Thinking of Joining Us?

The payment system works by Guests paying MyFriendsHotel.com and then we pay you.  This ensures that Guests are not exploited by fraudulent profiles and gives them the confidence to book with any of the profiles listed on the website. In addition, Host and Guests are also covered / protected by our cancellation policies.

How it works

1. When a Guest pays for an accommodation they pay MyFriendsHotel.com via PayPal and in return receive a unique Verification Code on-site immediately upon payment (see also ‘Booking Accommodation and Payment here)
2. At Check-in (ie: on arrival at accommodation or when exchanging the keys), the Guest will give the Host (or agent) the Verification Code
3. The Host then goes onto MyFriendsHotel.com (My Account > Bookings > Receive Payment) and enters the Verification Code to receive payment
4. Within 24-48 hours we initiate the payment process (dependent on weekends, bank holidays etc) and you can access your money in a way that suits you.  See PayPal for more information

MyFriendsHotel.com is an interest-based accommodation network.  It’s free to join and members can list and rent out anything from a sofa bed to a luxury private vineyard.  Hosts can make some extra cash and meet like-minded people; while Guests can save money on hotel costs and get a trusted local travel experience. The site considers the 3 personalities involved: the Host, the Guest and the Property… it’s like dating for accommodation!

Quoted as being ‘One to Watch’ by the Sunday Times, our network links accommodation through friends and interests.

The sites’ unique search functionality means it’s easy to find the right property by over 200 ‘tags’, so for example you can search by ‘Activity’ and find a Host who’s a fellow Surfer to experience local beach life with, or search by ‘Property’ for a Chalet in a fab ski area.  You can even search by ‘Facilities’ for a property with its very own Private Beach (yes, the site has a stunning villa in Koh Samui, Thailand with one and it’s been featured in a Vogue photoshoot!).

Our site is safe, trusted and reliable providing a Unique Verification Code payment system that protects both Host and Guest.  Our site provides 100% genuine feedback about trips and Guests and Hosts can contact each other directly on-site.

1. Make money by renting out a place to sleep: a spare room, a holiday home or even hammock
2. List your accommodation for free!
3. Choose who stays with you based on their Profile
4. Guests can find you by searching for:
- your Interests
- your Accommodation activities or nearby facilities – i.e.: is your property well placed for fishing, climbing, surfing?
- Groups that you ‘join’ or have set-up
5. Receive Personal and/or Accommodation reviews via Guest feedback to promote your property
6. Payments are made through our Secure Online Booking System to protect both Hosts and Guests
7. Promote your listing through friends and Facebook etc…
8. Communicate with Guest openly through the website
9. Meet adventurous like-minded people and share your local knowledge

Hosts – No bookings, no fees! We take a 10% service fee on bookings made through the site. (Our main competitors charge up to 15% with 12% being paid as a hidden fee by Guests. That enough to put anyone off! We believe this is to keep advertised prices low.) We don’t like hidden costs and our Guests don’t like nasty surprises so we’ve kept everything simple and out in the open.

To re-cap: if a Guest books 5 days at £50 the total price is £250. The fee on this booking is: £250 x %10 = £25.

What’s included in the fee?

• Your Marketing team – we will promote our sites listings through-out the internet and in the mainstream media.
• Your Sales – we are building our membership, that means people will look for properties on here first.
• Your Social Media marketing – be it Facebook, Twitter or Linked-In, Read-It, Digg, Delicious, StumbledUpon….we are working to promote your listings any way we can.
• Your Development team – we are finding new, intuitive and semantic way for people to find your listing. Already, our Tagging system is unique in this sector and we’re developing other ground breaking tools to help our members find relevant properties. The problem with the big name competitors is that properties get lost. This is what one of our new members had to say:

“I had previously been advertising with Holiday-Rentals (Home Away) but they are increasingly expensive and I find my property just gets lost further down the list unless I pay the premiums for special advertising.”

In conclusion – however we structure the payment system the Guest ultimately pays the cost. We want our costs to be transparent and fair. We’re a small company and just starting out so we’re open to your thought, ideas and ultimately wanting to build a site to improve the lives of travellers and their hosts. We’re on your side!

Payments are handled through our Secure Online Booking System with verification code activation, using PayPal as the intermediary
1. A booking is made by the Guest through MyFriendsHotel.com
2. PayPal registers the booking and the Guest receives a Verification Code
3. At ‘Check-In’ the Guest gives the Verification Code to the Host, which will allow the Host to receive payment for their accommodation via MyFriendsHotel.com. Payments will be initiated within 24hr-48hrs

It increases security for Hosts and Guests.  PayPal has access to all bank details should this be necessary.
It prevents unethical Hosts from exploiting members of this site, as Guests do not have to entrust each individual Host with their money.
Guests are assured their money is secure until they have received the keys for their accommodation or have arrived at their Hosts house.
Hosts are guaranteed payment in accordance with our Terms and Conditions.

The deposit, by this we mean money held against possible damages, is to be managed directly between the Host a Guest. We recommend that this requirement is detailed in the description section of your Property Profile and that it is handled at the time of Check-In. On your Accommodation profile you are able to indicate if a deposit is required or not. Managing the security deposit is at your discretion and to avoid confusion your individual ‘terms & conditions’ can be laid out in writing and agreed with your Guest PRIOR to confirming a booking. In addition, the guest would expect to receive a receipt stating the value of the deposit made. A hand written receipt is perfectly acceptable.

• MyFriendsHotel.com have implemented security measures to protect all of its members (such as user Profiles, our Unique Online Booking System, our community network, friends, feedback (or ‘Guestbook Reviews’) being guaranteed 100% genuine provided by people who have stayed at your accommodation, on-site communication, etc). However, we do ask that you use your common sense!
• All bookings are made using PayPal which prevents fraud and ensures the traceability of all payments
• Host and Guests are required to add personal details before a booking can be made
• MyFriendsHotel.com provides the ability to communicate with Hosts / Guests, to view profiles, Guestbooks etc.  Also, please use these facilities and check other Social Profiles that a member might have – for example on Facebook or LinkedIn
(for more details about how to use this site safely click here).

MyFriendsHotel.com is part of Second Parallel Ltd, which has been trading since 2003, and these are our official details:
Data Protection Registration: Z1982972
Company Registration: 04852991
VAT Registration: 823759995
Address is: 37 Tonbridge Road, Maidstone, Kent, ME16 8SA, UK
© 2010 Second Parallel Ltd, trading as MyFriendsHotel