Coronavirus (Covid-19) Update
Last updated: 9 July 13.00
On 23rd June the Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that the Holiday accommodation industry can re-open from 4th July 2020
During these difficult times, the safety of our people, our customers and our property owners is of paramount importance to us.
The situation is changing daily. We continue to follow guidance from the government, and we are keeping this page and our policies under constant review.
As part of this, we are currently contacting customers whose bookings have been affected by the lockdown to discuss alternative arrangements for their bookings. We are dealing with very large groups of customers and as such are aiming to contact all those affected by 31st July 2020.
We are experiencing an unprecedented volume of enquiries, so please bear with us, we are working round the clock to respond to you as quickly as we can. To enable us to proactively contact all affected customers as quickly as possible, and to avoid long wait times, we are asking customers to refer to the FAQs below for guidance and to await further updates from us.
- If your booking starts on or before 3rd July 2020
- If your bookings starts on or after 4th July 2020 or you are considering making a new booking
FAQ's
If your booking starts on or before 3rd July 2020
1 - My booking starts on or before 3rdJuly 2020 – which is during the government’s current ‘lockdown’ measures. What happens to my booking?
In line with government guidance and statements, we have written to every customer with bookings starting on or before 3rd July 2020 to ask them not to travel.
If your booking starts on or before 3rd July 2020 you are still able to amend your booking dates by emailing us on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your proposed new holiday dates. You will not be charged an amendment fee.
In the event you select a new date that subsequently falls within extended government-imposed travel restrictions, again there will be no amendment fee to amend your booking to a more suitable date.
We are also making other refund options available as an alternative – please see further FAQs below.
We will be proactively contacting affected customers with more information.
2 – My booking is due to start on or before 3rd July 2020. I do not want to amend my booking – how do I request a refund?
We are working hard to facilitate refunds.
If you do not want or are unable to find a suitable date to amend your booking to, you have the following refund options available to you. Please email us on refund@character-cottages.co.uk with your preferred option.
Option 1
- A cash refund to your original payment method (ie. debit / credit card) for the full cost of your holiday excluding the commission we were paid by the property owner for facilitating your booking and excluding the value of any fees you paid to us; and
- An ex-gratia credit note to the value of the commission and fees associated with your booking.
- This credit note can be used at any of the Character Cottages portfolio of properties for holidays departing within 24 months from the date of issue (the credit is not cash- convertible). Credits can be used to purchase multiple holidays until the account balance has been exhausted or expires.
- We will aim to process the above within 30 days of you submitting your request.
Or:
Option 2
- A full cash refund of monies you have paid for your booking (including any commission and fees associated with your booking).
- Should you select this option we will aim to credit your original payment method (ie. debit / credit card) with the full value of your holiday you have not yet received, within 30 days of you submitting your request.
Where you have already amended the dates of your booking, and your new booking is due to start on or after 3rd July 2020, as this is outside of the current official lockdown period, you will need to refer to the appropriate section of these FAQs. See here for further guidance.
3 – My booking is due to start on or before 3rd July 2020. I have requested a refund but have not yet received any money back, or I have only received a credit note – what should I do?
We have been working hard to find ways to support you and, where you have yet to receive a refund, you have the following refund options available to you. Please email us on refund@character-cottages.co.uk with your preferred option.
Option 1
- A cash refund to your original payment method (ie. debit / credit card) for the full cost of your holiday excluding the commission we were paid by the property owner for facilitating your booking and excluding the value of any fees you paid to us; and
- An ex-gratia credit note to the value of the commission and fees associated with your booking.
- This credit note can be used at any of the Character Cottages portfolio of properties for holidays departing within 24 months from the date of issue (the credit is not cash- convertible). Credits can be used to purchase multiple holidays until the account balance has been exhausted or expires.
- We will aim to process the above within 30 days of you submitting your request.
Or:
Option 2
- A full cash refund of monies you have paid for your booking (including any commission and fees associated with your booking).
- Should you select this option we will aim to credit your original payment method (ie. debit / credit card) with the full value of your holiday you have not yet received, within 30 days of you submitting your request.
With either option, where applicable, any original credit notes you received will be cancelled.
Where you have already amended the dates of your booking, and your new booking is due to start on or after 3rd July 2020, as this is outside of the current official lockdown period, you will need to refer to the appropriate section of these FAQs. See here for further guidance.
4 – My booking is due to start on or before 3rd July 2020. I have received a partial cash refund and ex-gratia credit note – what should I do?
We have been working hard to find ways to support you and, where you have yet to receive a refund, you have the following refund options available to you. Please email us on refund@character-cottages.co.uk with your preferred option.
Option 1
- Retain your ex-gratia credit note.
- This credit note can be used at any of the Lakelovers portfolio of properties for holidays departing within 24 months from the date of issue (the credit is not cash- convertible). Credits can be used to purchase multiple holidays until the account balance has been exhausted or expires.
- We will aim to put in place the new terms applicable to your credit note within 30 days of you submitting your request.
Or:
Option 2
- You can convert your ex-gratia credit into cash.
- Should you select this option we will aim to credit your original payment method (ie. debit / credit card) with the value of the ex-gratia credit within 30 days of you submitting your request.
- With this second option, the original credit note you received will be cancelled.
5 – I’ve called/emailed/messaged on social media and haven’t had a response – why?
We are working around the clock to deal with an unprecedented volume of enquiries, so please bear with us.
At times in order to deal with the volume of enquiries, we have restricted or temporarily closed lines into our offices to allow our staff time to work through backlogs. We have aimed to minimise this disruption to our usual telephone availability.
If you are due to travel prior to the 3rd July 2020 and you need to speak to us, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will do our best to help you.
6 – How are you supporting your property owners at this time?
We are working closely with our property owners to support them through this extremely difficult period, reviewing our policies to offer greater flexibility and dealing with thousands of booking amendments every week on their behalf.
7 – Are you charging cancellation fees to property owners?
No, if an owner decides to cancel a booking due to take place before 3rd July 2020, we are not charging cancellation fees. We are advising that these owners help us to facilitate a refund to those customers whose holidays have been cancelled for reasons relating to Covid-19.
If your booking is due to start on or after 4th July 2020 or you are considering making a new booking
1 – Are you accepting new bookings?
We are not accepting any new bookings starting on or before 3rd July 2020.
If a customer books a holiday and must subsequently amend their booking due to government-imposed restrictions which affect that booking, we will waive our usual amendment fees.
2 – My booking is due to start on or after 4th July 2020 and I want to amend or cancel – what should I do?
If you wish to amend or cancel your booking, normal terms and conditions currently apply if your booking is due to start on or after 4th July 2020.
Please refer to the Booking Conditions for further information.
We continue to follow guidance from the government, and we are keeping this page and our policies under constant review.
We will contact you if your booking is affected by Covid-19.
If you have booked through Airbnb
If you have booked with Airbnb you will need to contact them on 0203 318 1111 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to discuss your booking.
