Refunds and cancellations

1. Who you are dealing with

The apartment is let by the owner, not by an agent or a booking platform, so the person who answers a refund request is the same person who took your booking.

2. How to cancel

Cancel in writing, so there is a record and a clear time: reply to your booking confirmation, message the owner on WhatsApp, or open your booking page and send a message marked as a cancellation. Quote your reference — it begins LOFT- and is on your confirmation email.

A cancellation takes effect when the owner receives it, not when you decided to cancel. You will get a written confirmation of the cancellation and of the refund due, or of the reason no refund is due, within 2 business days.

3. The 24-hour free cancellation window

The 24 hours run from the moment your booking is confirmed — the time on your confirmation email, which is when your payment cleared or when the owner confirmed the booking in writing. Cancel inside that window and you are refunded in full, including any deposit taken, whatever the reason.

The window is 24 hours even if your stay begins sooner. If you book for tonight and cancel within the hour, you are still refunded in full.

4. Cancelling after 24 hours

Once the 24 hours have passed the reservation is non-refundable, and the amount paid is not returned whatever the reason for cancelling. The nights are released back to the calendar so they can be let to someone else; that release does not create a refund.

This is the trade the rate is built on: a small apartment, let directly, holds a fixed number of dates, and a late cancellation leaves an empty night that cannot be filled.

5. If The Loft cancels

If the owner has to cancel a confirmed stay — a maintenance emergency, a safety issue, a double booking — you are refunded in full, including any deposit, and the owner will help you find comparable accommodation for the same dates. You may instead move your stay to other available dates at the same rate. The choice is yours, and it is confirmed in writing.

6. Moving your stay to other dates

Tell the owner as early as you can. Where the calendar allows it, the booking is moved to the new dates at no charge. A change of dates is not a refund, and any difference in the rate is settled with the owner before you arrive. If the new dates cost less, the difference is refunded the same way the payment was made.

7. How a refund is paid

• Card payments go back to the card. The refund is raised through DPO against the original transaction, to the same card that paid. Card refunds are normally on your statement within 5 to 10 business days, depending on your bank. The Loft cannot speed that up or redirect it to another card.
• Bank transfers and cash are returned the same way. A bank transfer is returned to the account it came from, normally within 3 to 5 business days. Cash is returned in person or by arrangement with the owner.
• The currency is the currency you paid in. A stay paid in US dollars is refunded in US dollars at the amount actually charged, so no exchange-rate loss is passed to you. A stay paid in pula is refunded in pula.
• Nothing is deducted for making a refund. The Loft does not charge a cancellation or administration fee, and the full refundable amount is returned. Your own bank or card issuer may apply its own charges, which are outside the owner's control.

8. How long a refund request takes

A request is acknowledged within 2 business days, decided within 5 business days, and the money is released within 24 hours of that decision. Once released, the time it takes to appear is your bank's: 5 to 10 business days for a card, 3 to 5 for a bank transfer.

Every refund is recorded against your booking with its amount, its method and the date it was released, and you get an email when it is approved and when it has been sent. If anything about the amount looks wrong, reply to that email quoting your reference and it will be checked against the booking.

9. Partial refunds

Where only part of a stay is affected — the owner cancelling the last two nights for a repair, for example — the refund is worked out on the nights affected at the rate those nights were charged at, and is paid the same way as the original payment. A partial refund does not change the terms for the rest of the stay.

10. The damage deposit and breakages

A refundable damage deposit is confirmed in writing before you check in. Ordinary wear is never charged. Breakages, missing items, specialist cleaning and any cost of putting right smoking on the property are charged at repair or replacement cost, with receipts shown. The deposit, or what remains of it, is returned within 7 days of check-out. If the cost of damage is more than the deposit, the difference is invoiced to you with the receipts.

11. No-shows, late arrival and early departure

If you do not arrive on your arrival date and have not told the owner, the stay is treated as cancelled from that date and the nights are released, with no refund. If you arrive late, the apartment is held for you for the whole of your arrival night. If you leave before your departure date, the nights not used are not refunded.

12. If you think a refund is wrong

Write to [email protected] quoting your LOFT- reference, and say what you expected and what you received. You will have a written answer within 5 business days. If the answer does not settle it, you may raise the matter with your card issuer or bank, or take advice on your rights under Botswana law. Raising a dispute with your bank does not stop the owner answering you directly, and a booking is never cancelled or a refund withheld because a dispute has been raised.

13. Card disputes and chargebacks

If a charge is disputed with the card issuer, DPO and the owner will provide the booking record, the signed terms and the payment reference to the bank. Please contact the owner first: almost every dispute is a question about a refund that can be answered the same day, and a refund paid directly is faster than a chargeback.

14. Your personal details

A cancellation does not delete your booking record: the owner must keep the financial trail. What is held, who sees it and how to ask for it to be corrected or erased is set out in the privacy policy.

15. Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the version and date at the top of this page change with it. Bookings are handled under the policy that was in force when they were made, and a copy of that version is available from the owner on request.

16. Questions

Anything unclear, ask before you pay — it is a short conversation, and it is better than a surprise later. Email [email protected], or message +267 72 728 227 on WhatsApp.