Stay@Reading

Non-student contract Terms and Conditions

1. Contract for Accommodation

1.1 After reading these terms and conditions, you will be asked to click a button to state that you understand and accept these terms and conditions. You will not be able to complete your booking if you do not do this. We strongly recommend that you read the terms and conditions before clicking to accept, as they will form part of your contract with the university.

1.2 A contract is formed between you and The University of Reading when you confirm your booking by accepting these terms and conditions, or make the first payment. (See section 3 'Rates and Payments' for more details.)

1.3 The room rate includes the cost of utilities and internet access, maintenance, a 24-hour helpdesk and 24-hour security. Meals are not included in the room rate.

1.4 Once your booking has been confirmed, The University of Reading agrees to provide you with accommodation in the halls of residences of the type, and for the period, stated in your booking confirmation, provided that you comply with your obligations in these terms and conditions.

1.5 If for any reason we are not able to provide you with the room type you booked, we will offer you the closest available alternative within the halls of residence. If the substituted accommodation is substantially the same as the one you booked, you agree to accept it.

1.6 We shall use the personal information you provide to us to:

Provide the accommodation (and associated services as set out in clause 1.3);

• Process your payment; and
• If you agree during the booking process, inform you about similar products or services that we may provide, but you may ask us at any time to stop using your information in this way.

We will not give your personal data to any other third party except the University's third party accommodation provider UPP Residential Services Limited (and its group companies) (“UPP”) who may access and process your data in connection with the provision, administration and management of the accommodation (and associated services) on behalf of the University.

2. Your Booking

2.1 Please check that the details of your reservation are complete and accurate before you confirm your reservation. We will not be liable for any delay or non-performance if you provide us with incorrect information.

2.2 You cannot transfer or resell your booking (in whole or in part). If you transfer or resell (or attempt to transfer or resell) your booking then we will be entitled to terminate your booking and keep the money you have paid us.

2.3 You must not use university accommodation or facilities to conduct any commercial activity, business activity, activity that seeks to make a profit or that is criminal in nature. We shall be entitled to terminate your booking and keep any money you have paid us if you do not comply in all respects with this condition.

2.4 You may make a booking on someone else's behalf. You are responsible for ensuring that any customer in your booking complies with these terms as if that customer had made the booking.

2.5 You can only stay at the Halls of Residence if you are 18 years old or over, unless by prior arrangement with the University.

2.6 Visitors who are not current students at the University of Reading (including staff members) will, where possible, be offered self-contained accommodation only, where this is available. 

3. Rates and Payment

3.1 The rate for each room, as published on our website at the time of your booking, shall apply to your booking. Please note Reading Student rates are only available for current students of the University of Reading. This will be checked against our student records and production of a valid student identification card will also be required at check-in.

3.2 All payments for stays of 28 days or fewer are due in full at the time of booking.

3.3 Payment instalments are only available for University of Reading students.

3.3.1 For bookings over 28 days in length, where an instalment plan has been agreed, we will require a first instalment, as stated in clause 1.2, and will confirm payment arrangements for subsequent instalments with you in writing.

4. Cancellation

4.1 You must notify us in writing to stay@reading.ac.uk if you want to cancel.

4.2 As your contract is for a short-term stay in our accommodation, there is no cooling-off period. The contract is binding after you have made your booking and your first payment.

4.3 Cancellation terms: where full payment has been made at the time of booking, fees are calculated on a night-by-night basis.  If you wish to make any change to your booking, you must give us at least 10 clear working days’ notice of that change:

• If you wish to cancel your booking, you must give us at least 10 clear working days’ notice of the cancellation, e.g. for a stay arriving on Tuesday, you can cancel until 11.59pm UK time on the Monday two weeks prior. Where proper notice is given, a full refund will be given.
• If you wish to amend the length of your booking, you must give us at least 10 clear working days’ notice of the desired change (e.g. a change to take effect on a Tuesday must be notified by 11.59pm UK time on the Monday two weeks’ prior). ("Notice period" relates to the number of days before the night in question; the same terms apply to any booking extensions):

4.4 We may cancel your reservation at any time with immediate effect by giving you written notice (which includes email) if:

• you do not pay us when you are required to do so; or
• you break the contract between us in any other material way.

If we cancel your reservation where you are at fault, we reserve our legal rights in respect of your breach of contract.

4.5 We may also cancel your reservation if an event outside of our control (including but not exclusive to industrial action, explosion, fire, flooding, and failure of power and/or water supplies or emergency evacuation) means that we are unable to make your room available to you. In this case we will contact you to let you know as soon as possible and:

• if you have already paid for your room, we will refund your payment to you; or
• if you have not yet paid for your room, you will not have to make any payment to us.

Save as set out above, we will not be liable or responsible for any failure to perform, or delay in performance of, any of our obligations that is caused by an event outside of our control.
This does not affect your statutory rights. 

We will only make refunds to the payment card that you used to make the booking. We will normally credit refunds to your card within 28 working days.

4.6 For guests who have paid an upfront instalment, instead of full payment, the same refund terms shall as apply in clause 3 (above), but as a percentage of the first instalment only, rather than the total amount of your bill.

4.7 The room rate is payable even if you leave the room before the last date of your contract, because the room has been booked out to you for that period. If you ask us to sell your empty room to another occupier and we are able to do so, then we will refund you for the period of re- sale (less an administration fee of £50), but otherwise no refunds will be given if you leave early.

5. Check-in

5.1 You will be advised about check-in times and arrangements on confirmation of your booking, after you have made your payment (or first instalment, as the case may be).

5.2 If you book a room with a student rate you must present your University ID card upon check in.

6. Conditions of Stay

6.1 Your personal belongings are at your own risk whilst in halls of residence or elsewhere on university property.

6.2 Maximum occupancy for rooms is 1 adult only. You must not exceed the maximum occupancy for the room allocated to you. We reserve the right to conduct checks on occupancy and compliance with these terms.

6.3 You must not have guests to stay overnight, except by prior arrangement with the university. To see if this will be possible, please contact your hall reception on arrival.

6.4 We have several wheelchair-accessible and limited-mobility rooms, but not all our rooms have been adapted in this way and booking of such rooms is subject to their availability. You must contact stay@reading.ac.uk to specify any access requirements when you book.

6.5 Whilst in halls you must behave reasonably and treat other people with respect and consideration. You must not cause a hazard, nuisance or disturbance to others. You must comply with all reasonable requirements of our staff. You will not use any of the technology provided by us to download or access any unlawful or obscene material.

6.6 You agree to keep the accommodation, and the accommodation contents clean and tidy, and not damage them. You agree to pay for any damage that you cause in your room or associated parts during your stay. Charges for damage are payable within 14 days of invoice. If you do cause damage, or if repair is needed for any other reason, you must report it promptly to the halls hotline; 0800 029 1984. Non-accidental damage and wilful interference are serious breaches of your contract, for which we will be entitled to end the contract without liability to you.

6.7 You agree to notify halls staff at once if you lose the keys to your accommodation. You must not cut a duplicate key. You will be charged for the cost of replacing lost or damaged keys.

6.8 You agree to not to do anything or omit to do anything that is likely to be a security or Health and Safety risk (such as, but not limited to, leaving doors or windows unlocked when away from the residence).

6.9 You agree not to bring any illegal items, highly flammable items, dangerous items, or additional furniture or non-PAT tested electrical items into the Halls of Residence.

6.10 You agree not to bring into the Halls of Residence any animal (this includes, without limiting, mammals, fish, birds, insects and reptiles) unless it is a trained aid for a person with a disability, which the university has agreed you may keep with you. You will be responsible for any damage or nuisance which your animal causes.

6.11 You must not smoke in any of our halls of residences or interfere with our fire detection system. You may smoke outside at a distance of 10 metres from the hall of residence.

6.12 We shall be entitled to end the contract for breach of any of conditions 1 to 12 in this clause, and claim from you our net loss of profit and any costs we incur in reinstating the room and/or its contents (including, without limiting costs for cleaning, repair or replacement if reasonably necessary) and our legal and administration expenses. In many cases we will first notify you of the problem and give you a reasonable opportunity to put things right, but for serious breaches and persistent breaches, we may ask you to leave at once.

7. Changing your Booking

Booking extensions are only available by prior arrangement.

7.1 Booking Extensions: Extensions to your booking can be made if the room is available for the extended period you require. Alternatively, we may be able to offer you an alternative room for this period, if your current room is unavailable. Please contact Stay@Reading on stay@reading.ac.uk for more details on booking an extension.

Extensions must be made by 9.30am on the morning you are due to check-out and full payment must be received by the Stay@Reading team, before an extension will be granted.

If you are due to check out on a Saturday or Sunday any extension requests must be made by 10am on the preceding Friday.

Please note: Failure to check-out of your room without an appropriate extension is a breach of this contract and will be subject to charges, as per clause 4.2.

7.2 Clause 6.5 above explains your liability if you decide to shorten your stay.

8. Check-Out

8.1 You must return all keys, associated access cards and wash station card to the hall reception on check out.

8.2 You must check out by 10.00am on the agreed date of departure. If you fail to check out by the stipulated time, we will:

8.2.1 charge an additional fee for administration of £50 per night of overstay. We also reserve the right to remove access to your room if necessary;

8.2.2 be entitled to charge the net cost of housing anyone who is prevented by your overstay from checking in to the accommodation.

8.3 Upon check-out you must clear all your personal belongings and rubbish from the room, kitchen and bathroom and any associated parts, leaving the room and communal parts in the same condition that you found it in. If you fail to do so, we reserve the right to remove your personal belongings and rubbish for you, and charge you the proper costs of us doing so.

9. General

9.1 Statutory Rights: We have tried to ensure that any rights that you as a consumer have that are implied by law into a contract of this type (statutory rights) are not excluded or limited in any way. If any of these terms conflict with a statutory right or the law changes and your statutory rights change, then the statutory rights will prevail over these terms.

9.2 Events Beyond our Reasonable Control: We shall not be in breach of these terms and conditions, nor liable for any failure to perform any of our obligations in relation to your booking (such as the provision of room(s) and/or other products and/or services and/or extras) if that is due to any adverse event, act, omission or accident which happens which is beyond our reasonable control including, but not limited to, strikes and industrial action, staff illness, restrictions imposed by the government or public authorities, flood, earthquake, extreme adverse weather conditions, natural disasters, epidemic or pandemic, other acts of God, acts of terrorism or threat thereof, war, civil disorder or unrest, riot, interruption or fire (except by way of our default) or failure of (except by way of our default) electric power, gas, water, or other utility service, plant machinery, computers, vehicles or any collapse of building structures.

9.3 Our Liability: Our total liability for any loss shall not exceed twice the total sum we charge you for the booking. We shall not be liable for any losses that were not caused by any breach of contract or statutory duty or negligence on the part of The University of Reading and we shall not be liable for any losses that were not reasonably foreseeable to both parties when the contract was formed. Nothing in these terms shall exclude or limit our liability for fraud or death or personal injury caused by our negligence or any other matter which it would be illegal for us to (or attempt to) exclude or limit.

9.4 Third Party Rights: A party which is not a party to our Contract shall have no right to enforce any term under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999

9.5 Law: These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales.

9.6 Changes to Terms: We reserve the right to change these terms from time to time. The terms applicable to your booking are those in force on the date of booking (or the date you amended your booking, as applicable). If any part of these terms and conditions is deemed invalid, illegal or for any reason unenforceable then that part will be deemed deleted and will not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining parts. Any failure by us to enforce our rights or remedies under these terms and conditions or otherwise shall not be construed as a waiver by us of those or any other rights of remedies.

9.7 Limit of this agreement: By booking to stay in halls, you represent to The University of Reading that you require short-term accommodation only, and that your main residence is elsewhere. This agreement is only suitable for you if you will not be, and do not intend to become, a residential occupier. We hereby give you warning that as you will not be a residential occupier, you have no statutory protection against eviction. This means that, without having to go to court for a possession order we may require you to leave halls if you are in serious or persistent breach of your obligations in these terms and conditions, or if you stay in the accommodation longer than the period you have booked.

For more information on your statutory rights see Consumer Direct or call 08454040506.

10. Questions / Complaints

If you have any question or complaint in relation to your booking, or these terms please contact the Stay@Reading team as soon as possible. You may log a complaint where a previously logged job has not closed satisfactorily. We will aim to respond to any complaint within 5 working days. Stay@Reading: 0118 378 8922 and stay@reading.ac.uk.