Access Statement for Hilltop Barn

Introduction
Hilltop Barn is ideal for up to six (three bedrooms). It has direct access from vehicles being able to park adjacent to the main entrance

Pre Arrival
Bookings can be made on line or by email and phone. The website gives a clear indication of facilities available and is in a readable font and size.

Arrival and Car Parking facilities
The barn has easy access with a gravel approach. There is wooden decking ramp from the parking area up to the entrance door and kitchen and directly to the downstairs bedroom.

Main Entrance and reception
There is comfortable seating in the arrival barn bay area, which is covered and thereby means that relaxing can be afforded without having to enter the property and kitchen immediately. The floors are level throughout.

Public Areas – sitting room, lounges and lobbies
The single flight of stairs to the upstairs floor has a half way landing and is one metre wide. There is a substantial gate at the top, which can be used for support in both directions. All the top floor with the bedrooms is on one level. The master bedroom has a solid wood floor, the second bedroom and lounge are carpeted. The shower has a tray that is 100 mm above the bathroom floor level. The third twin bedded room has an en suite wet room and is set up for disabled persons, with level access along a low decking walkway to the kitchen. There is therefore no need to go upstairs. However there is no internal sitting area other than the kitchen and the bedroom with its tea making and television. The property lounge is upstairs.

Whilst motorised wheelchairs can access throughout the ground floor, the turn into the downstairs bedroom from the wet room is quite tight. However, with a standard wheelchair this is not a problem.

WCs
The barn has a shower room on the top level, with no bath and has a supporting rail adjacent to the quadrant shower. Both the upstairs bedrooms are immediately adjacent. The downstairs wet room, which is en suite to the second twin bedded room has been designed from scratch to accommodate disabled visitors, with the toilet pan close to the basin with its single lever controlled tap. Please note that this room is not equipped with the full range of grab bars which may be familiar in public disabled washrooms.

Dining Room and Kitchen
In the barn the kitchen diner is immediately in the downstairs entrance and integral with the upstairs living area with no dividing doors.

Laundry
The Barn has both a washing machine and drier and has a good outside drying line under the covered area so no need to worry about rain!

Additional information
The property has both wired fire alarms upstairs and in the kitchen and Carbon Monoxide alarm fitted in the kitchen. We provide a detailed fire exit plan. Dogs are permitted. The open plan of the barn is ideal for those with reduced mobility but not ideal for the severely disabled. The downstairs twin bedded room with en suite wet room is easily accessed from the kitchen along the decking. A television is available so that there is no need to ascend any stairs, being a self contained downstairs flat integrated with the rest of the property. This makes the whole property ideal for both those with reduced mobility and those accompanied by more able bodied friends and family.

Access Statement for Hilltop Cottage

Hilltop Cottage has paved access from the parking area right to the front door, which has a sill raised 75 mm on entry. It is not suitable for wheelchairs but is fine for people of reduced mobility, since the whole property is on ground floor level.

There is a shower over bath in the bathroom/toilet.

The kitchen is modern and accessible but not large enough for using as a dining room, which is incorporated in the large lounge.

The property is compact and opens directly into a small informal enclosed garden/orchard.

A washing machine is provided and drying is outside on a line or inside on a drying rack.

Terms and Conditions for Hilltop Farm Properties

When you submit a booking via our online reservation system you will receive an automatically generated booking summary by email to the email address you provide in the booking form. This does not form a contract between us. A contract shall only arise when your booking is subsequently confirmed in writing via a letter of confirmation sent to you by post or email.

The booking contract is only with the main party making the booking and making payments to Hilltop Farm Holidays, but other visitors on the booking form must be fully briefed on their obligations when staying in our properties, as laid out below - and the person making the booking is fully responsible for their actions.

Hilltop Farm provides non-smoking accommodation. Smoking anywhere on the premises is strictly prohibited.

You can arrive at the property at your convenience any time from 4 pm on your start day. There is no check-in procedure, access being through a key safe. You agree to depart no later than 10 am on your departure day.

We reserve the right to make temporary arrangements on site if there are interruptions to your enjoyment of the property due to, for example, a loss of water, electricity or gas supply or any failure of appliances. If you are forced to leave due to the interruption being prolonged or making the property effectively unusable then we will refund up to all monies paid at our discretion, depending on the nature and length of the interruption. Our maximum liability will be a refund of all monies paid to us for your stay. We do not accept responsibility for payment for alternative accommodation but we will assist you to find somewhere else as quickly as possible.

Please refer to the property details for each individual property on the main web page at www.hilltopfarmholidays.co.uk for information for those of reduced mobility.

You agree to keep the property clean and tidy during your stay and return it at the end in the same condition in which you find it. It is your responsibility to inform your host immediately of any problems so they can be rectified without delay. We ask you to let us know immediately if you find anything unsatisfactory so we have a chance to put things right. Please feel free to contact us for even minor irritations, which can sometimes be put right within hours. We have a tick list and the properties are thoroughly checked before your occupancy so we rarely incur problems.

Sub-letting of Hilltop Farm properties is strictly forbidden. Friends, who are not on the booking form, are welcome to visit the property during the day on a casual basis but if you wish them to stay overnight, you must let us know. We will try to accommodate them subject to any payment due to upgrade from any reduced occupancy rate offered, provided the maximum permitted occupancy is not exceeded.

You are responsible for any breakage during your stay, whether accidental or avoidable and we will expect you to make immediate settlement prior to your departure. We do not usually charge for minor wear and tear items but we still appreciate being informed so they can be replaced as soon as possible.

We expect to leave you in privacy during your stay but reserve the right to access the property at any reasonable hour if we have reason to suspect that it may be subject to improper use or flagrantly ignoring the terms of occupancy. If necessary we may terminate the booking immediately and treat it as a cancellation by you.

We do not accept any liability for any damage, loss or injury to any member of your party or any vehicles or possessions, unless proven to be caused by a negligent act by ourselves or our employees or contractors whilst acting in the course of employment.

You may leave the property at your convenience prior to 10 am on your departure day. The key should be left in the key-safe where you found it on arrival.

Any data gathered during the course of this booking may be held on computer and used to contact you but will not be passed on to any third party. We may occasionally send you mailings but you may unsubscribe at any time, when your name will be removed from our database.

Dogs are allowed in Hilltop Barn subject to the appropriate payment and the understanding that they must not access any room in the premises other than the barn kitchen, where they may sleep overnight. There is a gate at the top of the stairs in the barn which must be kept closed. Pets are not permitted in Hilltop Cottage.

This agreement confers no protection to the occupier under the Housing act 1988. Occupancy is restricted to the dates specified on the booking form. No changes to décor or alterations of any kind are permitted during your stay. On any occasion when occupancy for greater than two weeks consecutively is permitted guests must vacate the property completely for a 6 hour period at the end of each two weeks for cleaning and inspection.

We have many years’ experience of letting properties and have successfully found new friends through this route. We have met many pleasant people, with problems being rare. We very much look forward to seeing you and hope you will thoroughly enjoy your stay at Hilltop Farm - and return one day to help us finance the continued improvements to our conservation area for your enjoyment.

IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU READ THIS CANCELLATION POLICY BEFORE YOU MAKE ANY PAYMENT

CANCELLATION CAUSED BY GOVERNMENT ADVICE NOT TO TRAVEL (e.g .Covid restrictions)

You will be given a full refund of all money paid, without deductions, if you wish.

As an alternative you may change your dates to any alternative dates within a defined advance period, usually 12 months, but the price will be that advertised for those dates on the website. This may trigger either a partial refund to you or a balance due from you if you move to a higher priced peak week. We do not ask you to make an immediate election of dates, so you can wait until your circumstances become clearer.

NORMAL CANCELLATION TERMS

Please remember that once you have made your booking you have blocked the date slots from any other customers. With self-catering accommodation we cannot afford to lose weeks which are subsequently cancelled without putting our prices up significantly, so we feel it is fairer for our customers to have fairly strict cancellation conditions. However we are happy to change dates for you without charge up to 56 days prior to your original arrival date for peak season dates or 28 days for off-peak dates.

If we cancel your booking, for any reason but typically if the property has become unusable, we will give you a full refund of any monies paid and we will endeavour to assist you with finding alternative accommodation in the area. We do not take any responsibility for any associated losses you may incur.

If you cancel your booking (but not if you change it) then your deposit is forfeit. You contract to pay in full eight weeks prior to your date of arrival. In the event of full payment having been made you will you risk losing it. To be certain you may like to consider the Booking Protect on the booking form. (If you have an annual multi-trip insurance policy you may already be covered). We will endeavour to rebook your slot immediately we are notified of your cancellation. If we are successful we will refund to you the amount received for the replacement booking (less a £20 administration fee). Clearly a last minute cancellation is unlikely to be replaced.

We reserve the right to treat your booking as cancelled if your balance of payment is not paid on time but we will always contact you first, initially by an automatically generated email.

We strongly recommend that you take out the insurance offered to you on the booking form or make sure you are covered elsewhere.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) advice is fully adhered to by Hilltop Farm Holidays in:

Using data in a way which you would reasonably expect

Having a minimal impact on your privacy

Marketing that is proportional and reasonable – and acceptable to you

When you contact us to make either a booking or an enquiry we put you on our monthly newsletter mailing list and hold electronically such information as you have submitted for this purpose only. This falls within our legitimate interests under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). However, you have a clearly visible option on any mailings to unsubscribe at any time. When you unsubscribe, your details are deleted from our database except where you have made a booking, when we are legally required to keep booking information for Inland Revenue or Immigration Control. In this case it is retained separately from the newsletter database. We do not share this data with any other organisation or any other office. We will not send you any direct promotional information or any notice of special offers, unless you have specifically requested it by opting in through our website or through a newsletter link or direct conversation with us by phone or whilst you are staying at Hilltop Farm. You have complete control of your presence on our system, within the law, and what you receive from us. Other than managing or processing a booking you will be contacted by us, at your discretion, not more than once a month. Our bookings are processed through Supercontrol who are GDPR compliant in handling data.