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| 2013 Policies
We require that a Vacation Rental Agreement under the North Carolina Vacation Rental Act be signed prior to releasing a home to tenants. All our vacation rental homes are operated under legal permits issued by the towns of Lake Lure and Chimney Rock and town regulations pertaining to rentals are addressed in the Addendum to the Rental Agreement. TO CONFIRM A RESERVATION: If your reservation is more than 31 days in advance: Your final balance is due 31 days prior to check-in. We would appreciate your final balance being paid by check, if possible. Checks should be made payable to Distinctive Mountain Lodging. Please note the name of your rental home and dates of stay on your check. Mail checks to P. O. Box 563, Lake Lure, NC 28746. If paying your final balance by credit card is more convenient for you, please call at least 31 days prior to check-in and give us your authority to charge your balance to your credit card. It is YOUR responsibility to either mail your check for the balance due so that it is received by our office no later than 31 days prior to check-in, or to call us to authorize us to charge your balance to your credit card. PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDAR as you will not receive a separate billing for the final balance. If your final balance is not paid 31 days prior to check in, we reserve the right to cancel your reservation and you will not receive a refund of your advance deposit. If your reservation is less than 31 days in advance: You must be paid in full, and there would be no refund should you cancel, unless the property can be re-rented for the same time period and for the same rate. If re-rented, you will receive a refund of your advance deposit, less a $50 cancellation fee and less the $30 nonrefundable reservation fee, for a total forfeiture of $80. Once you have booked your rental home and provided us with your credit card information to guarantee the reservation, we will email or fax you the Rental Agreement to sign, which must be returned within 48 hours. Once we receive the signed Rental Agreement, we will charge your credit card in full and email you an invoice and directions to your rental home. Please remember that the signed Rental Agreement must be returned within 48 hours. NOTE: Please read your confirmation and VRA carefully. You are responsible for familiarizing yourself with the information contained in these documents. The VRA binds you to a specific property for a specific period of time. Your verbal authorization at the time of reservation, your signature on the VRA, payment of money, and/or taking possession of the property after receipt of the VRA is evidence of your acceptance of the VRA and your intent to use the property as a vacation rental. OTHER CHARGES/FEES. North Carolina sales and occupancy tax is required (currently 11.75%) and will be due in addition to the gross rent. We also require a nonrefundable $30 reservation fee (plus tax) for all reservations. There are no departure cleaning fees as long as a few minor housekeeping items are completed prior to departure (described below under Care and Cleaning), and the rental home is properly secured and left as it was found. If a vacation home is not left neat, there will be a charge for excessive cleaning, which varies with the property. If you lose the key and/or are locked out of your rental home, we will send a staff member to meet you at the property. There will be a $50 fee for this service and you must be prepared to pay the fee in cash to our staff member at the rental home. SECURITY/DAMAGE DEPOSIT. Each vacation rental home requires a security/damage deposit which varies from $350-500. An imprint of your credit card for this security deposit is taken at check-in. This deposit ensures that our rental homes are left in the condition in which they were found and protects the owners from damages and loss caused by tenants and/or their guests. Your rental home will be inspected after your departure and before the next guest arrives. The security deposit is not charged unless there is loss or damage to the rental home during your stay, excessive cleaning required, or violation of policies. However, tenants will be financially responsible for any damages to the property or its contents during their tenancy. Honesty is always the best policy. Please tell us if loss or damages have occurred during your stay. ALL OUR VACATION RENTAL HOMES ARE NONSMOKING. Smoking inside our rental homes is strictly prohibited. If evidence of smoking inside one of our vacation rental homes is found, a $150 charge will be made to your credit card on file. By signing our VRA, Distinctive Mountain Lodging is authorized to charge this fee to your credit card on file. CANCELLATIONS/TRANSFERS. If you find you must cancel your reservation, you must notify us more than 60 days prior to your arrival date in order for your advance rent deposit to be refunded, minus a $50 cancellation fee. The $30 reservation fee is nonrefundable, so the total forfeited would be $80. If you find you must cancel your reservation less than 60 days prior to your arrival date, please notify us as soon as possible. We will make every effort to re-rent the property. If we re-rent the property, all advance payments (less an $80 cancellation fee) will be returned to you within 31 days after we have been paid in full by the tenant who re-rented your property. If, after diligent effort, we are unable to re-rent the property, the full advance rent payment will be forfeited. We highly recommend the purchase of Trip Interruption Insurance. While we do not sell insurance, please visit www.insuremytrip.com for information concerning a variety of Trip Interruption Insurance policies. It is the tenant’s responsibility to either purchase this insurance, or to initial the blank in Paragraph 4 of the VRA declining this insurance. If a reservation is transferred from one vacation rental home to another as a result of changes in tenant’s needs, there is a $80 transfer fee. However, requests for transfers must be made 60 days prior to arrival. Requests for transfers made less than 60 days prior to arrival are treated as cancellations. Unlike hotels, our vacation rental homes are each individually owned and have no correlation to each other. LIABILITY. Renters are paying guests of the individual homeowners and Agent is not responsible or liable for any loss of the renter’s personal property or bodily injury or damage of any nature from any cause to the renter (including his guests) unless caused by the negligent or willful act of the Agent or the Owner, or the failure of the Agent or Owner to comply with the Vacation Rental Act. The Agent is not responsible for weather or road conditions, construction or noise near the property, power outages, acts of God, criminal activities, economic downturns, political changes, or any other activity, event or condition beyond its control. There will be no refunds, allowances, or rescheduling resulting from these conditions, except in the case of a mandatory evacuation. If state or local authorities order a mandatory evacuation of an area that includes a home rented by one of our guests, the guest shall comply with the order. Upon compliance, the guest will be entitled to a refund of the pro-rated rent for each night that the guest is unable to occupy the home because of the order. |
CHECK-IN: Check-in is 4:00 to 7:00 p.m at your vacation rental home. Please note this is the only time we are staffed for check-ins. We ask that you call us from the road when you are approximately one hour away, and we will meet you at your vacation rental home to check you in. Early or late check-ins cannot be guaranteed. Please make every effort to arrive during this time period. Requests for early check-in or late check-out will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Please contact our office no earlier than the day prior to your arrival with your request. We will attempt to accommodate you depending upon the status of your rental home at that time. The charge for an early check-in or late check-out is $50, is nonnegotiable and nonrefundable. The $50 fee will be charged to your credit card on file and will not be refunded should you change your mind or not arrive at the time requested. HOWEVER, EARLY CHECK-INS AND LATE CHECK-OUTS ARE ABSOLUTELY NOT POSSIBLE DURING JUNE, JULY, AUGUST OR OCTOBER. PLEASE DO NOT ASK DURING THESE BUSY MONTHS. CHECK-OUT. Check-out is by 10:00 a.m. sharp so that we can accommodate the next guests. Late check-outs will be charged the applicable daily rate to the credit card on file unless prior arrangements are made. It is the tenant’s responsibility to contact our office and let us know your departure time. OCCUPANCY. Maximum occupancy limits in vacation rental homes are set by the towns in which they are located and the limits are set out on the VRA and Addendum. Maximum occupancy refers to the number of persons on the premises between the hours of 12 midnight and 6:00 a.m. Exceeding the maximum occupancy limits will result in rent forfeiture and the immediate eviction of tenants. You must be at least 24 years of age to rent one of our vacation rental homes and proof of age may be required at our discretion. Distinctive Mountain Lodging does not allow house parties, youth groups, fraternities, sororities, weddings, receptions or meetings in its rental homes. We do not rent to students or groups of students under any circumstances, even if a parent or legal guardian makes the reservation and/or pays the rent. If such groups attempt to rent one of our vacation homes, all monies will be forfeited and tenants will be asked to vacate the rental home immediately. PARKING. Due to our mountainous region, parking is limited. Tenants must observe the parking limitations of each property and must not park in undesignated areas or block access to other properties. TRASH REMOVAL. Garbage pick-up days are posted at each rental home. Please put the garbage out the night before pick-up as the garbage men come very early in the morning. ALL GARBAGE MUST BE BAGGED AND LIDS SECURED ON CANS. Critters are a real problem in the mountains so please do not leave any garbage outside cans. If you have excessive garbage, please call us at any time and we will come and pick it up. NO FIREARMS OR PYROTECHNICS. Town regulations prohibit the use of firearms and pyrotechnics. WHAT WE PROVIDE AND WHAT YOU NEED TO BRING. Each vacation rental home is fully furnished according to the individual owner’s taste. Kitchens are stocked with basic cookware and dinnerware for the maximum occupancy. We provide a starter supply of bath tissue and garbage bags, dishwashing detergent, and some basic cleaning supplies. You must bring additional amounts of these supplies if you are staying longer than a weekend, as well as personal laundry detergent and food. Tenants must also bring charcoal and lighter for those homes that have charcoal grills. See individual web page. Each home has a personalized Welcome Book with everything you to need know about your rental home to ensure that your visit is a huge success. The Welcome Book also gives you lots of tips about how to find the best fishing guide, the most economical pontoon boat rental, the most challenging hiking trails, our favorite restaurants and shops, etc. On the day you arrive, we will meet you at your rental home to check you in and will give you a map of the area and answer any questions you may have. If questions arise later, we’re available by phone from the day you arrive until the day you head for home. LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONES CALLS AND PAY-PER-VIEW TELEVISION. All homes have telephones that allow local and emergency calls at no charge. However, phones have blocks against long distance calls, so please plan on bringing a personal cell phone or calling card. However, cell phone service cannot be guaranteed at our rental properties. Pay-per-view television shows must be charged to your own credit card. If this policy is violated, any unauthorized charges will be deducted from your security/damage deposit. MECHANICAL FAILURES/REPAIRS. Please immediately report inoperative equipment to Manager and we will make every effort to have repairs done in a timely manner during reasonable hours. Each home has smoke detectors. Please notify us immediately if they are not working. Do not wait until the end of your stay to tell us something wasn’t working properly. We have a very competent and reliable staff on call to ensure that your stay is stress free, however, speed of service cannot be guaranteed due to the location and remoteness of our rental properties. Mechanical failures of appliances, air-conditioning or heating systems, hot tubs, satellite/cable service, fireplaces or any other appliance that fails to operate properly during your stay are beyond our control and no refund or rent reduction will be given. Power outages occur frequently in the mountains. No refunds will be issued for minor disruption of any utilities including, but not limited to, power outages, water outages, etc. These failures are beyond our control and no refund or rent reduction will be given. HOT TUBS. If your property includes a hot tub, special instructions for its use apply. Failure to abide by these rules will result in charges to your damage deposit. Please do not turn off or unplug the hot tub. All hot tubs are serviced weekly and will be checked mid-week during your stay. Please do not add anything to the water including chemicals, soaps, bath oils, etc. Do not use body oils, lotions, creams, etc. in the hot tub. Remove all oils and lotions BEFORE using the hot tub. Take special care in removing the cover, and leave the cover on when not in use to enable the tub to heat properly. Make sure the cover is secure before leaving the property as high winds could blow the cover off. The hot tub will be checked after your departure, and any damages or extra cleaning will be charged to your damage deposit. Please note that some people, especially children, are sensitive to the chemicals used to keep a hot tub clean and sanitary. We are not responsible for personal reactions to hot tub chemicals. We advise that children not be allowed to use the hot tub. CARE AND CLEANING. All of our properties are professionally cleaned before you arrive and after you leave. Cleaning issues must be reported to Management within 90 minutes of arrival. Most homes have locked owner’s closets or drawers, and we ask that you respect these spaces as they are not included in the rental. Please respect the owner’s property by taking care of it as if it were your own. Please do not rearrange the furniture or move any articles from their original position. If you do move things, put them back in their original position before departing. Guests are expected to keep the home neat during their stay. Before departure, guests are expected to wash all dishes and put them away, bag all garbage and place in outside cans, and strip beds and place soiled sheets and towels in specified areas, and in general leave the property tidy. Additionally, if guests use the outdoor grills, they must be cleaned after use and, if gas, the gas must be turned off at the propane tank. Failure to complete these items will result in an extra fee being deducted from your security/damage deposit. ITEMS LEFT BEHIND. Please ensure that you have removed all personal items prior to departure. We cannot be held responsible for tenants’ failure to do so. Due to our remote location, packaging and shipping forgotten articles is unusually difficult. Therefore, if you request us to package and return items left behind, there will be a $20.00 service charge in additional to shipping charges. |
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