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Atmosphere & style
We are delighted to have secured our selection of properties in Andalucía and Mallorca. Most of our selfcatering accommodation is privately owned, often the owner’s home, which he/she vacates for the summer season. The style, fittings and furnishings therefore not only vary, but also reflect local tastes, customs, weather, etc. This is the same for some of our hotels. We feel this enriches your holiday experience and kindly ask you to respect this environment and care for it, as if it were your own home.
We have tried to describe all our properties as accurately as possible, including the general style and layout of each property. Below we provide further details on accommodation standards and other useful information. We want to help you book the right holiday and therefore recommend you discuss your requirements with us.
Accommodation Information
Key to our ‘Accommodation Details’ and
descriptions
Double bedroom: Bedroom with double bed (please note that this could be two single beds put together)
Twin bedroom: Bedroom with two single beds
Twin/double room: Choice of twin or double bed (please state preference at the time of booking)
Bathroom: Bathroom with bathtub (often with hand-held
shower attachment for showering or rinsing hair), hand
basin and WC
Shower room: Room with walk-in shower, hand basin
and WC
Separate WC: Separate loo
Studio: Open-plan room with sleeping, living and
kitchen area (unless otherwise specified) – size can vary
Junior suite: Bedroom with sitting area and bath or
shower room
Suite: Bedroom, separate sitting room and bath or
shower room
Living-dining room: Lounge with dining area
Kitchen: Separate room with facilities as described
Kitchen area: Usually forms part of the living-dining
room – facilities are as described
Kitchenette: Usually forms part of the living-dining room – facilities are as described
Kitchen-diner: Kitchen with eating area – facilities are as describedGuesthouse: Usually a small number of rooms at a private home or in its grounds; the owners will usually prepare and serve breakfast for their guests.
Casa: A house
Casita: A cottage/small house
Cortijo/Finca: A rustic style, rural house
Villa: A more modern style house of recent construction
Health and safety
Simpson Travel is committed to raising the standards of Health & Safety throughout all our programmes. Our customers’ safety and well being is of the highest importance to us. However, please note that since many of our properties are private homes (giving them unique character and individuality), it is not always possible to meet the same exacting standards that we enjoy in the UK. We ask you to familiarise yourself with the property on arrival, particularly when travelling with children, and raise any concerns with your local representative.
Animals and wildlife
As in all rural communities, indigenous animals are an essential part of the way of life. The braying of a donkey, crow of a cockerel or the barking of a dog is not a complaint that receives much sympathy from the locals!
Care should be taken to minimise the presence of insects and animals in your accommodation. Keep surfaces clean, dispose of refuse regularly, and ensure that food is not left uncovered.
Cats and dogs are often resident where an owner or manager lives on the property. They are normally docile and enjoy making friends. Their domain is generally restricted to the public areas of the property and gardens. If you are allergic to cats and/or dogs please ensure that you check the suitability of your chosen accommodation with us prior to confirming your booking.
Noise
Seasoned travellers accept that, though regrettable, traffic, farm work, animals and other sounds form part of everyday life. We hope to have indicated in our descriptions the possibility of some kinds of disturbance; however, what constitutes ‘noise’ to one person may not be a problem for another. It should be remembered that in the country, work begins early, and the movement of tractors is a common sight near many of our countryside properties. Please let us know if you have any special needs regarding this element of your holiday and we will be happy to advise you accordingly.
Swimming pools
Swimming pool details are given in the accommodation details of our main brochure and the pool dimensions are approximate only. Unless stated otherwise, pools are freshwater and not heated. Very few pools have covers, fencing or life rings, so children must be supervised at all times. Swimming pools are generally in use from mid April – September/October; the opening/closing dates of the swimming pools are subject to the climatic conditions at the time they are due to open/close. We regret we cannot be held responsible if poor weather means that the pool is opened later, or is closed earlier in the season. Hotel pools are often only open mid May till the end of September.
Cots and highchairs
Travel cots and high chairs can be supplied free of charge in all our villas and some hotels (we will inform you if there is a charge). In most cases these will be foldup portable cots and highchairs. We ask you to provide your own linen. In many cases we rely upon our owners/agents to supply these items. They vary in size, age and style. We do ask owners to check for damage and to ensure cots/high chairs are supplied clean. However, we require guests to satisfy themselves as to their suitability prior to using them. For your own peace of mind you may prefer to take your own travel cot.
Satellite & Sky television
Where we have indicated that satellite television is available, we cannot guarantee that stations broadcasting in English will always be available. If this is an important factor to you, please check with us in the UK office prior to confirming your booking. Often the only English speaking channels are CNN or BBC World, possibly along with a couple of other channels. Where we have indicated Sky TV is available you can normally expect to receive BBC1, BBC2 and a wider selection of other English speaking channels.
DVD Players
Many of our villa owners have kindly installed DVD players – please bring a supply of your own favourite DVDs.
Telephones & mobile phones
The majority of our properties have telephones that allow you to phone your local representative, make emergency calls or receive incoming calls only.
For phoning home, we recommend that you take your GSM phone with you; however the rural location of many of our properties means that we cannot guarantee that you will always receive a good signal from each of our properties.
Occupancy
Only guests named on your invoice are entitled to
occupy the accommodation. Any people not appearing
on the invoice will be charged locally. Please note that
where a group of cottages or apartments share the
grounds and the pool, or if you are staying in a hotel,
many owners do not permit people not mentioned on
the invoice to use the facilities
Babysitting
In some cases we can arrange to introduce you to babysitters to let you have some well-earned time to yourselves. Babysitters are usually locals and are payable subject to a direct arrangement between you and the babysitter. If you would like to arrange this in advance of travel, please speak to one of our travel consultants who will pass on a special request for you to our local representatives. Please note that this babysitting is subject to local availability and is not a Simpson Travel service.
Self catering accommodation
Villa owners
Whilst the owners or staff of some properties may live on site and tend to the grounds, they are aware that you value your privacy, and will do their best not to intrude. We do ask you however, to allow them reasonable access to the property so that they can maintain the grounds and keep them in good order.
Arrival/Departure time
You should arrive at your villa between 1600-1900. Any variation to this will be shown clearly on your itinerary sent with your travel documents. All properties must be vacated on the day of departure by 10.00am to ensure that the property is properly cleaned for the next clients. If you are making your own travel arrangements, please advise us of your time of arrival, so we can make all the necessary arrangements. Only guests named on your invoice are entitled to occupy the accommodation, any unauthorised guests will be charged locally. If you are making your own travel arrangements, please confirm with us that you can meet this arrival time – alternative arrangements can sometimes be made if requested at the time of booking.
Security and cleaning deposits
For self-catering properties, we require you to lodge a security deposit against any breakages, damage, losses, extra cleaning or outstanding accounts, which you may have incurred during your stay. This must be done by Credit or Debit Card at the time of booking by providing authorisation for us to deduct (within 21 days of your return home) any advised charges from your card – up to the maximum amount of £1000 per booking. In the event that you do not have a Credit or Debit Card you will be required to send us a cheque. The specific amount required for your chosen property will be advised to you at the time of booking. In the unlikely event that any damage to the property exceeds the maximum applicable amount, then you will be responsible for the full cost.
Cleaning
Our villas will be thoroughly cleaned on arrival day and each 7 days thereafter. Additionally most villas benefit from a mid-week clean. This takes the form of a sweep, mop and general tidy up. Some properties offer additional cleaning during your stay, which is payable locally. The maids do not wash dishes or put the rubbish out; we kindly request that you do this on a daily basis to avoid attracting pests. The maids prepare the villa for each arrival but we kindly request that you leave the villa in a reasonably clean and tidy state on departure.
Extra maid service
Certain properties offer the choice of additional cleaning during your stay. This will be at a supplement payable locally – typically for an hourly rate of 10-15 Euros and for a minimum amount of time (i.e. 3 hours per visit).
Laundry and linen
The linen and towels in the villa are laundered on a weekly basis. For your convenience many of our properties have their own washing machine – especially useful when travelling with children. The beach and bath towels, as well as all the bed linen provided, should be left in the property at the end of your holiday.
Beach/pool towels
As an extra service to our clients we are pleased to provide Simpson Travel beach/pool towels for your convenience during your stay. These are normally laundered weekly. We request that you kindly leave them in the villa at the end of your stay, as missing towels will be charged for.
Heating and air-conditioning
The majority of our properties have heating facilities for cooler evenings in early or late season included in your holiday price. Please however help us respect the environment by minimising wasteful use of these resources. Heating in Spain is expensive and the owner reserves the right to charge you for excessive use or waste of energy. If wood or coal is used for fires or stoves you may have to pay a local charge for this. Simarly the accommodation details in the brochure indicate if a property has air-conditioning, in which case this is included in the holiday price. Portable air-conditioning units can also be pre-booked and paid for in the UK. The weekly price for a portable air-conditioning unit is £70.
Fans
We are delighted to provide fans in all the bedrooms of our villas free of charge.
Barbecues
We have specified in the ‘Accommodation details’ where these are provided. Where they are not supplied, it is usually because the surrounding terrain has been designated as a fire risk. The local or national government reserve the right to introduce new rulings at any time, often with little prior notice – prohibiting the use of barbecues to reduce the risk of fires.
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