Terms & Conditions
These are the terms and conditions that govern all bookings made through our booking services, whether through our website, mobile website, or our mobile application (collectively “Experience the Real Cuba“). All references to “We”, “Us” or “Our” in these terms refer to Experience the Real Cuba. Your use of the Experience the Real Cuba website and any bookings you make via the Experience the Real Cuba website are subject to these terms and conditions (the “T&Cs”). You agree to use the Experience the Real Cuba website in accordance with and subject to these T&Cs. If you do not accept these T&Cs, please do not use the Experience the Real Cuba website and do not make a booking via the Experience the Real Cuba website.
About Us
For more information about Experience the Real Cuba, please see the About Us section of the experiencethrealcuba.com website, accessible from the homepage of www.experiencetherealcuba.com. If you would like to contact us in relation to your use of the Experience the Real Cuba website, or in connection with a booking of travel services, please email us at experiencetherealcuba@gmail.com.
Users
Users are those who somehow have registered in order to use the benefit of the Experience the Real Cuba website. The users who own casa particulares will be called hosts, and tourist users will be called customers. Experience the Real Cuba is run as a service aimed at our users and visitors. It has a collection of resources on line for accommodation “casa particulares” (private Lodging Facilities and apartments for vacations) in Cuba, as well as transport services (shared & private taxis) and cultural activities / programs (Spanish, Dance, Music, Art, Pottery lessons / workshops & tours).
1. Bookings
We facilitate the processing and booking of accommodation in casas particulares in Cuba, pick-up services from Havana airport, private taxi & shared taxi services within Cuba, cultural activities and progams i.e. Spanish lessons, Dance lessons, Music lessons, Painting & Pottery workshops as well as day trips and tours from Havana and Trinidad in Cuba. We do not own or run any travel services ourselves and in particular we do not own or run any accommodation.
You confirm that you are of sufficient age to use the Experience the Real Cuba website lawfully, enter into a contract and to create binding legal obligations for any liability you may incur as a result of the use of the Experience the Real Cuba website. You understand that you are financially responsible for all uses of the Experience the Real Cuba website by you and those using your log-in information.
When you make a booking using the Experience the Real Cuba website, you agree to enter into a contract for accommodation services, taxi services or cultural activities services and your contract for accommodation services (including airport pick-up when applicable), taxi services, cultural activities services is with the respective travel services provider, not Experience the Real Cuba, as we are only acting as agents for the accommodation, airport pick-up, taxi, cultural activity provider. It is the accommodation, airport pick-up, taxi, cultural activity provider’s responsibility to provide you with the services. We are not responsible for the fulfilment of any booking made through the Experience the Real Cuba website or for the quality of any accommodation or any other travel services that are booked, but we will always do our best to help you resolve any situation or dissatisfaction.
2. Making and Cancelling a Booking
On making a booking, you will be required to pay a non-refundable advance payment (being a part payment towards the total value of your booking) that will always be non-refundable. We collect this deposit on behalf of the relevant casa particular or travel services provider. You will also be required to pay a customer services fee, which is our fee for making the booking. Where we charge a booking fee, it is non-refundable in all circumstances as it covers our logistical costs in processing your booking.
You will be responsible to the casa particular or travel services provider on arrival for payment of the balance of the cost of the booking made by you. You will also be responsible for any other payments for any additional services subsequently agreed with the travel services provider and, where applicable, payment of the travel services provider’s service charges and taxes, pursuant to the terms and conditions of trade applied by such travel services provider in Cuba.
In some circumstance, on making a booking in Havana, you will be required to pay the full amount in advance.
On making a booking of a cultural activity, you will be required to pay the full amount in advance.
You must use a credit card or debit card to guarantee a booking. By making a booking with your credit card or debit card, you agree to accept the relevant cancellation and no-show policy of the travel services provider as set out in its terms and conditions. In the event that you cancel your booking outside the permitted timeframe specified in the travel service provider’s terms and conditions (or you fail to arrive by your agreed check-in time), you authorise the travel services provider to charge to your credit card or debit card without further reference to you an amount not exceeding the charge for one night’s stay (in the case of accommodation) or such other amount as may be set out in the travel service provider’s terms and conditions.
Your non-arrival by the agreed check-in time may result in the cancellation of your entire booking. Any amendments to your booking before arriving in Cuba must be notified to and agreed with Experience the Real Cuba by email, or after arriving in Cuba any amendments to your booking must be notified to the travel services provider directly (but no refund of all or any part of the deposit will be made). In making a booking, it shall be your responsibility to disclose to the travel services provider any requirements or special facilities that you or a member of your party may need as a result of any medical conditions.
When a booking is confirmed we will issue the booking confirmation on behalf of the travel services provider for each booking, but will not provide information about any charges for additional services. We strongly recommend you check the confirmation document and confirm with Experience the Real Cuba the precise terms and conditions upon which the travel services provider makes the reserved service available to you upon receipt of the booking confirmation. The reference numbers included on the booking confirmation should be quoted in all enquiries, cancellation or modification of the booking.
You may cancel your booking in accordance with the cancellation policy of the provider as disclosed on the booking confirmation and detailed property description page; this is normally at least 24 hours before your agreed check-in date. Please note that in the event that you cancel a non-refundable booking you will not be refunded by the travel services provider for the cost of your booking. Please cancel by contacting Experience the Real Cuba and the travel services provider directly, using the contact details provided in your booking confirmation. Please ensure to provide your booking reference number with your cancellation request.
If you decide, when you get to Cuba that you no longer want to take part in pre-arranged cultural activities i.e. Spanish, Dance, Music lessons etc or pre-arranged tours in Cuba i.e. Havana day tours, you will not be refunded by Experience the Real Cuba or by the travel service provider as we are already committed to paying for the services that you have chosen to take part in directly to the service provider.
The deposit and the booking fee that you pay will be payable in Pounds Sterling or EUROS. Where the accommodation price was uploaded by the travel services provider in EUROS, the deposit amount that you will be charged in Pounds Sterling will be calculated by converting the EURO total into Pounds Sterling, using the exchange rate of that day.
For customers who don’t make reservations, access to our website is free of charge. If you decide to make a reservation with us, Experience the Real Cuba is authorized to charge the following rates
i. Customer service fee: between 10 % and 25 % of the total price for accommodation or tourist service, depending on the quantity of nights reserved or the activity booked, defined as commission for the management of pre-booking and booking, which covers the expenses of our platform.
ii. Banking Transfer fee: between 10 % and 25 % of the total price in order to cover the expenses of receiving payment from the customer via a designated payment facility and to send the money to Cuba to the relevant service provider via an international transfer service.
3. Liability and Disclaimers
In the event of a problem arising with your accommodation, cultural activity or other travel services, you should contact Experience the Real Cuba and the travel services provider. If you have a problem with the booking that you have made via the Experience the Real Cuba website please contact us directly via experiencetherealcuba@gmail.com.
We are acting solely as an agent on behalf of the accommodation, cultural activity and travel service provider and, as such, we are not a party to the contract between you and the travel services provider for the provision of accommodation, travel services or cultural activities, and we have no responsibility or liability to you in respect of the terms of that contract. For example, we are not responsible for:
the accuracy or completeness of the descriptions of accommodation and other travel services (including rates, availability and ratings) that are displayed on the Experience the Real Cuba website, or the quality or fitness for purpose of the accommodation and other travel services that are or may be booked through the Experience the Real Cuba website;
the fulfilment of a booking made through the Experience the Real Cuba website, including any acts or omissions of travel services providers, any cancellation of a booking by a travel services provider for any reason whatsoever or any failure to provide all or any part of the booked service by that provider; or
any error or failure in the making or recording of a booking which is due to any circumstances that are outside of our control (such as a power failure or staff error in the travel service provider).
Neither we nor any of our directors, employees, affiliates or other representatives will be liable to you (or any member of your group, your affiliates or any other person or party who has an interest in the booking) for: (i) indirect, punitive, special or consequential loss or damages, (ii) loss of data, income, profits, business, opportunity, reputation, goodwill or (iii) loss of or damage to property, in each case arising out of or in connection with the use of any information, products, services, facilities and/or the materials offered through the Experience the Real Cuba website, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such loss or damage, or such loss or damages were reasonably foreseeable.
Our maximum aggregate liability to you (and any other party that has an interest in the booking) in relation to any booking made through us (whether in contract, tort or otherwise) shall be limited solely to the value of the advance payment and booking fee that has been paid for that booking. Prior to making a booking, you should ensure that you have reviewed the travel services provider’s terms and conditions and that they are acceptable to you. Please call the casa particular in Cuba directly to check these.
To February 2017 we have visited most of the accommodation listed on the Experience the Real Cuba website but we do not carry out routine checks of the accommodation. The listing of any travel services (including accommodation) on the Experience the Real Cuba website is not and should not be taken as a specific recommendation from us or a representation that the travel services will be suitable for your purpose or that the travel services will be of any particular quality.
Save as otherwise set out in these T&Cs, and to the greatest extent permitted by applicable law, all representations, warranties and conditions, including those implied by statute or otherwise, are hereby excluded, including without limitation representations, warranties or undertakings about any of the services, facilities, information and/or materials on the Experience the Real Cuba website, including without limitation, their accuracy, their completeness or their merchantability, quality or fitness for a particular purpose. The Experience the Real Cuba website is provided strictly on an “as is” basis and, in particular, we do not warrant that the information published on the Experience the Real Cuba website will be error-free or that the Experience the Real Cuba website will be virus or bug-free.
Nothing in these T&Cs shall operate to exclude or limit liability arising out of: (i) fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or (ii) death or personal injury.
4. Credit and Debit Card Security
We make reasonable efforts to ensure that all credit card and debit card transactions carried out via the Experience the Real Cuba website are secure. HOWEVER, if unauthorised charges appear on your credit card or debit card statement for any card used on the Experience the Real Cuba website at any time during or after you make your booking, conduct your transaction or disclose your card details on the Experience the Real Cuba website, Experience the Real Cuba shall not be liable or responsible in any way in respect of any damage or loss of whatsoever nature suffered by you arising from or in any way connected with said use, transaction or disclosure, save where such unauthorised charges appear as a direct result of our negligence and subject to any statutory rights which you may have.
5. Intellectual Property Rights and Web-links
The information, content, software, graphics, text, sounds, images, buttons, trademarks, service marks, trade names and logos (“Materials“) contained in the Experience the Real Cuba website are protected by copyright, trade marks, database rights, and any other intellectual property rights. The parties hereby agree that we or our licensors (as the case may be) retain all right, title, interest and intellectual property rights in and to the Materials. We grant you a limited, revocable, non-transferable, non-sublicenseable, license to use the Experience the Real Cuba website for your personal non-commercial purposes to access the Experience the Real Cuba website make bookings in accordance with these T&Cs (the “Limited Licence”). Save in respect of exercising your Limited Licence, you may not modify, copy, distribute, transmit, display, perform, reproduce, publish, license, create derivative works from, transfer, or sell any Materials. Other than the Limited Licence, nothing in these T&Cs shall be construed as transferring or granting (by implication or otherwise) to you any licence or right in or to the Materials.
The Experience the Real Cuba website may contain hyperlinks to websites operated by parties other than us. Such hyperlinks are provided for your reference only.
We do not control such websites and are not responsible for their contents. The inclusion of hyperlinks on the Experience the Real Cuba website to such other websites does not imply any endorsement of the material on such websites or any association with their operators.
The Experience the Real Cuba website is made available for personal use. You may not copy, monitor, screen-scrape, spider, deep-link or reproduce any content, information or software displayed on the Experience the Real Cuba website for any commercial or competitive purpose.
6. User Generated Content
Certain parts of the Experience the Real Cuba website may allow you or third parties to post content, reviews, messages, photos, materials or other items (these being “User Generated Content Features”). You are solely responsible for your use of such User Generated Content Features and use them at your own risk. By using any User Generated Content Features, you expressly agree not to post, upload to, transmit, distribute, store, create or otherwise publish through the Experience the Real Cuba website any of the following:
Any message, data, information, text, music, sound, photos, graphics, code or other material (“Content”) that is unlawful, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, indecent, lewd, offensive, harassing, threatening, abusive, inflammatory, fraudulent, invasive of privacy or publicity rights or otherwise objectionable or inappropriate;
Content that may infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other intellectual or proprietary right of any party;
Content that impersonates any person or entity or otherwise misrepresents your affiliation with a person or entity;
Content that may infringe a third party’s privacy or data protection rights;
Viruses, corrupted data or other harmful, disruptive or destructive files; or
Content that, in our sole judgment, is objectionable or which restricts or inhibits any other person from using or enjoying the Experience the Real Cuba sites, or which may expose us or our users to any harm or liability of any type.
We accept no responsibility and are not liable for any Content of any kind that is posted, stored or uploaded by you or any third party on the Experience the Real Cuba website, or for any loss or damage caused as a result thereof. As a provider of interactive services, we are not liable for any statements, representations or Content provided by users of the User Generated Content Features or other public forum. Although we have no obligation to screen, edit or monitor any of the Content posted to or distributed through the User Generated Content Features, we reserve the right, and have absolute discretion, to remove, screen or edit without notice any Content posted or stored on the Experience the Real Cuba website at any time and for any reason, and you are solely responsible for creating backup copies of and replacing any Content you post or store on the Experience the Real Cuba website at your sole cost and expense.
Any use of the User Generated Content Features or other portions of the Experience the Real Cuba website otherwise than in accordance with these T&Cs may result in, among other things, termination or suspension of your access to the User Generated Content Features and/or the Experience the Real Cuba website. In order to comply with an order of a court of competent jurisdiction or to protect our systems or users of the Experience the Real Cuba website, we may process and disclose any information held by us in relation to a user of the Experience the Real Cuba website who posts or uploads inappropriate or objectionable Content including, without limitation, their name, email address, IP address, usage history, and posted Content.
By posting or distributing Content to or through the Experience the Real Cuba website, unless we indicate otherwise, you:
grant us a nonexclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, transferable, irrevocable and fully sub-licensable right to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, translate, distribute, publish, create derivative works from and publicly display and perform such Content throughout the world in any media whatsoever;
represent and warrant that the Content that you post or otherwise distribute (i) complies with these Terms; (ii) is accurate and not misleading; and (iii) shall not expose us to any civil or criminal liability or otherwise materially adversely affect our business or reputation.
7. Reviews
You may be asked to review the casa particular, cultural activity and travel services that you have received. We appreciate all feedback, but please note that the travel services provider in question will have access to your review so that they can act on your feedback and make any necessary improvements. The travel services providers will have your contact details and may contact you to ask further questions about your experiences in order to help them to make further improvements.
8. General
These Terms are drafted in the English language. If these Terms are translated into any other language, the English language version shall prevail.
Our failure to enforce at any time or for any period any one or more of the T&Cs shall not be construed as a waiver of them or the rights attaching to any of them.
The T&Cs constitute the entire agreement between you and Experience the Real Cuba in relation to the subject matter of these T&Cs and supersedes any previous agreements or representations between the parties relating to the subject matter of this Agreement.
We reserve the right to change these T&Cs as well as the contents of the Experience the Real Cuba website for any reason and without liability to you, any other user or any third party. This right shall not affect the T&Cs accepted by you upon making a legitimate booking or purchase using the Experience the Real Cuba website.
You should check these T&Cs for any changes each time you access the Experience the Real Cuba website.
These T&Cs and your use of the Experience the Real Cuba website are governed by the laws of England. You hereby consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts in all disputes arising out of or relating to the use of the Experience the Real Cuba website each time you access the Experience the Real Cuba website. Use of the Experience the Real Cuba website is not authorised in any jurisdiction that does not give effect to all provisions of these T&Cs including, without limitation, this clause.
Our performance of these T&Cs is subject to existing laws and legal process and nothing contained in this agreement is in derogation of our right to comply with law enforcement requests or requirements relating to your use of the Experience the Real Cuba website or information provided to or gathered by us with respect to such use.
If any part of these T&Cs is determined to be invalid or unenforceable, then the invalid or unenforceable provision shall be deemed to be superseded by any such valid, enforceable provision that most closely matches the intent of the original provision and the remainder of these T&Cs shall continue in effect.
Although we cannot monitor the conduct of our users offsite, it shall be a breach of these T&Cs to use any information obtained from the Experience the Real Cuba website in order to harass, abuse or harm other persons, or in order to contact, advertise to, solicit or sell to any user or person without their prior express consent.
While our terms require that travel services providers display prices which are inclusive of all value added and other additional taxes, the price displayed is ultimately the responsibility of the travel services provider rather than ours. You acknowledge that we shall not have liability to you in respect of any attempt by travel services provider to levy additional value added or other taxes on you at the point of payment as a supplement to the price displayed and your sole recourse in this regard will be against the travel services provider.
9. Privacy Policy
Our privacy policy is covered by these T&Cs.
10. Online Dispute Resolution
The European Commission Online Dispute Resolution Platform is available at the following link http://ec.europa.eu/odr. Please note that we do not currently engage in alternative dispute resolution in connection with customer complaints.