Privacy Policy

Last updated: 13 September 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use and protect personal information when you visit www.cowespenthouse.com, contact us about a stay, make a booking directly through the website, or otherwise interact with us in connection with The Penthouse at Waterside House, West Cowes (“The Penthouse”).

We respect your privacy and are committed to handling your personal information responsibly and in accordance with applicable data protection legislation, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, as applicable.

1. Who we are

The website www.cowespenthouse.com is operated by:

Charles Radcliffe
72a High Street
Cowes PO31 7RE
United Kingdom
Email: charlesxradcliffe@gmail.com

For data protection purposes, Charles Radcliffe is the data controller responsible for deciding how and why your personal information is processed in connection with The Penthouse and this website.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or the way your personal information is handled, please contact us at charlesxradcliffe@gmail.com.

2. What personal information we collect

The information we collect depends on how you interact with The Penthouse and our website.

Information you provide directly to us

If you contact us, make an enquiry or book directly, we may collect:

your name
email address
telephone number
postal address, where required
booking dates
number and details of guests in your party
information relating to your accommodation requirements
correspondence and communications between you and us
information necessary to administer your booking
payment and transaction information
any other information that you voluntarily provide to us in connection with your enquiry or stay

Where information about other members of your party is provided to us by the person making the booking, the person making the booking should ensure, where reasonably practicable, that those individuals are aware that their information is being provided to us and of this Privacy Policy.

We do not normally require sensitive or special-category personal information. Please do not provide such information unless it is genuinely necessary for your booking or stay.

Information relating to bookings made through third-party platforms

The Penthouse may also be booked through third-party accommodation platforms, including Airbnb and other booking platforms.

Where you book through such a platform, the platform may collect and process your personal information under its own privacy policy. We may receive information from the platform that is necessary for us to administer and fulfil your booking and provide the accommodation.

The privacy policy of the relevant booking platform will apply to information that the platform collects and processes itself.

Information collected when you use our website

When you visit www.cowespenthouse.com, our website and its service providers may collect limited technical information, which can include:

IP address
browser type and version
device type
operating system
date and time of visits
pages viewed
referring website or source
technical information necessary to maintain the security and functionality of the website

We do not currently use Google Analytics, Meta/Facebook Pixel or similar advertising or behavioural-tracking technologies.

We may, however, use essential cookies or similar technologies necessary for the operation, security and functionality of the website and booking process.

4. How we use your personal information

We use personal information only where we have a lawful basis to do so.

To respond to enquiries

If you contact us about The Penthouse, availability, prices, facilities or a potential booking, we use your information to respond to you and provide the information you have requested.

Lawful basis: taking steps at your request before entering into a contract and/or our legitimate interests in responding to genuine enquiries.

To administer direct bookings

Where you make a booking directly through www.cowespenthouse.com, we use your information to:

process and confirm your reservation
administer your booking
process or arrange payment
communicate with you about your reservation
provide booking confirmation and other relevant information
provide check-in and check-out information
communicate information necessary for your stay
deal with amendments, cancellations and other booking matters
provide appropriate assistance before, during or after your stay

Lawful basis: performance of our contract with you and taking steps at your request before entering into a contract.

To administer bookings made through third-party platforms

Where your booking is made through Airbnb or another booking platform, we may use the information provided by that platform to administer the reservation, communicate with you and provide the accommodation.

Lawful basis: performance of our contract with you and/or our legitimate interests in administering the booking and operating the accommodation.

To process payments

Payments for direct bookings made through the website may be processed using Stripe.

Payment card details are processed by Stripe in accordance with its own privacy and security arrangements. We do not ordinarily receive or store your full payment card number.

Stripe may process personal information in jurisdictions outside the UK. Where applicable, appropriate safeguards for international data transfers will be used in accordance with applicable data protection law.

Lawful basis: performance of our contract with you and compliance with applicable legal obligations.

To manage bookings and accommodation operations

We use iGMS as booking and property-management software.

iGMS may process information relating to bookings, guests and accommodation management on our behalf. This may include information necessary to administer reservations, guest communications and related property-management activities.

Lawful basis: performance of our contract with you and our legitimate interests in efficiently operating and managing The Penthouse.

To communicate with guests

We may contact you by email, telephone, text message or other appropriate means concerning your booking or stay.

This may include:

booking confirmations
arrival and check-in information
directions and practical information
information about the property
requests for information necessary to administer your stay
responses to questions or requests
urgent information affecting your booking or stay

These communications are service communications rather than marketing.

Lawful basis: performance of our contract with you and/or our legitimate interests in providing and administering your stay.

To comply with legal obligations

We may process and retain personal information where necessary to comply with legal, accounting, tax, insurance or regulatory obligations.

Lawful basis: compliance with a legal obligation.

To protect our legitimate interests

We may process personal information where reasonably necessary to:

prevent fraud or misuse
protect the property and its contents
investigate or respond to damage or other incidents
establish, exercise or defend legal claims
maintain the security of our website and systems
protect our business and legitimate interests

Lawful basis: our legitimate interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms.

5. Who we share your information with

We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information.

We may share information where reasonably necessary with trusted organisations and service providers, including:

Stripe, for processing payments made through the website
iGMS, for booking and property-management services
Airbnb and other booking platforms, where a booking is made through those platforms
website hosting, technical support and other IT service providers
property management, cleaning, maintenance or other service providers where necessary to provide or manage your stay
professional advisers, including accountants, insurers and legal advisers, where appropriate
government bodies, regulators, law enforcement agencies or other authorities where we are legally required or permitted to do so

We seek to ensure that third-party service providers only receive the information reasonably necessary for the services they provide and that appropriate contractual and security arrangements are in place where required.

6. International transfers

Some organisations providing services to us, including technology, payment, booking or accommodation-management providers, may process personal information outside the United Kingdom.

Where this constitutes a restricted international transfer under applicable UK data protection law, we will ensure that an appropriate lawful transfer mechanism and safeguards are used.

These may include a UK adequacy regulation, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, or another lawful mechanism recognised under applicable law.

7. How long we keep your information

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including where necessary to comply with legal, accounting, tax, insurance or other regulatory requirements.

Generally:

Booking information is retained for as long as necessary to administer your booking and subsequently for the period reasonably required for accounting, tax, insurance, legal and dispute-resolution purposes.
Enquiry information where no booking is made is generally retained only for as long as reasonably necessary to deal with the enquiry and any resulting correspondence.
Guest communications may be retained for a reasonable period where necessary to maintain an accurate record of a booking, resolve disputes or meet legal or insurance requirements.
Marketing information, if we subsequently undertake marketing activities, will be retained only for as long as we have a lawful basis to use it for that purpose or until you object or unsubscribe.

We may retain certain information for longer where this is necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims or to comply with a legal obligation.

8. Cookies

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies.

Cookies that are strictly necessary for the operation, security or functionality of the website may be used where permitted by law.

If we introduce non-essential cookies, such as analytics, advertising or behavioural-tracking technologies, we will provide appropriate information and obtain consent where required before using them.

At present, we do not intend to use Google Analytics, Meta/Facebook Pixel or similar advertising or behavioural-tracking technologies.

If the technologies used on the website change, we will update this Privacy Policy and, where required, our cookie consent arrangements.

9. Your data protection rights

Under applicable data protection law, you may have the right to:

request access to personal information we hold about you
ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information
request deletion of your personal information in certain circumstances
request restriction of processing in certain circumstances
object to certain processing
request portability of information in certain circumstances
withdraw consent where we rely on consent as our lawful basis
object to direct marketing at any time

These rights are subject to certain conditions and legal exemptions, so they do not apply in every circumstance.

To exercise a right or ask a question about your personal information, please contact: charlesxradcliffe@gmail.com

We may need to verify your identity before dealing with a request.

10. Direct marketing

We do not currently use guest information for regular email marketing or other promotional communications.

If this changes, we will comply with applicable data protection and electronic communications requirements and will provide an appropriate opportunity to opt out of marketing communications.

You will always be able to object to direct marketing.

Essential communications concerning an existing booking are not marketing communications and cannot be opted out of where they are necessary to administer your stay.

11. Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against accidental loss, unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure or destruction.

These measures include using reputable service providers, appropriate access controls and secure payment-processing arrangements.

However, no internet transmission or electronic storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

12. Children’s information

Our website and booking process are intended to be used by adults making bookings.

We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children for marketing purposes.

Where information about children staying at The Penthouse is provided to us by the person making a booking, we will only use that information where reasonably necessary to administer the booking, provide the accommodation, ensure safety or comply with legal obligations.

13. Third-party websites and booking platforms

Our website may contain links to third-party websites, including Airbnb, other booking platforms, tourism websites, attractions, transport providers and other external websites.

Those websites operate independently from us and have their own privacy policies and terms.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to personal information collected directly by those third parties.

You should review the privacy policy of any third-party website before providing personal information to it.

14. Complaints

If you have a concern about the way we have handled your personal information, please contact us first at: charlesxradcliffe@gmail.com

We will make reasonable efforts to investigate and resolve your concern.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s independent supervisory authority for data protection.

Information about the ICO and how to make a complaint is available at: https://ico.org.uk/

15. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our business, booking arrangements, website, technology, service providers or applicable law.

The current version will be published on www.cowespenthouse.com and will show the date on which it was last updated.

16. Contact

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal information, please contact: Charles Radcliffe, 72a High Street, Cowes PO31 7RE, United Kingdom. Email: charlesxradcliffe@gmail.com