Privacy Policy

SimonStays · Last updated 5 October 2026

This policy explains what personal information we collect when you browse or book on SimonStays, why we need it, who we share it with and the rights you have under the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA). We only collect what we need to run your booking, and we never sell your information.

1.Who we are

SimonStays is a trading name operated by Catwalk Investments 366 (Pty) Ltd (Registration number 1999/010697/07), 23 Firenza, Pam Road, Benmore Gardens. We are the "responsible party" for the personal information described in this policy. You can contact us, including our Information Officer, at support@simonstays.co.za or 078 511 9336.

2.What we collect

• Booking details: your full name, email address, phone number, number of guests, stay dates and the property you book.
• Optional details you choose to give us: business or billing details for your invoice (such as a company name, VAT number and address), any message to us, and who recommended us.
• Guest account details: if you create an account, your email address, optional phone number, a password, a profile picture and a copy of your ID or passport. We store the password only in encrypted (hashed) form and cannot read it.
• Ratings: after a stay, you can rate the property and host, and the host can rate you on communication, cleanliness and following the property's rules.
• Payment records: the amount, method, date and reference of your payment and any proof of payment you send us. We do not store full card numbers.
• Communications: emails, messages and calls with you about your booking or stay.
• Technical information: basic information your browser sends when you use the site, such as your IP address and browser type, which our servers use for security and to keep the site running.

3.Why we use it

We use your personal information to:

• take, confirm and manage your booking, and send your confirmation and invoice;
• take payments and process refunds;
• contact you about your stay, including check-in arrangements and any changes;
• run your guest account if you have one, and confirm who is staying with us;
• handle queries, complaints and disputes;
• keep the site secure and prevent fraud; and
• meet our legal, tax and accounting obligations.

We process your information because it is needed to perform the booking contract with you, to comply with the law, or for our legitimate interests in running a safe and reliable booking service. We will only send you marketing if you have agreed to it, and you can opt out at any time.

4.Who we share it with

We share your information only where necessary, with:

• the owner or manager of the property you book, so that they can prepare for and host your stay;
• service providers who work for us, such as our website hosting, email and payment providers, and our bank. They may use your information only to provide their service to us, and must keep it secure and confidential; and
• authorities or professional advisers, where the law requires it or where needed to protect our rights.

The ratings hosts give you are linked to your email address and shown to hosts on SimonStays when you ask about or book a stay with them, including hosts you haven't stayed with. They don't show who gave them. The ratings you give appear on our booking site as scores, without your name. To ask about a rating, email support@simonstays.co.za.

Your profile picture and copy of your ID can only be viewed by SimonStays administrators. We do not pass them to property owners or managers or to other guests.

We do not sell or rent your personal information to anyone.

5.Information sent outside South Africa

Some of our service providers (for example, website hosting and email services) may store or process information on servers outside South Africa. Where this happens, we take steps to make sure your information receives a level of protection comparable to that required by POPIA.

6.Browser storage and maps

We do not use advertising or tracking cookies. If you sign in to a guest account, your browser stores a sign-in token on your device so that you stay logged in; signing out removes it. The map on our booking page loads map images from a third-party map provider, which will receive your IP address in the normal way when your browser requests those images.

To improve the site, we record what visitors do on SimonStays, such as the pages and listings they view, what they search for and the buttons they press. This uses a random number stored in your browser, not a cookie, and we don’t record your IP address. It stays anonymous unless you sign in, book or send us a message: then we link it to your account or booking so we can help you with your stay. You can clear it at any time by clearing your browser’s site data.

7.How long we keep it

We keep booking, payment and communication records for as long as we need them for the purposes above, and for as long as the law requires us to keep them (for example, tax and accounting records are generally kept for five years). We delete or anonymise information when we no longer need it.

We keep your profile picture and copy of your ID while your account is open. To have them deleted, email support@simonstays.co.za and we will delete them unless the law requires us to keep them.

8.How we protect it

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your information against loss, misuse and unauthorised access, including encrypted connections (HTTPS), hashed passwords and access controls. If we become aware of a security breach that affects your personal information, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires.

9.Your rights

Under POPIA you have the right to:

• ask whether we hold personal information about you, and request a copy of it;
• ask us to correct or update information that is inaccurate or incomplete;
• ask us to delete information we no longer have a lawful reason to keep;
• object to us processing your information, including for direct marketing; and
• lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator.

To use any of these rights, email support@simonstays.co.za. We may need to confirm your identity before we act on your request.

10.Complaints

Please contact us first. We will try to resolve any concern quickly. If you are not satisfied, you can complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa) through its website, inforegulator.org.za.

11.Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version will always be on this page, with the date it was last updated shown at the top.

See also our Booking & Payment Terms, including the cancellation & refund policy.