HEARTHSTONESTAYS

Terms of Service

Last updated 9 November 2026

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) are an agreement between you and The Trustee for Hearthstone, T/A Hearthstone Stays · ABN 50 149 914 763 (“Hearthstone”, “we”, “us”). They apply when you use the Hearthstone Stays website and services (the “Platform”), whether you book a stay (a “Guest”), list a place (a “Host”), or just browse. Please read them. By creating an account or making a booking you agree to them, along with the policies they refer to:

Your consumer rights. Our services come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts or modifies any right or remedy you have under the Australian Consumer Law or any other law that cannot lawfully be excluded. Where these Terms say something that a law doesn’t allow, that part is read down to the extent the law requires.

1. What Hearthstone does

  1. Hearthstone runs an online marketplace where Hosts list accommodation and Guests book it. Unless a listing clearly says otherwise, Hearthstone is not the owner, operator or provider of any accommodation. The Host provides the accommodation and is responsible for it.
  2. When you book, the contract for the stay is between the Guest and the Host. Hearthstone acts as the Host’s agent to accept the booking and to collect payment, and provides the Platform, payment, messaging and support services.
  3. A Guest’s payment to Hearthstone for a booking satisfies the Guest’s obligation to pay the Host for that booking.

2. Accounts

  1. You must be at least 18 and able to enter a binding contract to create an account or book.
  2. Give accurate information and keep it up to date. Your name must match your identification, as Hosts and check-in may rely on it.
  3. Keep your password secure. You are responsible for activity on your account. Tell us straight away at info@hearthstonestays.com.au if you think someone else has used it.
  4. One person, one account. You may not create an account for someone else without their permission, or sell or transfer your account.

3. Listings and Hosts

  1. Hosts are responsible for their listings being accurate and complete, including photos, amenities, sleeping arrangements, house rules, fees and availability, and for providing the accommodation as described.
  2. Hosts must comply with the Host Standards and all laws that apply to their place, including planning, strata, short-term rental registration, safety, tax and insurance rules.
  3. We may review, edit for formatting, pause or remove any listing that breaches these Terms or the law, or where we reasonably believe it poses a risk to Guests, the community or the Platform.
  4. We don’t check every listing or guarantee any Host. Listing ranking in search depends on things like relevance, availability, price, reviews, the Hearthstone Verified badge and how recently a listing joined. We do not accept payment for higher search placement.

4. Hearthstone Verified

A “Hearthstone Verified” badge means a Hearthstone auditor stayed at the property and checked it against our audit checklist on the date of the audit. It is an honest assessment of the place at that time, not a guarantee of your stay. Things can change after an audit. If a Verified property isn’t as described, the Guest Refund Policy applies in the usual way, and we treat it as a priority. We may remove a badge if a property no longer meets our standards.

5. Booking

  1. Instant Book. For Instant Book listings, the booking is confirmed when your payment succeeds.
  2. Request to Book. For other listings, you send a request and we place a hold (authorisation) on your card for the total. The Host has 24 hours to accept. If they accept, your card is charged and the booking is confirmed. If they decline or don’t respond, the hold is released and you are not charged.
  3. Your booking is a limited licence to enter, occupy and use the place for the dates booked, for the number of guests booked, under the house rules. It is not a tenancy, and residential tenancy laws do not apply to it.
  4. You must not stay past checkout without the Host’s agreement, bring more guests than booked, or use the place for anything the listing or house rules don’t allow (including parties or events, unless the listing allows them).
  5. The Guest who books is responsible for everyone in their party, including their conduct and any damage they cause.

6. Prices, fees and payment

  1. The total shown before you pay is the full price of your booking in Australian dollars. It includes the accommodation, any cleaning or extra-guest fees set by the Host, the Hearthstone service and booking fees, GST on our fees, and any government levy we are required to collect (such as Victoria’s Short Stay Levy).
  2. Guest service and booking fee. We charge Guests a fee (currently 3.25% of the booking subtotal plus $2.95 per booking, plus GST) for using the Platform. It applies to every booking whatever the payment method, and is not a card surcharge. It is shown separately in the price breakdown.
  3. Host service fee. We charge Hosts a service fee (currently $6.00 per booking, plus GST), deducted from their payout.
  4. Payments are processed by our payment provider, Stripe. We do not store full card numbers.
  5. Host payouts. We hold the money for a booking and pay the Host their share, less the Host service fee (currently $6.00 per booking, plus GST), about 24 hours after the Guest’s scheduled check-in. Hosts must set up a payout account with Stripe to be paid. We may hold a payout while a dispute, chargeback or investigation is open.
  6. Hosts are responsible for their own income tax and GST obligations on what they earn. We may issue tax invoices or statements for our fees.
  7. If a Guest disputes a charge with their bank, we may share booking and message records with the payment provider to respond.

7. Cancellations and refunds

  1. Guest cancellations are refunded under the cancellation policy shown on the listing when you booked: see Cancellation options.
  2. Host cancellations. If a Host cancels a confirmed booking, the Guest receives a full refund. Hosts who cancel without a valid reason may face the consequences in the Host Standards.
  3. Problems with a stay are covered by the Guest Refund Policy.
  4. Extenuating circumstances. If a booking can’t go ahead because of events outside anyone’s control — for example a natural disaster or severe weather warning affecting the property, a government travel restriction, or the place becoming unsafe — we may cancel it and give the Guest a full refund, whatever the cancellation policy says.
  5. Refunds go back to the original payment method. Your bank may take 5–10 business days to show them.

8. Damage

  1. Guests must leave the place in the condition they found it, apart from fair wear and tear, and are responsible for damage they or their party cause.
  2. A Host who finds damage should tell us within 14 days of checkout, with photos and evidence of the cost. We will share the claim with the Guest and give them a fair chance to respond.
  3. If the Guest agrees, or we reasonably decide the Guest is responsible, we may ask the Guest to pay the Host through the Platform. We will not charge your card for damage without first telling you and giving you a chance to respond, and you keep any right to dispute the claim, including through your state’s tribunal.

9. Reviews and content

  1. Only Guests who completed a stay can review it, and reviews must be honest and about that stay. We do not edit reviews to change their meaning, and we do not remove reviews just because they are negative. We remove reviews that break the Community Standards.
  2. Hosts must not offer incentives for positive reviews or pressure Guests about reviews.
  3. You keep ownership of content you post (photos, descriptions, reviews, messages). You give us a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use, display, reproduce and adapt it to run and promote the Platform, for as long as it is on the Platform and for a reasonable time afterwards. You promise you have the right to post it.

10. Communicating and paying through the Platform

Book, pay and communicate through Hearthstone Stays. Arranging to pay a Host outside the Platform for a stay you found here puts you at risk of scams and means the protections in these Terms and our refund policies won’t apply. Hosts must not ask Guests to pay off-Platform. We may read messages when needed for safety, fraud prevention, resolving disputes or enforcing these Terms.

11. What you must not do

You must not use the Platform to break the law, harm anyone, discriminate, post false or misleading content, scrape or copy the Platform, interfere with its security, create fake accounts or bookings, or get around our fees or these Terms. See the Community Standards for more.

12. Suspending or closing accounts

  1. You can close your account at any time by emailing info@hearthstonestays.com.au. Confirmed bookings are cancelled under the usual policies unless you ask us to keep them.
  2. We may suspend or close an account, remove listings or cancel bookings if you seriously or repeatedly breach these Terms or the law, if required by law or a regulator (including a state exclusion register), or to protect people’s safety. Where reasonable, we will tell you why and give you a chance to respond. If we cancel a Guest’s confirmed booking for reasons that aren’t the Guest’s fault, the Guest receives a full refund.

13. Liability

  1. Hosts are responsible for their accommodation, and Guests for their conduct during a stay. We are not responsible for the acts or omissions of Hosts or Guests.
  2. To the extent the law allows, and subject to the consumer guarantees mentioned at the top of these Terms, we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, or for loss caused by events outside our reasonable control.
  3. Where our liability for failing to meet a consumer guarantee can lawfully be limited, and the service is not of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use, our liability is limited to supplying the service again or paying the cost of having it supplied again.
  4. Nothing in this section limits our liability for our own negligence, fraud or wilful misconduct, or for death or personal injury caused by us.
  5. Hosts agree to indemnify Hearthstone against claims by third parties arising from their listing, their property or their breach of the law, except to the extent Hearthstone caused the loss.

14. Complaints and disputes

  1. If something goes wrong, please contact us first at info@hearthstonestays.com.au. We aim to respond within 2 business days and to resolve most issues within 10 business days.
  2. If you’re not happy with how we handle a complaint, you can contact your state or territory consumer protection agency (in Queensland, the Office of Fair Trading).
  3. For stays in New South Wales, the Code of Conduct for the Short-term Rental Accommodation Industry applies to Hosts, Guests and us, and you can make a complaint about a Host, Guest or premises to NSW Fair Trading. If we receive a complaint about you under the Code, we will tell you as soon as possible.

15. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms, for example to reflect changes in the law or the Platform. We will give at least 14 days’ notice of material changes by email or on the Platform. Changes don’t affect bookings already confirmed. If you don’t agree to the changes, you can close your account before they take effect.

16. General

  1. These Terms are governed by the laws of Queensland, Australia. You and we submit to the courts and tribunals of Queensland, and of the state where the property is located for disputes about a stay. This does not stop you using a tribunal or regulator in your own state.
  2. If part of these Terms is invalid, the rest still applies.
  3. We may transfer our rights and obligations under these Terms to a business that takes over the Platform, as long as your rights are not reduced.

Contact

The Trustee for Hearthstone, T/A Hearthstone Stays · ABN 50 149 914 763
Southside QLD 4570
info@hearthstonestays.com.au