Spanish drought 2024

As you might be aware, Spain has been facing a significant drought problem.

In response to the drought conditions, Spanish authorities have implemented water restrictions in the communities of Andalucia and Cataluña

We understand that is beyond your control; however, it is important to understand that having water restrictions will have an impact on your guest's stay, and as a result, they might not be able to use some of the advertised amenities or have a restricted use of them.

If your pool is not available this summer, please deactivate this service in your property configuration (see screenshot below) until it is available again. 

You can also request to remove the pool photos temporarily to photography@holidu.com and request a description change to our customer service department to match the exact regulations applying to your property.

How is Holidu supporting you:

At Holidu we want to align with the rest of the channels and avoid any complaints, cancellations or possible compensation on future bookings.

Our content department will add, on the 15th April 2024, the following relevant information to your description so potential guests are aware before they book. Please note that there may be governmental water regulations in place at the time of your visit, which may impact the use of the pool, garden watering or limit tap water usage.

Future bookings

This refers to booking that comes in after the 15th April 2024, we make changes to the description. The guests were thus informed of the situation at the time of booking

At Holidu we want to align with the rest of the channels and avoid any complaints, cancellations or possible compensation on future bookings. 

Our content department will add the following relevant information to your description so potential guests are aware before they book:

Please note that there may be governmental water regulations in place at the time of your visit, which may impact the use of the pool, garden watering or limit tap water usage.

Current bookings

This refers to bookings that where made before the 15th April 2024 when the changes to the description were done. The guests were thus not aware of the current situation

If your property is affected by this governamental measure, please inform all your guests as soon as possible so they are aware of the situation before their arrival

-What do I do if my guest asks for compensation?

Although this situation is out of your control, the guests won't benefit from an important advertised amenity which could have impacted their booking decision, or will have water restrictions throughout their stay. Therefore we highly recommend you compensate them with between 5 and 25% of the total price they paid, depending on the restrictions affecting their stay (5% for water cuts at night or untended garden, 25% for lack of pool for instance).

We base our advice on other channels’ reactions to the same situation - e.g. other channels such as Airbnb or Booking.com may impose a compensation of their choice if no satisfactory resolution is found.

Additionally, in order to make a fair decision, we advise you to take into account the rental value of your property without the advertised amenity. For instance, a property with a pool is rented at a much higher price than a property without a pool.

Finally, the restrictions may have a big impact on the guests’ stay as well. A family with babies and young children or elder guests might be impacted harder by the water cuts for instance.

-What if my guests wish to cancel the booking due to the restrictions?  

We advise to accept the free cancellation request as long as the guests booked before the information was added to your description. This is also the policy most portals will be applying.

-Do you suggest compensating guests who were already aware of the situation at the time of booking?

If guests booked your property after your description was updated (informing them of the current situation), we would not recommend offering compensation.

We understand this situation is difficult for everyone, and we hope it will have as little impact as possible on your business.

You will find attached some templates, please download them and fill out the information for your guests. 

Place it in a visible place in your property or give it to them upon arrival or before their arrival.

If you have any questions or need further assistance please do not hesitate to contact our

customer support team

* Holidu provides this data to you for information and recommendation purposes only, and unless the different portals made a decision according to their T&Cs, you are responsible at all times for making decisions regarding the management of booking compensations and cancellations affected by the drought.