Terms & Conditions | Talton Lodge & Talton House

Talton House & Talton Lodge
Venue and Accommodation
Terms and Conditions for Groups and individuals

GDPR

General Data Protection Regulation 2016. Implementation 2018

Please see our privacy policy for full details on our compliance with GDPR and how it affects You.

Definitions

'Guest' means anyone staying at or visiting Talton House or Talton Lodge
‘Talton’ or ‘TH’ or ‘TL’means Talton House or Talton Lodge which offers catering, accommodation, functions, conferences, activities and other services as set out in the https://www.taltonlodge.com/ website.
‘You’, ‘Your’: refers to anyone who is considering using the services offered by TH
‘We’, ‘us’ or ‘our’ means the staff and partners working for TH.

Booking, numbers, payments

Before you pay your deposit, it is very important that you read all these terms and conditions. Your booking is confirmed once we acknowledge receipt of your deposit. Your deposit is a reservation deposit. After paying it, if you are unable to come for whatever reason it is not refundable. Once you arrive it becomes a damage deposit. For that reason we do not refund it until 7 working days AFTER your event so that we can assess if there is any damage, extra cleaning, rubbish handling, or other reasonable costs we need to recoup, or other outstanding money owed by you to us for our services, our suppliers' services or any other local suppliers' services with whom you sought credit during your stay.

Once your booking is confirmed, we will endeavour to honour the quoted prices. In the event of unforeseen external events that impact our costs, such as a raise in VAT rates or inflation, we reserve the right to alter prices up to 2 months before your event.

If your event cannot go ahead then event planning, recommendations, advice and organisational help that we normally include within the price, as part of your booking becomes chargeable at £40 an hour, as do all costs specifically incurred to put on your event and all those costs will be deducted from your deposit and prepayments where possible.

Please also see the cancellation terms below.

Apart from for Weddings or Large Events for which additional terms are covered in a separate paragraph below, full payment for your accommodation is due 2 months before arrival. at which time you need to confirm your final numbers. Maximum staying guests at TH is 23 and 28 at TL. If your extra guests (ie, those above the minimum for each venue) reduce in numbers less than 14 days before your arrival we reserve the right to charge for the original number you booked in.

You must seek permission for any daytime only guests you are planning to have (max 10) for whom we may charge a reasonable additional day rate.

Business delegate rates – When we have quoted a day delegate rate, if numbers decrease from when you have booked, we reserve the right to raise the per person rate.

Extra Payments – If you have arranged for us to provide catering, drinks, or activities, payment for any of those is due 2 weeks before arrival.

Cancellation

We strongly recommend that guests secure travel insurance or wedding insurance to cover You and Your guests against associated and direct losses if for whatever reason Your holiday or event has to be cancelled or cannot take place.

In the event that government legislation means we are not allowed to be open to the public we require guests to first claim for losses via their travel insurance. Even where You and Your guests are not already covered by travel insurance, where government legislation frustrates the contract between us and prevents Us opening and You coming, We will usually charge for pre-event planning, organisation, consultation, and any other expenses incurred in preparation for your event, up until the point at which the contract was frustrated. We may therefore be unable to refund advance payments and deposits in full unless we have written and told you specific circumstances in which we are willing to refund in full.

Any money you have paid in advance and in relation to your booking is not refundable upon cancellation. However we may well consider a partial refund if we secure a replacement booking for the same dates from a third party.
If you wish to change or cancel Your booking in whole or in part after You have booked it with us you must inform us in writing.
If you decide to change your reservation to an alternative available date after you have paid a deposit but before you have made any advance payments then it is at the discretion of TH whether to charge you a new deposit for the new reservation.
If You, the Client cancels in whole or in part a reservation less than 12 months in advance, We reserve the right to keep your reservation deposit as well as any advance payments received to date. In the event that You had made no advance payments at the time of cancellation, we reserve the right to require payment of the following sums by You, although we shall take into account any booking obtained for the same dates from a third party:
- Cancellation between 6 and 12 months in advance - 10% of the total anticipated charges
- Cancellation between 3 and 6 months in advance - 30% of the total anticipated charges.
- Cancellation between 31 days and 3 months - 50% of the total anticipated charges.
- Cancellation between arrival and 30 days in advance - 100% of the total anticipated charges.

If We Change Or Cancel The Booking:

We strongly recommend that You and your guests secure travel insurance or wedding insurance to cover You and them against associated and direct losses if for whatever reason Your holiday or event has to be cancelled or cannot take place due to unforeseen circumstances. In certain circumstances that only affect us locally and not You, TH/TL may be forced to cancel or postpone events, E.G.

There is severe flooding, inhibiting access to the venue site
Agricultural disease prevents legal access to the TH venue site
A key member of staff dies or is struck by critical illness
Any other reasonable and grave unforeseen circumstance that affects us locally.
In the event of cancellation due to the above bulleted and other similar and reasonable circumstances, advance fees and deposits are refundable less expenses already incurred by Us.

TH will always do whatever possible to rearrange bookings for an alternative mutually convenient, available date (IE a date when TH does not have an existing booking). If your event cannot go ahead for whatever reason then the event planning, advice, organisation, hosted visits that we normally include within your accommodation/event fee will be chargeable but will usually be more than covered by your reservation deposit and advance payments.

It is at the discretion of TH whether to charge you additional deposits and part payments for a replacement event date after You cancelled the original date.

In the unlikely event that we have to change or cancel the booking for our own convenience and your travel insurance does not cover you, then a full and prompt refund will be made unless TH can secure you an alternative, mutually agreed date.

TH/TL will always give the maximum possible notice if we are cancelling for our convenience and not out of necessity.
Our liability will be limited to the rooms booked and the venue fee and we will not be responsible for any indirect losses incurred.

Unreasonable Behaviour:

If the behaviour of any member of your party is likely to cause danger, offence, damage or distress to others, we reserve the right to cancel or terminate your stay. If this happens our responsibility to you will cease and we will not consider any refunds whatsoever.

Guidelines to follow during your stay

Our invitation to treat Talton like your own home extends to taking care of it in the same way:

Please leave the House and garden, Barn and Kitchen Garden in so far as possible, as you found them. We will deduct from your deposit if you have left an unreasonable mess. This includes leaving excessive waste and not sorting your rubbish, please see our guest tips which we send when you book and/or before your accommodation invoice is due.
If there is significant damage to anything we will deduct the cost from your deposit to make good or replace breakages with parts at cost and time at £40 an hour.
Guests in Talton House will receive a substantial £120 worth of combined electricity and oil per weekend (a TH weekend runs from Friday 3pm to Monday 10am) and £250 per week between 15th October and 15th April and £70 worth of the same per weekend and £150 per week between 15th April and end of 15th October. We hope it will cover the advent of electric cars, save us putting up rental prices due to inflation and act as an incentive for guests to be mindful of electricity usage and to add a layer before turning up the radiators.
We will not deduct anything from your deposit for minor damage, for example if you break a glass or cup or have any other minor accidents, so long as you let us know so that we can replace or repair the item in question for the use or enjoyment of future guests.
Please ask if you want to move any furniture (except outdoor furniture) as it can scratch/damage the floor and walls if not done carefully
You must not erect any tents without prior arrangement.
You must not organise any external suppliers yourselves without express permission from Us.
Hazardous or dangerous items may not be brought to Talton without prior written permission.
Guests are advised that our broadband service and computer facilities are made available on the strict understanding that You are responsible for compliance with any licensing conditions in relation to the use of such facilities. Guests will indemnify Us against all costs, claims, damages, liabilities or expenses incurred by Us as a result of any use of the broadband facilities by the Client or guests including corruption or other damage to our hardware and/or licensed software of any breach of any third party rights arising from Guests' use of the computer or broadband facilities.
Group leaders are responsible for all their guests’ behaviour and must make sure they comply with all our terms, do not act in an improper or disorderly way, leave promptly at the appropriate time, comply with all guidelines concerning licensing, fire, health and safety, and respond to reasonable requests by staff.
We will respect your privacy as requested by You, but we do have access to the house, gardens, barn and Kitchen Garden at all times.
No smoking is allowed in bedrooms and indoor public areas
Obviously no recreational drugs are allowed anywhere at Talton Lodge and House, if we find any evidence of them, we will deduct from your deposit.

Firewood

We provide You with a small amount of chopped and seasoned wood next to the fire-place or wood-burning stoves inside the accommodation you have rented.
Do not help yourself from wood stores around Talton Lodge or Talton House as this is for future guests, you will need to bring extra wood to keep your fires going.
Do not burn any wood that We have provided on a campfire (not usually allowed, please ask). It is only for use in woodburners and fireplaces provided.
You can burn seasoned wood that you have brought only in campfire areas, woodburners and fireplaces provided.

Fire instructions:

Please read the fire instructions and regulations written by TH/TL before you use or light any fires whatsoever at TH/TL. The instructions are designed to keep you and your belongings safe so it makes sense to follow them carefully.
You can have fires in the allocated spaces only
You are responsible for accidental fire damage to people and possessions caused by your own negligence or your failure to follow the fire regulations and instructions provided by TH/TL.

Music and Noise

No amplified music is allowed.
All music must be inaudible outside by 10.30pm on weekdays and Sundays and by 11.30pm on Friday and Saturday
You must not make a noise that is likely to disturb neighbours and local residents.

When you are hiring Talton Lodge and Talton House accommodation for an event of over 30 people:

As well as the refundable deposit to secure your reservation, we also request you to make a part payment of £1000 towards your final accommodation invoice 9 months in advance of your stay, or on the date of booking if there are less than 9 months to go before your reserved stay.
We ask that you use cold lager, IPA or Guinness and Ale on tap at the TH and TL honesty bars to avoid rubbish associated with cans/bottles and to free up fridge space. The price includes both bar coolers, pumps, gas with all pint glassware provided. Usage judged by weight and pints are charged as per prices sent to you on the guest hints and tips form (e.g. in 2023 £3.25 ex VAT , or Ale at £90 ex VAT per 36 pint pin). Purity UBU, Mad Goose or Gold- ordered separately and only if required. If you want Purity Helles lager or Bunny Hop instead, there is a very small additional charge.

Weddings and larger events for which we charge a venue fee

This section of the Ts& Cs applies to weddings and large events and is in addition to all other terms and conditions in this document. Please note that our usual Cancellation terms apply as laid out in the paragraphs headed "Cancellation" and "If we change or cancel the booking".

We strongly recommend you organise your own comprehensive wedding insurance to insure against any unforeseen events impacting on your event or causing financial losses to You and Your guests, including direct and indirect costs caused by cancellation or postponement. For example, in the event that government legislation means we are not allowed to be open to the public we ask guests to claim for losses via their travel insurance. Even where You and Your guests are not already covered by travel insurance, We may be unable to refund advance payments or deposits in full. We will charge for pre-event planning, organisation, consultation, etc. if the event can't take place.

For weddings and large events, the bullet points below take precedence over any contradictory sections of the Terms and Conditions, especially with regard to payments, tidying up, music and noise.

Part payment of the venue fee (£1500) is due 9 months before your event
The remainder of the venue fee is due 3 months before your event
50% of the final bill (which includes accommodation, food, bar charges, other extras) is due 1 month prior to the event, with the remainder 2 weeks before.
Any other charges not yet invoiced by us or paid for by you, may be deducted from the deposit.
Talton staff will leave the Garden room bar, kitchen and House reception areas tidy on the day of your event after guests have moved over to the Lodge. They will also clear up the giant tipi, pavilion bar, and Kitchen Garden the morning after the wedding. After this you will need to do any additional washing up/tidying if you reuse these areas. All other areas to be left as per the above terms.
We do provide wedding planning service within our venue fee and if you cancel then we will use Your deposit to cover that service. However, although we will gladly offer you lots of help to plan and organise your event it is at your discretion whether to use or follow our advice, therefore we cannot take any responsibility for any aspect of your event other than the accommodation, venue facilities, and the catering service we have undertaken to carry out for you.
The payment of the venue fee allows you to erect other sleeping tents (if you secure permission in advance from us) and play amplified music. According to our existing entertainment licence, all amplified music must be turned off by 11pm Sunday to Thursday, and 12am on Fridays and Saturdays. During the day music must be low level. If for whatever reason our entertainment licencing hours change by order of the Local Authority, the Police or other official body you must agree to comply with the changes. Failure to do so will result in our cutting power to the music.
We will endeavour to make a bonfire for your event. We are solely responsible for the creating, lighting and oversight of the bonfire. Your guests are not allowed to add any wood to the bonfire. If they do, you become responsible for any resulting fire related risks or effects and we also reserve the right to withhold some or all of the deposit. In the event of excessive rain, or dangerously dry conditions, bonfires may not be possible.

Activities:

TH & TL can help arrange a variety of activities for groups of guests to take part in during their stay. We will recommend instructors who we believe are covered by the appropriate insurance and have instructor qualifications but you must check their qualifications and insurance yourselves prior to taking part in activities under their supervision. TH/TL also have public liability insurance to cover activities that take place at Talton except Canoeing which guests must undertake at their own risk knowing that only their own travel insurance may cover any misadventure or accident.
If you choose to take part in any activity such as swimming in the natural swimming pool at Talton House, you must follow the instructions we send you and remember that you do the activity at your own risk.

Dogs:

TH and TL do not allow dogs, except working/therapy dogs by prior arrangement.

Children:

We love to have children to stay here however there are hazards associated with an outdoor venue that it is your responsibility to warn children about:

The swimmning pool (fenced off and around 100M away from the nearest accommodation), the stream and the higher platforms
Bare footed wandering can be dangerous due to the potential for broken glass and poultry poo.
They must be discouraged from picking excessive amounts of fruit, especially when fruit is not yet ripe.
Children are not allowed behind the bar
Please do not let children chase chickens, sheep, etc. as the animals do not like it.

Talton House & Talton Lodge Venue and Accommodation Terms and Conditions for Groups and individuals

​GDPR