Baldacchino Terms and Conditions

1. Your Contract is with Olive Gardens Investments LTD.

These Booking Conditions, the Essential Information together with our privacy policy and where your holiday is booked via our website, our website terms and conditions of use, together with any other written information we brought to your attention before we confirmed your booking, form the basis of your contract with Olive Gardens Investments LTD. (hereafter referred to as “we” or “us”). Please read them carefully as they set out our respective rights and obligations. In these Booking Conditions references to “you” and “your” include the first named person on the booking and all persons on whose behalf a booking is made, or any other person to whom a booking is added or transferred. For the purposes of these Conditions, “a person on whose behalf a booking is made” is deemed to include all the persons who shall be present during the holiday, and shall thus include all those persons who did not intend to participate in the holiday during the time of booking, and who notwithstanding were present and participated in the holiday.

By making a booking, the first named person on the booking agrees on behalf of all persons detailed on the booking that:-
• He/she has read these terms and conditions and has the authority to and does agree to be bound by them;
• He/she consents to our use of information in accordance with our Privacy Policy;
• He/she is over 21 years of age and where placing an order for services with age restrictions, declares that he/she and all members of the party are of the appropriate age to purchase and partake of those services.

2. Your holiday contract

A binding contract is made with us on the earliest of either: a) upon your expressing in any way whatsoever your acceptance or consent to our written or verbal quotation, accompanied with the payment of a deposit or of the full price according to clause 3 hereunder or b) we issue you with a booking confirmation that will confirm the details of your booking and which will be sent to you via email or post.

These Booking Conditions and any agreement to which they apply are governed in all respects by Maltese law. We both agree that any dispute, claim or other matter which arises between us out of or in connection with your contract or booking will be dealt with by the Courts of Malta only.

3. Paying for your holiday

At the time of booking, you will be required to pay a deposit. The amount which shall be required as a deposit is 50% of the price of the accomodation.

The balance of your holiday price must be paid 20 days before arrival. If we do not receive this balance in full and on time, we reserve the right to treat your booking as cancelled by you in which case the cancellation charges set out in clause 10 will become payable.

When you pay for your holiday by credit/charge card, we reserve the right to levy a 2.0% handling charge for each payment made by these means.

4. Accuracy

We endeavour to ensure that all the information and prices both on our website and in our brochures are accurate; however occasionally changes and errors occur and we reserve the right to correct prices and other details in such circumstances. You must check the current price and all other details relating to the arrangements that you wish to book before your booking is confirmed.

5. Your holiday price

All prices include VAT.

We reserve the right to amend the price of unsold holidays at any time and correct errors in the prices of confirmed holidays.

Once your holiday has been confirmed, the price of your villa booking is subject to upward and downward changes arising as a result of changes in: (i) dues, taxes or fees chargeable for services (e.g. taxes); and (ii) the exchange rates which may be applicable to your particular holiday.

We will absorb and you will not be charged for any increase equivalent to 2% of the price of your holiday. You will be charged for the amount over and above that.

If this means that you have to pay an increase of more than 10% of the price of your holiday, you will have the options set out in clause 10. Should you decide to cancel by reason of a change in price, you must exercise your right to do so within 14 days from the issue date printed on your confirmation invoice. There will be no change made to the price of your confirmed holiday within 30 days of your arrival nor will refunds be paid during this period. Should the price of your holiday go down due to the changes mentioned above, by more than 2% of your confirmed holiday cost, then any refund due will be paid to you.

You are required to receive the keys to the accomodation on the day of arrival, between 8am and 5pm from our Head Office situated at Baldacchino Buildings, Valletta Road, Zurrieq, which is 3.7 KM from the airport. Should your receipt of the keys be required during any other time, please advise us at your earliest, or at least 10 days before your arrival so as to make the necessary arrangements. Charges may apply.

6. Damage to property and Accidental Breakage Charge or Deposit

All bookings are subject to a refundable Accidental Breakage Deposit, which shall be payable 20 days prior to the holiday. You will be informed at the time of booking of the amount.

We reserve the right to cancel your booking should this Deposit not be paid accordingly.

If you or any member of your party cause any damage to your holiday accommodation or any item in it or on its premises, you and/or your party will be required to pay for the loss and/or damage caused and we will hold you and each member of your party jointly and individually responsible. The loss suffered by us shall be deducted from the Deposit, and where the amount so due exceeds the Deposit paid, then you shall be obliged to pay the remaining balance before your departure. For this purpose, you shall be obliged to provide all the necessary details pertaining to your credit card, prior to your arrival, in order to allow us to charge any remaining dues.

The Deposit shall be refunded to you within one week from the end of the holiday, unless you or any member of your party causes any damage to your holiday accomodation or any item in it or on its premises, whereupon we shall have the right to deduct the amount of the loss from the Deposit. Should there remain a balance of the Deposit after the necessary deduction, this balance shall be refunded to you.

7. Confirmation

Please check your confirmation invoice and all other documents you receive from us, immediately on receipt. You must contact us as soon as possible if any information appears to be incorrect as it may not be possible to make changes later and it may harm your rights if we are not notified of any inaccuracies in any document within a reasonable period of time (taking into account the date of your arrival).

8. If you change your booking

If, you wish to change your booking in any way once a binding contract is in place between us (see clause 2), (for example your chosen accommodation or the date of arrival or departure) we will do our utmost to make these changes but it may not always be possible. Any request for changes to be made must be in writing from the person who made the booking. Where we can meet a request, all changes will be subject to payment of an administration fee based on our increased costs as a result of applicable rate changes and any costs or charges incurred or imposed by any of our suppliers. The amount of the fee will be notified to you before you choose to proceed with any change. If you make a number of changes to the same booking, we will only make a reasonable overall charge. You should be aware that these costs could increase the closer to the arrival date that changes are made and you should contact us as soon as possible. Where we are unable to assist you and you do not wish to proceed with the original booking we will treat this as a cancellation by you. A cancellation fee may be payable. Except for a change of name, any changes you make within 12 weeks of your departure will be treated as a cancellation and the cancellation charges shown in the section “If you cancel your holiday” may apply.

9. Transfer of bookings

If any member of your party is prevented from travelling, that person(s) may transfer their place to someone else (introduced by you and satisfying all the conditions applicable to the holiday booked).

10. If you cancel your holiday

Once your holiday has been confirmed, to cancel the entire holiday or any part thereof, the person making the booking must either write or email our Marketing & Sales department. Our contact details are stated on your booking confirmation or email marketing@baldacchinogroup.com. Cancellation takes effect on the date we receive your letter or email. If you cancel after we confirm your booking, you must compensate us for losses. The closer your cancellation is to the arrival date, the less likely we are to make a new accomodation to substitute the one cancelled by you. Our cancellation charges therefore increase as the arrival date approaches, and you must pay us the sums up to the maximum shown below (The cancellation charge detailed is calculated on the basis of the total cost payable by the person(s) cancelling). If you have to cancel for a reason covered by your insurance policy, you may be able to recover the cancellation charges. Claims must be made directly to the insurance company concerned.

The following cancellation charges apply:
Date on which written notice of cancellation is received by us:-
More than 12 weeks prior to arrival – The equivalent of one night charge.
84 – 31 days prior to departure – Loss of deposit.
30 – 0 days prior to departure – 100% of the cost of your villa booking.

11. If we change or cancel your holiday

It is unlikely that we will have to make any changes to your confirmed travel arrangements or cancel them, however we do start planning arrangements many months in advance. Occasionally, we may have to make changes and correct errors in the brochure or on the website and other details both before and after bookings have been confirmed. In the event of minor alterations, we will do our best to notify you before you travel. If a ‘significant change’ (see below) or cancellation has to be made to your holiday arrangements we will notify you as soon as possible. You may then: a) accept the changed arrangements; b) accept an offer of an alternative accomodation of comparable standard from us, if available (we will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value); or c) cancel your booking completely, in which case we will refund you all monies paid by you.

If the substituted accomodation is of a lower price than the one originally booked, we will also refund the price difference. If the substitute accomodation is of a higher price we will reserve the right to charge the price difference.

“Significant changes” shall signify a change of the accomodation.

The above sets out the maximum extent of our liability for changes and cancellations and we regret we cannot meet any expenses or losses you may incur as a result of change or cancellation.

We will not pay you compensation and the above options will not be available if we make a minor change or cancel as a result of your failure to make full payment on time or where the change(s) or cancellation by us arises out of alterations to the confirmed booking requested by you.

Very rarely, we may be forced by “force majeure” to change or terminate your arrangements after departure. If this situation does occur, we regret we will be unable to make any refunds, pay you compensation or meet any costs or expenses you incur as a result.

12. Force Majeure

Except where otherwise expressly stated in these booking conditions we will not be liable or pay you compensation if our contractual obligations to you are affected by any event which we, even with all due care, foresee or avoid. These events can include, but are not limited to war, threat of war, civil strife terrorist activity and its consequences or the threat of such activity, riot, the act of any government or other national or local authority, industrial dispute, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, chemical or biological disaster and adverse weather, sea, conditions and all similar events outside our control.

13. Your accommodation

This is reserved exclusively for the people named on the confirmation invoice and no other persons are permitted to stay at the accommodation nor can you arrange for visitors to the property for the purpose of events like parties, celebrations or other large gatherings unless this has been agreed with us in writing and appropriate payments made (if applicable). Additional guests will be asked to vacate by our staff or other person in authority. You and all members of your party also agree not to use the property for any illegal or commercial purpose, including subletting it or otherwise allowing anyone to stay in it who we have not previously accepted on your holiday invoice. On departure you should leave the accommodation in a reasonably clean and tidy condition so that we can efficiently prepare it for our next guests. If additional cleaning shall be necessary, a charge will be made locally or an invoice will be sent to you on your return home.

14. Special requests

If you have a special request that does not form part of the arrangements described on the website or in our brochure please inform us in writing at the time of booking. We will do our best to comply but cannot guarantee to do so.

We regret that we are unable to advise prior to departure if special requests cannot be met. The fact that a special request has been noted on your confirmation invoice or any other documentation is not confirmation that the request will be met. Failure to meet any special request will not be a breach of contract on our part unless the request has been specifically confirmed. We do not accept bookings that are conditional upon any special request being met.

15. Disabilities and Medical Problems

We will take reasonable steps to cater for any special requirements you may have. If you or any member of your party has any medical problem or disability which may affect your stay, please provide us with full details before we confirm your booking so that we can try to advise you as to the suitability of your chosen arrangements. Acting reasonably, if we are unable to properly accommodate the needs of the person(s) concerned, we will not confirm your booking or if you did not give us full details at the time of booking, we will cancel it and impose applicable cancellation charges when we become aware of these details.

16. Our liability to you

1) We will accept responsibility for the accomodation we agree to provide or arrange for you Subject to these booking conditions, if we perform or arrange your contracted holiday arrangements negligently, taking into consideration all relevant factors (for example following the complaints procedure as described in these conditions and the extent to which ours or our employees’ negligence affected the overall enjoyment of your holiday), we will pay you reasonable compensation. Please note that it is your responsibility to show that we have been negligent if you wish to make a claim against us.

2) We will not be responsible or pay you compensation for any injury, illness, death, loss, damage, expense, cost or other claim of any description if it results from:-
(a) the act(s) and/or omission(s) of the person(s) affected;
(b) the act(s) and/or omission(s) of a third party unconnected with the provision of the services contracted for; or
(c) unusual or unforeseeable circumstances beyond ours control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised; or
(d) an event which either ourselves or suppliers could not, even with all due care, have foreseen or forestalled.

3) The maximum amount of compensation we may have to pay you if we are found liable under this clause, is same as the booking price paid by or on behalf of the person(s) affected in total. This maximum amount will only be payable where everything has gone wrong and you or your party has not received any benefit at all from your booking.

4) It is a condition of our acceptance of liability under this clause that you notify any claim to ourselves and our supplier(s) strictly in accordance with the complaints procedure set out in these conditions.

5) Where any payment is to be made, the person(s) receiving it (and their parent or guardian if under 18 years) must also assign to or subrogate unto ourselves or our insurers any rights they may have to pursue any third party and must provide ourselves and our insurers with all assistance we may reasonably require. This assignment and/or subrogation of rights is a condition of payment, in such a way that no payment shall be made unless it is accompanied by the relative assignation or subrogation of rights.

6) Please note, we cannot accept any liability for any damage, loss or expense or other sum(s) of any description which on the basis of the information given to us by you concerning your booking prior to our accepting it, we could not have foreseen you would suffer or incur if we breached our contract with you; or (b) any business losses.

7) We will not accept responsibility for services or facilities which do not form part of our agreement or where they are not advertised in our brochure. For example any excursion you book whilst away, or any service or facility which any other supplier agrees to provide for you.

8) Any money, jewels and other valuables shall be brought into the accomodation at your own sole risk. We accept no liability and shall not be responsible for the loss or damage thereto, and you shall remain solely responsible for the safekeeping of such items.

17. If you have a complaint

If you have cause for complaint whilst in the accomodation provided by us, this must be brought to our attention immediately so that action can be taken at the time to rectify the problem. If the matter is resolved within 24 hours from the time in which it is brought to our attention, then that solution shall constitute a just and sufficient remedy, and there shall be no further right to compensation. Should we be unable to resolve the matter, you must proceed with the complaint by notifying us in writing within 14 days of the end of your holiday with the details of the complaint and the remedy sought. Failure to do so will lead to the extinction of your right to proceed with the complaint and/or claim compensation since delay in effecting the complaint would affect our ability to investigate your complaint.

18. Behaviour

At all times during your holiday, you are expected to have consideration for all third parties. If in our opinion, you are or appear to be behaving in such a way as to cause, or to be likely to cause, danger, distress, annoyance or damage to third parties or property or to cause a delay or diversion to others, we may elect to terminate your holiday arrangements. In this situation, we will have no further liability to you and will not be responsible for meeting any expenses you incur as a result, making any refund or paying any compensation. Subject to the present terms and conditions, you and/or your party may also be required to pay for loss and/or damage caused by your actions and we will hold you and each member of your party jointly and individually liable for any damage or losses caused by you or any member of your party. Full payment for any such damage or losses must be paid directly to us or to the third party involved, where applicable, before departure from the accommodation. If you fail to make payment, you will be responsible for meeting any claims (including legal costs) subsequently made against us as a result of your actions together with all costs (including legal costs) we incur in pursuing any claim against you. We cannot be held responsible for the actions or behaviour of other guests or individuals who have no connection with your booking arrangements or with us. You are also expected to behave with utmost due diligence with regards to the accomodation and any item located therein.

19. Use of information you give us and communicating with you

In order to process your booking and provide you with your confirmed holiday we will need to collect and process personal information. Where you provide us with personal information, you consent to this information being used as described in this clause. We would like to send you information about products and services that we think will be of interest to you. We may do this by post, telephone, SMS or email. We are entitled to assume you do not object to our doing any of the things mentioned above unless you write to us at marketing@baldacchinogroup.com or by post to Attn: Marketing, Baldacchino Buildings, Valletta Road, Zurrieq ZRQ 9011 Malta. For more detailed information about how we use personal information please see our Privacy Policy.