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| About your booking - While you're abroad | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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We are delighted to have secured our selection of properties in Sicily. Our portfolio of personally selected properties offers different types of accommodation, reflecting the style of accommodation found there and standards remain relatively simple. Most of our selfcatering accommodation is privately owned, often the owner’s home, which he/she vacates for the summer season. Many of our hotels are also smaller ‘character’ properties and are often private residences. The style, fittings and furnishings therefore not only vary, but also reflect local tastes, customs, weather, etc.. 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. Key to our ‘Accommodation Details’
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. 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. 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 pool details are given in the accommodation details. Unless stated otherwise, pools are not heated in low season. Very few pools have covers, fencing or life rings, so children must be supervised at all times. The opening/closing dates of swimming pools are subject to the climatic conditions at the time they are due to open/close. We regret that we cannot be held responsible if poor weather means that the pool is opened later, or is closed earlier, than is stated in the main brochure. 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. 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. We have indicated in our main brochure the properties which have a phone. These are usually for incoming and outgoing local calls only. For making international calls we recommend that you take your mobile phone with you to Italy, where coverage is extremely good, with the exception of a few very rural locations. 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 apartments share the grounds and the pool, or if you are staying in a hotel, owners in Italy do not permit people not mentioned on the invoice to use the facilities. 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 all owners reasonable access to the property so that they can maintain the grounds and keep them in good order. Arrival/departure time Our self-catering accommodation is normally booked on a Saturday-to-Saturday basis, though in certain properties we can arrange for arrivals on a Sunday or Monday (with the departure day on the Saturday). You should arrive at your villa between 4.00pm and 7.00pm. Any variation to this will be shown clearly on your itinerary sent with your travel documents. If your flight is delayed or due to arrive later, we will make the necessary arrangements for a later check-in. All properties must be vacated on the day of departure by 10.00am to ensure that the property is properly cleaned and prepared 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. Heating and air-conditioning All our properties have heating facilities for cooler evenings in early or late season. It should be noted however that heating in Italy is expensive. For all selfcatering accommodation heating charges are payable to the owner locally at the end of your stay. In order to charge guests only for the heating they use, most properties have a meter for the gas/oil/electricity that is checked when you arrive. We have also indicated in the ‘Accommodation details’ of our main brochure the properties, which have airconditioning. This is free of charge with the exception of La Poggiolaia in Tuscany, where it is payable locally. Please help us protect the environment by minimising wasteful use of these resources. Electricity is expensive in Italy and your co-operation with this will also help us keep costs down. 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. In Tuscany and Umbria you will be required to lodge the deposit with the owner/manager on arrival at your accommodation. Your deposit will be returned to you on the morning of departure from your accommodation. For apartments this deposit is from €150 per apartment. Private Villa deposits vary between €200 – €500. Deposits are payable using cash (euros or sterling) or, where stated on your invoice, Travellers’ Cheques. Cleaning Our self-catering accommodation is thoroughly cleaned for your arrival. The maids do not wash dishes or put the rubbish out. In all instances 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. At some properties an additional clean is also provided halfway through a two-week holiday. These properties are: Casa Rossa, Villa San Pietro, La Poggiolaia, Villa Cicolina, Villa Gaeta, Relais dei Magi and Cogno. 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 and for a minimum amount of time (e.g. 3 hours per visit). Please ask our Travels Consultants about this prior to your departure. Laundry and linen Bath and bed linen is generally laundered weekly. Some properties have an additional mid-week bath linen change. All towels, as well as all the bed linen provided, should be left in the property at the end of your holiday. Chefs on request For certain properties we can arrange for a chef to cook for you. In addition, they can deliver home-made food to your apartment and some can even offer cookery lessons. Our Travel Consultants in the UK will be delighted to advise you on this prior to your departure. Pool towels The owners provide pool towels at the following properties: Cogno, Villa Gaeta, Villa San Pietro and Le Filigare. 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. 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. Hotel star ratings Star ratings for hotels in Tuscany & Umbria are indicated iper property. We are required to display the official star ratings of the hotels featured in our brochure, however we feel that they are not always representative of the hotel’s standard of rooms and service and differ to those of countries where tourism is more developed. Not all our hotels have official star ratings if they are particularly small or family-run. Check-in & check-out Most hotels follow the common practice in regard to check-in/check-out times. Arrival is normally expected after 2.00pm and departure is required before 10.00am - midday. Choice of bedrooms Please advise us of your choice of bedroom (double or twin) at the time of booking. We will make every effort to request your choice to the hotel, but cannot guarantee that your choices will be available. Breakfast All hotel bookings include breakfast. Unless specified otherwise under our ‘Accommodation details’, this is normally a buffet breakfast, which consists of a minimum of a variety of bread, cakes, cheese, fruit, jam, tea or coffee. In addition, fruit juice, yoghurt and cereals are often provided. Half board In hotels where breakfast and an evening meal or lunch is provided, this is often a fixed menu, which may or may not have a choice of dishes. Dinner In small hotels where dinner is available this is usually a fixed menu, which may or may not have a choice of dishes. You are generally asked to book your dinner by midday. If you would like dinner on the day of your arrival at these hotels, please advise us when making your booking, or at least one week prior to your arrival at the hotel. These meals are paid for locally. Vegetarians & other dietary requirements Guests who have special dietary requirements should inform us at the time of booking and provide full details of these requirements. This will help us ensure that the hotel makes special arrangements for you. Telephones and internet access Unless stated otherwise in our main brochure, all bedrooms will have a direct-dial telephone. Some hotels, especially those in the cities, have internet connections in the bedrooms. If you require this facility please call us to check the availability in your chosen hotel. Lifts We have indicated in our brochure which hotels do not have a lift in cases where the hotel has more than two floors. Please do not hesitate to ask us if a lift is important to you. Air-conditioning and heating We have indicated in the ‘Accommodation details’ of our main brochure the hotels, which offer air conditioned rooms. This is free of charge and in most cases usually available from June – September. All hotel bedrooms will have central heating available during the cooler months. Smoking Please note that there are very few ‘non-smoking’ bedrooms at hotels in Italy, however all public areas in Italy are now designated non-smoking by law. Seasonal facilities A number of other facilities mentioned in the hotel descriptions, may also be subject to weather conditions e.g. pool opening times, restaurant terraces, pool bars etc. While we hope to be able to give you correct advice about the availability of such facilities, we cannot be too precise at the beginning or end of the season. |
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