Deposit, cancellation, moving your date: how it works here and what to ask elsewhere

This is the least pleasant part of booking anything, which is why most websites write about it the least. We have gathered it in one place, together with the questions worth asking everyone, not just us.

How it works here

The deposit is 25 percent of the value of the stay, paid online via PayNow when booking. PayNow handles BLIK and cards, so there are no transfers to a private account.

The rest you settle on site, in cash or by card, on the day of arrival.

The conditions are in the terms, linked in the footer of every page, so you can read them before paying, not after.

Concrete numbers, so you do not have to do the maths in your head:

The hot tub, sauna, food and other extras you add at booking or later, depending on when you decide.

Zadatek versus zaliczka: a difference worth knowing

This sounds like a legal footnote, yet it is a real difference in what happens when you cancel. Both words translate as a prepayment, but under Polish law they behave differently.

A zaliczka (advance payment) is part of the price paid upfront. If the contract falls through, it is normally refunded.

A zadatek (deposit) works differently: as a rule, if the paying party backs out, the deposit is forfeited, and if the receiving party backs out, they return it doubled.

We do not write this to sound threatening, but because many offers use the two words interchangeably, and they do not mean the same thing. It is worth knowing which one appears in the terms of the place you are booking before you pay.

When it is better to write than to cancel

This is practical advice, not a clause in the terms.

If something has come up, write to us before you cancel the booking, and write as early as possible. We have two cabins, so a date freed up six weeks ahead has a chance of filling again, and a date freed up on the Thursday before the weekend rather does not.

The earlier we know, the more can be worked out. This is not a promise of a specific solution, because the conditions are described in the terms, but a conversation always gives more than clicking cancel.

Contact: form and phone. I reply by the end of the day at the latest.

Why there is a deposit at all

Honestly: because we have two cabins and zero buffer.

In a hotel with fifty rooms, one cancelled booking is a statistic. For us it is half the availability for a given date. A booking without a deposit means holding a date for someone who may not show up, and turning others away in the meantime.

Twenty-five percent is relatively little for this industry, and we chose that level deliberately: it is meant to confirm the booking, not to shift all the risk onto you.

Booking directly versus Booking and Airbnb

We are on the platforms too and have no problem with that, but it is worth knowing what changes.

Price. We guarantee the lowest one on our own website. The platform adds a commission that someone has to pay, and it is not the platform.

Contact. Booking directly, you write to me, not through an intermediary's messaging system. With questions about diet, the dog or your arrival time, that is the difference between one message and three.

Conditions. With us, our terms apply. On a platform, its cancellation policy applies, which can be more favourable to you, and that is an honest argument for booking there if you are not sure of your date.

So if you want flexibility above all, the platform can make sense. If you want the lowest price and direct contact, our own website.

What to ask before booking anywhere

A universal list, useful wherever you end up staying:

1. How much is the prepayment, and is it a zadatek (deposit) or a zaliczka (advance)?
2. Where can I read the conditions before paying?
3. What happens if I cancel a month ahead? And a week ahead?
4. Can the date be moved, or only cancelled?
5. Who does the payment go through: an operator, or a transfer to a private account?
6. Is the price on the own website lower than on Booking, and if not, why?

An evasive answer to any of these questions is an answer in itself. We keep a full, twenty-point version of this checklist in a separate article on choosing a farm stay.

What the deposit does not cover

The weather. We do not promise the weather, so it is neither in the guarantee nor in the refund conditions.

A last-minute change of mind about the number of people. The charge for the 3rd and 4th person is 50 zł per person per night, and it is better to report it at booking than at check-in.

Late check-out. It costs 150 zł, but it cannot be booked in advance, because it depends on whether new guests arrive that day. We arrange it exclusively on site.

Our guarantee, for balance

Since this whole text is about what you guarantee us, it is only fair to say what we guarantee you.

If you are not happy with your stay and you tell us what went wrong, we refund 100 percent of the money. There is no fine print and no notice period. There is one condition: you have to say what failed, because otherwise we have nothing to fix.

What next

Read the terms and conditions before booking (linked in the footer), check the pricing with the calculator, or go straight to available dates.