Rental Advice - Spanish Homeowners.

Booking Contracts

If you decide to let your Spanish property you will not only be a holiday home owner, you will also assume all the responsibilities of a landlord.

It is highly recommend that all landlords (wherever their property may be located) should use a rental contract as this lays out the terms of the rental and leaves no surprises for your guests - financial or otherwise. It also ensures that everything runs smoothly for both yourself and the holidaymakers who are renting from you and it is with this in mind that you should only consider a booking as formally accepted once you have received the completed booking contract form.

As a general rule you should aim to make your booking contract as unambiguous as possible and give your guests easy to follow conditions. The items in the list below are typical of the kind of things you should include.

• Your name and your contact details.

• Full details of the guest who is organizing the rental.

• A list of the names and ages of ALL other guests who will be travelling under this booking.

• The dates of travel along with any specific information regarding check in/out times.

• Details of payments and when they are due. These may include:

  • Booking deposit – (normally around 10% - 25%) of the total amount. You need to state whether this is non-refundable.

  • Total amount due – along with a detailed breakdown if any ‘extras’ e.g. airport transfers - are provided.

  • Breakage deposit – it should be made clear that any breakages, etc. will be deducted from this.

• It is wise to include a section which reminds your guests that they should take out their own travel insurance in case of cancellations, etc. and that you are not liable for damage to their belongings or any injuries incurred during their holiday.

• Clarify your key issue procedure.

• You should make your cancellation policy clear. Your guests will need to know what to do, and what to expect if they need to cancel and it is wise to deal with cancellations promptly and with consideration as most people have a legitimate reason for cancelling their holiday. Remember: DO NOT make a refund until you are sure that the initial payment is FULLY cleared.

• List any specific house rules such as your smoking policy or maximum occupancy, etc.

• List any specific community rules, such as noise limitations etc., which your guests need to adhere to.

You can get a sample booking contract by clicking the picture on the left. This can be used as the basis for your booking contract by modifying it to suit your needs.

Note: this is a pdf file which means you will need the FREE Adobe reader installed on your computer to view and print it. For more information and to get the reader click on Adobe Reader.