General terms and conditions – booking a cottage or apartment

Standard: All Farmstay Sweden houses, rooms and apartments are unique and meet the association’s stringent minimum requirements. Each farm is independent, but the rules below apply to all farms unless otherwise agreed between guest and host. Classification helps guests understand what standard can be expected. A holiday home usually differs from a normal home. Furnishings may consist of both modern and older furniture. Crockery and cutlery are not always matching. There may be few wardrobes and storage options. Bedrooms are usually small and not always separated by doors. Water heaters may be of a smaller size, which can mean it takes slightly longer if several people need to shower. It is a good idea to ask about the details of the accommodation at the time of booking.

Natural environment: In the summer, there can be some flies, wasps and other insects in and around holiday homes. Hosts cannot be held responsible for any spider webs indoors or ants on the site. The host must be contacted immediately in the event of a major insect infestation so the problem can be dealt with. Neither can the host be held responsible for activity outside the site such as roadworks or similar.

Booking information

To book accommodation or receive further information about it, contact the host direct. Contact information is provided in each farm description. Farmstay Sweden hosts are obliged to ensure that:

• written confirmation of the booking is sent;
• the description of the cottage/apartment is accurate. The association is not responsible for any promises a host or their contact may have made directly to the guest (in such case, please ask for written confirmation).
• Guests are informed of any material changes concerning the booking.
• The cottage/apartment is available from 3 p.m. on the agreed arrival date until 11 a.m. on the departure date, unless otherwise agreed.

If the guest is not satisfied with the cottage/apartment, the host must be contacted in the first instance. Find out more about this below.

When does a booking become binding?
Both the guest and the host are bound by the rental agreement once the host has confirmed the booking and the guest has paid the booking fee (or all of the rent).

When must payment be made?
For booking of single days, the whole amount is usually paid upon arrival for both Self-catering and B&B. For stays of several days or a week, the following applies. If a booking is made more than 30 days in advance, a booking fee of between SEK 500 and SEK 1,000/week is paid.

The booking fee must be paid within 10 days of the host sending the confirmation. This is deducted from the rent. The remainder of the rent must be paid no later than 30 days before the agreed arrival date.

For bookings made less than 30 days in advance, all of the rent must be paid within 10 days of booking.

If payment is not made in time
If the booking fee has not been received by the host in time, the host is entitled to cancel the booking. If the guest fails to pay the rent, this is deemed to be a cancelation by the guest, in which case cancellation rules apply.

What rules apply in the event of cancellation?
Cancellations must be made verbally or in writing to the contact that received the booking. A cancellation is not deemed to be valid if it is made to anyone else or is sent to the cottage/apartment.

For cancellations made more than 30 days before the agreed arrival, only the booking fee must be paid.

For cancellations made 30 days or less before the agreed arrival, 90% of the rent must be paid.

If the guest has already paid more than is required, the excess amount is returned immediately by the party that received the payment.

The booking fee also acts as a cancellation charge under the following circumstances (which must not have been known at the time of booking):

Death, or serious accident or illness suffered by the guest themselves, their spouse, cohabiting partner, family or travelling companion

Call-up to the armed forces or civil defence

The occurrence of some other serious event outside your control, which the guest could not have foreseen at the time of booking and that results in it not being reasonable to ask the guest to keep to their booking, e.g. a major fire or flood of their home.

The guest must be able to substantiate their reason with documentary evidence from, e.g., a doctor, an authority or insurance company. Such documentary evidence should be sent to us as soon as possible, ideally within a week of the cancellation date. The fee is not repaid in the event of cancellation.

Guests’ rights
If the host does not provide the cottage/apartment in the condition promised or at the correct point in time, the guest is entitled to cancel the rental agreement. Instead of cancelling the rental agreement, the guest may demand that the host reduce the rent. Any complaints should be made to the host as soon as possible, no later than within 3 days of the arrival date. Problems that occur during the stay should be reported immediately so that host has the opportunity to rectify them. The guest is entitled to have someone else in their stead and the host must accept such person unless the host has specific reasons to refuse. In such event, the farm must be informed before the arrival date and a rebooking fee of SEK 250 is charged.

Guests’ obligations

The cottage/apartment must be well looked after and the stated applicable regulations, instructions and terms complied with. The guest is responsible for any damage that occurs to the property and its contents as a result of the negligence of someone in their party. A lost key is subject to a minimum fee of SEK 200, payable by the guest.
The cottage/apartment may not be used for any purpose other than what was agreed at the time of booking (usually recreational purpose) and no more people than was stated at the time of the booking may stay overnight at the cottage/apartment or on the site. Following agreement with the host and if allowed by the relevant authority, more people than the cottage/apartment is advertised for may stay overnight, but the host is entitled to charge an additional fee for this.

B&B: Cleaning is included in the rent. Breakfast, bed linen and towels are also included.

Self-catering: Rental guests bring their own bed linen or rent it from the host. Guests must clean up after themselves. Some farm hosts require a fee to be paid upon arrival which is reimbursed upon departure. The fee is retained if cleaning is inadequate. Where no deposit is paid, the host is entitled to charge afterwards for the actual cost of cleaning at a minimum of SEK 500.

War, natural disasters, strikes, etc.
Both the guest and the host are entitled to withdraw from the rental agreement if the cottage/apartment cannot be made available owing to war, natural disasters, industrial conflict, extended outages of water and energy supply, fire or other similar major events that no one could have foreseen or have control over. In such event, the host is obliged to repay what has been paid as soon as possible, after deducting for the use the guest had of the cottage/apartment.

What happens if the parties do not agree?
Inform the host promptly of any complaints. Bear in mind that there may be less opportunity for redress if there is a delay in bringing complaints. If the parties do not come to an agreement, the guest may contact Farmstay Sweden’s Customer Service Office in writing. They review and address the situation in the event that the farm does not meet its classification and the association’s requirements. If the guest remains dissatisfied, the guest may contact the Swedish National Board for Consumer Disputes (Allmänna Reklamationsnämnden). It consists of an impartial chairperson and a number of representatives of tour operators and consumers.

We cannot be held responsible for misprints/errors on this page or in the information provided by individual hosts.