01What this site is
padelhideaways.com shows the villas we have found and hold to the Standard, and gives you a way to tell us which week you would like and what you would like in it.
No booking or payment is made on this site. A trip plan opens a conversation: it does not hold a week, it is not an offer that can be accepted, and it commits neither of us to anything.
Using the site means you accept what is on this page. If you do not, please do not use it.
02Who you are dealing with
Padel Hideaways is run by Lisa, who is the named contact on every page of this site, the person who reads your enquiry and the person who answers it. This section is the rest of what you are entitled to know before you deal with anyone online.
- Trading name: Padel Hideaways.
- The company: Emberpath LTD, registered in Cyprus under HE482885.
- Registered address: Peiraios 30, 1st Floor, Office 1, Strovolos 2023, Nicosia, Cyprus.
- What the business does: Travel services, and villas with a padel court of their own in particular, with a concierge, a driver, a chef and a coach arranged alongside the week.
- This site: padelhideaways.com.
- Email: lisa@padelhideaways.com.
The site is free to use and there is nothing to subscribe to. Nothing is sold or paid for on the site itself. Where payment is due it is invoiced, by us or by the villa, as How you are billed explains below.
03Our part in it, and the two halves of a week
A week here is two things bought in two ways, and it is worth being clear which is which before you commit to either.
- The villa. Padel Hideaways finds it, holds it to the Standard and arranges your week in it, but does not own it or run it. The contract for the stay is between you and the villa's owner or managing agent, on their terms, which you receive in writing before you commit.
- The Concierge, the Driver, the Chef and the Coach. Those Padel Hideaways provides at your villa, it supplies to you directly, under these terms, through people it chooses and pays. The rest come from the villa, on the same footing as the stay.
The Coach is always ours to arrange. The other three depend on the villa: the people who cook, drive and look after you are local to it, and some villas already have their own. Your confirmation names which of the four we provide and which come from the villa, in writing, before you commit to either half.
Every villa is arranged a little differently. Which of the four we provide, which come with the property, who invoices each and what each costs all vary by villa, and you see all of it in writing before you commit. The booking form and terms for the villa come from the portfolio partner or owner that holds it, and anything we provide comes from us. Where a villa's booking form differs from what this page says about the villa, the booking form governs.
Either way we are with you through your week, and we are the ones who join it up. Who looks after what once you are there is set out below.
04The people who look after you
The people who cook, drive, coach and look after you are independent businesses and self-employed individuals, working under a written agreement with Padel Hideaways. They are not its employees, and they differ from villa to villa: the coach in the Alentejo is not the coach in Franschhoek, and the right chef for one villa is not the right chef for another. We work with local people who know the villa and its surroundings, and we do so by choice.
What that means in practice:
- Where a service is ours, we choose, brief, book and pay the people who deliver it, so you never have to find or negotiate with anyone. Where it is the villa's, the villa does the same, and we are told who it is.
- They are responsible for their own qualifications, licences, insurance, tax and professional conduct, as any independent business is. We check that they hold what they should before we work with them.
- Occasionally Padel Hideaways may need to substitute one for another of equal standard, because people fall ill and cars break down. If that happens, we will tell you.
- They keep their own diaries and run their own businesses, so a time can move and, rarely, a booking can fall away at their end. When it does, Padel Hideaways finds you an equivalent or refunds that part, and beyond that is not answerable for their own changes and cancellations.
- You are given a named contact for each service before you travel, so you can speak to the person delivering that service rather than through us.
- They are not authorised to agree anything with you on behalf of Padel Hideaways. If you would like to change or add to what was arranged, ask us rather than them.
Taking responsibility for a week and employing everyone in it are different things, and Padel Hideaways does the first. If a supplier does not deliver what was arranged, that is for Padel Hideaways to put right, and it will put it right or refund that part. Padel Hideaways cannot accept liability for the independent acts of a separate business as though that business were its employee. The limits are under Where the limits are, below.
05Who looks after what, once you are there
A good week has several people in it, each responsible for their own part. You should know which is which before you arrive, so that when something needs doing you know who is doing it.
- The villa is the managing agent's. Whoever manages the property is responsible for it working: getting you in, the water and the power, the pool, the wifi, telling you how things operate, and putting right anything that fails. That is their responsibility, and we work closely with them rather than over them.
- A Concierge, where your week includes one, is responsible for everything in that package. If the concierge is in the week, they are the ones planning and running it on the ground, and that is what you have engaged them for.
- The Driver and the Chef may come from one partner or from several, and often do come from several. Whichever it is, you will be given a named contact for each service before you travel, so that you can speak directly to the person delivering that service.
Our part is to sit alongside all of that as your representative. We set it up, brief everyone, and through the week we chase, join things up and escalate on your behalf whenever something needs it. You will always know who is looking after what.
So speak to whoever is in front of you when it is theirs to handle, and speak to us when it is not, when nobody is picking it up, or whenever you would simply rather we dealt with it.
06How you are billed
You will get one invoice for a week, or two, and never more than two.
- One for the villa, from the owner or whoever manages it for them.
- One from Padel Hideaways, for whichever of the Concierge, the Driver, the Chef and the Coach it provides at that villa, together on one invoice.
Which of the four we provide differs by villa, and some villas carry services of their own, which appear on the villa's invoice rather than ours. The Coach is ours wherever you take one. Where nothing in your week is ours to supply, there is a single invoice. All of it is set out in your booking confirmation before you commit, and it never comes to more than two.
The second one, where there is one, is deliberate. Booked directly you would be settling with a chef, a driver, a coaching outfit and a concierge separately, in two currencies, some of them before you travel and some at the door. We would rather carry that so you do not have to.
That invoice is itemised by service, so you can see the cost of the Chef, including the food, and of the Coach, the Driver and the Concierge. Every line is one inclusive price for arranging and delivering that service.
What is due when is set out in the quote and confirmation, along with any tax that applies to it. Once a figure is agreed, it stays as agreed.
Cancelling is covered below.
Who do you book through?
A handful of management companies, and the list is closed to anyone we have not travelled with ourselves. They run villas of this kind for a living, and they hold them on terms we have read.
A villa is not here because it exists. It is here because one of those few holds it, and because it clears the Standard.
Is anything here a hotel?
A few of the villas stand inside a hotel or a resort. We list one only where the villa is taken whole and is yours for the week, with its own door, its own pool and nobody else in it. What a hotel changes is what surrounds you, not what you have.
Where the court belongs to the resort rather than to the villa, the villa page says so in its first question. A villa with no court of its own does not go on this site at all.
Do you add a markup or a booking fee?
The rate is the villa's own, as its management company or booking platform sets it, and booking with us adds nothing to it. Our commission comes from within that rate.
So what is added to the rate?
Whatever the management company adds, and it differs between them. Some include the cleaning and taxes in the week. Others charge for cleaning separately, or tax on a booking fee. We confirm each line with the villa before your quote is sent.
Where we have read a live quote for a villa, its lines are on that villa's page, under the price.
Why does the same villa cost different amounts in different places?
Because a villa is often held by more than one management company, and each sets its own fees on top of the same rate. We quote through the one we work with, and tell you which it is and what it adds, so you are comparing like with like.
What happens when I take the whole retreat (meaning the hideaway, concierge, driver, chef and coach)?
The villa is booked with its management company, the way every villa here is. The concierge, the driver and the chef are either ours to arrange or come through the short list of concierges we work with, and which it is depends on the villa rather than the country. The coach is ours wherever you take one.
Either way it reaches you as one invoice for the villa and, where any of the four are ours, one from us: two at most. Who holds which part of your week is written into your confirmation before you commit, and we will have talked you through it first.
Who am I booking with?
The villa is contracted through its management company, with their agreement and their protections. We plan and hold your week alongside it.
07Deposits and damage
Every villa asks for a security deposit against the week. The villa sets the figure and holds it, and it is written into your agreement before you commit.
Who holds the deposit?
The villa's management company holds it. The villa sets the figure, and it is written into your agreement before you book.
Is it charged, or held?
Usually held rather than charged: most villas take a card hold and release it after you check out. Where a villa takes it by transfer, it is returned once the villa has been checked after your stay.
What can it be used for?
Only damage, and anything the villa needs to put right after your stay.
08Cancelling, and changing your mind
The two halves of a week cancel on different terms, for the same reason they are billed separately.
The villa follows the terms of whoever owns or manages it. They vary by villa and by season, some are firm, and you receive them in writing before you commit. We always walk you through them first.
The services Padel Hideaways provides at your villa follow its own terms, which work by notice before the day you arrive:
- More than 60 days: change or cancel freely, at no charge.
- Between 60 and 30 days: 50% of the price of what you are cancelling.
- Inside 30 days: the full price of what you are cancelling.
A chef, a coach and a driver hold your week and turn other work away to do it, and past a certain point that time cannot be offered to anyone else. The scale is set so that an early change of plan costs nothing at all.
Two things worth knowing. Reducing a service counts as cancelling that part of it, so dropping two of the chef's nights inside the notice period is charged on those two nights alone. And where a supplier's own terms make something non-refundable earlier than this, a deposit on a hard to hold date in August for instance, Padel Hideaways will tell you before it books it.
Where one of the four comes from the villa rather than from Padel Hideaways, it cancels on the villa's terms along with the stay, and your confirmation says which it is.
If the villa falls through for a reason that is not yours, Padel Hideaways cancels the services with it and there is nothing to pay.
Can I move my dates?
We will always try to move your week without penalty, and we ask the villa on your behalf. Whether it can move depends on the villa's calendar and its owner.
What are the cancellation terms?
Each villa sets its own, and they vary. At the firmest, a villa gives a full refund for the first day after booking and holds the week from then on; others work to a sliding scale as your dates approach. The terms for your villa are in its agreement, and we talk you through them when we send your quote.
Why not one policy across the collection?
Because each villa belongs to its owners, and a single policy would mean inventing terms they have not agreed to. What we can do is set out the terms for your villa clearly, and ask on your behalf whenever something changes.
09What the prices mean
Every figure on this site is indicative, and none of it is a quote. A quote is the figure we send you in writing after we have talked, and only that figure is binding.
- A headline price is a shoulder week. Peak weeks cost more and the calendar on each villa shows which is which.
- Per person figures are the weekly rate divided by the number the villa sleeps. They assume the villa is full.
- Some villas are priced in their own currency and shown here in euro for comparison. Those euro figures move with the exchange rate and are not a fixed price.
- Anything shown as "to be quoted" or "on request" has no price yet because it depends on what you actually want.
Prices can change until Padel Hideaways has confirmed one to you in writing. Where a figure on this site is plainly an error, Padel Hideaways will correct it rather than hold to it.
10Availability
The calendar shows which weeks a villa can be taken, not which weeks are free. Picking a week tells us what you have in mind; it does not hold it.
A week is yours when it has been confirmed to you in writing and whatever deposit applies has been paid. Until then it can go to someone else, and occasionally does.
Every villa is taken whole, by the week, one group at a time. We never let rooms, and we never place two groups in one villa.
11The five, and what "on request" means
Every villa lists all five: Hideaway, Concierge, Driver, Chef and Coach. Each is marked as included, on request, or not available at that villa, and where one is not available, the page says so.
Included means it comes with the villa. On request means it can usually be arranged and depends on the right people being free that week: a chef in August is not a certainty, and the people who do this are independent businesses with their own diaries. Not available means the villa does not offer it.
Adding something to a plan here tells us you would like it. It does not book that service, and adding a week or a date to a plan does not reserve either.
12How accurate this is
We write the descriptions ourselves, and we would rather be candid than flattering. Even so, villas change hands, furniture moves and gardens grow.
- Photographs show the villa as it was when it was photographed.
- Temperature and daylight are long term averages, not a forecast. The calendar says so where it shows them, and a week that turns out colder or wetter than the average is not a fault in the villa or in this site.
- Anything the site marks as still to be confirmed is exactly that.
If something here is wrong, tell us and we will correct it. Padel Hideaways cannot warrant that every detail is correct at every moment, and small differences between a page and a villa are not in themselves a reason to cancel.
13Your side of it
You need to be eighteen or over to send a trip plan or to book a week.
When you send an enquiry, please give us details that are true and yours to give. If you are organising for a group, you are the person we deal with, and we will take it that you have their agreement to give us a number to reach you on.
Sending a trip plan is your permission for Padel Hideaways to introduce you: to the portfolio partner or owner who holds the villa, and to the people delivering the parts of the week you asked for. We make that introduction once your dates are confirmed, and not before. They receive what the arrangement needs and no more, to arrange your week and never to market to you. Nobody else receives your details, nothing about you is sold, and we keep no mailing list.
If a booking goes ahead, you are responsible for your own travel insurance, passports, visas and any health requirements, and for the behaviour of your group at the villa. Damage is dealt with under the terms of whoever owns the villa.
Please do not use this site to do anything unlawful, and do not use the enquiry form to send anything abusive or to try to reach anyone other than us.
14The words and the photographs
The writing, the photography, the design and the name belong to Padel Hideaways or to the people it licenses them from. You are welcome to look at all of it, to link to any page, and to share a plan with the people you are travelling with.
You may not copy the photographs or the descriptions onto another site, list these villas elsewhere, or use any of it to train or build a competing service. Automated data collection, content harvesting and bulk downloading are not allowed.
15Where the limits are
Padel Hideaways does not limit its liability for death or personal injury caused by its negligence, for fraud, or for anything else the law does not allow it to limit. Nothing on this page takes away rights you have as a consumer.
Beyond that, and to the extent the law allows:
- For the services Padel Hideaways supplies, its liability is limited to what you paid it for the part that went wrong. Padel Hideaways will put that part right, replace it, or refund it.
- For the villa, your contract is with its owner or managing agent and their terms govern it, including the condition and running of the property. Padel Hideaways will take it up with them for you, but is not answerable for how they perform it.
- Padel Hideaways is not liable for loss that was not a foreseeable result of its getting something wrong, for business losses, or for anything arising from a decision taken on the strength of an indicative figure on this site rather than a written quote.
- Padel Hideaways is not liable for anything outside its reasonable control.
The people who deliver a service are independent businesses and self-employed individuals working under a written agreement with Padel Hideaways. They are not its employees or its agents, and it has no more control over how they run their own businesses than you would.
- What Padel Hideaways answers for is having chosen them, and standing behind that choice. It selects them, holds the agreement, briefs them and pays them, and where a service is supplied by Padel Hideaways, your contract is with Padel Hideaways rather than with them. If one does not deliver what was arranged, that is for Padel Hideaways to resolve: it will put it right, arrange an equivalent, or refund what you paid it for that part. You never have to go and find them yourself.
- What Padel Hideaways does not answer for is what they do as though it had employed them to do it. Where an independent supplier is negligent, or causes loss or injury in the course of their own work, that is theirs and their insurance's, and the liability of Padel Hideaways to you for it is limited to what you paid it for that part. The two sit together: Padel Hideaways chose them, and will still put right what it arranged.
The site is provided as it is. Padel Hideaways cannot promise it will always be available or free of faults.
16Law, and if something goes wrong
These terms are governed by the law of Cyprus, and its courts have jurisdiction. If you are a consumer, this does not deprive you of the protection of the law where you live, and you may be able to bring a claim there.
Before any of that, please write to lisa@padelhideaways.com. Most things are a misunderstanding, and we would rather resolve them directly. We reply within five working days, and where something needs longer to put right, we will tell you within five what is happening and when.
17Changes
Padel Hideaways may change these terms. The version that applies to you is the one on this page when you use the site, and the date at the top shows when it last changed. Terms already agreed for a confirmed booking do not change.