Privacy

PRIVACY POLICY

Astor Hostels Privacy Policy

 

Astor Hostels aims to be transparent and trustworthy when it comes to protecting your privacy, and being honest about what data it holds on you and what it does with that data.  Astor Hostels does not share your data, personal or otherwise with any unauthorised third parties but we do work with third parties to manage and in some cases receive data that is required to process your booking.  For more information on third parties data handling read the section entitled ‘How we work with third parties.’  It’s important to us that you should use our website, and book to stay with us with the knowledge that your data is secure, and will not be used to compromise your privacy.  You will only be contacted by Astor Hostels after you have stayed with us once, and will only be contacted again if you decide that you would like to, and have opted in.  You can get in touch with our Data Controller directly using the Contact details below, to find out what data we hold on you, and to make a request for the use of that data.

 

You should read this policy in conjunction with our Terms and Conditions to fully understand how we use any information we have.  Our policies will be updated from time to time, so please always check back to ensure you have the most accurate information.

 

Sections in the policy include:

 

Information we collect

How we use this information

Who controls the data that is collected

Information you are required to provide

How we work with Third Parties

Retaining and Storing Information

Other Relevant Privacy Policies
Contact Us

FAQ’s

 

Information we collect

 

When you make a reservation with Astor Hostels, whether this is directly through our website, or through a third party you are required to provide your Name, and an e-mail address to receive your booking confirmation. You should not be required to provide any further information than this, before you arrive at the hostel.  Once you arrive at the hostel you are required to provide a proof of identity to ensure the booking name matches one of the persons staying at the hostel.  All of this information is stored securely in our Property Management System, Cloud Beds (for Cloud Beds Privacy Policy read about Third Parties).

 

When you use any of our online platforms we collect information that helps us to deliver the service you have chosen and to improve your experience. This is done through cookies and other technologies. Examples of the type of information we may collect are Browser, Email Provider, The pages you read on our websites and how you got to them, Device, IP address, Internet Connection, Location (in some cases).  All of this data is collected and stored by Google, in accordance with their own Privacy Policies.

 

Social media

Astor Hostels publishes content on social media platforms e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram through both “organic” and “paid” methods to reach current and potential travellers:

  • “Organic” methods describe where content and/or offers are published onto a social platform so that they may appear in your social platform’s content, without being promoted or forced to appear more prominently, e.g. if you follow us on Facebook.
  • “Paid” methods describe where content and/or offers are published onto a social platform so that they will appear more prominently, or be shown to users that do not currently follow Astor Hostels social pages e.g. a promoted tweet on your Twitter Timeline.

 

If you do not wish to receive such information, you should simply Unfollow/Unsubscribe in the relevant Social Media platform that you are receiving such information for Organic, or change your preferences so that you do not receive ‘relevant’ promotions but random promotions.

 

How we use this information

 

We use your name and e-mail address to store your unique booking within our system, to allocate your booking to the right person, and to deal with any enquiries or issues you might have relating to your reservation before you arrive.  For example, if you need to modify or cancel your booking, we will use your name and e-mail address to locate your booking.

 

I you have chosen to opt in to receive further information from us, such as information we deem relevant for travellers, promotions we have or news then we will use your e-mail address to send you more information, but only if you have explicitly opted in to receive such information.  Our website also collects data about .

 

We may use Social Media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to post information that we feel is relevant to our followers on those platforms.  If you do not wish to receive this information you may simply Unfollow or Unsubscribe to us on those platforms.

 

Who controls the data that is collected

 

This data protection notice will mention ‘we’ ‘us’ or ‘Astor Hostels’ and this refers to Astor Leasing & Marketing, Ultraswift Ltd. and any companies wholly or part owned by these companies, which are registered at 1 Berghem Mews, Blythe Road, London W14 0HN.

 

Should you have any questions related to what kind of personal data that we hold on you, how we store that data, what we do with it, and if you would like it deleted you can read our FAQ’s below and you may also write to datacontroller@astorhostels.com to request what information we hold on you.  Under current legislation, we are required to provide this information to you, free of charge within 30 days of your request.

 

Information you are required to provide

 

You are not obliged to provide us with any of your personal data. However, if you want to make a booking you will need to provide us with the information that is indicated as required on our booking page. If you don’t provide us with this information, we won’t be able to process your booking. This information includes your Name, E-mail Address and a valid Credit or Debit card in order to secure the booking.  Similarly, you may be required to provide certain information if you want to enter into a competition, participate in a survey, or if you contact our Customer Services team with a query or complaint

 

How we work with Third Parties

 

Astor Hostels works with third parties to store, process and manage data about our guests, and their reservations.  Cloud Beds is our Property Management Software and the third party where a lot of our data is stored and managed.  Cloud Beds have their own Privacy Policy which you can read here.  Only those employees of Astor Hostels that have the necessary authority can view and edit this information, for example those that work on reception and need to modify, cancel a reservation or process your check-in when you arrive to stay with us.  Each of these users is provided with a Username and Password and must log-in in order to access any information.

 

We may also receive reservations through Third Parties, including but not limited to Hostelworld, Hostelbookers, Booking.com, Dorms.com, Budget Places, Airbnb, Expedia.  Click on any of the links to be taken to the Privacy Policy of each of the third party reservation sites that we work with.

 

Each of the third parties, receive information about you in order to process your reservation in accordance with their own Privacy policies, and pass the necessary information onto us, including your name, e-mail address and Credit Card details if this was required to make the reservation.  All of this information is passed securely from the third party site, and into the Cloud beds PMS.

 

Finally, we also use Social Media Platforms and you may choose to follow us on these platforms, in which case you may see information from us that we deem relevant for our followers.  If you should choose that you do not wish to receive further information from us via the Social Media Channels, you should Unfollow or Unsubscribe to our page via the Social Media Channel itself.  Astor Hostels cannot process any claims for information or data that is held by a third party Social Media channel.

 

Retaining and Storing Information

 

Astor Hostels, in accordance with the latest Data Protection Regulation, will only hold data for a reasonable amount of time, or as long

 

Transaction Data

In the case of Personal data such the Name and E-mail Address used to make a reservation, this data will be held for a period of up to 5 years in case of any disputes, or if the customer wishes to obtain information regarding their stay, or an invoice.  For financial and tax reasons, we must keep a copy of all financial transactions for a period of 7 years, and therefore just the name of a booking will be held for a period of 7 years, but no other personal information other than the name of the person that booked is held.  If you wish to have your personal data remove entirely you need to merely contact our Data Controller and we will do so immediately.   After this period, data will simply be part of a single occupancy figure, and various other related KPI’s but no personal data such as name, e-mail address or credit cards will be held for longer than is necessary.  The deletion of personal data will be done on an annual basis.

 

Email Marketing

We will keep a copy of personal data that is required in order to send you marketing messages for as long as you are subscribed to receive those marketing messages. We will also retain certain information in relation to your transactions in order to allow us to customise our marketing messages.

 

All data is stored in one of two places, either with Cloud beds securely on their servers, or with Microsoft using their cloud computing service, One Drive.

 

Other Relevant Privacy Policies

 

 

 

 

 

Contact Us

 

If you wish to get in touch with us regarding any personal information or data that is held on you, you should write to datacontroller@astorhostels.com and we shall endeavour to get back to you within 14 days.  If you wish to request what data is held on you, we will get back to you within 30 days, free of charge with the data that we hold on you and you may request what we do with that data.

 

FAQ’s

 

  • How can I see what information you hold on me?

By contacting us using the details above under ‘Contact Us’

 

  • How do I opt out of marketing?

You can update your preferences at any time, by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails.

 

 

  • How do I make a complaint?

If you have a complaint regarding any aspect of your personal information or this privacy policy, please write directly to the data controller.

If you are still not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint, you may write to the Information Commissioner’s Office as set out below.

 

  • Can I write to the ICO?

Yes, you can. Contact details are at Information Commissioner’s Office.

 

  • How long do you hold my information for?

We generally hold information for up to 5 years if we have had no interaction with you. It may be 7 years or longer if required for financial, tax or legal reasons.

 

  • Can I ask you to delete my information?

Yes, just contact us.

 

  • How do I update my information?

You can update it at any time by contacting us.

 

  • How do I manage cookies?

You can manage and delete Cookies using the System Preferences in your browser.

 

  • What are my rights under GDPR?

You have a right to ask us for information we hold about you, please email the data controller including the subject line, “Subject Access Request”, so that we can respond as promptly as possible.

You also have the right to ask for us to update, delete or stop processing information we hold about you. However, please note that there are circumstances in which complete erasure of your information or ceasing to process your information will not be possible for operational, legal and business reasons.

 

 

Changes to this policy

From time to time, we may make changes to the privacy policy. This may be in relation to changes in the law, best practice or changes in our services. These changes will be reflected in this statement, so you should check here regularly.