Privacy Notice

Last updated October 2026

This notice explains how Island Stays handles personal information when you use cottages.com, islandstays.co.uk, contact us, or enquire about or book a stay or ferry crossing.

For bookings made through another platform, that platform may handle some information under its own privacy notice and may act as a separate data controller. For example our primary listing is via cottages.com who in turn secondary list on platforms such as, but not exclusively, AirBnB and bookings.com.

For privacy questions or to exercise your rights, contact us at info@islandstays.co.uk, by phone on 07711 195801 or by post at Island Stays, 7 Headon Reach, Alum Bay New Road, Totland Bay, PO39 0ES.

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect:

• Contact details: name, email address, phone number and postal address.
• Booking details: property, dates, guest numbers, requests and booking correspondence.
• Ferry details: travel dates, routes, vehicle details and passenger information needed to arrange a crossing.
• Payment and transaction details: payment status and transaction records. Card payments are handled by Stripe; we do not receive your card details or full address.
• Website and device information: IP address, browser and device details, pages visited and other technical or usage information, where collected through server logs, cookies or analytics.
• Other information you choose to give us: for example, in an enquiry or special request.

Please avoid sending sensitive personal information unless it is needed for your request.

We use personal information to:

Purpose (Legal Basis)

• Respond to enquiries and provide requested booking or ferry services (1).
• Take payment, manage bookings and send confirmations or service updates (2).
• Keep financial and tax records and meet legal obligations (1).
• Maintain and secure our website, prevent fraud and resolve technical issues (2).
• Send marketing messages, where permitted (4).
• Use non-essential cookies or analytics, where applicable (4).

Legal Basis

1. Contract, or steps taken at your request before entering a contract
2. Legal obligations
3. Legitimate interest in operating and protecting our business.
4. Consent, where required.

We will explain if information is required to make or manage a booking and what may happen if you do not provide it.

• Accommodation and booking platforms, including Cottages.com as primary booking agent.
• Ferry operators, such as Wightlink and Red Funnel.
• Payment providers, including Stripe.
• Website hosting, email, analytics and IT providers, including godaddy.com and commonninja.com.
• Professional advisers or public authorities, where required by law.

Some providers may handle information under their own privacy notices. We will identify them at the relevant point where appropriate.

• Booking and payment records: 5 years
• Enquiries that do not lead to a booking: 1 year
• Marketing preferences: 1 year
• Website logs and analytics data: 1 year

Cookies

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies. 

Your Rights

Depending on the circumstances, you can ask us to access, correct, delete or restrict the use of your personal information. You may also have the right to object to certain processing, receive information you provided in a portable format, or withdraw consent where processing relies on consent.

To make a request, contact us using the details above. We may need to verify your identity. We normally respond within one month; complex requests may take longer, and we will let you know if they do.

You can complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint. You do not need to contact us first.

Changes to this notice

We may update this notice when our practices change.   The latest version will be published on this page with its update date.