Terms of Service

1. Who we are and what we do

Hostara is an online marketplace run by Carestia Group LLC, a Florida limited liability company. We connect travellers (“guests”) with people who rent out homes for short stays (“hosts”), and we give hosts and property owners tools to run those homes.

Unless a listing says otherwise, Hostara does not own, manage or inspect every home itself. The host is responsible for the home, its description, its rules and the stay. Our role is to run the platform, take payments and help when something goes wrong.

2. Your account

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account or book a stay. The person who books must be one of the guests staying.

Give us accurate information and keep it up to date. Keep your password private; you are responsible for anything done with your account. Tell us straight away if you think someone else has used it. You can reset a forgotten password from the sign-in page.

We may suspend or close accounts that break these terms, that we reasonably believe are fraudulent, or that put other people at risk.

3. Booking a stay

When you book, you are making a contract directly with the host for the dates, guest count and price shown at checkout. The total you see before you pay includes the nightly rate, any cleaning fee and the taxes we collect. Nothing else is added later without your agreement.

Your booking is confirmed once payment goes through and you receive a confirmation. If you split the cost with others, the booking is confirmed when every share is paid; unpaid shares can cause the hold on the dates to end.

Follow the house rules, the maximum guest count and any local rules for the home. Hosts may cancel a booking or ask guests to leave for serious breaches such as parties that were not allowed, extra guests, or damage.

4. Payments

Hostara collects payment on the host's behalf through our payment processor. Card details go straight to the processor; we do not store your full card number.

Prices are in US dollars. Your bank may charge its own fees for foreign cards.

Florida and county tourist development taxes are added at checkout where they apply and are paid to the tax authorities for the host.

5. Cancellations and refunds

Each home has a cancellation policy, shown on the listing and at checkout with the exact dates for your stay. The policy shown when you book is the one that applies to your booking, even if the host changes it later.

You can cancel from your Trips page before check-in. We work out the refund from the policy and the date you cancel, send it to the card you paid with, and free the dates. Refunds usually show on your statement within 5 to 10 business days, depending on your bank.

Once a stay has started, cancelling through the site isn't possible. Contact the host or our help team if something is wrong with the home.

If a host cancels, or the home is not as described or not available when you arrive, you are entitled to a full refund of what you paid for the nights you could not use.

6. Damage and security deposits

You are responsible for damage you, your guests or your pets cause beyond normal wear and tear. A listing may require a security deposit; if so, the amount and how it is handled are shown before you pay.

If a host reports damage, we will show you the claim and give you a chance to respond before any amount is charged.

7. Reviews and content

Reviews must be honest and based on a real stay. Don't post anything that is false, hateful, threatening, sexually explicit, or that shares someone else's private information.

You keep ownership of photos and text you upload, and you give us permission to display, adapt and share them to run and promote the platform. You confirm you have the right to upload them.

8. Things you must not do

Don't use the platform for anything illegal, to discriminate against anyone, to arrange payment outside the platform for a stay found on it, to scrape or copy the site, to break or test its security, or to pretend to be someone else.

9. Limits on our responsibility

We work hard to keep the platform accurate and available, but it is provided “as is”. We are not responsible for the condition of a home, the actions of hosts or guests, or events outside our control such as storms, outages or government orders.

To the extent the law allows, Carestia Group LLC's total liability to you for any claim is limited to the greater of the fees you paid us in the 12 months before the claim, or US$100. Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law.

You agree to cover Carestia Group LLC's reasonable losses if you break these terms or the law while using the platform.

10. Disputes and the law that applies

If you have a problem, contact us first; most issues are solved quickly that way.

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Florida and applicable US federal law. Any court case will be heard in the state or federal courts located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, unless the law where you live gives you the right to bring it elsewhere.

11. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. If a change is important, we will tell you by email or on the site before it takes effect. Bookings already made keep the terms and cancellation policy that applied when they were made.