Terms & Conditions of Hotel Membership in The Beachfront Club
1) membership in The Beachfront Club is free
a) Membership in The Beachfront Club is a privilege bestowed on selected hotels by the management of the BFC and is entirely free. However, to become a member a hotel must first warrant that it has read these Rules & Regulations and agrees to abide by them at all times. If a hotel does not agree to be bound by these Terms & Conditions it should cease to use the website entirely.
2) general
a) All Terms & Conditions set out in this document are for both hotel and restaurant members, and 'hotel' will also refer to 'restaurants' hereafter.
b) The Beachfront Club reserves the right to change these Terms & Conditions of Hotel Membership at any time without giving prior notice nor reasons for such changes. Any changes to the regulations will become active as soon as they are posted to this page. Hotel Members should check these Terms & Conditions from time to time to monitor and understand how any such changes might affect them.
3) applications for membership
a) Placement on the maps of The Beachfront Club, along with membership therein, are privileges bestowed upon selected hotels by and at the discretion of the BFC.
b) The drawing of a hotel on its maps by the BFC does not automatically qualify that hotel for membership in The Club and hotels so drawn may be required to provide additional proof of location or other evidence before membership is awarded.
c) Hotels not already on the maps of the BFC that believe they qualify for membership are invited to fill out the Application Form and provide the required evidence with that application.
4) integrity of content uploaded to the website
a) A hotel that has been awarded membership must guarantee that all content that it uploads to The Beachfront Club website, including photos, text, files, graphics, video or other, is true and correct and not intended to give misleading impressions to the viewers. All content must be the rightful property of the hotel and not infringe upon the rights of any other person.
5) geographic criteria and hotel membership
a) Membership in The Beachfront Club is based largely upon a set of geographically-designated criteria set out in Terminology & Definitions of The Beachfront Club. Since many hotels lie in areas where the geographic criteria are difficult to apply, there are cases where the decision to award, deny or revoke membership is difficult. The BFC utilizes the best information available to it at the time when making decisions on membership.
b) The BFC offers no guarantee for the correctness in the drawing of hotel boundaries, locations and names on its maps, and will not be held responsible for such mistakes.
c) When mistakes are brought to its notice and sufficient proof of such mistakes is provided the BFC will endeavour to make corrections as soon as possible.
d) If the circumstances of a hotel previously denied membership change or new evidence pertaining to its status becomes available the hotel may appeal the original decision of the BFC by applying again and supplying the new evidence.
6) non-geographic requirements for hotel membership
a) While the geographic location of a hotel is the primary consideration in deliberations to award or deny membership to a hotel, many other factors may be taken into account and factored into the final decision, including, but not limited to:
i. a hotel's following the terms & conditions of the BFC
ii. a hotel's adherence to good environmental practices
iii. a hotel's maintenance of a website or e-mail contact through which our users can contact the hotel for booking purposes
iv. a hotel's maintenance of a good record in its relations with the BFC's users
v. a hotel's upkeep of a minimum standard of service, maintenance and cleanliness
7) awarding hotel membership
a) Membership in The Beachfront Club is a privilege not a right.
b) There is no criterion or set of criteria that guarantees a hotel membership in the club, and no hotel has any right to demand such.
c) The BFC will be the sole arbiter in all decisions to award, deny or revoke membership and the decision of the BFC will be final and without recourse. The BFC may choose to give or not give reasons for its decisions.
8) suspension of hotel membership
a) In case The Beachfront Club has reason to doubt the qualifications of a hotel member and it wishes to check or seek clarification it may choose to suspend the membership of the hotel until such time as it sees fit to either restore that membership or revoke it entirely.
9) revocation of hotel membership
a) The Beachfront Club retains full rights to revoke the membership of any hotel at any time if it has reason to believe any of the following:
i. a member hotel has not followed the Terms & Conditions of Membership in the BFC
ii. a hotel member has uploaded false or misleading information or photos to the BFC website
iii. a hotel member does not maintain good relations with the site visitors of this website, or has in any way caused damage to them
iv. the circumstances of the hotel in relation to the beach or seaside have changed
v. a hotel has uploaded or caused to be uploaded false ratings or reviews of its hotel
vi. a hotel has uploaded or caused to be uploaded false ratings or reviews of other member hotels with malicious intent
b) The BFC also retains the right to revoke the membership of any hotel member for any other reason it deems appropriate and is not liable to offer reasons for any revocation of membership.
10) ratings & reviews by third parties
a) Ratings and reviews of Hotel Members by guests (hereafter called 'reviews') may be posted to the website. The BFC has a policy of no tolerance for fake reviews, and will do its best to ensure that all reviews are posted by genuine guests who have stayed in the hotel they review.
b) When a rating or review of a hotel is posted to the website the BFC will try to bring this review to the attention of the Hotel Member, and will offer the member an opportunity to attach a reply to the review if they so desire.
c) In the event that a Hotel Member believes that a review is fake and/or without substance it may appeal to the BFC to have the review removed from the website. While a Hotel Member has the right to such an appeal it does not have the right to demand the removal of a review. The decision to remove or not remove such a review will be made by the BFC alone and its decision will be final.
d) Hotels must warrant that they will not themselves post nor engage or encourage other parties to post fake reviews of their hotel. Nor will they themselves post nor engage or encourage other parties to post fake or negative reviews about other Hotel Members.
11) bookings of Hotel Members by users
a) The Beachfront Club is not a booking agent and will not charge any fees when users make direct bookings with member hotels through this site. The BFC will also offer site visitors the opportunity to book member hotels through third-party, professional booking services that have established affiliations with the member hotels. The BFC may receive fees from such third-party booking services.
12) limits in liability of the BFC
a) The Beachfront Club will not be responsible for any financial losses, damages of any kind, infringement of rights or harm to reputation that a hotel might suffer as a result of:
i. the hotel's membership in the BFC
ii. the hotel's activity on the BFC website
iii. users' contacts or interactions with the member hotel
iv. the BFC marking a hotel on its maps either correctly or incorrectly
v. the BFC awarding, denying, suspending or revoking membership in the club or any subsequent actions that result therefrom
vi. the failure of the BFC to post or display information uploaded by the Hotel Member