Terms & Conditions

Preamble

Thank you for considering a stay at Auch!

These Terms and Conditions for a short-term holiday rental will be between Profound UK Holdings Limited t/a Auch Hospitality (referred to as “us”, “we” or “our”) and the person making the booking and all members of the holiday party (referred to as “you” or “your”) in the following booking terms and conditions. As our properties are located in Scotland, you and we agree that the laws of Scotland will govern these Terms and Conditions with you, including any dispute which may arise.

If any individual term or clause stated in these Terms and Conditions is held to be invalid, impermissible or unenforceable permissible by law, the remaining terms shall be unaffected and shall remain valid.

Please take a moment to read and understand these Terms and Conditions. They contain important information such as our policies on cancellations, check-in and check-out times, and pets.

These Terms and Conditions will not come into force until we have received the full payment referred to in Clause 2 below. Your contract with us will be subject to these Terms and Conditions and must be complied with. The name of the party leader (which will be the name provided for the Booking) must be at least 18 years of age at the time of booking.    

If you have any questions or concerns ahead of your Booking, please contact our booking team by emailing reservations@auchestate.com.

If you have any complaints about your Booking, please contact our customer service team by emailing clientconcerns@auchestate.com

Bookings, cancellations, and payments.

Bookings

Your booking (“Booking”) may be placed directly on our website, or through selected online travel agents. Your Booking will be confirmed upon receipt of the full payment (“Booking Confirmation”) which will be requested at the time of Booking.

We accept payment by most major credit or debit cards and by bank transfer.

Damage Deposit

We will require a security deposit of £250 for your Booking, in case there is any damage to the property during your stay (“Damage Deposit”).

We will send you a link to the email address provided for the Booking no later than 48 hours before your check-in date requesting your consent to take a pre-authorisation of the Damage Deposit from the credit/debit card provided during the Booking Confirmation. This will be held against your card.

The Damage Deposit will not be charged unless the Damage Report, noted below, confirms loss or damage by you.

If you or anyone in your Booking group loses or damages anything, you should inform us immediately.

We will carry out a final inspection within 48 hours following your check-out. If we find any damage or abuse of our property, we will record this and send you an email with photos of any such damage (“Damage Report”). If anything requires repair, replacement or extensive cleaning (beyond our general cleaning), we reserve the right to withhold either all or part of the Damage Deposit.   

Absent of any issues, the Damage Deposit will be released after five (5) working days of your check-out subject to the property remaining in satisfactory condition.

The Damage Deposit does not relate to general cleaning, ordinary wear and tear, any crimes (such as theft), or any non-physical ‘damages’ (e.g. fines for smoking or bringing pets).

Date changes and cancellations by you

We understand that sometimes plans change. If you can no longer visit at the time of your Booking and you would like to amend your booking for a later date, please notify us immediately by email and at least 2 days before your Booking check-in date.

Please note, any offer to amend your Booking dates will be a gesture of goodwill, and while we will try to accommodate the requested date change which must be received at least 2 days before your Booking check-in date, this is subject to availability and pricing at that time.

For a Booking made on our website if we cannot accommodate an amendment to your Booking or if you don’t show up or wish to cancel your Booking, our cancellation policy will apply as follows:

• If cancelled more than 2 days before the check-in date, you will receive a full refund of your payment made during the Booking Confirmation.
• If cancelled less than 2 days before the check-in date, we will retain 100% of the full payment made during the Booking Confirmation.

For a Booking made using an online travel agent, please review the appliable cancellation policy of the online travel agent selected for your Booking.  

Late arrivals:

If you think you’re not going to arrive on time, please contact us and tell us when we can expect you. It’s your responsibility to ensure you’re on time, and if you aren’t, we are not responsible for any associated costs (e.g. the cancellation of your booking, or any cancellation fees noted above).

For this reason, we strongly recommend you take out your own travel insurance for UK holidays which covers booking cancellations. This will give you the peace of mind that you will get your money back if you need to cancel your holiday at almost the last minute. If you choose not to then you accept responsibility for any loss that you may incur due to your cancellation.

You agree that in submitting any requests for cancellation or refunds relating to you stay at Auch, all communication will be taken up with our staff directly and you will not contact our software provider directly on any such issues.

Cancellation by us for reasons beyond our control (“Force Majeure”)

We will not be deemed to be in breach of these Terms and Conditions, or otherwise liable to you, by reason of any delay in performance or non-performance of any of our obligations in these Terms and Conditions to the extent that such delay or non-performance if caused by circumstances beyond our reasonable control, for example if access to and use of our property is prevented by fire, flood, exceptional weather conditions, epidemics, pandemics, destruction/damage, internet or other communications failure, blocked roads, war/terrorism, nuclear/radioactive disaster affecting us or our property (these are sometimes referred to as “Force Majeure Events”).

If for any reason beyond our control we are forced to cancel your Booking (or bring it to an end early) due to a Force Majeure Event affecting us or our property we will refund you the full amount of your remaining lodging costs based on the time of your Booking remaining. This will be the full extent of our liability and no additional compensation, expenses or costs (such as travel or replacement lodging costs) will be payable.

Period and Terms of Hire

We will send the code for the property key box and entrance barrier to your email address following the Booking Confirmation and (if applicable) following the pre-authorisation for the Damage Deposit.

Unless expressly agreed by us in writing, you should not arrive before 4pm on the check-in date stated within your Booking, and you must leave and vacate the property by 10am on check-out date stated within your Booking (“the Holiday Period”). Failure to do so may result in you being charged a further day’s rental.  

You must not use the property for any other purpose except for the purpose of a holiday during the Holiday Period, and not for any other purpose or for a longer period than the Holiday Period except with our express written agreement, as noted in Clause 6 below. For the avoidance of doubt, you must not use the property as a permanent home or for any business, work, or residential purpose.

You must not allow anyone other than the named members of you Booking to stay overnight without our prior written consent.

These Terms and Conditions to stay in the property for the Holiday Period and your Booking are not a lease and do not confer any tenancy rights on you or create the relationship of Landlord and Tenant between the parties.

These Terms and Conditions and your Booking relate to a ‘holiday let’ the purpose of which is to confer on you as a holidaymaker the right to occupy our property for a holiday only and you acknowledge that the possession of the property is retained by the us subject to any rights created by your Booking or these Terms and Conditions, and we reserve the right to enter the property at any reasonable time for inspection, maintenance, safety or any other reasonable purpose.  You shall not be entitled to any private residential tenancy or other tenancy, assured short hold or assured tenancy, lease, licence or other right to occupy, nor shall you obtain any security of tenure under any applicable law including but not limited to under the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 now or at the end of the Holiday Period.  You may not sub-let the property.

Collecting and returning your keys

You will be able to collect your room/ property key from the property key box which is located next to the entrance, or the main door of the property using the code sent to the email address provided at the time of your Booking. If you arrive after 21.00 hours, you must do so quietly and be respectful of other guests staying in the property and other neighbouring properties, at all times.

When checking out, please deposit the room/property key in the property key box.

Once you have checked out, and within five (5) working days thereafter, we will refund the Damage Deposit retained by us, provided the property is returned in satisfactory condition (subject always to your bank’s administrative and handling timelines).

If you fail to implement any of your obligations under these Terms and Conditions, we may, at our option, at any time by notice in writing to you terminate the holiday let with effect from the date specified in our notice and you must vacate the property immediately upon termination, but reserving to us our right of action in respect of any antecedent breach of your obligations.

• Late check out

If you would like to request an earlier check-in and/or a later check-out, please notify us immediately by email to reservations@auchestate.com and/or the online inbox of the online travel agent  and no later than 48 hours before your check in date. We will try to accommodate any requests as a gesture of goodwill, but this will subject to other bookings of the property, and as such, it may not always be possible to accommodate.

If you overstay for any reason and do not vacate by 10am on the check-out date, then we reserve the right to charge you a minimum charge of £50 per hour, together with any ongoing costs, losses or expenses arising directly or indirectly as the case may be from the failure to vacate, including without limitation, the loss of any other future Booking of the property due to commence at the end of the guest’s Booking of the property.

Number of guests

Each of our properties has a maximum occupancy number and this is stated in the information page of each property. When you are completing your Booking, you must state the anticipated number of guests, and this cannot exceed the maximum occupancy number as specified on our website for the property. Under no circumstances may more than the maximum number of guests stated on our website occupy the property, except with our express written permission in which case we shall be entitled to charge an additional fee (for example, for an event not requiring additional guests occupying the property but partaking in the activities).

We reserve the right to refuse admittance or require you to leave our property if this condition is not observed. Any persons other than members of your party must not use our accommodation or facilities.

We also reserve the right to charge for any additional guests not specified at the time of Booking by charging the card used at the time of Booking in line with these Terms and Conditions.

We are unable to take bookings for stag (bachelor) parties, hen (bachelorette) parties unless by prior written consent. No parties, events or gatherings may take place at the property without prior written consent from Auch.

• Control and Liability

We endeavour to ensure the best possible Scottish holiday experience when you are with us. But from time to time, things do go wrong that are out of our control. As such the following items do not form part of these Terms and Conditions. Should something go wrong, whilst we are not liable, we of course, will endeavour to fix it asap:

• Wi-Fi – We employ a premium, high-speed Wi-Fi solution for our guests. Due to our remote location, from time to time, this may go down. We always endeavour to restore this without providers as quickly as possible. We cannot guarantee continuous coverage as part of these Terms and Conditions.
• Power cut – Given our location power cuts do happen from time to time. Whilst rare, we have no influence over such matters, and this will not impact our booking agreement as per these Terms and Conditions.

Liability

Auch Estate is a working farm and although every care is taken in managing the various facilities, staying at a self-catering property here can presents various health and safety concern,

Further to clause 19 below, Auch, its employees, contractors, cleaners and other representatives shall not be liable to you for any loss or damage to your property howsoever arising. You must take all necessary steps to safeguard yourselves and your property, and any pets that you bring with you.

Nothing in this clause shall exclude or limit any liability that we are unable to limit or exclude by applicable law, such as liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence.

If you leave any property behind, we will use reasonable endeavours to return it to you, although we reserve the right to charge you in advance for any reasonable postal or courier costs.  We may dispose of any unclaimed property after 30 days.  Any food or drink items left in the property will be disposed of immediately by our team.

General usage and your responsibility

When staying at the property during your Booking, you agree that you shall:

• Take good care of the property and leave it in a reasonably satisfactory condition on your departure in line with our House Rules, a copy of which is included in each property. As noted in the House Rules, the property must be left in a reasonably clean and tidy condition. ,
• Not part with possession of the property, or share it, except with members of your party listed when you make the Booking.
• Not exceed the total number of people stipulated in the property description.
• Not smoke, vape, or consume e-cigarettes inside all Auch estate buildings. If guests are found to be smoking, vaping, or consuming e-cigarettes inside the properties, there will be an additional cleaning charge of £ 250.00 If the smell of smoke is very strong it is possible we would have to cancel the next booking by the same party.
• You must not use the property for any dangerous, offensive, noxious, noisy, illegal or immoral activities or carry on there any act that may be a nuisance or annoyance to the owner or other neighbouring properties.
• We have a zero tolerance to drug use and drug use of any sort is not permitted. If we detect the use of drugs, or suspect you are under the influence of drugs, you will be asked to leave immediately, and no refund will be provided. Police will also be alerted.
• To permit Auch and their agent’s reasonable access to the property as may be required from time to time.
• Should Auch be dissatisfied with the condition of the property, Auch may terminate the Booking with immediate effect, without any refund, or refuse to take a booking from that guest again.
• You must ensure the property is securely locked when not occupied by you.

Limitations on access

Auch is a working farm and access to the Estate Office and farm sheds is strictly prohibited to guests unless expressly invited or accompanied by a member of staff. This is for your safety and to ensure the smooth running of farm operations.

Children

Trail Cabins : Due to space restrictions and fire safety considerations, unfortunately we cannot accommodate newborn and/or young children in our Trail Cabins. However, children older than twelve (12) years are welcome to stay in our Trail Cabins.

Holiday Cottages : Children of all ages are welcome to stay in our Holiday Cottages which are supplied with travel cots, highchairs and sundry children’s utensils.

It is a strict requirement that extra care is taken by all responsible adult (caregivers) of all children brought to our properties to always ensure the safety of children through appropriate supervision

Because Auch is a working farm, Auch staff cannot take any responsibility for the care of children, or for the recommendation of appropriate care givers and any such caregivers are retained by you entirely at your own risk.  

Pregnancy

Pregnant women should avoid close contact with animals that are giving birth or have recently given birth. Close contact with sheep during lambing, or other farm animals during or shortly after birth, may pose a risk to the health of both the individual and their unborn child, as such animals can carry infections including chlamydia, toxoplasmosis, listeria and Q fever. Any decision to be present on or near the property during such periods is taken entirely at your own risk, and we accept no responsibility or liability for any illness, injury or loss arising from such contact. If you are unsure whether this may affect your stay, please contact us in advance of your check-in date.

Auch Estate tracks

Guest vehicles are only permitted on roads connected to the A82 entrance, Auch Village and Auch Lodge areas. A map of permissible vehicular access is available on the Auch Hospitality Website and on-site.

Guest vehicles are strictly forbidden on all other roads and tracks. The conditions on unauthorised roads and tracks can be unforgiving. Auch will not be responsible for any losses or damages resulting from the unauthorised use of these roads and tracks. In case a vehicle needs to be recovered, the guest will be fully responsible for all associated costs

Parking in any vehicle laybys is strictly forbidden.

Dogs  

Trail Cabins:  Due to space restrictions, unfortunately we cannot accommodate Dogs in our Trail Cabins.

Holiday Cottages: Due to the presence of working dogs at Auch, any dog breed which is required to be placed on the Index of Exempted Dogs in line with the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (‘Exempted Dogs’) may not be brough to Auch Estate.  

Other than Exempted Dogs, dogs are permitted to stay in Holiday Cottages.

The maximum number of dogs which guests must add at the time of the Booking, per property, is two. There is an additional £30 service charge per property for each dog added at the time of the Booking.

If a dog is brought to a property without having been added at the time of the original Booking, we reserve the right to charge a surcharge of £100.00 (at the discretion of Auch) on the card used at the time of Booking

Dogs must be house-trained, kept under proper control and not allowed on the furniture, and especially the beds, nor left unattended in the property. Dog hairs are to be removed from carpets and all dog waste collected and disposed of. Dog owners will be held responsible for any damage caused to the property, contents, or livestock by their dog and for any extra cleaning required (usually at least £50).  When out walking within the property grounds/estate, you must ensure that dogs are kept on leads due to the presence of livestock and working dogs on the farm. Under no circumstances can dogs be left unattended at a property (i.e. dogs must be kept with their owners, at all times). Dogs must not be allowed to disturb livestock, deer or game birds.

Drones, Firework and Night Lanterns

Drones are not permitted to be used at Auch.  They are incredibly distressing to our livestock, and can also interrupt the stays of other guests

Fireworks and night lanterns are strictly prohibited.  Auch is a working farm, and fireworks can cause physical damage and distress to our livestock. Night lanterns are expressly forbidden as they are a fire hazard and can cause death or injury to local livestock.

Barbeques

Guests are not permitted to bring their own fire pits, woodburning stoves, outdoor ovens or barbeque equipment to Auch.

Only the barbeque equipment provided with the property may be used by you. Please ask us if you would like a fire lighting tutorial for the barbeque provided with your property.

If there is a fire caused by you, Auch will be entitled to seek compensation from you for any damages to the property.

Candles and Personal Electrical Equipment

Burning Candles must not be left unattended, and must be supervised at all times. Using candles within the property is done so entirely at your own risk.

If you are using your own electrical equipment in any of the properties, these should be:

• Electrically safe, of sound design and not modified from their original purpose;
• Show no signs of adaptation, overheating or poor maintenance; and
• Used in accordance with manufacturers’ instructions and at the users own risk.

Please note that you will be liable for any damage caused to the property or its contents by use of candles or your own electrical equipment during your stay.

You are reminded that you must ‘sign out’ of all televisual applications (e.g. Netflix, Amazon) prior to the end of you stay. Auch does not accept any liability for any losses incurred by you as a result of failure to ‘sign out’ of a televisual application.

• Complaint Handling System

Every effort has been made to ensure that you have an enjoyable stay at Auch. However, if you have any problems or cause for complaint, it is essential that you contact us immediately to give us the chance to resolve it using the email address noted below. We value your custom and want you to return (and to recommend us to your friends!).  Our estate team will strive to resolve any issue you may have in relation to your stay at Auch as efficiently as possible.  Any such requests shall be treated with care and diligence by our team.

You agree that in resolving any such issues which may arise either during or after your stay at Auch, all communication will be taken up with our staff directly and you will not contact our software provider directly on any such issues.

If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of your Booking following your stay, you must submit any complaint to our customer service team within six weeks of your check-out date by emailing clientconcerns@auchestate.com.

This timeframe allows us to investigate the issue effectively and, where appropriate, take steps to address it without delay.

Nothing in this clause affects your statutory rights as a consumer

Insurance

By accepting these Term and Conditions you voluntarily assume all risk of loss of personal property and/or injury to person connected to the Booking, especially when using the communal facilities offered by Auch in common with other guests (including but not limited to the Trail Cabin/Drying Room).

Auch therefore strongly recommends you take out your own full insurance to cover your Booking and your contents (personal belongings) in all circumstances.

Data Privacy Statement

See our Privacy Policy here.

Dietary Requirements

Bookings for our trail cabins include a breakfast basket.

For all other Bookings you may order additional meals, which will be sourced from third-party suppliers (details of which will be provided separately to these Terms & Conditions).

Guests must clearly notify us of any allergen or dietary requirements. Where food is supplied, we will pass on notified dietary requirements to our third-party suppliers, and we will use reasonable efforts to accommodate any dietary requirements. If we are unable to, we will inform you at least 24 hours prior to your check in date.

For the avoidance of doubt, we cannot guarantee that any food provided will be free from allergens or fully compliant with specific dietary, whether knowing or unknowing during your stay.

It is important that you understand that all responsibility for checking allergen and dietary compliance remains with you and members of your party. We will be able to provide allergen and ingredients information on request.

Exploring the Estate

Guests are welcome to explore the estate. Auch is a mountainous environment, and the weather can change dramatically and quickly, potentially posing a threat to human life. Guests are responsible for their own safety when undergoing such activities and route choices, for assessing their own capabilities and equipment, and for checking the weather.  In the absence of any negligence or other breach of duty by us, guests exploring the estate do so entirely at their own risk.

Guided activities at Auch

Where you choose to sign up for and participate in activities, our guides (where provided), are there to support you and help ensure an enjoyable experience. Your safety and comfort are our top priority, however all activities involve an element of risk.

When taking part in activities with our guides, you must comply with all instructions given. Subject to our duties under applicable law, and in the absence of any negligence or other breach of duty by us, participation in any activities is entirely at your own risk.

Photos and description of properties, rooms and facilities on Auch Hospitality Website

While we make every effort to ensure that photographs, descriptions, and other details on Auch Hospitality Website are accurate and up to date, they are provided for general guidance only. Due to ongoing maintenance, improvements, or changes in décor, furnishings, or facilities, the appearance of the property may differ slightly from the images shown. Seasonal variations and weather conditions may also affect outdoor spaces and views. These variations do not constitute a breach of contract and will not entitle guests to compensation.