Host Terms

BookaQuest is a place where hosts list properties and guests find and book them. When a guest books, the guest and the host enter into an agreement directly between themselves. BookaQuest is not a party to that agreement, and is not a real estate broker, a travel agency, a property manager, or an insurer.

BookaQuest does not own, manage, control or inspect any property listed on the service. Each host is solely responsible for their own listing, their own property, and their own compliance with the law where that property is.

BookaQuest takes no commission on any booking. Guests pay hosts directly. Payments are processed by Stripe into an account belonging to the host, and the host is the merchant of record for every booking. BookaQuest never receives, holds or controls the money for a stay.

Guests pay you directly through your own Stripe account. You are the merchant of record for every booking. BookaQuest never holds your money, takes no commission, and does not set your prices.

Because you are the merchant of record, chargebacks and refunds are yours to handle, and your payout schedule is between you and Stripe. We do not delay, hold or release your money.

You choose one named cancellation flavour per listing — Flexible, Moderate, Limited, or Firm — and guests see it before they pay. Each flavour has one refund deadline. You cannot turn off the 24-hour change-your-mind window on bookings made a week or more ahead. When a guest cancels under those terms, the refund is processed on your Stripe account.

Your listing becomes visible to guests once you have completed Stripe's identity and bank verification for that property, and — if you are new to BookaQuest — once we have looked at your first listing.

We do this so that nobody can display a property here without a real legal identity and a real bank account behind it. It applies to everybody, and it is usually quick.

You represent and warrant that you carry, and will keep in force for as long as your listing is live, liability insurance appropriate to renting your property on a short-term basis, in an amount a reasonable operator in your area would carry.

This is worth reading twice: an ordinary homeowner policy frequently does not cover short-term rental activity at all. Check with your insurer rather than assuming. BookaQuest does not provide you with insurance of any kind, and does not run a host damage or refund programme.

Your listing must describe the property accurately and use photographs you have the right to use, of the actual property. You are responsible for complying with the law where your property is — permits, registrations, occupancy limits, lodging taxes, safety requirements, and any HOA or lease restrictions that apply to you.

Keep your calendar accurate. If you connect a channel manager, keep that connection working — a stale calendar is how a guest ends up at a property that is already occupied.

BookaQuest has the right, but not the obligation, to undertake checks on users and listings, and to decide who may use the service and whose listing may appear. We do not endorse any host, guest, property or listing, and we do not commit to undertaking any particular screening process.

We have no duty to pre-screen content posted by users. All listings are the sole responsibility of the host who posted them, and we specifically disclaim liability arising from the accuracy of any listing.

Any reference to a user or listing being “verified”, or similar wording, indicates only that a relevant verification or identification process has been completed — and nothing else. It is not a statement that a host is trustworthy, that a property is as described, or that a stay will go well. We do not warrant that any check we carry out will identify past misconduct or prevent future misconduct.

If something goes wrong with a stay, that is a matter between the guest and the host. BookaQuest does not arbitrate, mediate, adjudicate or take sides in disputes between users, and does not issue refunds — because BookaQuest never holds the money in the first place.

What we do instead is give you a route. You can report a problem from your booking, which puts your message to the host on the record. If that does not resolve it, we will help you gather what you need — the charge, the dates, the merchant name as it appears on your statement, and your own messages — so you can take the matter to your card issuer, who is the party with the actual power to reverse a payment.

We describe that process. We do not promise any particular outcome from it, and we have no control over what your card issuer decides.

If you have a dispute with another user of BookaQuest, you release BookaQuest (and our affiliates, and our and their officers, directors, employees and agents) from claims, demands and damages of every kind and nature, known and unknown, arising out of or in any way connected with that dispute.

The BookaQuest service is provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranty of any kind, to the fullest extent the law allows.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, BookaQuest's total liability to you for any claim arising out of or connected with these terms or your use of the service will not exceed US$1,000.

BookaQuest will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, exemplary or consequential damages, including lost profits, loss of data, loss of goodwill, or service interruption.

Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law, including liability for fraud, for willful misconduct, or for death or personal injury caused by our own negligence.

You agree to release, defend (at BookaQuest's option), indemnify and hold BookaQuest harmless from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses and expenses, including reasonable legal and accounting fees, arising out of or in any way connected with your breach of these terms, your misuse of the service, your interaction with any other user, or — if you are a host — your property, your listing, and your stay with any guest.

You and BookaQuest agree that any dispute between us will be resolved by final and binding individual arbitration, rather than in court, except that either of us may bring an individual claim in small claims court.

You and BookaQuest each agree to bring claims against the other only on an individual basis, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any class or representative action or proceeding, whether in court or in arbitration.

You can opt out of this arbitration agreement and keep your right to go to court. Email legal@bookaquest.com within 30 days of first accepting these terms, saying that you opt out and giving the name and email address on your account. Opting out costs you nothing and does not affect your account in any way.

These terms are governed by the Federal Arbitration Act and by the laws of the State of Florida, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Any judicial proceeding permitted under these terms must be brought in a state or federal court located in Hernando County, Florida.

We may update these terms. When we make a material change, we will publish the new version and ask you to accept it before you continue using the service. Changes are not applied retroactively to a booking already made.