Terms and Conditions

Holiday Accommodation 

July 2024 – June 2025

Guests are agreeing to these terms and conditions when a booking is confirmed, and payment is made. Any breach of the below short-term letting terms and conditions, as agreed by both parties, permits the agent, Soulful Living Real Estate to refuse entry, amend the rent or immediately terminate the letting.

Licence not a Tenancy

• The booking with Soulful Living Real Estate is not a residential tenancy agreement under residential tenancy legislations. Failure to comply with any of the guest’s fundamental obligations and the terms and conditions of the property may result in immediate termination and eviction. The guest is granted a licence to occupy the accommodation for the agreed booking period. Refunds will not be paid on terminated occupancies.

Number of Persons, Noise, Parties and Functions

• Properties are for guests only. No outside guests are permitted on the premises without pre-arrangement in writing from Soulful Living Real Estate. The number of occupants must not exceed the number of persons shown on your confirmation. Any increase in numbers must be agreed in advance and may incur additional fees.
• Excessive noise, parties and functions are not permitted as they can cause disruption to neighbours as well as nearby residents and other holiday makers. If an unauthorised function is held at the property, the bond processed for the booking will be retained and additional fees charged to cover any excess cleaning and/or property damage.

Noise Complaints

• If a complaint of excessive noise or anti-social behaviour is received, police will be contacted to investigate.
• At the time the report is received, Soulful Living Real Estate will also determine the severity of the incident and the impact on the property, the community, and the surrounding guests and residents. If the incident and impact is deemed to be severe, all guests at the premises may be evicted from the premises by security without refund of rent or bond. This determination is at the sole discretion of management and is non-negotiable.

Check-in and Check-out

• Check-in is available from 2pm on the day of arrival. Check-out is 10.30am on the day of departure. There may be variations to these times, if so, guests will be advised accordingly.

Keys

• Keys to be collected from & returned to the Soulful Living Real Estate office unless alternative arrangements have been agreed to. If guests lose keys / remote controls or lock keys inside the property and require access, a call out fee will apply. If replacement keys or remote controls need to be cut or purchased, key barrels need to be replaced, or in secure complexes re-keying is required costs will be calculated accordingly and charged to the guest.

Deposit, Cancellation and Booking Fee

• To secure a reservation, 20% deposit of total tariff is required at the time of booking. Full Payment is required 60 days prior to commencement of booking.
• Bookings cancelled at least 60 days before the start of the stay will receive a full refund less any booking fees if charged.
• Cancellations made outside of 60 days and with written notice, full refund will be given within 30 days / end of month payment cycle.
• If an owner cancels bookings due to unforeseen circumstances, the guest will receive a full refund.
• A Security Bond of $1,000 may be required to pay on some properties. Credit card details are held against the booking for 14 days after departure, payment will be refunded within 14 days, subject to the property being left in a clean condition with no damage or excess rubbish left behind.

Short Stay Levy

• From 1 January 2025, the short stay levy applies to short stays in Victorian property. You may have to pay the short stay levy if you accept bookings for a stay in Victorian accommodation that is less than 28 consecutive days and charge a fee for the stay.
• The levy is a flat 7.5% of the total booking fees paid, including fees and charges such as cleaning fees and GST, where applicable. The total booking fee does not include credit card fees.

Excess Cleaning, Damages and Charges

Excess Cleaning

• Soulful Living Real Estate requests guests to leave the property as it was found to avoid extra cleaning charges. This includes washing dishes, no dishes are to be left in a dishwasher, placement of rubbish in the bins provided and cleaning of the BBQ. The cleaners will clean the floors so this is not required by the guests, however cleaning charges may apply if the walls, floors & BBQ are excessively dirty.

Damages

• In the event of breakages, damages and lost items, Soulful Living Real Estate requests that guests contact the office to report the incident as soon as possible. Damages may be deducted from bond (or credit card supplied if the charges are higher than the bond processed).

Movement of Items Within/Between Properties

• Soulful Living Real Estate has a strict policy on moving items or furniture (indoor and/or outdoor) within a property, or in the case of bookings across multiple properties, from house to house. Movements may cause unnecessary damage to items and/or to the property and can cause excess cleaning time due to increased housekeeping inventory checks and replacement of items. If guests need extra items for a booking (and where a function is approved) Soulful Living Real Estate can advise of contact information for a hire company. Any damages/excess cleaning caused by movement of items or furniture will be charged or deducted from bond.

Internet

• Some properties provide wireless internet for guests for the purpose of email, perusing social media, and web browsing. If guests require excess usage please contact your relevant provider to discuss the purchase of a data pack for your personal use through your phone, laptop or ipad.

Property Presentation

• The description of the premises is given in good faith. From time to time, changes occur at properties, sometimes by owners and outside of Soulful Living Real Estate’s control or knowledge therefore no responsibility for irregularities will be accepted.

Unplanned Outages

• During periods of extreme weather events, power supply to properties can be interrupted due to unplanned outages.
• These power outages will also affect WiFi as the routers will be disabled. These outages are out of the control of Soulful Living Real Estate take no responsibility. We will however assist all guests during these periods to keep them up to date with the situation and instructions from the authorities, and to ensure their safety.

Neighbourhood Construction/Noise

• Some of the properties managed by Soulful Living Real Estate are in a location where, from time to time, there may be building / construction on neighbouring houses within the nearby vicinity of the property booked. Soulful Living Real Estate take no responsibility for any issues relating to noise on neighbouring properties.

No Smoking

• For the comfort of all our guests, all our properties are non-smoking. Any damages or excess cleaning caused by smoking on or inside any property will be deducted from the bond.

Rubbish Collection and Excess Rubbish

• Soulful Living Real Estate requests guests put all rubbish in the appropriate bins provided outside no later than the night before collection, rubbish collection day is indicated in your house rules which you receive at check in. Please ensure the rubbish is put out at a reasonable hour so as not to cause noise and disrupt the neighbourhood (e.g. with recycling bottles). The bin lids MUST be able to close for the collection. The guests must put the bins out for collection on the night before departure. Please inform Soulful Living Real Estate staff if the bin is full and has missed bin collection day.
• If the bins are not put out OR if there is excess rubbish upon check out, a private contractor will be organised to empty the bins and charges will be deducted from the bond OR charged directly to the guest.

High Peak Times / Summer

• Soulful Living Real Estate engages the services of a local company ‘The Bin Kid & Co’ they will attend the property and put bins our for collection throughout the Summer. All we ask is that all rubbish in put in the appropriate bins. The bin lids MUST be able to close for the collection.
• If there is excess rubbish upon check out, we will have the bins emptied additionally and charges will be incurred.

Parking

• Each property listing outlines the number of off-street car parks available and number of cars permitted at the property. On-street parking is not provided or guaranteed for guests or visitors. Soulful Living Real Estate cannot be held responsible or liable for any fines or penalties incurred by guests or visitors from parking on the street (where local parking restrictions/metered parking applies).
• Parking campervans, caravans and trailers (with or without boats) on a residential street on or adjacent to one of our properties is not permitted under any circumstances. Friends of guests are not permitted to park caravans on or adjacent to any of our properties and use the property facilities. Guests will be required to remove any campervans, caravans or trailers.
• If a guest fails to comply, the violation of terms and conditions may also result in guest eviction and loss of rent and bond.

Personal and Lost Property

• No responsibility will be taken by Soulful Living real Estate for guest’s personal property. If items are left at a property, the appropriate Soulful Living Real Estate office will contact the cleaners to determine whether the items were located. If located, guests are required to send a postage paid, return addressed envelope to the office for the items to be returned. Return costs and tracking of items are the responsibility of the guest.

Emergencies Victoria – Vic Emergency App

• We highly recommend downloading the Vic Emergency App to your mobile device for the duration of your stay on the coast.
• The VicEmergency app aligns with the VicEmergency website to provide a centralised location for Victorians to access timely emergency information and warnings.
• The app includes warnings and incident notifications for fire, flood, storm, earthquake, tsunami, weather warnings, shark sightings, beach closures and more.
• In order to receive location specific app alerts when warnings are issued or incidents occur, you need to set up your watch zones.
• If you are in a life-threatening situation, you should always call Triple Zero (000) for police, fire or ambulance.
• You can download VicEmergency from the App Store or Google Play.