancelled booking,

(ii) impose a cancellation fee, unless the Host has a valid reason for cancelling the booking pursuant to iSTAY’s Extenuating Circumstances Policy or has legitimate concerns about the Guest’s behaviour.

In certain circumstances, iSTAY may decide, in its sole discretion, that it is necessary to cancel a confirmed booking and make appropriate refund and pay-out decisions. This may be for reasons set forth in iSTAY’s Extenuating Circumstances Policy or

(i) where iSTAY believes in good faith, while taking the legitimate interests of both parties into account, this is necessary to avoid significant harm to iSTAY, other Users, third parties or property

(ii) for any of the reasons set out in these Terms.

If a Guest suffers a Travel Issue pursuant to the Guest Refund Policy, iSTAY may determine, in its sole discretion, to refund the Guest part or all of the Total Fees in accordance with the Guest Refund Policy.

If, as a Host, your Guest cancels a confirmed booking or iSTAY decides that it is necessary to cancel a confirmed booking, and iSTAY issues a refund to the Guest in accordance with the Guest Refund Policy, Extenuating Circumstances Policy, or other applicable cancellation policy, you agree that in the event you have already been paid, iSTAY Payments will be entitled to recover the amount of any such refund from you, including by subtracting such refund amount out from any future Pay-outs due to you.

Except as otherwise set out in these Terms, Users may use the Resolution Center to send or request money for refunds, additional Host Services and/or Damage Claims related to bookings. You agree to pay all amounts sent through the Resolution Centre in connection with your iSTAY Account, and iSTAY Payments will handle all such payments.

Ratings and Reviews

Within a certain timeframe after completing a booking, Guests and Hosts can leave a public review and submit a star rating about each other. Ratings or Reviews reflect the opinions of individual Users and do not reflect the opinion of iSTAY. Ratings and Reviews are not verified by iSTAY for accuracy and may be incorrect or misleading.

Ratings and Reviews by Guests and Hosts must be accurate and may not contain any offensive or defamatory language. Ratings and Reviews must comply with iSTAY’s policies.

Users are prohibited from manipulating the Ratings and Reviews system in any manner, such as instructing a third party to write a positive or negative Review about another User.

Ratings and Reviews are part of a User’s public profile and may also be surfaced elsewhere on the iSTAY Platform together with other relevant information such as number of bookings, number of cancellations, average response time and other information.

Damage to Accommodations, Disputes between Users

As a Guest, you are responsible for leaving the Accommodation (including any personal or other property located at the Accommodation) in the condition it was in when you arrived. You are responsible for your own acts and omissions and are also responsible for the acts and omissions of any individuals whom you invite to, or otherwise provide access to, the Accommodation, excluding the Host (and the individuals the Host invites to the Accommodation, if applicable).

If a Host claims and provides evidence that you as a Guest have damaged an Accommodation or any personal or other property at an Accommodation (“Damage Claim”), the Host can seek payment from you through the Resolution Center. If a Host escalates a Damage Claim to iSTAY, you will be given an opportunity to respond. If you agree to pay the Host, or iSTAY determines in its sole discretion that you are responsible for the Damage Claim, iSTAY Payments will collect any such sums from you and/or against the Security Deposit (if applicable) required to cover the Damage Claim pursuant to the Payments Terms. iSTAY also reserves the right to otherwise collect payment from you and pursue any remedies available to iSTAY in this regard in situations in which you are responsible for a Damage Claim, including, but not limited to, in relation to any payment requests made by Hosts.

Users agree to cooperate with and assist iSTAY in good faith, and to provide iSTAY with such information and take such actions as may be reasonably requested by iSTAY, in connection with any Damage Claims or other complaints or claims made by Users relating to

(i) Accommodations or any personal or other property located at an Accommodation (including, without limitation, payment requests made under the iSTAY Host Guarantee),

(ii) a Group Payment Booking.

A User shall, upon iSTAY’s reasonable request and at no cost to the User, participate in mediation or a similar resolution process with another User, which process will be conducted by iSTAY or a third party selected by iSTAY or its insurer, with respect to losses for which a User is requesting payment from iSTAY (including but not limited to payments under the iSTAY Host Guarantee).

If you are a Guest, you understand and agree that iSTAY may make a claim under your homeowner’s, renter’s or other insurance policy related to any damage or loss that you may have caused, or been responsible for, to any personal or other property (including an Accommodation) of the Host (including without limitation amounts paid by iSTAY under the iSTAY Host Guarantee). You agree to cooperate with and assist iSTAY in good faith, and to provide iSTAY with such information as may be reasonably requested by iSTAY, to make a claim under your homeowner’s, renter’s or other insurance policy, including, but not limited to, executing documents and taking such further acts as iSTAY may reasonably request to assist iSTAY in accomplishing the foregoing.

Rounding off

iSTAY generally supports payment amounts that are payable from or to Guests or Hosts to the smallest unit supported by a given currency (i.e., U.S. cents, Euro cents or other supported currencies). Where iSTAY’s third-party payment services provider does not support payments in the smaller unit supported by a given currency, iSTAY may, in its sole discretion, round up or round down amounts that are payable from or to Guests or Hosts to the nearest whole functional base unit in which the currency is denominated (i.e. to the nearest dollar, Euro or other supported currency); for example, iSTAY may round up an amount of $101.50 to $102.00, and round down an amount of $101.49 to $101.00.

Taxes

As a Host you are solely responsible for determining your obligations to report, collect, remit or include in your Listing Fees any applicable VAT or other indirect sales taxes, occupancy tax, tourist or other visitor taxes or income taxes.

Tax regulations may require us to collect appropriate Tax information from Hosts, or to withhold Taxes from pay-outs to Hosts, or both. If a Host fails to provide us with documentation that we determine to be sufficient to alleviate our obligation (if any) to withhold Taxes from pay-outs to you, we reserve the right to freeze all pay-outs, withhold such amounts as required by law, or to do both, until resolution.

You understand that any appropriate governmental agency, department and/or authority where your Accommodation is located may require Taxes to be collected from Guests or Hosts on Listing Fees, and to be remitted to the respective Tax Authority. The laws in jurisdictions may vary, but these Taxes may be required to be collected and remitted as a percentage of the Listing Fees set by Hosts, a set amount per day, or other variations, and are sometimes called “transient occupancy taxes,” “hotel taxes,” “lodging taxes,” “city taxes,” “room taxes” or “tourist taxes”.

In certain jurisdictions, iSTAY may decide in its sole discretion to facilitate collection and remittance of Occupancy Taxes from or on behalf of Guests or Hosts, in accordance these Terms if such jurisdiction asserts iSTAY or Hosts have an Occupancy Tax collection and remittance obligation. In any jurisdiction in which we decide to facilitate direct Collection and Remittance, you hereby instruct and authorize iSTAY (via iSTAY Payments) to collect Occupancy Taxes from Guests on the Host’s behalf at the time Listing Fees are collected, and to remit such Occupancy Taxes to the Tax Authority. The amount of Occupancy Taxes, if any, collected and remitted by iSTAY will be visible to and separately stated to both Guests and Hosts on their respective transaction documents. Where iSTAY is facilitating Collection and Remittance, Hosts are not permitted to collect any Occupancy Taxes being collected by iSTAY relating to their Accommodations in that jurisdiction.

You agree that any claim or cause of action relating to iSTAY’s facilitation of Collection and Remittance of Occupancy Taxes shall not extend to any supplier or vendor that may be used by iSTAY in connection with facilitation of Collection and Remittance, if any. Guests and Hosts agree that we may seek additional amounts from you if the Taxes collected and/or remitted are insufficient to fully discharge your obligations to the Tax Authority and agree that your sole remedy for Occupancy Taxes collected is a refund of Occupancy Taxes collected by iSTAY from the applicable Tax Authority in accordance with applicable procedures set by that Tax Authority.

iSTAY reserves the right, with prior notice to Hosts, to cease the Collection and Remittance in any jurisdiction for any reason at which point Hosts and Guests are once again solely responsible and liable for the collection and/or remittance of any, and all Occupancy Taxes that may apply to Accommodations in that jurisdiction.

Prohibited Activities

You are solely responsible for compliance with any and all laws, rules, regulations, and Tax obligations that may apply to your use of the iSTAY Platform. In connection with your use of the iSTAY Platform, you will not and will not assist or enable others to:

breach or circumvent any applicable laws or regulations, agreements with third-parties, third-party rights, or our Terms,Policies or Standards;
use the iSTAY Platform or Collective Content for any commercial or other purposes that are not expressly permitted by these Terms or in a manner that falsely implies iSTAY endorsement, partnership or otherwise misleads others as to your affiliation with iSTAY;
copy, store or otherwise access or use any information, including personally identifiable information about any other User, contained on the iSTAY Platform in any way that is inconsistent with iSTAY’s Privacy Policy or these Terms or that otherwise violates the privacy rights of Users or third parties;
use the iSTAY Platform in connection with the distribution of unsolicited commercial messages (“spam”);
offer, as a Host, any Accommodation that you do not yourself own or have permission to make available as a residential or other property through the iSTAY Platform;
unless iSTAY explicitly permits otherwise, book any Listing if you will not actually be using the Host Services yourself;
contact another User for any purpose other than asking a question related to a, or your own, booking, Listing, or the User’s use of the iSTAY Platform, including, but not limited to, recruiting or otherwise soliciting any User to join third-party services, applications or websites, without our prior written approval;
use the iSTAY Platform to request, make or accept a booking independent of the iSTAY Platform, to circumvent any Service Fees or for any other reason;
request, accept or make any payment for Listing Fees outside of the iSTAY Platform or iSTAY Payments. If you do so, you acknowledge and agree that you:
1. would be in breach of these Terms;
2. accept all risks and responsibility for such payment, and
3. hold iSTAY harmless from any liability for such payment;
discriminate against or harass anyone based on race, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, physical or mental disability, medical condition, marital status, age or sexual orientation, or otherwise engage in any violent, harmful, abusive or disruptive behavior;
use, display, mirror or frame the iSTAY Platform or Collective Content, or any individual element within the iSTAY Platform, iSTAY’s name, any iSTAY trademark, logo or other proprietary information, or the layout and design of any page or form contained on a page in the iSTAY Platform, without iSTAY’s express written consent;
dilute, tarnish or otherwise harm the iSTAY brand in any way, including through unauthorized use of Collective Content, registering and/or using iSTAY or derivative terms in domain names, trade names, trademarks or other source identifiers, or registering and/or using domains names, trade names, trademarks or other source identifiers that closely imitate or are confusingly similar to iSTAY domains, trademarks, taglines, promotional campaigns or Collective Content;
use any robots, spider, crawler, scraper or other automated means or processes to access, collect data or other content from or otherwise interact with the iSTAY Platform for any purpose;
avoid, bypass, remove, deactivate, impair, descramble, or otherwise attempt to circumvent any technological measure implemented by iSTAY or any of iSTAY’s providers or any other third party to protect the iSTAY Platform;
attempt to decipher, decompile, disassemble or reverse engineer any of the software used to provide the iSTAY Platform;
take any action that damages or adversely affects, or could damage or adversely affect the performance or proper functioning of the iSTAY Platform;
export, re-export, import, or transfer the Application except as authorized by laws of your jurisdiction, and any other applicable laws; or
violate or infringe anyone else’s rights or otherwise cause harm to anyone.

You acknowledge that iSTAY has no obligation to monitor the access to or use of the iSTAY Platform by any User or to review, disable access to, or edit any User Content, but has the right to do so to

operate, secure and improve the iSTAY Platform (including without limitation for fraud prevention, risk assessment, investigation and customer support purposes);
ensure Users’ compliance with these Terms;
comply with applicable law or the order or requirement of a court, law enforcement or other administrative agency or governmental body;
respond to User Content that it determines is harmful or objectionable; or
as otherwise set forth in these Terms.

Users agree to cooperate with and assist iSTAY in good faith, and to provide iSTAY with such information and take such actions as may be reasonably requested by iSTAY with respect to any investigation undertaken by iSTAY or a representative of iSTAY regarding the use or abuse of the iSTAY Platform.

If you feel that any User you interact with, whether online or in person, is acting or has acted inappropriately, including but not limited to anyone who

engages in offensive, violent or sexually inappropriate behavior,
you suspect of stealing from you, or
engages in any other disturbing conduct,

you should immediately report such person to the appropriate authorities and then to iSTAY by contacting us with your police station and report number (if available). You agree that any report you make will not obligate us to take any action (beyond that required by law, if any).

Term and Termination, Suspension and other Measures

This Agreement shall be effective for a 30-day term, at the end of which it will automatically and continuously renew for subsequent 30-day terms until such time when you or iSTAY terminate the Agreement in accordance with this provision.

You may terminate this Agreement at any time by sending us an email. If you cancel your iSTAY Account as a Host, any confirmed booking(s) will be automatically cancelled and your Guests will receive a full refund. If you cancel your iSTAY Account as a Guest, any confirmed booking(s) will be automatically cancelled and any refund will depend upon the terms of the Listing’s cancellation policy.

Without limiting our rights specified below, iSTAY may terminate this Agreement for convenience at any time by giving you thirty (30) days’ notice via email to your registered email address.

iSTAY may immediately, without notice, terminate this Agreement and/or stop providing access to the iSTAY Platform if

you have materially breached your obligations under these Terms, the Payments Terms, our Policies or Standards,
you have violated applicable laws, regulations or third party rights, or
iSTAY believes in good faith that such action is reasonably necessary to protect the personal safety or property of iSTAY, its Users, or third parties (for example in the case of fraudulent behavior of a User).

In addition, iSTAY may take any of the following measures

to comply with applicable law, or the order or request of a court, law enforcement or other administrative agency or governmental body, or if
you have breached these Terms, the Payments Terms, our Policies or Standards, applicable laws, regulations, or third party rights,
you have provided inaccurate, fraudulent, outdated or incomplete information during the iSTAY Account registration, Listing process or thereafter,
you and/or your Listings or Host Services at any time fail to meet any applicable quality or eligibility criteria,
you have repeatedly received poor Ratings or Reviews or iSTAY otherwise becomes aware of or has received complaints about your performance or conduct,
you have repeatedly cancelled confirmed bookings or failed to respond to booking requests without a valid reason, or
iSTAY believes in good faith that such action is reasonably necessary to protect the personal safety or property of iSTAY, its Users, or third parties, or to prevent fraud or other illegal activity:

refuse to surface, delete or delay any Listings, Ratings, Reviews, or other User Content;
cancel any pending or confirmed bookings;
limit your access to or use of the iSTAY Platform;
temporarily or permanently revoke any special status associated with your iSTAY Account;
temporarily or in case of severe or repeated offenses permanently suspend your iSTAY Account and stop providing access to the iSTAY Platform.

In case of non-material breaches and where appropriate, you will be given notice of any intended measure by iSTAY and an opportunity to resolve the issue to iSTAY’s reasonable satisfaction.

If we take any of the measures described above

we may refund your Guests in full for any and all confirmed bookings that have been cancelled, irrespective of pre-existing cancellation policies, and
you will not be entitled to any compensation for pending or confirmed bookings that were cancelled.

When this Agreement has been terminated, you are not entitled to a restoration of your iSTAY Account or any of your User Content. If your access to or use of the iSTAY Platform has been limited or your iSTAY Account has been suspended or this Agreement has been terminated by us, you may not register a new iSTAY Account or access and use the iSTAY Platform through an iSTAY Account of another User.

If you or we terminate this Agreement, the clauses of these Terms that reasonably should survive termination of the Agreement will remain in effect.

Disclaimers

If you choose to use the iSTAY Platform or Collective Content, you do so voluntarily and at your sole risk. The iSTAY Platform and Collective Content is provided “as is”, without warranty of any kind, either express or implied.

You agree that you have had whatever opportunity you deem necessary to investigate the iSTAY Services, laws, rules, or regulations that may be applicable to your Listings and/or Host Services you are receiving and that you are not relying upon any statement of law or fact made by iSTAY relating to a Listing.

If we choose to conduct identity verification or background checks on any User, to the extent permitted by applicable law, we disclaim warranties of any kind, either express or implied, that such checks will identify prior misconduct by a User or guarantee that a User will not engage in misconduct in the future.

You agree that if you are bringing a minor as an additional guest, you are solely responsible for the supervision of that minor throughout the duration of your Host Service and to the maximum extent permitted by law, you agree to release and hold harmless iSTAY from all liabilities and claims that arise in any way from any injury, death, loss or harm that occurs to that minor during the Host Service or in any way related to your Host Service.

The foregoing disclaimers apply to the maximum extent permitted by law. You may have other statutory rights. However, the duration of statutorily required warranties, if any, shall be limited to the maximum extent permitted by law.

Liability

Neither iSTAY nor any other party involved in creating, producing, or delivering the iSTAY Platform or Collective Content will be liable for any incidental, special, exemplary or consequential damages, including lost profits, loss of data or loss of goodwill, service interruption, computer damage or system failure or the cost of substitute products or services, or for any damages for personal or bodily injury or emotional distress arising out of or in connection with

these Terms,
from the use of or inability to use the iSTAY Platform or Collective Content,
from any communications, interactions or meetings with other Users or other persons with whom you communicate, interact or meet with because of your use of the iSTAY Platform, or
from your publishing or booking of a Listing, including the provision or use of a Listing’s Host Services,

whether based on warranty, contract, tort (including negligence), product liability or any other legal theory, and whether iSTAY has been informed of the possibility of such damage, even if a limited remedy set forth herein is found to have failed of its essential purpose. Except for our obligations to pay amounts to applicable Hosts pursuant to these Terms or an approved payment request under the iSTAY Host Guarantee, in no event will iSTAY’s aggregate liability arising out of or in connection with these Terms and your use of the iSTAY Platform including, but not limited to, from your publishing or booking of any Listings via the iSTAY Platform, or from the use of or inability to use the iSTAY Platform or Collective Content exceed the amounts you have paid or owe for bookings via the iSTAY Platform as a Guest in the twelve (12) month period prior to the event giving rise to the liability, or if you are a Host, the amounts paid by iSTAY to you in the twelve (12) month period prior to the event giving rise to the liability. The limitations of damages set forth above are fundamental elements of the basis of the bargain between iSTAY and you. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, so the above limitation may not apply to you. If you reside outside of the U.S., this does not affect iSTAY’s liability for death or personal injury arising from its negligence, nor for fraudulent misrepresentation, misrepresentation as to a fundamental matter or any other liability which cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

If your Country of Residence is in the EU, iSTAY is liable under statutory provisions for intent and gross negligence by us, our legal representatives, directors, or other vicarious agents. The same applies to the assumption of guarantees or any other strict liability, or in case of a culpable injury to life, limb, or health. iSTAY is liable for any negligent breaches of essential contractual obligations by us, our legal representatives, directors, or other vicarious agents. Essential contractual obligations are such duties of iSTAY in whose proper fulfilment you regularly trust and must trust for the proper execution of the contract, but the amount shall be limited to the typically occurring foreseeable damage. Any additional liability of iSTAY is excluded.

Indemnification

You agree to release, defend (at iSTAY’s option), indemnify, and hold iSTAY and its affiliates and subsidiaries, including but not limited to, iSTAY Payments, and their officers, directors, employees and agents, harmless from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses, including, without limitation, reasonable legal and accounting fees, arising out of or in any way connected with

your breach of these Terms or our Policies or Standards,
your improper use of the iSTAY Platform or any iSTAY Services,
your interaction with any User, stay at an Accommodation, including without limitation any injuries, losses or damages (whether compensatory, direct, incidental, consequential or otherwise) of any kind arising in connection with or as a result of such interaction, stay, participation or use,
iSTAY’s Collection and Remittance of Occupancy Taxes, or
your breach of any laws, regulations or third party rights.

Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Agreement

This Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Agreement shall apply if your

Country of Residence is in the European Union; or
your Country of Residence is not in the European Union but bring any claim against iSTAY in the European Union.

Overview of Dispute Resolution Process. iSTAY is committed to participating in a consumer-friendly dispute resolution process. To that end, these Terms provide for a two-part process for individuals with an informal negotiation directly with iSTAY’s customer service team.

Pre-Arbitration Dispute Resolution and Notification. Prior to initiating an arbitration, you and iSTAY each agree to notify the other party of the dispute and attempt to negotiate an informal resolution to it first. We will contact you at the email address you have provided to us; you can contact iSTAY’s customer service team by emailing us. If after a good faith effort to negotiate one of us feels the dispute has not and cannot be resolved informally, the party intending to pursue arbitration agrees to notify the other party via email prior to initiating the arbitration.

Agreement to Arbitrate. You and iSTAY mutually agree that any dispute, claim or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the breach, termination, enforcement or interpretation thereof, or to the use of the iSTAY Platform, the Host Services, the Group Payment Service, or the Collective Content will be settled by binding arbitration. If there is a dispute about whether this Arbitration Agreement can be enforced or applies to our Dispute, you and iSTAY agree that the arbitrator will decide that issue.

Exceptions to Arbitration Agreement. You and iSTAY each agree that the following claims are exceptions to the Arbitration Agreement and will be brought in a judicial proceeding in a court of competent jurisdiction:

Any claim related to actual or threatened infringement, misappropriation or violation of a party’s copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, patents, or other intellectual property rights;
Any claim seeking emergency injunctive relief based on exigent circumstances (e.g., imminent danger or commission of a crime, hacking, cyber-attack).

Arbitrator’s Decision. The arbitrator’s decision will include the essential findings and conclusions upon which the arbitrator based the award. Judgment on the arbitration award may be entered in any court with proper jurisdiction. The arbitrator may award declaratory or injunctive relief only on an individual basis and only to the extent necessary to provide relief warranted by the claimant’s individual claim.

Jury Trial Waiver. You and iSTAY acknowledge and agree that we are each waiving the right to a trial by jury as to all arbitrable Disputes.

No Class Actions or Representative Proceedings. You and iSTAY acknowledge and agree that we are each waiving the right to participate as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class action lawsuit, class-wide arbitration, private attorney-general action, or any other representative proceeding as to all Disputes. Further, unless you and iSTAY both otherwise agree in writing, the arbitrator may not consolidate more than one party’s claims and may not otherwise preside over any form of any class or representative proceeding. If this paragraph is held unenforceable with respect to any Dispute, then the entirety of the Arbitration Agreement will be deemed void with respect to such Dispute.

Severability. In the event that any portion of this Arbitration Agreement is deemed illegal or unenforceable, such provision shall be severed and the remainder of the Arbitration Agreement shall be given full force and effect.

Survival. This section will survive any termination of these Terms and will continue to apply even if you stop using the ISTAY Platform or terminate your ISTAY Account.

Feedback

We welcome and encourage you to provide feedback, comments and suggestions for improvements to the iSTAY Platform. You may submit Feedback by emailing us, or by other means of communication. Any Feedback you submit to us will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary to you. By submitting Feedback to us, you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable, sub-licensable, perpetual license to use and publish those ideas and materials for any purpose, without compensation to you.

General Provisions

Except as they may be supplemented by additional terms and conditions, policies, guidelines or standards, these Terms constitute the entire Agreement between iSTAY and you pertaining to the subject matter hereof and supersede any and all prior oral or written understandings or agreements between iSTAY and you in relation to the access to and use of the iSTAY Platform.

No joint venture, partnership, employment, or agency relationship exists between you and iSTAY because of this Agreement or your use of the iSTAY Platform.

These Terms do not and are not intended to confer any rights or remedies upon any person other than the parties.

If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, such provision will be struck and will not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions.

iSTAY’s failure to enforce any right or provision in these Terms will not constitute a waiver of such right or provision unless acknowledged and agreed to by us in writing. Except as expressly set forth in these Terms, the exercise by either party of any of its remedies under these Terms will be without prejudice to its other remedies under these Terms or otherwise permitted under law.

You may not assign, transfer or delegate this Agreement and your rights and obligations hereunder without iSTAY’s prior written consent. iSTAY may without restriction assign, transfer or delegate this Agreement and any rights and obligations hereunder, at its sole discretion, with 30 days prior notice. Your right to terminate this Agreement at any time remains unaffected.

Unless specified otherwise, any notices or other communications to Users permitted or required under this Agreement, will be provided electronically and given by iSTAY via email, iSTAY Platform notification, or messaging service (including SMS and OnlineChat). For notices made to Users residing outside of Germany, the date of receipt will be deemed the date on which iSTAY transmits the notice. If your booking is in respect of a Listing in Japan, you agree and acknowledge that such notifications via electronic means in lieu of a written statement, satisfies iSTAY’s obligations of the Japanese Housing Accommodation Business Act.

If your Country of Residence is in the EU you can access the European Commission’s online dispute resolution platform here: http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr. Please note that iSTAY Ireland is not committed nor obliged to use an alternative dispute resolution entity to resolve disputes with consumers.

If you have any questions about these Terms please email-us.

Nondiscrimination Policy

Our Commitment to Inclusion and Respect

iSTAY is, at its core, an open community dedicated to bringing the world closer together by fostering meaningful, shared experiences among people from all parts of the world. Our community includes millions of people from virtually every country on the globe. It is an incredibly diverse community, drawing together individuals of different cultures, values, and norms.

The iSTAY community is committed to building a world where people from every background feel welcome and respected, no matter how far they have travelled from home. This commitment rests on two foundational principles that apply both to iSTAY’s hosts and guests: inclusion and respect. Our shared commitment to these principles enables every member of our community to feel welcome on the iSTAY platform no matter who they are, where they come from, how they worship, or whom they love. iSTAY recognizes that some jurisdictions permit, or require, distinctions among individuals based on factors such as national origin, gender, marital status or sexual orientation, and it does not require hosts to violate local laws or take actions that may subject them to legal liability. iSTAY will provide additional guidance and adjust this nondiscrimination policy to reflect such permissions and requirements in the jurisdictions where they exist.

While we do not believe that one company/trading name can mandate harmony among all people, we do believe that the iSTAY community can promote empathy and understanding across all cultures. We are all committed to doing everything we can to help eliminate all forms of unlawful bias, discrimination, and intolerance from our platform. We want to promote a culture within the iSTAY community—hosts, guests and people just considering whether to use our platform—that goes above and beyond mere compliance. To that end, all of us, iSTAY employees, hosts and guests alike, agree to read and act in accordance with the following policy to strengthen our community and realize our mission of ensuring that everyone can belong, and feels welcome, anywhere.

Inclusion – We welcome guests of all backgrounds with authentic hospitality and open minds. Joining iSTAY, as a host or guest, means becoming part of a community of inclusion. Bias, prejudice, racism, and hatred have no place on our platform or in our community. While hosts are required to follow all applicable laws that prohibit discrimination based on such factors as race, religion, national origin, and others listed below, we commit to do more than comply with the minimum requirements established by law.
Respect – We are respectful of each other in our interactions and encounters. iSTAY appreciates that local laws and cultural norms vary around the world and expects hosts and guests to abide by local laws, and to engage with each other respectfully, even when views may not reflect their beliefs or upbringings. iSTAY’s members bring to our community an incredible diversity of background experiences, beliefs, and customs. By connecting people from different backgrounds, iSTAY fosters greater understanding and appreciation for the common characteristics shared by all human beings and undermines prejudice rooted in misconception, misinformation, or misunderstanding.

Specific Guidance for Hosts in the United States and European Union

As a general matter, we will familiarize ourselves with all applicable federal, state, and local laws that apply to housing and places of public accommodation. Hosts should contact iSTAY customer service if they have any questions about their obligations to comply with this iSTAY Nondiscrimination Policy. iSTAY will release further discrimination policy guidance for other jurisdictions in the near future. Guided by these principles, our U.S. and EU host community will follow these rules when considering potential guests and hosting guests:

Race, Color, Ethnicity, National Origin, Religion, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, or Marital Status

iSTAY hosts may not:
- Decline a guest based on race, colour, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status.
- Impose any different terms or conditions based on race, colour, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status.
- Post any listing or make any statement that discourages or indicates a preference for or against any guest because of race, colour, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status.

Gender

iSTAY hosts may not:
- Decline to rent to a guest based on gender.
- Impose any different terms or conditions based on gender.
- Post any listing or make any statement that discourages or indicates a preference for or against any guest on account of gender.
iSTAY hosts may:
- Make a unit available to guests of the host’s gender and not the other.

Disability

iSTAY hosts may not:
- Decline a guest based on any actual or perceived disability.
- Impose any different terms or conditions based on the fact that the guest has a disability.
- Substitute their own judgment about whether a unit meets the needs of a guest with a disability for that of the prospective guest.
- Inquire about the existence or severity of a guest’s disability, or the means used to accommodate any disability. If, however, a potential guest raises his or her disability, a host may, and should, discuss with the potential guest whether the listing meets the potential guest’s needs.
- Prohibit or limit the use of mobility devices.
- Charge more in rent or other fees for guests with disabilities.
- Post any listing or make any statement that discourages or indicates a preference for or against any guest on account of the fact that the guest has a disability.
- Refuse to communicate with guests through accessible means that are available.
- Refuse to provide reasonable accommodations, including flexibility when guests with disabilities request modest changes in your house rules, such as bringing an assistance animal that is necessary because of the disability, or using an available parking space near the unit. When a guest requests such an accommodation, the host and the guest should engage in a dialogue to explore mutually agreeable ways to ensure the unit meets the guest’s needs.
iSTAY hosts may:
- Provide factually accurate information about the unit’s accessibility features (or lack of them), allowing for guests with disabilities to assess for themselves whether the unit is appropriate to their individual needs.

Personal Preferences

iSTAY hosts may:
- Except as noted above, iSTAY hosts may decline to rent based on factors that are not prohibited by law. For example, except where prohibited by law, iSTAY hosts may decline to rent guests with pets, or to guests who smoke.
- Require guests to respect restrictions on foods consumed in the listing (e.g., a host who maintains a Kosher or vegetarian kitchen may require guests to respect those restrictions).
- Nothing in this policy prevents a host from turning down a guest on the basis of a characteristic that is not protected under the civil rights laws or closely associated with a protected class. For example, an iSTAY host may turn down a guest who wants to smoke in a unit, or place limits on the number of guests in a unit.

When guests are turned down.

Hosts should keep in mind that no one likes to be turned down. While a host may have, and articulate, lawful and legitimate reasons for turning down a potential guest, it may cause that member of our community to feel unwelcome or excluded. Hosts should make every effort to be welcoming to guests of all backgrounds. Hosts who demonstrate a pattern of rejecting guests from a protected class (even while articulating legitimate reasons), undermine the strength of our community by making potential guests feel unwelcome, and iSTAY may suspend hosts who have demonstrated such a pattern from the iSTAY platform.

Specific Guidance for Hosts Outside the United States and European Union

Outside of the United States and the European Union, some countries or communities may allow or even require people to make accommodation distinctions based on, for example, marital status, national origin, gender or sexual orientation, in violation of our general nondiscrimination philosophy. In these cases, we do not require hosts to violate local laws, nor to accept guests that could expose the hosts to a real and demonstrable risk of arrest, or physical harm to their persons or property. Hosts who live in such areas should set out any such restriction on their ability to host particular guests in their listing, so that prospective guests are aware of the issue and iSTAY can confirm the necessity for such an action. In communicating any such restrictions, we expect hosts to use clear, factual, non-derogatory terms. Slurs and insults have no place on our platform or in our community.

What happens when a host does not comply with our policies in this area?

If a particular listing contains language contrary to this nondiscrimination policy, the host will be asked to remove the language and affirm his or her understanding and intent to comply with this policy and its underlying principles. iSTAY may also, in its discretion, take steps up to and including suspending the host from the iSTAY platform.

If the host improperly rejects guests on the basis of protected class, or uses language demonstrating that his or her actions were motivated by factors prohibited by this policy, iSTAY will take steps to enforce this policy, up to and including suspending the host from the platform.

As the iSTAY community grows, we will continue to ensure that iSTAY’s policies and practices align with our most important goal: To ensure that guests and hosts feel welcome and respected in all of their interactions using the iSTAY platform. The public, our community, and we ourselves, expect no less than this.

Payments Terms of Service

Please read these Payments Terms of Service carefully as they contain important information about your legal rights, remedies and obligations. By using the Payment Services, you agree to comply with and be bound by these Payments Terms of Service.

Please Note: Payments Terms of Service contain an arbitration clause and class action waiver that applies to all iSTAY Users. If your Country of Residence (as defined below) is the United States, this provision applies to all disputes with iSTAY Payments. If your Country of Residence is outside of the United States, this provision applies to any action you bring against iSTAY Payments in the United States. It affects how disputes with iSTAY Payments are resolved. By accepting these Payments Terms of Service, you agree to be bound by this arbitration clause and class action waiver. Please read it carefully.

Last Updated: October 01, 2018

These Payments Terms of Service constitute a legally binding agreement between you and iSTAY Payments governing the Payment Services (defined below) conducted through or in connection with the iSTAY Platform.

When these Payments Terms mention “iSTAY Payments,” “we,” “us,” or “our,” it refers to the iSTAY Payments trading name you are contracting with for Payment Services. Your contracting entity will generally be determined for each payment or payout based on your Country of Residence.

If you change your Country of Residence, the iSTAY you contract with will generally be determined by your new Country of Residence as specified above, from the date on which your Country of Residence changes. Please note, however, that the iSTAY trading name with which you contract will stay the same for all bookings made prior to your Change of Residence.

The iSTAY’s Terms of Service separately govern your use of the iSTAY Platform. All capitalized terms have the meaning set forth in the iSTAY Terms unless otherwise defined in these Payments Terms.

In certain situations, customers may be required to enter into unique payment processing agreements with iSTAY Payments. To the extent that there is a conflict between these Payment Terms and terms and conditions set forth in any relevant payment processing agreement, the latter terms and conditions will take precedence, unless specified otherwise.

Our collection and use of personal information in connection with your access to and use of the Payment Services is described in iSTAY’s Privacy Policy.

Scope and Use of the Payment Services

iSTAY Payments provides payments services to Users, including payment collection services, payments and payouts, in connection with and through the iSTAY Platform.

iSTAY Payments may restrict the availability of the Payment Services, or certain services or features thereof, to carry out maintenance measures that ensure the proper or improved functioning of the Payment Services. iSTAY Payments may improve, enhance and modify the Payment Services and introduce new Payment Services from time to time.

The Payment Services may contain links to third-party websites or resources (“Third-Party Services”). Such Third-Party Services are subject to different terms and conditions and privacy practices and Users should review them independently. iSTAY Payments is not responsible or liable for the availability or accuracy of such Third-Party Services, or the content, products, or services available from such Third-Party Services. Links to such Third-Party Services are not an endorsement by iSTAY Payments of such Third-Party Services.

You may not use the Payment Services except as authorized by United States law, the laws of the jurisdiction that is your Country of Residence, and any other applicable laws. In particular, but without limitation, the Payment Services may not be used to send or receive funds:

into any United States embargoed countries; or
to anyone on the U.S. Treasury Department’s list of Specially Designated Nationals or the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Denied Persons List or Entity List.

You represent and warrant that:

neither you nor your Host Services are located or take place in a country that is subject to a U.S. Government embargo, or that has been designated by the U.S. Government as a “terrorist supporting” country; and
you are not listed on any U.S. Government list of prohibited or restricted parties. In addition to complying with the above, you must also comply with any relevant export control laws in your local jurisdiction.

Your access to or use of certain Payment Services may be subject to, or require you to accept, additional terms and conditions. If there is a conflict between these Payments Terms and terms and conditions applicable for a specific Payment Service, the latter terms and conditions will take precedence with respect to your use of or access to that Payment Service, unless specified otherwise.

Key Definitions

“Country of Residence” means the jurisdiction associated with your iSTAY Account as determined by iSTAY’s assessment of your residence using various data attributes associated with your iSTAY Account.

“Payout” means a payment initiated by iSTAY Payments to a User for services performed in connection with the iSTAY Platform.

“Payment Method” means a financial instrument that you have added to your iSTAY Account, such as a credit card, debit card, or PayPal account.

“Payout Method” means a financial instrument that you have added to your iSTAY Account, such as a PayPal account, direct deposit, a prepaid card, or a debit card (where available).

Modification of these Payments Terms

iSTAY Payments reserves the right to modify these Payments Terms at any time in accordance with this provision. If we make changes to these Payments Terms, we will post the revised Payments Terms on the iSTAY Platform and update the “Last Updated” date at the top of these Payments Terms. We will also provide you with notice by email of the modification at least thirty (30) days before the date they become effective, however, Users contracting with iSTAY Payments UK will receive notice at least two (2) months prior to the effective date. If you disagree with the revised Payments Terms, you may terminate this Agreement with immediate effect. We will inform you about your right of refusal and your right to terminate this Agreement in the notification email. If you do not terminate your Agreement before the date the revised Terms become effective, your continued use of the Payment Services will constitute acceptance of the revised Payments Terms.

Eligibility, User Verification

You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter into legally binding contracts to use the Payment Services. By using the Payment Services you represent and warrant that you are 18 or older.

If you are agreeing to these Payments Terms on behalf of a company or other legal entity, you represent and warrant that you have the authority to bind that company or other legal entity to these Payments Terms and, in such event, “you” and “your” will refer and apply to that company or other legal entity.

iSTAY Payments may make access to and use of certain areas or features of the Payment Services subject to certain conditions or requirements, such as completing a verification process or meeting specific eligibility criteria.

We may make inquiries we consider necessary to help verify or check your identity or prevent fraud. Towards this end, you authorize iSTAY Payments to screen you against third party databases or other sources and request reports from service providers. In some jurisdictions, we have a legal obligation to collect identity information to comply with anti-money laundering regulations. This may include

asking you to provide a form of government identification (e.g., driver’s license or passport), your date of birth, your address, and other information;
requiring you to take steps to confirm ownership of your email address, Payment Methods or Payout Methods; or
attempting to screen your information against third-party databases.

iSTAY Payments reserves the right to close, suspend, or limit access to the Payment Services in the event we are unable to obtain or verify any of this information.

Account Registration

In order to use the Payment Services, you must have an iSTAY Account in good standing. If you or iSTAY closes your iSTAY Account for any reason, you will no longer be able to use the Payment Services.

You may authorize a third party to use your iSTAY Account in accordance with the iSTAY Terms. You acknowledge and agree that anyone you authorize to use your iSTAY Account may use the Payment Services on your behalf and that you will be responsible for any payments made by such person.

Payment Methods and Payout Methods

When you add a Payment Method or Payout Method to your iSTAY Account, you will be asked to provide customary billing information such as name, billing address, and financial instrument information either to iSTAY Payments or its third-party payment processor(s). You must provide accurate, current, and complete information when adding a Payment Method or Payout Method, and it is your obligation to keep your Payment Method and Payout Method up-to-date at all times. The information required for Payout Methods will depend on the particular Payout Method and may include:

your residential address, name on the account, account type, routing number, account number,email address, payout currency, and account information associated with a particular payment processor.

When you add or use a new Payment Method, iSTAY Payments may verify the Payment Method by authorizing a nominal amount or by authenticating your account via a third-party payment service provider. For further verification, we may also

authorize your Payment Method for one or two additional nominal amounts, and ask you to confirm these amounts, or
require you to upload a billing statement.

We may, and retain the right to, initiate refunds of these amounts from your Payout Method. When you add a Payment Method during checkout, we will automatically save that Payment Method to your iSTAY Account so it can be used for a future transaction.

Please note that Payment Methods and Payout Methods may involve the use of third-party payment service providers. These service providers may charge you additional fees when processing payments and Payouts in connection with the Payment Services (including deducting charges from the Payout amount), and iSTAY Payments is not responsible for any such fees and disclaims all liability in this regard. Your Payment Method or Payout Method may also be subject to additional terms and conditions imposed by the applicable third-party payment service provider; please review these terms and conditions before using your Payment Method or Payout Method.

You authorize iSTAY Payments to store your Payment Method information and charge your Payment Method as outlined in these Payments Terms. If your Payment Method’s account information changes (e.g., account number, routing number, expiration date) as a result of re-issuance or otherwise, we may acquire that information from our financial services partner or your bank and update your Payment Method on file in your iSTAY Account.

You are solely responsible for the accuracy and completeness of your Payment Method and Payout Method information. iSTAY Payments is not responsible for any loss suffered by you as a result of incorrect Payment Method or Payout Method information provided by you.

Financial Terms for Hosts

Generally

Generally speaking, iSTAY Payments will collect the Total Fees from a Guest at the time the Guest’s booking request is accepted by the host, or at any other time mutually agreed between the Guest and iSTAY Payments.

Payouts

In order to receive a Payout you must have a valid Payout Method linked to your iSTAY Account. iSTAY Payments will generally initiate Payouts to your selected Payout Method: for Accommodations within 24 hours of the Guest’s scheduled check-in time (or within 24 hours of 3:00pm local time – or 3:00pm UTC if local time is unknown – if the check-in time is flexible or not specified).

In certain jurisdictions or instances, iSTAY Payments may offer you a different time or trigger for payment. For example, in certain cases, eligible Hosts may be able to receive a Payout for a booking prior to the Guest’s scheduled check-in. Any such alternative Payout option may be subject to additional terms and conditions.

The time it takes to receive Payouts once released by iSTAY Payments may depend upon the Payout Method you select and the Payout Method provider’s processing schedule. iSTAY Payments may delay or cancel any Payout for purposes of preventing unlawful activity or fraud, risk assessment, security, or investigation.

Your Payout for a booking will be the Listing Fee less applicable Host Fees and Taxes.

In the event of a Guest’s cancellation of a confirmed booking, iSTAY Payments will remit a Payout of any portion of the Total Fees due to you under the applicable cancellation policy.

iSTAY Payments will remit your Payouts in your currency of choice, depending upon your selections via the iSTAY Platform. Amounts may be rounded up or down as described in the iSTAY Terms.

For compliance or operational reasons, iSTAY Payments may limit the value of each individual Payout. If you are due an amount above that limit, iSTAY Payments may initiate a series of Payouts (potentially over multiple days) in order to provide your full payout amount.

Financial Terms for Guests

You authorize iSTAY Payments to charge your Payment Method the Total Fees for any booking requested in connection with your iSTAY Account. iSTAY Payments will collect the Total Fees in the manner agreed between you and iSTAY Payments via the iSTAY Platform. iSTAY Payments will generally collect the Total Fees after the Host accepts your booking request. However, if you pay with a push Payment Method, iSTAY Payments will collect the Total Fees at the time of your booking request or after the Host accepts your booking request. iSTAY Payments may offer alternative options for the timing and manner of payment. For example, in some cases, Guests may be required to pay or have the option to pay for Host Services in multiple installments. Any additional fees for using offered payment options will be displayed via the iSTAY Platform and included in the Total Fees, and you agree to pay such fees by selecting the payment option. Additional terms and conditions may apply for the use of an alternative payment option. If iSTAY Payments is unable to collect the Total Fees as scheduled, iSTAY Payments will collect the Total Fees at a later point. Once the payment transaction for your requested booking is successfully completed, you will receive a confirmation email.

When you request to book a Listing, iSTAY Payments may also

obtain a pre-authorization via your Payment Method for the Total Fees,
charge or authorize your Payment Method a nominal amount, to verify your Payment Method, or
authenticate your account via a third-party payment service provider to verify your Payment Method.

If a requested booking is cancelled either because it is not accepted by the Host or you cancel the booking request before it is accepted by the Host, any amounts collected by iSTAY Payments will be refunded to you, and any pre-authorization of your Payment Method will be released (if applicable). The timing to receive the refund or for the pre-authorization to be released will vary based on the Payment Method and any applicable payment system (e.g., Visa, MasterCard, etc.) rules.

You authorize iSTAY Payments to perform the Payment Method verifications described and to charge your Payment Method for any bookings made in connection with your iSTAY Account. You hereby authorize iSTAY Payments to collect any amounts due, by charging the Payment Method provided at checkout, either directly by iSTAY Payments or indirectly, via a third-party online payment processor, and/or by one or more of the payment methods available on the iSTAY Platform.

Appointment of iSTAY Payments as Limited Payment Collection Agent

Each User collecting payment for services provided via the iSTAY Platform hereby appoints iSTAY Payments as the Providing User’s payment collection agent solely for the limited purpose of accepting funds from Users purchasing such services.

Each Providing User agrees that payment made by a Purchasing User through iSTAY Payments, shall be considered the same as a payment made directly to the Providing User, and the Providing User will provide the purchased services to the Purchasing User in the agreed-upon manner as if the Providing User has received the payment directly from the Purchasing User. Each Providing User agrees that iSTAY Payments may refund the Purchasing user in accordance with the iSTAY Terms. Each Providing User understands that iSTAY Payments’ obligation to pay the Providing User is subject to and conditional upon successful receipt of the associated payments from Purchasing Users. iSTAY Payments guarantees payments to Providing Users only for such amounts that have been successfully received by iSTAY Payments from Purchasing Users in accordance with these Payments Terms. In accepting appointment as the limited payment collection agent of the Providing user, iSTAY Payments assumes no liability for any acts or omissions of the Providing User.

Each Purchasing User acknowledges and agrees that, notwithstanding the fact that iSTAY Payments is not a party to the agreement between you and the Providing User, iSTAY Payments acts as the Providing User’s payment collection agent for the limited purpose of accepting payments from you on behalf of the Providing User. Upon your payment of the funds to iSTAY Payments, your payment obligation to the Providing User for the agreed upon amount is extinguished, and iSTAY Payments is responsible for remitting the funds to the Providing User in the manner described in these Payments Terms, which constitute iSTAY Payments’ agreement with the Purchasing User. In the event that iSTAY Payments does not remit any such amounts, the Providing User will have recourse only against iSTAY Payments and not the Purchasing User directly.

General Financial Terms

Fees

iSTAY Payments may charge fees for use of certain Payment Services and any applicable fees will be disclosed to Users via the iSTAY Platform.

Payment Authorizations

You authorize iSTAY Payments to collect from you amounts due pursuant to these Payment Terms or the iSTAY Terms. Specifically, you authorize iSTAY Payments to collect from you:

Any amount due to iSTAY (e.g., as a result of your bookings, Booking Modifications, cancellations, or other actions as a Guest, Host or user of the iSTAY Platform), including reimbursement for costs prepaid by iSTAY on your behalf, by charging any Payment Method on file in your iSTAY Account (unless you have previously removed the authorization to charge such Payment Method(s)) or by withholding such amounts from your future Payouts. Any funds collected by iSTAY Payments will setoff the amount owed by you to iSTAY and extinguish your obligation to iSTAY.
Any amount due to a Providing User from a Purchasing User which iSTAY collects as the Providing User’s payment collection agent as further set out.
Taxes, where applicable and as set out in the iSTAY Terms.
Any amount paid through the Resolution Center in connection with your iSTAY Account. iSTAY Payments may do so by charging the Payment Method associated with the relevant booking, or any other Payment Method on file in your iSTAY Account (unless you have previously removed the authorization to charge such Payment Method(s)), or by withholding the amount from your future Payouts.
Overstay Fees payable under the iSTAY Terms. In addition, iSTAY Payments may recover any costs and expenses it incurs in collecting the Overstay Fees by charging any Payment Method(s) you have on file in your iSTAY Account (unless you have previously removed the authorization to charge such Payment Method(s)).
Any Service Fees or cancellation fees imposed pursuant to the iSTAY Terms (e.g., if, as a Host, you cancel a confirmed booking). iSTAY Payments will be entitled to recover the amount of any such fees from you, including by subtracting such refund amount out from any future Payouts due to you.
Fees improperly paid to you as a Host. If, as a Host, your Guest cancels a confirmed booking or iSTAY decides that it is necessary to cancel a confirmed booking, and iSTAY issues a refund to the Guest in accordance with the iSTAY Terms, Guest Refund Policy, Extenuating Circumstances Policy, or other applicable cancellation policy, you agree that in the event you have already been paid, iSTAY Payments will be entitled to recover the amount of any such refund from you, including by subtracting such refund amount out from any future Payouts due to you.
Fees, costs and/or expenses associated with a Damage Claim, including any Security Deposit, as set out in the iSTAY Terms. If iSTAY Payments is unable to collect from your Payment Method used to make the booking, you agree that iSTAY Payments may charge any other Payment Method on file in your iSTAY Account at the time of the Damage Claim (unless you have previously removed the authorization to charge such Payment Method(s)). iSTAY Payments also reserves the right to otherwise collect payment from you and pursue any remedies available to iSTAY Payments in this regard in situations in which you are responsible for a Damage Claim, including, but not limited to, in relation to any payment requests made by Hosts under the iSTAY Host Guarantee.

In addition to any amount due as outlined above, if there are delinquent amounts or chargebacks associated with your Payment Method, you may be charged fees that are incidental to our collection of these delinquent amounts and chargebacks. Such fees or charges may include collection fees, convenience fees or other third-party charges.

Refunds

Any refunds or credits due to a User pursuant to the iSTAY Terms will be initiated and remitted by iSTAY Payments.

All refunds may be subject to the iSTAY Terms, Extenuating Circumstances Policy, and Guest Refund Policy. If a Guest or iSTAY decides for any reason to cancel a confirmed booking pursuant to the iSTAY Terms, Guest Refund Policy, or Extenuating Circumstances Policy, you agree that iSTAY Payments will not have any liability for such cancellations or refunds aside from its obligations to remit refunds or Payouts pursuant to these Payments Terms.

Recurring Payments

For certain bookings (such as for Accommodation Bookings of twenty-eight (28) nights or more), iSTAY Payments may require a Guest to make recurring, incremental payments toward the Total Fees owed. More information on Recurring Payments (including the amount and the frequency of payments) will be made available via the iSTAY Platform if applicable to a booking.

If Recurring Payments apply to a confirmed booking, then the Guest authorizes iSTAY Payments to collect the Total Fees, and the Host agrees that iSTAY Payments will initiate Payouts, in the increments and at the frequency agreed to and identified via the iSTAY Platform.

Guests may stop payment of a Recurring Payment by notifying iSTAY Payments orally or in writing at least three (3) business days before the scheduled date of the payment. iSTAY Payments may require that you give written confirmation of a stop-payment order within fourteen (14) days of an oral notification. If you fail to provide written confirmation within fourteen (14) days as requested, iSTAY Payments is not obligated to honour your request to stop any future Recurring Payments. If you have any questions regarding your Recurring Payments, please contact iSTAY.

Payment Processing Errors

We will take steps to rectify any payment processing errors that we become aware of. These steps may include crediting or debiting (as appropriate) the same Payout Method or Payment Method used for the original Payout to or payment by you, so that you end up receiving or paying the correct amount. This may be performed by iSTAY Payments or a third party such as your financial institution.

Collections

If iSTAY Payments is unable to collect any amounts you owe under these Payments Terms, iSTAY Payments may engage in collection efforts to recover such amounts from you. iSTAY Payments will deem any owed amounts overdue when:

(a) for authorized charges, ninety (90) days have elapsed after iSTAY Payments first attempts to charge the User’s Payment Method or the associated services have been provided, whichever is later; and

(b) for withholdings from a Host’s future Payouts, one hundred and eighty (180) days have elapsed after the adjustment is made to the Host’s account or the associated services have been provided, whichever is later.

Any overdue amounts not collected within one hundred and eighty (180) days after they become overdue will be deemed to be in default. You hereby explicitly agree that all communication in relation to amounts owed will be made by electronic mail or by phone, as provided to iSTAY and/or iSTAY Payments by you. Such communication may be made by iSTAY, iSTAY Payments, or by anyone on their behalf, including but not limited to a third-party collection agent.

Security Deposits

If you as a Guest

agree to pay the Host in connection with a Damage Claim, or
iSTAY determines that you are responsible for damaging an Accommodation or any personal or other property located at an Accommodation pursuant to the iSTAY Terms,

you authorize iSTAY Payments to charge the Payment Method used to make the booking in order to collect any Security Deposit associated with the Listing, as well as any amount of the Damage Claim exceeding any Security Deposit. If the Listing does not have a Security Deposit, iSTAY Payments may charge the Payment Method used to make the booking for the amount of the Damage Claim. If we are unable to collect from your Payment Method used to make the booking, you agree that iSTAY Payments may charge any other Payment Method on file (and not otherwise unauthorized) in your iSTAY Account at the time of the Damage Claim.

iSTAY Payments also reserves the right to otherwise collect payment from you and pursue any remedies available to iSTAY Payments in situations in which you are responsible for a Damage Claim, including, but not limited to, in relation to any payment requests made by Hosts.

Currency Conversion

iSTAY Payments will process each transaction in the currency the User selects via the iSTAY Platform. The currencies available to make and receive payments for any given transaction may be limited for regulatory or operational reasons based on factors such as the User’s selected Payment Method or Payout Method and/or the User’s Country of Residence or iSTAY contracting entity(ies). Any such limitations will be communicated via the iSTAY Platform, and you will be prompted to select a different currency, Payment Method or Payout Method. Note that a User’s third-party payment service provider may impose transaction, currency conversion or other fees based on the currency or Payment Method the User selects to make or receive payments, and iSTAY Payments is not responsible for any such fees and disclaims all liability in this regard.

Abandoned Property

If we cannot initiate a Payout, refund, or pay other funds due to you for the relevant period of time set forth by your state, country, or other governing body in its unclaimed property laws, we may process the funds due to you in accordance with our legal obligations, including by submitting such funds to the appropriate governing body as required by law.

Prohibited Activities

You are solely responsible for compliance with any and all laws, rules, regulations, and Tax obligations that may apply to your use of the Payment Services. In connection with your use of the Payment Services, you may not and you agree that you will not and will not assist or enable others to:

breach or circumvent any applicable laws or regulations, agreements with third parties, third-party rights, or the iSTAY Terms, Policies, or Standards;
use the Payment Services for any commercial or other purposes that are not expressly permitted by these Payments Terms;
register or use any Payment Method or Payout Method with your iSTAY Account that is not yours or you do not have authorization to use;
avoid, bypass, remove, deactivate, impair, descramble, or otherwise circumvent any technological measure implemented by iSTAY Payments or any of iSTAY Payments’ providers or any other third party to protect the Payment Services;
take any action that damages or adversely affects, or could damage or adversely affect, the performance or proper functioning of the Payment Services;
attempt to decipher, decompile, disassemble, or reverse engineer any of the software used to provide the Payment Services; or
violate or infringe anyone else’s rights or otherwise cause harm to anyone.

Intellectual Property Ownership, Rights Notices

The Payment Services are protected by copyright, trademark, and other laws of the United States and foreign countries. You acknowledge and agree that the Payment Services, including all associated intellectual property rights, are the exclusive property of iSTAY, iSTAY Payments and its licensors. You will not remove, alter or obscure any copyright, trademark, service mark or other proprietary rights notices incorporated in or accompanying the Payment Services. All trademarks, service marks, logos, trade names, and any other proprietary designations of iSTAY or iSTAY Payments used on or in connection with the Payment Services are trademarks or registered trademarks of iSTAY or iSTAY Payments in the United States and abroad. Trademarks, service marks, logos, trade names, and any other proprietary designations of third parties used on or in connection with Payment Services are used for identification purposes only and may be the property of their respective owners.

You will not use, copy, adapt, modify, prepare derivative works based upon, distribute, license, sell, transfer, publicly display, publicly perform, transmit, broadcast, or otherwise exploit the Payment Services, except as expressly permitted in these Payments Terms. No licenses or rights are granted to you by implication or otherwise under any intellectual property rights owned or controlled by iSTAY, iSTAY Payments, or its licensors, except for the licenses and rights expressly granted in these Payments Terms.

Feedback

We welcome and encourage you to provide feedback, comments, and suggestions for improvements to the Payment Services. You may submit Feedback by emailing us, through the “Contact” section of the iSTAY Platform. Any Feedback you submit to us will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary to you. By submitting Feedback to us, you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable, sub-licensable, perpetual license to use and publish those ideas and materials for any purpose, without compensation to you.

Disclaimers

If you choose to use the Payment Services, you do so voluntarily and at your sole risk. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Payment Services are provided “as is”, without warranty of any kind, either express or implied.

Notwithstanding iSTAY Payments’ appointment as the limited payment collection agent of Providing Users for the purposes of accepting payments from Purchasing Users through the iSTAY Platform, iSTAY Payments explicitly disclaims all liability for any act or omission of any User or other third party. iSTAY Payments does not have any duties or obligations as agent for each Providing User except to the extent expressly set forth in these Payments Terms, and any additional duties or obligations as may be implied by law are, to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, expressly excluded.

If we choose to conduct identity verification on any User, to the extent permitted by applicable law, we disclaim warranties of any kind, either express or implied, that such checks will identify prior misconduct by a User or guarantee that a User will not engage in misconduct in the future.

The foregoing disclaimers apply to the maximum extent permitted by law. You may have other statutory rights or warranties which cannot lawfully be excluded. However, the duration of any statutorily required warranties shall be limited to the maximum extent (if any) permitted by law.

Liability

Except as otherwise specified, you acknowledge and agree that, to the maximum extent permitted by law, the entire risk arising out of your access to and use of the Payment Services remains with you. If you permit or authorize another person to use your iSTAY Account in any way, you are responsible for the actions taken by that person. Neither iSTAY Payments nor any other party involved in creating, producing, or delivering the Payment Services will be liable for any incidental, special, exemplary, or consequential damages, including lost profits, loss of data or loss of goodwill, service interruption, computer damage or system failure or the cost of substitute products or services, or for any damages for personal or bodily injury or emotional distress arising out of or in connection with

these Payments Terms,
from the use of or inability to use the Payment Services, or
from any communications, interactions, or meetings with other Users or other persons with whom you communicate, interact, transact, or meet with as a result of your use of the Payment Services, whether based on warranty, contract, tort (including negligence), product liability, or any other legal theory, and whether or not iSTAY Payments has been informed of the possibility of such damage, even if a limited remedy set forth herein is found to have failed of its essential purpose.

Except for our obligations to pay amounts to applicable Providing Users pursuant to these Payments Terms or an approved payment request under the iSTAY Host Guarantee, in no event will iSTAY Payments’ aggregate liability arising out of or in connection with these Payments Terms and your use of the Payment Services including, but not limited to, from your use of or inability to use the Payment Services, exceed the amounts you have paid or owe for bookings via the iSTAY Platform as a Guest in the twelve (12) month period prior to the event giving rise to the liability, or if you are a Host, the amounts paid by iSTAY Payments to you in the twelve (12) month period prior to the event giving rise to the liability, if no such payments have been made, as applicable. The limitations of damages set forth above are fundamental elements of the basis of the bargain between iSTAY Payments and you. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, so the above limitation may not apply to you. If you reside outside of the U.S., this does not affect iSTAY Payments’ liability for death or personal injury arising from its negligence, nor for fraudulent misrepresentation, misrepresentation as to a fundamental matter, or any other liability which cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

If you reside in the EU, iSTAY Payments is liable under statutory provisions for intent and gross negligence by us, our legal representatives, directors, or other vicarious agents. The same applies to the assumption of guarantees or any other strict liability, or in case of a culpable injury to life, limb, or health. iSTAY Payments is liable for any negligent breaches of essential contractual obligations by us, our legal representatives, directors, or other vicarious agents. Essential contractual obligations are such duties of iSTAY Payments in whose proper fulfillment you regularly trust and must trust for the proper execution of the contract but the amount shall be limited to the typically occurring foreseeable damage. Any additional liability of iSTAY Payments is excluded to the maximum extent allowed by applicable law.

Indemnification

You agree to release, defend (at iSTAY Payments’ option), indemnify, and hold iSTAY Payments and its affiliates and subsidiaries, and their officers, directors, employees, and agents, harmless from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses, including, without limitation, reasonable legal and accounting fees, arising out of or in any way connected with

your breach of these Payments Terms;
your improper use of the Payment Services;
iSTAY Payments’ Collection and Remittance of Occupancy Taxes; or
your breach of any laws, regulations, or third-party rights.

Termination, Suspension, and other Measures

You may terminate this Agreement at any time by sending us an email, or by following the termination procedures specified in the iSTAY Terms. Terminating this Agreement will also serve as notice to cancel your iSTAY Account pursuant to the iSTAY Terms. If you cancel your iSTAY Account as a Host, iSTAY Payments will provide a full refund to any Guests with confirmed booking(s). If you cancel your iSTAY Account as a Guest, iSTAY Payments will initiate a refund for any confirmed booking(s) based on the Listing’s cancellation policy.

Without limiting our rights specified below, iSTAY Payments may terminate this Agreement for convenience at any time by giving you thirty (30) days’ notice via email to your registered email address (or two (2) months’ prior notice for Users contracting with iSTAY Payments UK).

iSTAY Payments may immediately, without notice terminate this Agreement if

you have materially breached your obligations under this Agreement;
you have provided inaccurate, fraudulent, outdated, or incomplete information;
you have violated applicable laws, regulations, or third-party rights; or
iSTAY Payments believes in good faith that such action is reasonably necessary to protect other Users, iSTAY, iSTAY Payments, or third parties (for example in the case of fraudulent behaviour of a User).

In addition, iSTAY Payments may limit or temporarily or permanently suspend your use of or access to the Payment Services

to comply with applicable law, or the order or request of a court, law enforcement, or other administrative agency or governmental body, or if
you have breached these Payments Terms, the iSTAY Terms, applicable laws, regulations or third-party rights,
you have provided inaccurate, fraudulent, outdated, or incomplete information regarding a Payment Method or Payout Method, or
iSTAY Payments believes in good faith that such action is reasonably necessary to protect the personal safety or property of iSTAY, its Users, iSTAY Payments, or third parties, or to prevent fraud or other illegal activity.

In case of non-material breaches and where appropriate, you will be given notice of any measure by iSTAY Payments and an opportunity to resolve the issue to iSTAY Payments’ reasonable satisfaction.

If you are a Host and we take any of the measures described, we may refund your Guests in full for any and all confirmed bookings, irrespective of pre-existing cancellation policies, and you will not be entitled to any compensation for pending or confirmed bookings that were cancelled.

If your access to or use of the Payment Services has been limited or this Agreement has been terminated by us, you may not register a new iSTAY Account or attempt to access and use the Payment Services through other an iSTAY Account of another User.

Unless you reside in Germany, if you or we terminate this Agreement, the clauses of these Payments Terms that reasonably should survive termination of these Payments Terms will remain in effect.

Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Agreement

This Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Agreement shall apply if you

are contracting with iSTAY Payments US; or
bring any claim against any iSTAY Payments entity in the United States.

Overview of Dispute Resolution Process. iSTAY Payments is committed to participating in a consumer-friendly dispute resolution process. To that end, these Payments Terms provide for a two-part process for individuals:

(1) an informal negotiation directly with iSTAY’s customer service team, and

(2) a binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) using its specially designed Consumer Arbitration Rules.

Specifically, the Consumer Arbitration Rules provide:

Claims can be filed with AAA online;
Arbitrators must be neutral and no party may unilaterally select an arbitrator;
Arbitrators must disclose any bias, interest in the result of the arbitration, or relationship with any party;
Parties retain the right to seek relief in small claims court for certain claims, at their option;
The initial filing fee for the consumer is capped at $200;
The consumer gets to elect the hearing location and can elect to participate live, by phone, video conference, or, for claims under $25,000, by the submission of documents;
The arbitrator can grant any remedy that the parties could have received in court to resolve the party’s individual claim.

Pre-Arbitration Dispute Resolution and Notification. Prior to initiating an arbitration, you and iSTAY Payments each agree to notify the other party of the dispute and attempt to negotiate an informal resolution to it first. We will contact you at the email address you have provided to us; you can contact iSTAY’s customer service team by emailing us. If after a good faith effort to negotiate one of us feels the dispute has not and cannot be resolved informally, the party intending to pursue arbitration agrees to notify the other party via email prior to initiating the arbitration. In order to initiate arbitration, a claim must be filed with the AAA and the written Demand for Arbitration (available at www.adr.org) provided to the other party, as specified in the AAA Rules.

Agreement to Arbitrate. You and iSTAY Payments mutually agree that any dispute, claim or controversy arising out of or relating to these Payments Terms or the breach, termination, enforcement or interpretation thereof, or to the use of the Payment Services will be settled by binding arbitration. If there is a dispute about whether this Arbitration Agreement can be enforced or applies to our Dispute, you and iSTAY Payments agree that the arbitrator will decide that issue.

Exceptions to Arbitration Agreement. You and iSTAY Payments each agree that the following claims are exceptions to the Arbitration Agreement and will be brought in a judicial proceeding in a court of competent jurisdiction:

Any claim related to actual or threatened infringement, misappropriation or violation of a party’s copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, patents, or other intellectual property rights;
Any claim seeking emergency injunctive relief based on exigent circumstances (e.g., imminent danger or commission of a crime, hacking, cyber-attack).

Arbitration Rules and Governing Law. This Arbitration Agreement evidences a transaction in interstate commerce and thus the Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this provision. The arbitration will be administered by AAA in accordance with the Consumer Arbitration Rules and/or other AAA arbitration rules determined to be applicable by the AAA (the “AAA Rules“) then in effect, except as modified here. The AAA Rules are available at www.adr.org.

Modification to AAA Rules – Arbitration Hearing/Location. In order to make the arbitration most convenient to you, iSTAY Payments agrees that any required arbitration hearing may be conducted, at your option,

(a) in the county where you reside;

(b) in any other location to which you and iSTAY Payments both agree;

(d) for any claim or counterclaim under $25,000, by solely the submission of documents to the arbitrator.

Modification of AAA Rules – Attorney’s Fees and Costs. You and iSTAY Payments agree that iSTAY Payments will be responsible for payment of the balance of any initial filing fee under the AAA Rules in excess of $200 for claims of $75,000 or less. You may be entitled to seek an award of attorney fees and expenses if you prevail in arbitration, to the extent provided under applicable law and the AAA rules. Unless the arbitrator determines that your claim was frivolous or filed for the purpose of harassment, iSTAY Payments agrees it will not seek, and hereby waives all rights it may have under applicable law or the AAA rules, to recover attorneys’ fees and expenses if it prevails in arbitration.

Jury Trial Waiver. You and iSTAY Payments acknowledge and agree that we are each waiving the right to a trial by jury as to all arbitrable Disputes.

No Class Actions or Representative Proceedings. You and iSTAY Payments acknowledge and agree that we are each waiving the right to participate as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class action lawsuit, class-wide arbitration, private attorney-general action, or any other representative proceeding as to all Disputes. Further, unless you and iSTAY Payments both otherwise agree in writing, the arbitrator may not consolidate more than one party’s claims and may not otherwise preside over any form of any class or representative proceeding. If this paragraph is held unenforceable with respect to any Dispute, then the entirety of the Arbitration Agreement will be deemed void with respect to such Dispute.

Severability. Except as provided above, in the event that any portion of this Arbitration Agreement is deemed illegal or unenforceable, such provision shall be severed and the remainder of the Arbitration Agreement shall be given full force and effect.

Changes. Notwithstanding the provisions mentioned before, if iSTAY Payments changes this section (“Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Agreement”) after the date you last accepted these Payments Terms (or accepted any subsequent changes to these Payments Terms), you may reject any such change by sending us written notice (including by email) within thirty (30) days of the date such change became effective, as indicated in the “Last Updated” date above or in the date of iSTAY Payments’ email to you notifying you of such change. By rejecting any change, you are agreeing that you will arbitrate any Dispute between you and iSTAY Payments in accordance with the provisions of the “Dispute Resolution” section as of the date you last accepted these Payments Terms (or accepted any subsequent changes to these Payments Terms).

Survival. Except as provided in the above Section, this Section will survive any termination of these Payments Terms and will continue to apply even if you stop using the Payment Services or terminate your iSTAY Account.

General Provisions

Except as they may be supplemented by additional terms and conditions, policies, guidelines, or standards, these Payments Terms constitute the entire Agreement between iSTAY Payments and you regarding the subject matter hereof and supersede any and all prior oral or written understandings or agreements between iSTAY Payments and you regarding the Payment Services.

No joint venture, partnership, employment, or agency relationship exists between you or iSTAY Payments as a result of this Agreement or your use of the Payment Services.

If any provision of these Payments Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, such provision will be struck and will not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions.

iSTAY Payments’ failure to enforce any right or provision in these Payments Terms will not constitute a waiver of such right or provision unless acknowledged and agreed to by us in writing. Except as expressly set forth in these Payments Terms, the exercise by either party of any of its remedies under these Payments Terms will be without prejudice to its other remedies under these Payments Terms or otherwise permitted under law.

You may not assign, transfer, or delegate this Agreement and your rights and obligations hereunder without iSTAY Payments’ prior written consent. iSTAY Payments may without restriction assign, transfer, or delegate this Agreement and any rights and obligations, at its sole discretion, with thirty (30) days’ prior notice (or two (2) months’ prior notice for Users contracting with iSTAY Payments UK). Your right to terminate this Agreement at any time remains unaffected.

This Agreement does not and is not intended to confer any rights or remedies upon any person other than the parties. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the parties agree that the payment card networks are third-party beneficiaries of this Agreement for purposes of enforcing provisions related to payments, but that their consent or agreement is not necessary for any changes or modifications to this Agreement.

Unless specified otherwise, any notices or other communications permitted or required under this Agreement, will be in writing and given by iSTAY Payments via email, iSTAY Platform notification, or messaging service (including SMS and WeChat). For notices made to Users residing outside of Germany, the date of receipt will be deemed the date on which iSTAY transmits the notice.

If you are contracting with iSTAY Payments UK you can access the European Commission’s online dispute resolution platform here: http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr. Please note that iSTAY Payments UK is not committed or obliged to use an alternative dispute resolution entity to resolve disputes with consumers.

iSTAY Privacy Policy

Last Updated: October 1, 2018

Thank you for using iSTAY!

This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, process, and disclose your information, including personal information, in conjunction with your access to and use of the iSTAY Platform and the Payment Services.

If you see an undefined term in this Privacy Policy (such as “Listing” or “iSTAY Platform”), it has the same definition as in our Terms of Service.

When this policy mentions “iSTAY,” “we,” “us,” or “our,” it refers to the ISTAY trading name that is responsible for your information under this Privacy Policy.

This Privacy Policy also applies to the Payment Services provided to you by iSTAY Payments pursuant to the Payments Terms of Service. When using the Payment Services, you will be also providing your information, including personal information, to one or more iSTAY Payments entities, which will also be the Data Controller of your information related to the Payment Services, generally depending on your Country of Residence.

INFORMATION WE COLLECT

There are three general categories of information we collect.

Information You Give to Us.

Information that is necessary for the use of the iSTAY Platform.

We ask for and collect the following personal information about you when you use the iSTAY Platform. This information is necessary for the adequate performance of the contract between you and us and to allow us to comply with our legal obligations. Without it, we may not be able to provide you with all the requested services.

Account Information. When you sign up for an iSTAY Account, we require certain information such as your first name, last name, email address, and date of birth.
Profile and Listing Information. To use certain features of the iSTAY Platform (such as booking or creating a Listing), we may ask you to provide additional information, which may include your address, phone number, and a profile picture.
Identity Verification Information. To help create and maintain a trusted environment, we may collect identity verification information (such as images of your government issued ID, passport, national ID card, or driving license, as permitted by applicable laws) or other authentication information. To learn more, see our Help Center article about providing identification on iSTAY.
Payment Information. To use certain features of the iSTAY Platform (such as booking or creating a Listing), we may require you to provide certain financial information (like your bank account or credit card information) in order to facilitate the processing of payments (via iSTAY Payments).
Communications with iSTAY and other Users. When you communicate with iSTAY or use the iSTAY Platform to communicate with other Users, we collect information about your communication and any information you choose to provide.

Information you choose to give us.

You may choose to provide us with additional personal information in order to obtain a better user experience when using iSTAY Platform. This additional information will be processed based on your consent.

Additional Profile Information. You may choose to provide additional information as part of your iSTAY profile (such as gender, preferred language(s), city, and a personal description). Some of this information as indicated in your Account settings is part of your public profile page, and will be publicly visible to others.
Address Book Contact Information. You may choose to import your address book contacts or enter your contacts’ information manually to access certain features of the iSTAY Platform, like inviting them to use iSTAY.
Other Information. You may otherwise choose to provide us information when you fill in a form, conduct a search, update or add information to your iSTAY Account, respond to surveys, post to community forums, participate in promotions, or use other features of the iSTAY Platform.

Information that is necessary for the use of the Payment Services.

The Payments Data Controller needs to collect the following information, as it is necessary for the adequate performance of the contract with you and to comply with applicable law (such as anti-money laundering regulations). Without it, you will not be able to use Payment Services:

–Payment Information. When you use the Payment Services, the Payments Data Controller requires certain financial information (like your bank account or credit card information) in order to process payments and comply with applicable law.

–Identity Verification and Other Information. If you are a Host, the Payments Data Controller may require identity verification information (such as images of your government issued ID, passport, national ID card, or driving license) or other authentication information, your date of birth, your address, email address, phone number and other information in order to verify your identity, provide the Payment Services to you, and to comply with applicable law.

Information We Automatically Collect from Your Use of the iSTAY Platform and Payment Services.

When you use the iSTAY Platform and the Payment Services, we automatically collect information, including personal information, about the services you use and how you use them. This information is necessary for the adequate performance of the contract between you and us, to enable us to comply with legal obligations and given our legitimate interest in being able to provide and improve the functionalities of the iSTAY Platform and Payment Services.

Geo-location Information. When you use certain features of the iSTAY Platform, we may collect information about your precise or approximate location as determined through data such as your IP address or mobile device’s GPS to offer you an improved user experience. Most mobile devices allow you to control or disable the use of location services for applications in the device’s settings menu. iSTAY may also collect this information even when you are not using the app if this connection is enabled through your settings or device permissions.
Usage Information. We collect information about your interactions with the iSTAY Platform such as the pages or content you view, your searches for Listings, bookings you have made, and other actions on the iSTAY Platform.
Log Data and Device Information. We automatically collect log data and device information when you access and use the iSTAY Platform, even if you have not created an iSTAY Account or logged in. That information includes, among other things: details about how you’ve used the iSTAY Platform (including if you clicked on links to third party applications), IP address, access dates and times, hardware and software information, device information, device event information, unique identifiers, crash data, cookie data, and the pages you’ve viewed or engaged with before or after using the iSTAY Platform.
Cookies and Similar Technologies. We use cookies and other similar technologies, such as web beacons, pixels, and mobile identifiers. We may also allow our business partners to use these tracking technologies on the iSTAY Platform, or engage others to track your behaviour on our behalf. While you may disable the usage of cookies through your browser settings, the iSTAY Platform currently does not respond to a “Do Not Track” signal in the HTTP header from your browser or mobile application due to lack of standardization regarding how that signal should be interpreted. For more information on our use of these technologies, see our Cookie Policy.
Payment Transaction Information. iSTAY Payments collects information related to your payment transactions through the iSTAY Platform, including the payment instrument used, date and time, payment amount, payment instrument expiration date and billing postcode, PayPal email address, IBAN information, your address and other related transaction details. This information is necessary for the adequate performance of the contract between you and iSTAY Payments and to allow the provision of the Payment Services.

Information We Collect from Third Parties.

iSTAY and iSTAY Payments may collect information, including personal information, that others provide about you when they use the iSTAY Platform and the Payment Services, or obtain information from other sources and combine that with information we collect through the iSTAY Platform and the Payment Services. We do not control, supervise or respond for how the third parties providing your information process your personal data, and any information request regarding the disclosure of your personal information to us should be directed to such third parties.

Third Party Services. If you link, connect, or login to your iSTAY Account with a third party service (e.g. Google, Facebook, WeChat), the third party service may send us information such as your registration and profile information from that service. This information varies and is controlled by that service or as authorized by you via your privacy settings at that service.
Your References. If someone has written a reference for you, it will be published on your iSTAY public profile page with your consent. To learn more, see our Help Centre article about References
Background Information. For users in the United States, to the extent permitted by applicable laws, iSTAY and iSTAY Payments may obtain reports from public records of criminal convictions or sex offender registrations. For Users outside of the United States, to the extent permitted by applicable laws and with your consent where required, iSTAY and iSTAY Payments may obtain the local version of police, background or registered sex offender checks. We may use your information, including your full name and date of birth, to obtain such reports.
Other Sources. To the extent permitted by applicable law, we may receive additional information about you, such as demographic data or fraud detection information, from third party service providers and/or partners, and combine it with information we have about you. For example, we may receive background check results (with your consent where required) or fraud warnings from service providers like identity verification services for our fraud prevention and risk assessment efforts. We may receive information about you and your activities on and off the iSTAY Platform through partnerships, or about your experiences and interactions from our partner ad networks.

HOW WE USE INFORMATION WE COLLECT

We use, store, and process information, including personal information, about you to provide, understand, improve, and develop the iSTAY Platform, create and maintain a trusted and safer environment and comply with our legal obligations.

Provide, Improve, and Develop the iSTAY Platform.

Enable you to access and use the iSTAY Platform.
Enable you to communicate with other Users.
Operate, protect, improve, and optimize the iSTAY Platform and experience, such as by performing analytics and conducting research.
Provide customer service.
Send you service or support messages, updates, security alerts, and account notifications.
If you provide us with your contacts’ information, we may process this information:
- to facilitate your referral invitations,
- send your requests for references,
- for fraud detection and prevention, and
- for any purpose you authorize at the time of collection.
To operate, protect, improve, and optimize the iSTAY Platform and experience, and personalize and customize your experience (such as making Listing suggestions or ranking search results), we conduct profiling based on your interactions with the iSTAY Platform, your search and booking history, your profile information and preferences, and other content you submit to the iSTAY Platform.

We process this information given our legitimate interest in improving the iSTAY Platform and our Users’ experience with it, and where it is necessary for the adequate performance of the contract with you.

Create and Maintain a Trusted and Safer Environment.

Detect and prevent fraud, spam, abuse, security incidents, and other harmful activity.
Conduct security investigations and risk assessments.
Verify or authenticate information or identifications provided by you (such as to verify your Accommodation address or compare your identification photo to another photo you provide).
Conduct checks against databases and other information sources, including background or police checks, to the extent permitted by applicable laws and with your consent where required.
Comply with our legal obligations.
Resolve any disputes with any of our Users and enforce our agreements with third parties.
Enforce our Terms of Service and other policies.
In connection with the activities above, we may conduct profiling based on your interactions with the iSTAY Platform, your profile information and other content you submit to the iSTAY Platform, and information obtained from third parties. In limited cases, automated processes may restrict or suspend access to the iSTAY Platform if such processes detect a User or activity that we think poses a safety or other risk to the iSTAY Platform, other Users, or third parties.

We process this information given our legitimate interest in protecting the iSTAY Platform, to measure the adequate performance of our contract with you, and to comply with applicable laws.

Provide, Personalize, Measure, and Improve our Advertising and Marketing.

Send you promotional messages, marketing, advertising, and other information that may be of interest to you based on your preferences (including information about iSTAY or partner campaigns and services) and social media advertising through social media platforms such as Facebook or Google).
Personalize, measure, and improve our advertising.
Administer referral programs, rewards, surveys, sweepstakes, contests, or other promotional activities or events sponsored or managed by iSTAY or its third party partners.
Conduct profiling on your characteristics and preferences (based on the information you provide to us, your interactions with the iSTAY Platform, information obtained from third parties, and your search and booking history) to send you promotional messages, marketing, advertising and other information that we think may be of interest to you.

We will process your personal information for the purposes listed in this section given our legitimate interest in undertaking marketing activities to offer you products or services that may be of your interest. You can opt-out of receiving marketing communications from us by following the unsubscribe instructions included in our marketing communications or changing your notification settings within your iSTAY Account.

How the Payments Data Controller uses the Information Collected.

Enable you to access and use the Payment Services.
Detect and prevent fraud, abuse, security incidents, and other harmful activity.
Conduct security investigations and risk assessments.
Conduct checks against databases and other information sources.
Comply with legal obligations (such as anti-money laundering regulations).
Enforce the Payment Terms and other payment policies.
With your consent, send you promotional messages, marketing, advertising, and other information that may be of interest to you based on your preferences.

The Payments Data Controller processes this information given its legitimate interest in improving the Payment Services and its users’ experience with it, and where it is necessary for the adequate performance of the contract with you and to comply with applicable laws.

SHARING & DISCLOSURE

With Your Consent.

Where you have provided consent, we share your information, including personal information, as described at the time of consent, such as when you authorize a third party application or website to access your iSTAY Account or when you participate in promotional activities conducted by iSTAY partners or third parties.

Sharing between Members.

To help facilitate bookings or other interactions between Users, we may need to share certain information, including personal information, with other Users, as it is necessary for the adequate performance of the contract between you and us, as follows:

When you as a Guest submit a booking request, certain information about you is shared with the Host, including your full name, the full name of any additional Guests, your cancellation history, and other information you agree to share. When your booking is confirmed, we will disclose additional information to assist with coordinating the trip, like your phone number.
When you as a Host have a confirmed booking, certain information is shared with the Guest to coordinate the booking, such as your full name, phone number, and Accommodation address.
When you as a Guest invite additional Guests to a booking, your full name, travel dates, Host name, Listing details, the Accommodation address, and other related information will be shared with each additional Guest.

We don’t share your billing and payout information with other Users.

Profiles, Listings, and other Public Information.

The iSTAY Platform lets you publish information, including personal information, that is visible to the general public. For example:

Parts of your public profile page, such as your first name, your description, and city, are publicly visible to others.
Listing pages are publicly visible and include information such as the Accommodation’s approximate location (neighbourhood and city) or precise location (where you have provided your consent), Listing description, calendar availability, your public profile photo, aggregated demand information (like page views over a period of time), and any additional information you choose to share.
After completing a booking, Guests and Hosts may write Reviews and rate each other. Reviews and Ratings are a part of your public profile page and may also be surfaced elsewhere on the iSTAY Platform (such as the Listing page).
If you submit content in a community or discussion forum, blog or social media post, or use a similar feature on the iSTAY Platform, that content is publicly visible.

Based on our legitimate interest to promote the iSTAY Platform we may display parts of the iSTAY Platform (e.g., your Listing page) on sites operated by iSTAY’s business partners, using technologies such as widgets or APIs. If your Listings are displayed on a partner’s site, information from your public profile page may also be displayed.

Information you share publicly on the iSTAY Platform may be indexed through third party search engines. In some cases, you may opt-out of this feature in your Account settings. If you change your settings or your public-facing content, these search engines may not update their databases. We do not control the practices of third party search engines, and they may use caches containing your outdated information.

Additional Services by Hosts.

Hosts may need to use third party services available through the iSTAY Platform to assist with managing their Accommodation or providing additional services requested by you, such as cleaning services or lock providers. Hosts may use features on the iSTAY Platform to share information about the Guest (like check-in and check-out dates, Guest name, Guest phone number) with such third party service providers for the purposes of coordinating the stay, managing the Accommodation, or providing other services.

Compliance with Law, Responding to Legal Requests, Preventing Harm and Protection of our Rights.

iSTAY and iSTAY Payments may disclose your information, including personal information, to courts, law enforcement or governmental authorities, or authorized third parties, if and to the extent we are required or permitted to do so by law or if such disclosure is reasonably necessary:

to comply with our legal obligations,
to comply with legal process and to respond to claims asserted against iSTAY,
to respond to verified requests relating to a criminal investigation or alleged or suspected illegal activity or any other activity that may expose us, you, or any other of our users to legal liability,
to enforce and administer our Terms of Service, the Payment Terms or other agreements with Users, or
to protect the rights, property or personal safety of iSTAY, its employees, its Users, or members of the public.

These disclosures may be necessary to comply with our legal obligations, for the protection of your or another person’s vital interests or for the purposes of our or a third party’s legitimate interest in keeping the iSTAY Platform secure, preventing harm or crime, enforcing or defending legal rights, or preventing damage.

Where appropriate, we may notify Users about legal requests unless:

providing notice is prohibited by the legal process itself, by court order we receive, or by applicable law, or
we believe that providing notice would be futile, ineffective, create a risk of injury or bodily harm to an individual or group, or create or increase a risk of fraud upon iSTAY’s property, its Users and the iSTAY Platform. In instances where we comply with legal requests without notice for these reasons, we will attempt to notify that User about the request after the fact where appropriate and where we determine in good faith that we are no longer prevented from doing so.

Service Providers.

iSTAY and iSTAY Payments uses a variety of third party service providers to help us provide services related to the iSTAY Platform and the Payment Services. Service providers may be located inside or outside of the European Economic Area (“EEA”). In particular, our service providers are based in Europe, India, Asia Pacific and North and South America.

For example, service providers may help us:

verify your identity or authenticate your identification documents,
check information against public databases,
conduct background or police checks, fraud prevention, and risk assessment,
perform product development, maintenance and debugging,
allow the provision of the iSTAY Services through third party platforms and software tools (e.g. through the integration with our APIs), or
provide customer service, advertising, or payments services.

These providers have limited access to your information to perform these tasks on our behalf, and are contractually bound to protect and to use it only for the purposes for which it was disclosed and consistent with this Privacy Policy.

iSTAY and the iSTAY Payments will need to share your information, including personal information, in order to ensure the adequate performance of our contract with you.

Corporate Affiliates.

To enable or support us in providing the iSTAY Platform and the Payment Services, we may share your information, including personal information, within our corporate family of companies (both financial and non-financial entities) that are related by common ownership or control.

Sharing with iSTAY. Even if your Country of Residence is not the United States, your information may be shared with iSTAY, Inc. which provides the technical infrastructure for the iSTAY Platform, product development and maintenance, customer support, trust and safety and other business operation services to other iSTAY entities. The data sharing is necessary for the performance of the contract between you and us and is based on our legitimate interests in providing the iSTAY Platform globally.
Sharing with iSTAY Payments. In order to facilitate payments on or through the iSTAY Platform, certain information as described above, may be shared with the relevant iSTAY Payments entity. The data sharing is necessary for the performance of the contract between you and us.

Additionally, we share your information, including personal information, with our corporate affiliates in order to support and integrate, promote, and to improve the ISTAY Platform and our affiliates’ services.

Social Media Platforms.

Where permissible according to applicable law we may use certain limited personal information about you, such as your email address, to hash it and to share it with social media platforms, such as Facebook or Google, to generate leads, drive traffic to our websites or otherwise promote our products and services or the iSTAY Platform. These processing activities are based on our legitimate interest in undertaking marketing activities to offer you products or services that may be if your interest.

The social media platforms with which we may share your personal data are not controlled or supervised by iSTAY. Therefore, any questions regarding how your social media platform service provider processes your personal data should be directed to such provider.

Please note that you may, at any time ask iSTAY to cease processing your data for these direct marketing purposes by sending an e-mail.

Collection and Remittance of Occupancy Taxes.

In jurisdictions where iSTAY facilitates the Collection and Remittance of Occupancy Taxes as described in the “Taxes” section of the Terms of Service, Hosts and Guests, where legally permissible according to applicable law, expressly grant us permission, without further notice, to disclose Hosts’ and Guests’ data and other information relating to them or to their transactions, bookings, Accommodations and Occupancy Taxes to the relevant tax authority, including, but not limited to, the Host’s or Guest’s name, Listing addresses, transaction dates and amounts, tax identification number(s), the amount of taxes received (or due) by Hosts from Guests, and contact information.

Government Registration.

In jurisdictions where iSTAY facilitates or requires a registration, notification, permit, or license application of a Host with a local governmental authority through the iSTAY Platform in accordance with local law, we may share information of participating Hosts with the relevant authority, both during the application process and, if applicable, periodically thereafter, such as the Host’s full name and contact details, Accommodation address, tax identification number, Listing details, and number of nights booked.

Host Information Provided to iSTAY for Work Customers.

If a booking is designated as being for business purposes and made by a Guest affiliated with a company or other organization enrolled in our iSTAY for Work Program, we may disclose information related to the booking to the Enterprise, such as the name of the Host, the Accommodation address, pricing, Listing details, and other related information, to the extent necessary for the adequate performance of the services. At the request of the Enterprise or the Guest, we may also share this information with third parties engaged by the Enterprise to provide travel management, travel planning, financial reporting, personnel management, crisis management, or other services.

Guest Information Provided to ISTAY for Work Customers.

If you have linked your iSTAY Account with an Enterprise, and you are included on a booking designated as being for business purposes, we may disclose information related to the booking to your Enterprise to the extent necessary for the adequate performance of the services. Typically, this includes your name, dates of the booking, number of guests, pricing, Listing details, the Accommodation address, and other related information. At the request of you or your Enterprise, we may also disclose this information to service providers engaged by it, such as companies that provide travel management, financial reporting, personnel management, crisis management, or other services. In the event of a dispute, emergency, or similar situation involving a booking identified as being for business purposes, iSTAY may also share additional relevant information it believes is necessary to safely and quickly address the situation.

Business Transfers.

If iSTAY undertakes or is involved in any merger, acquisition, reorganization, sale of assets, bankruptcy, or insolvency event, then we may sell, transfer or share some or all of our assets, including your information in connection with such transaction or in contemplation of such transaction (e.g., due diligence). In this event, we will notify you before your personal information is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

Aggregated Data.

We may also share aggregated information (information about our users that we combine together so that it no longer identifies or references an individual user) and other anonymized information for regulatory compliance, industry and market analysis, demographic profiling, marketing and advertising, and other business purposes.

OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Analyzing your Communications.

We may review, scan, or analyze your communications on the iSTAY Platform for fraud prevention, risk assessment, regulatory compliance, investigation, product development, research, and customer support purposes. For example, as part of our fraud prevention efforts, we scan and analyze messages to mask contact information and references to other websites. In some cases, we may also scan, review, or analyze messages to debug, improve, and expand product offerings. We use automated methods where reasonably possible. However, occasionally we may need to manually review some communications, such as for fraud investigations and customer support, or to assess and improve the functionality of these automated tools. We will not review, scan, or analyze your communications to send third party marketing messages to you, and we will not sell reviews or analyses of these communications.

These activities are carried out based on iSTAY’s legitimate interest in ensuring compliance with applicable laws and our Terms, preventing fraud, promoting safety, and improving and ensuring the adequate performance of our services.

Google Maps/Earth.

Parts of the iSTAY Platform use Google Maps/Earth services, including the Google Maps API(s). Use of Google Maps/Earth is subject to Google Maps/Earth Additional Terms of Use and the Google Privacy Policy.

THIRD PARTY PARTNERS & INTEGRATIONS

The iSTAY Platform may contain links to third party websites or services, such as third party integrations, co-branded services, or third party-branded services (“Third Party Partners”). iSTAY doesn’t own or control these Third Party Partners and when you interact with them, you may be providing information directly to the Third Party Partner, iSTAY, or both. These Third Party Partners will have their own rules about the collection, use, and disclosure of information. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of the other websites you visit.

YOUR RIGHTS

You may exercise any of the rights described in this section before your applicable iSTAY Data Controller and Payments Data Controller by sending an email. Please note that we may ask you to verify your identity before taking further action on your request.

Managing Your Information.

You may access and update some of your information through your Account settings. If you have chosen to connect your iSTAY Account to a third-party application, like Facebook or Google, you can change your settings and remove permission for the app by changing your Account settings. You are responsible for keeping your personal information up-to-date.

Rectification of Inaccurate or Incomplete Information.

You have the right to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete personal information concerning you (and which you cannot update yourself within your iSTAY Account).

Data Access and Portability.

In some jurisdictions, applicable law may entitle you to request copies of your personal information held by us. You may also be entitled to request copies of personal information that you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and/or request us to transmit this information to another service provider (where technically feasible).

Data Retention and Erasure.

We generally retain your personal information for as long as is necessary for the performance of the contract between you and us and to comply with our legal obligations. If you no longer want us to use your information to provide the iSTAY Platform to you, you can request that we erase your personal information and close your iSTAY Account. Please note that if you request the erasure of your personal information:

We may retain some of your personal information as necessary for our legitimate business interests, such as fraud detection and prevention and enhancing safety. For example, if we suspend an iSTAY Account for fraud or safety reasons, we may retain certain information from that iSTAY Account to prevent that User from opening a new iSTAY Account in the future.
We may retain and use your personal information to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations. For example, iSTAY and iSTAY Payments may keep some of your information for tax, legal reporting and auditing obligations.
Information you have shared with others (e.g., Reviews, forum postings) may continue to be publicly visible on the iSTAY Platform, even after your iSTAY Account is cancelled. However, attribution of such information to you will be removed. Additionally, some copies of your information (e.g., log records) may remain in our database, but are disassociated from personal identifiers.
Because we maintain the iSTAY Platform to protect from accidental or malicious loss and destruction, residual copies of your personal information may not be removed from our backup systems for a limited period of time.

Withdrawing Consent and Restriction of Processing.

Where you have provided your consent to the processing of your personal information by iSTAY you may withdraw your consent at any time by changing your Account settings or by sending a communication to iSTAY specifying which consent you are withdrawing. Please note that the withdrawal of your consent does not affect the lawfulness of any processing activities based on such consent before its withdrawal. Additionally, in some jurisdictions, applicable law may give you the right to limit the ways in which we use your personal information, in particular where

you contest the accuracy of your personal information;
the processing is unlawful and you oppose the erasure of your personal information;
we no longer need your personal information for the purposes of the processing, but you require the information for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims; or
you have objected to the processing pursuant and pending the verification whether the legitimate grounds of iSTAY override your own.

Objection to Processing.

In some jurisdictions, applicable law may entitle you to require iSTAY and iSTAY Payments not to process your personal information for certain specific purposes (including profiling) where such processing is based on legitimate interest. If you object to such processing iSTAY and/or iSTAY Payments will no longer process your personal information for these purposes unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for such processing or such processing is required for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

Where your personal information is processed for direct marketing purposes, you may, at any time ask iSTAY to cease processing your data for these direct marketing purposes by sending an e-mail.

Lodging Complaints.

You have the right to lodge complaints about the data processing activities carried out by iSTAY and iSTAY Payments before the competent data protection authorities.

OPERATING GLOBALLY

To facilitate our global operations iSTAY and iSTAY Payments may transfer, store, and process your information within our family of companies or with service providers based in Europe, India, Asia Pacific and North and South America. Laws in these countries may differ from the laws applicable to your Country of Residence. For example, information collected within the EEA may be transferred, stored, and processed outside of the EEA for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. Where we transfer store, and process your personal information outside of the EEA we have ensured that appropriate safeguards are in place to ensure an adequate level of data protection.

SECURITY

We are continuously implementing and updating administrative, technical, and physical security measures to help protect your information against unauthorized access, loss, destruction, or alteration. Some of the safeguards we use to protect your information are firewalls and data encryption, and information access controls. If you know or have reason to believe that your iSTAY Account credentials have been lost, stolen, misappropriated, or otherwise compromised or in case of any actual or suspected unauthorized use of your iSTAY Account, please contact us following the instructions in the Contact Us section below.

CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

iSTAY reserves the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time in accordance with this provision. If we make changes to this Privacy Policy, we will post the revised Privacy Policy on the iSTAY Platform and update the “Last Updated” date at the top of this Privacy Policy. We will also provide you with notice of the modification by email at least thirty (30) days before the date they become effective. If you disagree with the revised Privacy Policy, you may cancel your Account. If you do not cancel your Account before the date the revised Privacy Policy becomes effective, your continued access to or use of the iSTAY Platform will be subject to the revised Privacy Policy.

CONTACT US

If you have any questions or complaints about this Privacy Policy or iSTAY’s information handling practices, you may email us or contact us at:

94, 1st April Avenue Paralimni,
5296, Cyprus

Host Guarantee Terms and Conditions

Please note: These Host Guarantee Terms contain an arbitration clause and class action waiver that applies to all iSTAY Members. If you reside in the European Union (“EU”), this provision applies to all disputes with iSTAY. If you reside outside of the EU, this provision applies to any action you bring against iSTAY in the EU. It affects how disputes with iSTAY are resolved. By accepting these Host Guarantee Terms, you agree to be bound by this arbitration clause and class action waiver. Please read it carefully.

Please read these Host Guarantee Terms carefully as they contain important information about your legal rights, remedies and obligations. By posting a Listing or otherwise using the iSTAY Platform as a Host, you agree to comply with and be bound by these Host Guarantee Terms.

Last Updated: 01 July, 2020

Hosts may benefit from the iSTAY Host Guarantee program (the “iSTAY Host Guarantee”), which is subject to these terms and conditions (the “Host Guarantee Terms”). The Host Guarantee Terms apply in addition to iSTAY’s Terms of Service (“iSTAY Terms”) and the Payments Terms of Service (“Payments Terms”).

All capitalized terms shall have the meaning set forth in the iSTAY Terms or Payments Terms, unless otherwise defined in these Host Guarantee Terms. If you agree to these Host Guarantee Terms on behalf of a company or other legal entity, you represent and warrant that you have the authority to bind that company or other legal entity to these Host Guarantee Terms and, in such event, “you” and “your” will refer and apply to that company or other legal entity.

Except as permitted by law, these Host Guarantee Terms do not affect your statutory rights. If you would like a written copy of the Host Guarantee Terms, please email us.

The iSTAY Host Guarantee

iSTAY agrees to help sort your issues, as a Host, to repair or replace your Covered Property (as defined below) damaged or destroyed as a result of a Covered Loss (as defined below), subject to the limitations, exclusions and conditions in the Host Guarantee Terms.

You must comply with all of the requirements and conditions in these Host Guarantee Terms in order to be eligible to receive any payments for Covered Losses. Your failure to fully comply will prevent your recovery for any Covered Losses. Please carefully review the definitions of “Covered Accommodation,” “Covered Losses,” “Covered Property” and “Excluded Property” below so that you may identify and protect property not covered by the iSTAY Host Guarantee.

You acknowledge and agree to use your best efforts to communicate with the Responsible Guest (as defined below) as soon as possible after you discover any physical loss or damage to your Covered Property. You must notify iSTAY as well as the Responsible Guest about your complaint and attempt to resolve the loss or damage with the Responsible Guest within the earlier of

fourteen (14) days of the check-out date, or
before your next guest checks in.

You may fulfill this obligation by submitting a claim via the iSTAY Resolution Center.

You acknowledge and agree that any amount of Covered Losses payable to you under the iSTAY Host Guarantee will be reduced by the amounts you have already collected for the same Covered Losses from a source other than the iSTAY Host Guarantee, including without limitation:

amounts received under an insurance policy, guarantee or indemnity;
a security deposit; or
payment directly by the Responsible Guest or an Invitee (defined below), or other party or an insurer or guarantor of such party.

Key Defined Terms

The following capitalized terms shall have the following meanings:

“Actual Cash Value” means the amount it would cost to repair or replace damaged or destroyed Covered Property as a result of a Covered Loss, measured on the date of occurrence of such Covered Loss, with material of like kind and quality, with proper deduction for obsolescence and physical depreciation.

“iSTAY Host Guarantee Payment Request Form” means iSTAY’s standard form as amended from time to time, accessible through the Resolution Center or by contacting customer service directly, that a Host uses to request payment from iSTAY pursuant to these iSTAY Host Guarantee Terms.

“Booking Income Loss” is the loss of booking income from the booked portion of a Covered Accommodation (according to bona fide iSTAY confirmed bookings, contracts or agreements in force prior to the established time of loss) by you, as a Host, resulting from a Covered Loss. Booking Income Loss does not include non-continuing charges and expenses or any loss of booking income during any period in which the Covered Accommodation would not have been tenantable for any reason other than a Covered Loss. The Booking Income Loss will be measured starting from the time of occurrence of the Covered Loss and ending when the Covered Accommodation can be made ready for habitation under the same or equivalent physical and operating conditions that existed prior to the damage.

“Covered Accommodation” means an Accommodation located in the Territory that can be used as a residence and that is

owned or legally controlled by you as a Host during the period of the Responsible Guest’s stay at such Accommodation and
listed by you on the iSTAY Platform and booked by such Responsible Guest in compliance with the iSTAY Terms.

“Covered Losses” means and is limited to direct physical loss or physical damage to a Host’s Covered Property caused by the Responsible Guest or an Invitee of the Responsible Guest during an iSTAY stay. Covered Losses do not include any losses or damage described under Excluded Losses below.

“Covered Property” means and is limited to the following property located at a Covered Accommodation, or within 1,000 feet thereof, to the extent of your interest in such property, unless such property constitutes Excluded Property (as defined below):

A. Real property, including new buildings and additions under construction located at the site of such Covered Accommodation, in which you have an insurable interest.
B. Personal property that is:
1. owned by you, including your interest as a tenant in improvements and betterments.
2. not owned by you, but is in your custody and for which you are under obligation to keep the personal property insured for physical loss or damage.
3. not owned by you, but is in your custody and for which you have legal liability for physical loss or damage to the property.

“Excluded Losses” has the meaning set forth below.

“Excluded Property” means any of the following:

Currency, money, precious metal in bullion form, notes or securities.
Land, water or any other substance in or on land; except this exclusion does not apply to (i) land improvements consisting of landscape gardening, roadways and pavements, but not including any fill or land beneath such property, or (ii) water that is contained within any enclosed tank, piping system or any other processing equipment.
Animals, including, but not limited to, livestock and pets.
Standing timber; growing crops.
Watercraft (including, but not limited to, boats, yachts, jet skis, and similar craft), aircraft, spacecraft, and satellites. This watercraft exclusion does not apply with respect to any watercraft which is a Covered Accommodation. However, this exclusion does apply to vessels that, at the time of the loss, are in transit, or are moving greater than 10 feet from their usual fixed location and moving faster than one mile per hour.
Vehicles (including, but not limited to, automobiles, scooters, vespas, and motorcycles). This exclusion does not apply with respect to any vehicle that is a Covered Accommodation. However, this exclusion does apply to vehicles that, at the time of the loss, are in transit, or are moving greater than 10 feet from their usual fixed location and moving faster than one mile per hour.
Underground mines or mine shafts or any property within such mine or shaft.
Dams, dikes and levees.
Property in transit, except as otherwise provided by these iSTAY Host Guarantee Terms.
Transmission and distribution lines beyond 1,000 feet of the Covered Accommodation.
Any damage to any property that is not in, at, or on a Covered Accommodation.
Real property owned by a party other than you and that you do not control.

“Fine Arts” means paintings; etchings; printed photos; pictures; tapestries; rare or art glass; art glass windows, valuable rugs; statuary; sculptures; antique furniture; antique jewelry; bric-a-brac; porcelains; and similar property of rarity, historical value, or artistic merit. “Fine Arts” does not include automobiles, coins, stamps, other collectibles, collections, furs, jewelry, precious stones, precious metals, watercraft, aircraft, money, or securities.

“Invitee” means a person invited to be present at a Covered Accommodation by a Responsible Guest.

“Limit” means one million Euros (€1,000,000), or its equivalent in the currency where the Covered Accommodation is located at the exchange rate applicable on the date of payment by ISTAY under these ISTAY Host Guarantee Terms.

“Ordinary Wear and Tear” means the deterioration in condition of property that occurs under normal use and conditions.

“Responsible Guest” means the Guest who booked your Covered Accommodation for the period during which you incurred the Covered Losses.

“Territory” means the countries where the iSTAY allows Accommodation and the Host Guarantee is available.

Limitations and Exclusions

The iSTAY Host Guarantee pays Covered Losses only and does not pay for any of the following (“Excluded Losses”):

any losses caused by a Guest or Invitee after the expiration of the booking period shown in the applicable Listing.
losses or damages for Covered Property, which arise out of any one booking of a Covered Accommodation by a Responsible Guest, in excess of the Limit.
in the case of Fine Arts, losses or damages if the Fine Arts cannot be replaced with other of like kind and quality and any loss or damage from any repairing, restoration or retouching process.
any losses, damages, cost or expense of whatsoever nature, directly or indirectly, caused by, relating to or resulting from any of the following:
1. Excluded Property;
2. acts of nature, including, but not limited to, earthquakes and weather related events such as hurricanes and tornadoes;
3. excessive use of electricity, gas, fuel, water or other utilities provided for the Covered Accommodation;
4. indirect or remote causes;
5. interruption of business, loss of market and/or loss of use, except that the iSTAY Host Guarantee does cover Booking Income Loss;
6. loss, damage, or deterioration arising from any delay;
7. mysterious disappearance, loss, or shortage disclosed on taking inventory, or any unexplained loss of inventory;
8. enforcement of any law or ordinance (i) regulating the construction, repair, replacement, use or removal of any property, including removal of debris, or (ii) requiring the demolition of any property, including the cost of removing its debris;
9. animals, including injuries to animals, veterinary care, boarding, medications, and all other services associated with animals; or
10. identity theft or identity fraud.
any losses, damages, cost or expense of whatsoever nature, directly or indirectly, caused by or resulting from any of the following, regardless of any other cause or event contributing thereto:
1. any hostile act or act of war, terrorism, insurrection or rebellion;
2. actual or threatened malicious use of poisonous biological or chemical materials;
3. nuclear reaction or radiation or radioactive contamination;
4. seizure or destruction under quarantine or custom regulation, or confiscation by order of any governmental or public authority;
5. contraband, or illegal transportation or trade;
6. any dishonest act, including but not limited to theft, committed by you or any persons or entities retained by you to do anything in connection with Covered Property, unless such persons or entities are a Responsible Guest or Invitee and such act is done without your knowledge; or
7. lack of electricity, fuel, water, gas, steam, refrigerant, sewerage, telephone or internet services due to external factors.
the following conditions:
1. faulty workmanship, material, construction or design from any cause;
2. deterioration, depletion, rust, corrosion or erosion, inherent vice or latent defect;
3. Ordinary Wear and Tear;
4. settling, cracking, shrinking, bulging, or expansion of foundations, floors, pavements, walls, ceilings or roofs;
5. changes of temperature or relative humidity; or
6. damage caused by insects, animals or vermin (including pets);

provided, that any physical damage resulting from any of the conditions listed above will be covered by the iSTAY Host Guarantee if not otherwise excluded under the iSTAY Host Guarantee.

any losses, damages, claims, costs, expenses or other sums directly or indirectly arising out of or relating to mould, mildew, fungus, spores or other microorganism of any type, nature, or description, including but not limited to any substance whose presence poses an actual or potential threat to human health. This exclusion applies even if there is
1. any physical loss or damage to Covered Property;
2. any peril or cause covered hereunder, whether or not contributing concurrently or in any sequence;
3. any loss of use, occupancy, or functionality; or
4. any action required, including but not limited to, repair, replacement, removal, clean-up, abatement, disposal, relocation, or steps taken to address medical or legal concerns.
any fees that may be charged to a Guest by a Host for additional individuals invited to, or otherwise provided access to, the Covered Accommodation who are not included in the Guest’s booking of such Covered Accommodation.
Costs arising out of the loss of, loss of use of, damage to, corruption of, inability to access, or inability to manipulate, any and all Electronic Data will not be paid. “Electronic Data” means information, facts or programs, stored as or on, created or used on, or transmitted to or from any Electronic Media. “Electronic Media” means computer software, including systems and applications software, hard or floppy disks, CDROMS, tapes, drives, cells, data processing devices or any other media which are used with, electronically controlled equipment.

Conditions to the iSTAY Host Guarantee

In order to be eligible to obtain payment under these Host Guarantee Terms, you must fully comply with each of the following conditions. Your failure to fully comply will prevent your recovery of any Covered Losses. In all cases, the onus will be upon you to demonstrate that you have complied with the following conditions.

You must have incurred Covered Losses.

You must have used reasonable efforts in connection with the stay of the Responsible Guest at such Covered Accommodation to comply with ISTAY’s safety guidelines as described by iSTAY.

You must inspect the applicable Covered Accommodation to determine whether there are any physical losses or damages to any Covered Property and notify iSTAY of such losses or damages within the earlier of

fourteen (14) days following the date of termination of the Responsible Guest’s booking of the applicable Covered Accommodation or
the date by which the next subsequent booking of the same Covered Accommodation begins.

You can notify iSTAY either by opening a claim or by contacting customer support directly.

For all Covered Property which is damaged or destroyed due to a violation of law or criminal act or misdemeanour and for which you are filing an iSTAY Host Guarantee Payment Request Form, you must file a police report listing such Covered Property and provide iSTAY with a copy of such report, certified by you as true and correct.

You must provide iSTAY with proof of ownership of, or legal responsibility for, the Covered Property in the form of receipts, photographs, videos, documents or other customary forms of proof (including, but not limited to, appraisal or valuation forms or notices addressed to you) certified by you as true and correct and reasonably acceptable to iSTAY.

Within thirty (30) days after you have incurred a Covered Loss, you must

complete and file an iSTAY Host Guarantee Payment Request Form and
deliver a signed and sworn proof of loss to us, unless we provide a written extension of such deadline. The proof of loss must state your knowledge and belief as to the following:

The time, cause and origin of the Covered Loss, and evidence and proof of such loss in the form of receipts, photographs, videos, documents and other verifiable forms of proof.
The ownership, leasehold or other interest of you and all other parties in the Covered Property for which Covered Loss is claimed.
The Actual Cash Value and replacement value of each item of the Covered Property, as well as the amount of such loss or damage to each item of such Covered Property.
All liens, encumbrances, mortgages, guarantees and all other contracts of insurance, whether valid or not, covering the Covered Property that is the subject of the Covered Loss.
Any changes in the title, use, occupation, location, possession, or exposures of the Covered Accommodation since the date of the Listing.
The identity of and other information known about the Responsible Guest, any Invitee and any other party present at or using the Covered Accommodation where the Covered Property is located for which the Covered Loss is claimed on the date of the Covered Loss, and the purpose for which such Covered Accommodation was being used by such parties on such date and whether or not it then stood on leased ground.
The date when you contacted the Responsible Guest to request payment for the loss you are claiming, and the date on which the Responsible Guest declined or failed to pay for the loss.

As part of the signed and sworn proof of loss described above, you must provide iSTAY with all information it reasonably requests in order to determine the Actual Cash Value with respect to Covered Property, including: the original purchase price of such Covered Property, the date such Covered Property was acquired, the condition of such Covered Property and the estimated cost of repair or replacement of such Covered Property.

You must

protect and preserve damaged Covered Property from further loss or damage and
promptly separate the damaged and undamaged Covered Property, put it in the best possible order, and furnish a complete inventory of the lost, destroyed, damaged and undamaged property showing in detail the quantities, costs, Actual Cash Value, and amount of loss claimed.

You must, as often as may be reasonably requested by iSTAY or its designees

(i) exhibit all that remains of any damaged Covered Property and sign the written records of examination; (ii) produce for examination all books of accounts, business records, bills, invoices, and vouchers (either originals or certified copies if originals are lost) and (iii) permit extracts and machine copies to be made of the above.

You must permit iSTAY or its designee(s) to make inspections of Covered Property at all reasonable times. However, the right to make inspections, the making of inspections, and any analysis, advice, or inspection report will not constitute an undertaking by iSTAY or iSTAY’s insurer to determine or warrant that damaged Covered Property is safe or healthful. We will have no liability to you or any other person because of any inspection or failure to inspect.

You must cooperate with iSTAY, including signing any documents, and timely responding to any reasonable requests for additional information or documentation that iSTAY or its designees may require or request to process the applicable iSTAY Host Guarantee Payment Request Form.

With respect to Covered Property subject to a loan, mortgage or other security interest, you must notify your lender/mortgagee in writing of any loss that reaches or exceeds fifty thousand Euros (€50,000), and provide iSTAY with a copy of such notice. If the lender/mortgagee notifies you that the lender/mortgagee seeks insurance and/or reimbursement proceeds for the loss, you must notify iSTAY in writing of the lender/mortgagee’s request and transmit a written copy of said request to iSTAY, and provide all other information to enable iSTAY to communicate directly with the lender. If such loss is determined to be a Covered Loss, we will pay the loss benefit(s) to the lender up to the value of the mortgage (subject to the exclusions, limitations and conditions herein), and we will not pay you unless and until your monetary obligation to the lender/mortgagee has been satisfied. This condition shall apply to the extent of applicable law in your jurisdiction.

You will have full rights to the possession and control of damaged Covered Property if proper testing is done to show which property is physically damaged. You, using reasonable judgment, will decide if the physically damaged Covered Property can be reprocessed or sold. If you determine that the Covered Property is unfit for reprocessing or sale, the property will not be sold or disposed of except by you or with your consent. Proceeds from the sale or other disposition of such Covered Property will go to

ISTAY’s insurer at the time of the Covered Loss settlement, or
you if such sale or disposition proceeds are received prior to Covered Loss settlement and such proceeds will reduce the amount of the Covered Loss payable to you.

Disposition of Host Payment Requests

iSTAY Host Guarantee Payment Request Form

iSTAY will complete its processing of any iSTAY Host Guarantee Payment Request Form that you file within a reasonable period following the date you have

(a) completed and filed an iSTAY Host Guarantee Payment Request Form, and

(b) provided iSTAY with all information and materials that you are required to provide to comply with the conditions set forth in “Conditions to the iSTAY Host Guarantee” above.

In any event, we will use commercially reasonable efforts to complete processing of your iSTAY Host Guarantee Payment Request Form within three (3) months after our receipt of such documents and information. If you receive an Approved Payment Request (as defined below), then as a condition to payment to you under the iSTAY Host Guarantee, you will be required to execute and deliver to iSTAY the “iSTAY Host Guarantee Approved Payment Request Agreement”, which includes your agreement:

to assign to iSTAY or its insurer any rights and remedies you may have to recover amounts paid to you with respect to an Approved Payment Request (defined below) from the Responsible Guest or from an Invitee or from any other party that is financially responsible for the Approved Payment Request;
to reasonably cooperate with us, including, at our request, appearing as a witness in any court, arbitration or like proceeding, if we seek to recover the amount paid to you with respect to an Approved Payment Request from the Responsible Guest or from an Invitee or from any other party;
to release and hold harmless iSTAY and its insurer and all officers, directors, employees, contractors and agents of iSTAY from any further liability or obligations with respect to the facts and circumstances of the matters and incident set forth in the iSTAY Host Guarantee Payment Request Form;
if requested, to treat as “confidential information” the amount of any payment made under the iSTAY Host Guarantee; and
to refund to us any amounts in excess of the Covered Loss in the Approved Payment Request as a result of a systems or payment processing error.

The duration of the processing period of any iSTAY Host Guarantee Payment Request Form that you file will depend on factors that include, but are not limited to:

the amount of payment that you are requesting for the Covered Loss;
the location of the Covered Accommodation;
the nature of the Covered Property and the nature of the Covered Losses;
the completeness and type of documentation and information that you provide iSTAY regarding the Covered Losses; and
the number of iSTAY Host Guarantee Payment Request Forms that are currently being processed for other Hosts.

Approved Payment Request

If you have filed an iSTAY Host Guarantee Payment Request Form and such a payment request is approved in whole or in part for a Covered Loss, you will be paid the amount of the Covered Loss as calculated by iSTAY or its designees. The process for such calculation of Covered Losses is described under “Determination of the Amount of the Covered Loss” below. You will be notified by iSTAY and, as a condition of payment hereunder, you will be required to deliver to iSTAY an executed Approved Payment Request Agreement. iSTAY may use third party service providers to assist in the processing of the iSTAY Host Guarantee Payment Request Forms and iSTAY or its designees may use third party service providers to assist in the investigation and adjustment of payment requests relating thereto.

For an Approved Payment Request that involves Covered Losses for Covered Property that is owned by a party other than you, we reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to pay all or a portion of the amount covered in such Approved Payment Request either to you or directly to the owner of such Covered Property. If an iSTAY Host Guarantee payment for all or a portion of such amount is made directly to the owner of such Covered Property, then you agree that such payment will be treated for purpose of the Approved Payment Request as being paid to you directly, and that you will be solely responsible for collecting from the owner of such Covered Property any portion of such payment to which you believe you are legally entitled. For clarity, your indemnification obligations set forth below under the paragraph entitled “Indemnification” will apply to claims arising from any payments made pursuant to the iSTAY Host Guarantee, including without limitation any payments made directly to the owner of any Covered Property.

Determination of the Amount of the Covered Loss

The amount of Covered Losses will be computed as of the date of loss, at the location of the loss, and for not more than your interest, subject to the following:

On exposed films, records, manuscripts, drawings, and Electronic Media, the value blank plus the cost of copying information from back-up or from originals of a previous generation. Costs of research, engineering, or restoring or recreating lost information or Electronic Data will not be paid.
On Fine Arts articles, the lesser of (i) the reasonable and necessary cost to repair or restore such property to the physical condition that existed on the date of loss; (ii) the cost to replace the article; and (iii) the current appraised value. If the Fine Arts article is part of a pair or set, you will not be paid (1) for the cost of replacing any undamaged or remaining items that form part of such pair or set, (2) more than the proportion that the loss or damaged item bears to the insured value of such pair or set, or (3) the cost of replacing or repairing any undamaged parts of the Fine Arts articles which form part of a pair, set or suite or part of a common design or function when the loss or damage is restricted to a clearly identifiable area or to a specific part.
For all Covered Property (other than that described in paragraphs 1 and 2 above), the loss amount will be the lesser of (i) the Actual Cash Value (assuming such property is not repaired, replaced, or rebuilt on the same or another site within two years from the date of loss); (ii) the cost to repair such damaged Covered Property; (iii) the cost to rebuild or replace such Covered Property on the same site with new materials of like size, kind, and quality; (iv) the cost to rebuild, repair, or replace on the same or another site, but not to exceed the size and operating capacity that existed on the date of the Covered Loss; or (v) the cost to replace unrepairable electrical or mechanical equipment, including computer equipment and Electronic Media, with equipment that is the most functionally equivalent to that damaged or destroyed, even if such equipment has technological advantages and/or represents an improvement in function and/or forms part of a program of system enhancement.
Any amount of any Covered Losses payable under the iSTAY Host Guarantee will be reduced by the amount already paid to you or for your benefit by a Responsible Guest, Invitee or other source (such as an insurer or other responsible party) for the same Covered Loss.
Covered Losses will be paid in the currency of the European Union unless, in iSTAY’s sole discretion, iSTAY elects to pay losses in a different currency. If currency conversions are required, we use a system-wide rate, known as the base exchange rate, for currency conversion using data from one or more third parties.

The iSTAY Host Guarantee is not an insurance policy. To the extent you desire protection beyond the iSTAY Host Guarantee, iSTAY strongly encourages you to purchase insurance that will cover you and your property for losses caused by Guests or Guests’ invitees in the event your loss is not within the terms of the iSTAY Host Guarantee.

Acknowledgments and Agreements by the Host

You acknowledge and agree that:

The iSTAY Host Guarantee is a guarantee of obligations of a Responsible Guest to you and is dependent upon you pursuing any rights and remedies you may have to recover amounts paid by iSTAY to you with respect to an Approved Payment Request from the Responsible Guest or from an Invitee or from any other party that is financially responsible for the Approved Payment Request.
iSTAY provides Hosts with the iSTAY Host Guarantee benefits described herein solely for the purpose of promoting use of the iSTAY Platform by building customer loyalty and strengthening customer confidence as to use of the iSTAY Platform.
These Host Guarantee Terms are not intended to constitute an offer to insure, do not constitute insurance or an insurance contract, and do not take the place of insurance obtained or obtainable by you. Furthermore, these Host Guarantee Terms are not an insurance service agreement as defined in a standard ISO renter’s or homeowner’s insurance policy.
The benefits provided under these Host Guarantee Terms are solely as set forth in the paragraph entitled “iSTAY Host Guarantee” above and such benefits are not assignable or transferable by you, including without limitation any transfer or assignment by operation of law or in connection with your divorce or death.
iSTAY and/or its insurer reserve the right to independently investigate (or to have independently investigated) at our sole discretion and expense, the facts and circumstances of a payment request set forth in any iSTAY Host Guarantee Payment Request Form that you file with iSTAY, notwithstanding your delivery of all information and materials that you are required to provide iSTAY in order to comply with the conditions set forth in the paragraph entitled “Conditions to the iSTAY Host Guarantee.”

You acknowledge and agree that if you make a claim under this Host Guarantee, you give iSTAY consent to review all communications between you and the allegedly Responsible Guest via the iSTAY Platform.

iSTAY reserves the right, at any time, to offset or deduct from the amounts payable or paid by iSTAY to you under these Host Guarantee Terms, any amounts that it may have in its possession, or to subsequently collect, from any other person or entity who is obligated to compensate you for losses or damages.

Because these Host Guarantee Terms constitute a guarantee agreement, the theory of exoneration applies. Thus, if the Covered Property in question or the risk associated with that Covered Property changes materially, iSTAY will be entitled to exoneration with respect to any potential guaranty obligation under these Host Guarantee Terms.

Modification or Termination of ISTAY Host Guarantee Terms

To the extent permissible by applicable law in your jurisdiction, iSTAY reserves the right to modify or terminate these Host Guarantee Terms, at any time, in its sole discretion.

If iSTAY terminates these Host Guarantee Terms, iSTAY will provide you with notice by email at least thirty (30) days before such termination and iSTAY will continue to process all iSTAY Host Guarantee Payment Request Forms that you filed prior to the effective date of termination, but your right to file any new iSTAY Host Guarantee Payment Request Forms will immediately terminate.

If iSTAY modifies these Host Guarantee Terms, we will post the modification on the iSTAY Platform. iSTAY will continue to process all iSTAY Host Guarantee Payment Request Forms that you filed prior to the effective date of the modification.

In addition to and without limiting iSTAY’s rights set forth above in the immediately preceding paragraph, iSTAY reserves the right to modify or terminate these Host Guarantee Terms generally or in any jurisdiction, at any time, in its sole discretion, if: (i) these Host Guarantee Terms are construed to be an offer to insure or constitute insurance or an insurance contract or insurance service agreement by any governmental or regulatory authority in any jurisdiction; (ii) iSTAY is required to obtain a license or permit of any kind to continue to provide these Host Guarantee Terms in any jurisdiction; or (iii) iSTAY determines or a court or arbitrator holds that the provisions of these Host Guarantee Terms violate applicable law. If iSTAY modifies or terminates these Host Guarantee Terms in accordance with the foregoing, iSTAY will process all iSTAY Host Guarantee Payment Request Forms that you file prior to or as of the effective date of such modification or termination unless such processing is prohibited by law, regulation, ordinance, order, or decree of any governmental or other authority.

Subrogation

iSTAY and/or iSTAY’s insurer have the right to subrogate against any person or entity whatsoever who allegedly is responsible for causing the losses or damages in question, even if that person or entity is you. Further, you hereby agree that, with respect to any payments made under the iSTAY Host Guarantee by, or on behalf of, iSTAY, you will assist in and cooperate fully with iSTAY regarding any and all efforts at subrogation.

Disclaimers and Limitations of Liability

If you choose to use the iSTAY Platform as a Host, you do so at your sole risk. The iSTAY Host Guarantee is provided “as is”, without warranty of any kind, either express or implied.

You acknowledge and agree that, to the maximum extent permitted by law, the entire risk arising out of your access to and use of the iSTAY Platform, and your listing of any Accommodations via the iSTAY Platform remains with you. Neither iSTAY nor any other party involved in creating, producing, or delivering the iSTAY Platform will be liable for any incidental, special, exemplary or consequential damages, including lost profits, loss of data or loss of goodwill, service interruption, computer damage or system failure, or for any damages for (1) personal or bodily injury or emotional distress arising out of or in connection with these Host Guarantee terms, (2) from the use of or inability to use the iSTAY Platform, (3) from any communications, interactions or meetings with other users of the iSTAY Platform or other persons with whom you communicate or interact as a result of your use of the iSTAY Platform, or (4) from your listing of any Accommodation via the iSTAY Platform. iSTAY will not be liable for any such damages described above, whether based on warranty, contract, tort (including negligence), product liability or any other legal theory, and whether or not iSTAY has been informed of the possibility of such damage, even if a limited remedy set forth herein is found to have failed of its essential purpose.

Except for iSTAY’s obligation to pay amounts to you pursuant to an Approved Payment Request under these Host Guarantee Terms, in no event will iSTAY’s aggregate liability arising out of or in connection with (a) these Host Guarantee Terms; (b) your use of or inability to use the iSTAY Platform including, but not limited to, posting a Listing, (c) any Accommodation and (d) your interactions with any other Members, exceed the amounts paid by iSTAY to you in the twelve (12) month period prior to the event giving rise to the liability, or one hundred euros (€100), if no such payments have been made, as applicable. The limitations of damages set forth above are fundamental elements of the basis of the bargain between iSTAY and you. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion for certain limitations of liability, so the above limitations may not apply to you. If you reside outside of the EU, this does not affect iSTAY’s liability for death or personal injury arising from its negligence, nor for fraudulent misrepresentation, misrepresentation as to a fundamental matter or any other liability which cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

If you reside in the EU, iSTAY is liable under statutory provisions for intent and gross negligence by us, our legal representatives, directors or other vicarious agents. The same applies to the assumption of guarantees or any other strict liability, or in case of a culpable injury to life, limb or health. iSTAY is liable for any negligent breaches of essential contractual obligations by us, our legal representatives, directors or other vicarious agents. Essential contractual obligations are such duties of iSTAY in whose proper fulfilment you regularly trust and must trust for the proper execution of the contract but the amount shall be limited to the typically occurring foreseeable damage. Any additional liability of iSTAY is excluded.

General Provisions

Indemnification

You agree to release, defend, indemnify, and hold iSTAY and its affiliates and subsidiaries, and their officers, directors, employees and agents, harmless from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses, including, without limitation, reasonable legal and accounting fees, arising out of or in any way connected with the iSTAY Host Guarantee and these Host Guarantee Terms.

If you rent (rather than own) the Accommodation that you list as a Covered Accommodation, the immediately preceding paragraph applies specifically to any dispute between you and the owner of the Accommodation. You are fully responsible for securing the lessor’s permission to list the Accommodation with iSTAY and complying with the scope of any permission granted.

Entire Agreement

These Host Guarantee Terms constitute the entire and exclusive understanding and agreement between iSTAY and you regarding the iSTAY Host Guarantee and these Host Guarantee Terms, and supersede and replace any and all prior oral or written understandings or agreements between iSTAY and you regarding the iSTAY Host Guarantee.

Assignment

You may not assign or transfer these Host Guarantee Terms, by operation of law or otherwise, without iSTAY’s prior written consent. Any attempt by you to assign or transfer these Host Guarantee Terms, without such consent, will be null and of no effect. iSTAY may assign or transfer these Host Guarantee Terms, at its sole discretion, without restriction. Your right to terminate the Agreement with iSTAY remains unaffected. Subject to the foregoing, these Host Guarantee Terms will bind and inure to the benefit of the parties, their successors and permitted assigns.

Notices

Unless specified otherwise, any notices or other communications to Users permitted or required under this Agreement, will be in writing and given by iSTAY via email, iSTAY Platform notification, or messaging service. For notices made to Users residing outside of Germany, the date of receipt will be deemed the date on which iSTAY transmits the notice.

Controlling Law and Jurisdiction

These Host Guarantee Terms will be interpreted in accordance of the ISTAY Terms.

Waiver and Severability

The failure of iSTAY to enforce any right or provision of these Host Guarantee Terms will not constitute a waiver of future enforcement of that right or provision. The waiver of any such right or provision will be effective only if in writing and signed by a duly authorized representative of iSTAY. Except as expressly set forth in these Host Guarantee Terms, the exercise by either party of any of its remedies under these Host Guarantee Terms will be without prejudice to its other remedies under these Host Guarantee Terms or otherwise. If for any reason an arbitrator or a court of competent jurisdiction finds any provision of these Host Guarantee Terms invalid or unenforceable, that provision will be enforced to the maximum extent permissible and the other provisions of these Host Guarantee Terms will remain in full force and effect.

Contacting iSTAY

If you have any questions about these iSTAY Host Guarantee Terms, please email us.

iSTAY Guest Refund Policy

Last Updated: 01 July, 2020

These terms and conditions govern iSTAY’s policy for Guest refunds and the obligations of the Host associated with the Guest Refund Policy. The Guest Refund Policy applies in addition to iSTAY’s Terms of Service (“iSTAY Terms”). The Guest Refund Policy is available to Guests who book and pay for an Accommodation through the iSTAY Platform and suffer a Travel Issue (as defined below). The Guest’s rights under this Guest Refund Policy will supersede the Host’s cancellation policy.

All capitalized terms shall have the meaning set forth in the iSTAY Terms or Payments Terms unless otherwise defined in this Guest Refund Policy.

By using the iSTAY Platform as a Host or Guest, you are indicating that you have read and that you understand and agree to be bound by this Guest Refund Policy.

Travel Issue

A “Travel Issue” means any one of the following:

(a) the Host of the Accommodation (i) cancels a booking shortly before the scheduled start of the booking, or (ii) fails to provide the Guest with the reasonable ability to access the Accommodation (e.g. does not provide the keys and/or a security code).

(b) the Listing’s description or depiction of the Accommodation is materially inaccurate with respect to:

the size of the Accommodation (e.g., number and size of the bedroom, bathroom and/or kitchen or other rooms),
whether the booking for the Accommodation is for an entire home, private room or shared room, and whether another party, including the Host, is staying at the Accommodation during the booking,
special amenities or features represented in the Listing are not provided or do not function, such as decks, pools, hot tubs, bathrooms (toilet/shower/bathtub), kitchen (sink/stove/refrigerator or major other appliances), and electrical, heating or air condition systems, or
the physical location of the Accommodation (proximity).

(c) at the start of the Guest’s booking, the Accommodation: (i) is not generally clean and sanitary (ii) contains safety or health hazards that would be reasonably expected to adversely affect the Guest’s stay at the Accommodation in iSTAY’s judgment, (iii) does not contain clean bedding and bathroom towels available for the Guest’s use, or (iv) has vermin or contains pets not disclosed in the Listing.

The Guest Refund Policy

If you are a Guest and suffer a Travel Issue, we agree, at our discretion, to either (i) reimburse you up to the amount paid by you through the iSTAY Platform depending on the nature of the Travel Issue suffered, or (ii) use our reasonable efforts to find and book you another Accommodation for any unused nights left in your booking which is reasonably comparable to the Accommodation described in your original booking in terms of size, rooms, features and quality. All determinations of iSTAY with respect to the Guest Refund Policy, including without limitation the size of any refund and the comparability of alternate Accommodations, shall be in iSTAY’s discretion, and final and binding on the Guests and Hosts.

Conditions to Claim a Travel Issue

To submit a valid claim for a Travel Issue and receive the benefits with respect to your booking, you are required to meet each of the following conditions:

(a) you must be the Guest that booked the Accommodation;

(b) you must bring the Travel Issue to our attention in writing and provide us with information (including photographs or other evidence) about the Accommodation and the circumstances of the Travel Issue within 24 hours after the later of (i) the start of your booking or (ii) you discover the existence of the Travel Issue , and must respond to any requests by us for additional information or cooperation on the Travel Issue;

(d) unless iSTAY advises you that the Travel Issue cannot be remediated, you must have used reasonable efforts to try to remedy the circumstances of the Travel Issue with the Host prior to making a claim for a Travel Issue.

Minimum Quality Standards, Host Responsibilities and Reimbursement to Guest

If you are a Host, you are responsible for ensuring that the Accommodations you list on the iSTAY Platform meet minimum quality standards regarding access, adequacy of the Listing description, safety, cleanliness, and do not present a Guest with Travel Issues. During a Guest’s stay at an Accommodation, Hosts should be available, or make a third-party available, in order to try, in good faith, to resolve any Guest issues.

If you are a Host, and if (i) iSTAY determines that a Guest has suffered a Travel Issue related to an Accommodation listed by you and (ii) iSTAY either reimburses that or provides an alternative Accommodation to the Guest, you agree to reimburse iSTAY up to the amount paid by iSTAY within 30 days of iSTAY’s request. If the Guest is relocated to an alternative Accommodation, you also agree to reimburse iSTAY for reasonable additional costs incurred to relocate the Guest. You authorize iSTAY Payments to collect any amounts owed to iSTAY by reducing your Payout or as otherwise permitted pursuant to the Payments Terms.

As a Host, you understand that the rights of Guests under this Guest Refund Policy will supersede your selected cancellation policy. If you dispute the Travel Issue, you may notify us in writing and provide us with information (including photographs or other evidence) disputing the claims regarding the Travel Issue, provided you must have used reasonable and good faith efforts to try to remedy the Travel Issue with the Guest prior to disputing the Travel Issue claim.

General Provisions

No Assignment/No Insurance. This Guest Refund Policy is not intended to constitute an offer to insure, does not constitute insurance or an insurance contract, does not take the place of insurance obtained or obtainable by the Guest, and the Guest has not paid any premium in respect of the Guest Refund Policy. The benefits provided under this Guest Refund Policy are not assignable or transferable by you.

Modification or Termination. iSTAY reserves the right to modify or terminate this Guest Refund Policy, at any time, in its sole discretion. If iSTAY modifies this Guest Refund Policy, we will post the modification on the iSTAY Platform or provide you with notice of the modification and iSTAY will continue to process all claims for Travel Issues made prior to the effective date of the modification.

Entire Agreement. This Guest Refund Policy constitutes the entire and exclusive understanding and agreement between iSTAY and you regarding the Guest Refund Policy and supersedes and replaces any and all prior oral or written understandings or agreements between iSTAY and you regarding the Guest Refund Policy.

Contacting iSTAY.

If you have any questions about the Guest Refund Policy, please email us.

IP Policy

Policy on notification of alleged intellectual property (“IP”) infringements.

iSTAY respects the intellectual property rights of others and expects its users to do the same.

It is iSTAY’s policy, in appropriate circumstances and at its discretion, to disable and/or terminate the account or access of users who repeatedly infringe or are repeatedly charged with infringing the copyrights or other intellectual property rights of others.

iSTAY will respond to claims of IP infringement committed using the iSTAY website and mobile application that are reported to iSTAY following this IP Policy.

If you are an IP owner, or are authorized to act on behalf of one, please report alleged IP infringements taking place on or through the Site and Application by completing the following Notice of Alleged Infringement and delivering it to iSTAY as described below.

Upon receipt of the Notice as described below, iSTAY will take whatever action, in its sole discretion, it deems appropriate, including removal of the challenged material from the Site and Application.

Notice of Alleged Infringement (“Notice”)

Identify the specific protected work that you claim has been infringed, or – if multiple works are covered by this Notice – you may provide a representative list of the works that you claim have been infringed.
Identify the material that you claim is infringing (or to be the subject of infringing activity) and that you believe should be removed or access to which should to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material, including at a minimum, if applicable, the URL of the link shown on the Site and Application where such material may be found.
Provide your mailing address, telephone number, and, if available, email address.
Include both of the following statements in the body of the Notice:
- “I hereby state that I have a good faith belief that the disputed use of the identified material is not authorized by the IP owner, its agent, or the law (e.g., as a fair use).”
- “I hereby state that the information in this Notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that I am the owner, or authorized to act on behalf of the owner, of the IP rights that are allegedly infringed.”
Provide your full legal name and your electronic or physical signature.

iSTAY Cookie Policy

iSTAY uses cookies and similar technologies to help provide, protect, and improve the iSTAY Platform. This policy explains how and why we use these technologies and the choices you have.

A cookie is a small data file that is transferred to your device (e.g. your phone or your computer). For example, a cookie could allow us to recognize your browser, while another could store your preferences. There are two types of cookies used on the iSTAY Platform: (1) “session cookies” and (2) “persistent cookies.” Session cookies normally expire when you close your browser, while persistent cookies remain on your device after you close your browser, and can be used again the next time you access the iSTAY Platform.

We also use other technologies with similar functionality to cookies, such as web beacons, pixels, mobile identifiers, and tracking URLs, to obtain Log Data (as described in the Privacy Policy). For example, our email messages may contain web beacons and tracking URLs to determine whether you have opened a certain message or accessed a certain link.

Why ISTAY Uses These Technologies

We use these technologies for a number of purposes, such as:

To enable you to use and access the iSTAY Platform and the Payment Services.
To enable, facilitate and streamline the functioning of and your access to the iSTAY Platform.
To better understand how you navigate through and interact with the iSTAY Platform and to improve the iSTAY Platform.
To serve you tailored advertising (on the iSTAY Platform and on third party websites).
To show you content (e.g., advertisements) that is more relevant to you.
To monitor and analyze the performance, operation, and effectiveness of the iSTAY Platform and iSTAY advertisements.
To enforce legal agreements that govern use of the iSTAY Platform.
For fraud detection and prevention, and investigations.
For purposes of our own customer support, analytics, research, product development, and regulatory compliance.

Third Parties

We may also allow certain business partners to place these technologies on the iSTAY Platform. These partners use these technologies to (1) help us analyze how you use the iSTAY Platform, such as by noting the third party services from which you arrived, (2) market and advertise iSTAY services to you on the iSTAY Platform and third party websites, (3) help us detect or prevent fraud or conduct risk assessments, or (4) collect information about your activities on the iSTAY Platform, other sites, and/or the ads you have clicked on. For example, to help us better understand how people use the iSTAY Platform, we work with a number of analytics partners.

Third parties may also use such tracking technologies to serve ads that they believe are most likely to be of interest to you and measure the effectiveness of their ads both on the iSTAY Platform and on other websites and online services. Targeting and advertising cookies we use may include Google, and other advertising networks and services we use from time to time. To the extent advertising technology is integrated into the iSTAY Platform and you opt-out of tailored advertising, you may still receive advertising content. In that case, the advertising content will just not be tailored to your interests. Also, we do not control any of these opt-out links and are not responsible for the availability or accuracy of these mechanisms.

Third Party Social Plugins

The iSTAY Platform may use social plugins provided and operated by third parties, such as Facebook’s Like Button. As a result of this, you may send to the third party the information that you are viewing on a certain part of the iSTAY Platform. If you are not logged into your account with the third party, then the third party may not know your identity. If you are logged in to your account with the third party, then the third party may be able to link information or actions about your interactions with the iSTAY Platform to your account with them. Please refer to the third party’s privacy policies to learn more about its data practices.

Your Choices

Most browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can modify your browser setting to decline cookies by visiting the Help portion of your browser’s toolbar.

Flash cookies operate differently than browser cookies, and cookie management tools available in a web browser will not remove flash cookies. To learn more about how to manage flash cookies, you can visit the Adobe website and make changes at the Global Privacy Settings Panel.

Your mobile device may allow you to control cookies through its settings function. Refer to your device manufacturer’s instructions for more information.

If you choose to decline cookies, some parts of the iSTAY Platform may not work as intended or may not work at all.

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Terms of Service

IP Policy

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