The terms, in plain words.

Paying for a booking

A booking is confirmed when we have 50% of the total, and the balance is due 15 days before arrival. A stay between 1 November and 1 March is paid in full when it is booked. Weddings, events and exclusive-use bookings run to a different schedule; the terms for weddings and events are below.

Taxes

The rate you are shown when you book includes GST at the rate the law sets for that tariff. If the rate changes between the day you book and the day you stay, the rate in force on the date of your stay is the one charged.

Cancelling or changing a booking

Charges depend on how much notice we have, counted back from the check-in date:

• More than 30 days before arrival — 10% of the total booking value.
• Between 30 and 15 days before arrival — 50%.
• Fewer than 15 days before arrival — the full amount.

Those charges apply to stays between 2 March and 31 October. A stay between 1 November and 1 March is paid in full when it is booked, and the full amount is retained however much notice we are given.

Refunds

Bank transaction charges are deducted from any refund. Where payment was made by card, the refund goes back to the cardholder's own account and nowhere else, less those charges.

Weddings and events

An event booking is confirmed by an advance of 50% of the total, subject to a minimum we will tell you when we quote. The advance holds the date, and the balance is due on or before the day of the event.

If an event is cancelled, what we retain depends on how much notice we have:

• 180 days or more before the date — we retain half the advance and return the balance.
• Fewer than 180 days before the date — we retain the advance.

A cancelled wedding is rarely anyone's choice, so we will try to secure another booking for the slot. If we do, we refund the advance.

A refundable caution deposit is taken from the caterer and from the planner. Any deduction is explained with photographs, to you and to them.

Timings, catering conditions and what the space includes are set out in full in the events brochure, which we will send you.

Not arriving

If you do not arrive and have not told us, the full booking value is charged. That is the same as cancelling inside 15 days.

Leaving early

Nights booked are charged for. If you leave before the end of your stay, the full booked period is charged.

Arriving and leaving

Check-in is from 2 pm and check-out by 11.30 am. We are flexible on both when rooms allow it. A long extension either side is charged, and we will tell you the amount before you agree to it.

We may ask to see the payment method used for the booking and photo identification when you check in. Anything added during your stay that was not part of the booking is chargeable.

Extra beds and occupancy

A room that sleeps three or more takes one extra bed. The charge is per person and includes breakfast; you see it when you book. Rooms are not let beyond the occupancy stated for the room.

Children

Children are welcome. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18, and any booking made by a minor needs a parent or guardian's consent.

Pets

Pets are welcome. Tell us in advance, so the room is ready for them. Assistance animals are not pets and need no arrangement, though it helps us to know.

Smoking

Smoking is not permitted indoors, in any room or in any enclosed space. It is allowed in the open, on the verandahs and in the gardens. A room that has been smoked in carries a cleaning charge, which we will tell you at the time.

Alcohol

Neelambari does not hold a liquor licence and does not sell alcohol. Guests may bring their own and drink it in their rooms and in the gardens.

Damage

Anything damaged beyond ordinary wear is charged at what it costs us to repair or replace it. We will show you that cost before it is charged.

When something is outside anyone's control

Flood, storm, an epidemic, a strike, an order from an authority: if something we cannot control stops us honouring a booking, we will offer you alternative dates or return what you have paid, less anything already spent on your behalf that we cannot recover. Our liability ends there.

Which law applies

These terms are governed by Indian law. Any dispute that cannot be settled between us goes to the courts at Thrissur, Kerala.

What we collect

If you send an enquiry through this website, we receive what you typed into the form: your name, a phone number, an email address if you gave one, your approximate dates, a rough guest count, and anything you wrote in the message box. Nothing else is collected from the form.

If you contact us by WhatsApp, phone or email instead, we have whatever that channel shows us — for WhatsApp, that includes the number you messaged from.

What we do with it

We use it to answer you and to arrange your stay or event. Enquiries are stored so that we can pick up a conversation that started weeks earlier, which is common when someone is planning a wedding.

We do not sell it, and we do not send marketing to people who only ever made an enquiry. Where a booking involves a third party — a travel agent who made it, or a retreat organiser whose group you are part of — we share only what that booking requires.

Asking us to remove it

Write to sreeni@neelambari.co.in and ask. We will tell you what we hold and delete it, unless we are required to keep it for tax or accounting reasons, in which case we will say so and say for how long.

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If any of this matters to your decision, ask us before booking. We would rather answer a question than argue about a clause.