Privacy Policy
We are committed to safeguarding the privacy of our website and direct visitors; in this policy we explain how we will treat your personal information. Our website does not use cookies, and therefore user preferences are not saved. Should you have any queries regarding this, then please contact us.
The Short Version
Your privacy is important to us, so we collect only the minimum information necessary, we keep this information securely and we destroy it when it is no longer needed.
We do not sell such information to any third party. However, if you book a stay with us through an Online Travel Agent, they may ask for your consent (which you can withhold) to share the information which you provide directly to them with third parties for marketing purposes. We strongly recommend that visitors instead book directly through our own website.
We only share information with trusted third parties and then only when we use them to provide our own services. We have assessed the third parties we use to confirm that they take the same care over the information as we do ourselves.
For any enquiries about the information we collect and your privacy, please contact [email protected] or by phone 01334 473447.
The Long Version
The Russell and your privacy
*What information we collect and why.
We collect information about visitors to our hotel and restaurant:
Hotel booking (direct): When making a hotel booking, in person, by phone or online on our website, we collect the minimum information required to create and manage your booking and to contact you about your stay; this information is collected as part of our contract with you.
Hotel booking (OTA): If you make a hotel booking with us through an Online Travel Agent (OTA), your information will also be collected by the OTA and will be subject to their own privacy policy. All the OTAs that we use will respect the privacy of your information; however, be aware that they may ask for your consent to share the information you have provided to them with other organisations for marketing purposes. To avoid this, we strongly recommend that visitors instead book directly through our own website.
Payments: When making a payment to us, either in person or online through our online booking payment gateway, as part of our contract with you we also collect information required for payment and accounting purposes (if you pay by card, your card details are passed directly to our 3rd party payment providers and are not retained by The Russell Hotel).
Gift vouchers: If you purchase a gift voucher from us, either online or by phone, we collect the minimum information required to create and manage the voucher. Your information is shared only with The Russell Hotel, and is subsequently destroyed after 7 years, which is in line with the current legal requirements and tax purposes.
Phone calls: Calls made by hotel residents who make use of the in-room phone system are logged to collect the minimum information required for billing purposes; this information is collected as part of our contract with visitors.
CCTV: Any and all future CCTV recording equipment in the public areas of the hotel; any future recordings are made for our legitimate interests in security and staff protection.
Cookies: Our website does not use cookies and therefore no user preferences are recorded during your visit to our website. We also do not record IP addresses or any other user information. You can find out more about cookies, including how to disable them in your browser, by visiting cookiesandyou.com.
Online signups: If you sign up for our online newsletters, we will collect and store your email address to use for this purpose. You can unsubscribe at any time – there are clear unsubscribe links in all our newsletters – or you can email us directly at [email protected]
Social media: The Russell Hotel uses social media accounts, including Facebook and Twitter, to communicate with other social media users. Use of these accounts is subject to the Privacy Policies of the social media provider. While hotel visitors are encouraged to communicate with us over social media, information collected from visitors is not shared with our social media accounts.
*We may occasionally request to share visitor stories or photos online, either through social media or on our website – we will always ask for permission first.
How the information is stored
The information we collect is stored securely and is accessible only to members of The Russell Hotel staff who require access for operational reasons.
How long the information is kept
Information collected as part of our contract with you is kept for seven years in line with legal requirements for tax purposes. CCTV recordings are kept for no more than 31 days and are then automatically deleted; the recordings are not shared with any third party.
How we use the information
The information we collect is used almost entirely in directly providing the services we offer.
We do not sell information about visitors to any third party. Only hotel visitors who book with us through an Online Travel Agent (OTA) will ever be contacted to seek consent (which can be withheld) to share their information for marketing purposes.
The Russell Hotel makes use of trusted third parties to distribute our occasional online newsletters. Online newsletters are sent out only to customers, those who have signed up online and others who have given consent to be contacted in this way.
Recipients can unsubscribe at any time. To allow us to stop emailing recipients who lose interest, we also track whether newsletters are opened, and links followed.
The personal data used by our trusted third parties in distributing our newsletters is strictly limited to email addresses only; these addresses are transmitted and stored securely and are destroyed when no longer required.
To find out more
For any enquiries about the information we collect and your privacy, please contact;
[email protected] or by post at: The Russell Hotel, 26 The Scores, St. Andrews, KY16 9AS