Our Terms & Conditions
Payment For Your Stay
All bookings are made safely via our website using a credit or debit card. When you make a booking via our online reservation system you will receive an immediate automated booking summary by email to the email address you provided. Please make sure you use an email address you check regularly and a mobile number (not landline).
Your booking requires a 30% non-refundable deposit and the balance is then due 60 days before your arrival. If your stay is less than 60 days away the system will take the full amount. You will be sent an automated email with a link to pay your balance so please use an email which you check regularly. If your balance is not paid by the due date, we reserve the right to re let your accommodation and retain your deposit.
Middle Stone Farm only accepts bookings from persons over 18 years of age. We reserve the right, at all times, without statement of reasons, to refuse or cancel a booking.
Your Damages Deposit and Departure Requirements
We require a damages deposit of £150 per accommodation, this will be held against the card you paid with 1-3 days before you arrive, please make sure there is some credit on your card to enable the system to do this. The £150 is 'held' against your card in the event of damages or an unpaid shop bill, it's a similar system to a hotel, this money is not actually drawn. During the hold period, the funds are unavailable to use - they won't be able to withdrawn from an ATM, or to spend elsewhere. Although the funds cannot be accessed, no money has been debited in the pre-auth, it is simply reserved. When you leave, providing there are no significant issues and the shop bill has been settled it will be released back to your card again.
We do not charge for minor breakages, we hold this in case of serious damage, significant deep cleaning, not checking out when the cleaners are waiting or an unpaid shop bill for example. On departure day we require guests to do their washing up properly, put rubbish and recycling out in the dedicated bins, return any furniture if it has been moved, we also ask you to take used sheets off the bed and place in a bag provided. If you have stayed as a group and moved our things or furniture into different accommodations we expect items to be back in the original accommodation they were when you arrived please. In the case of a major problem or a very deep clean being required we reserve the right to invoice your card in addition to drawing your damages deposit.
Cancellations, Refunds and Date Changes
Please ensure that you have adequate travel insurance to cover you in the event that you need to cancel your stay. Even if you are holidaying in the UK, travel insurance is sensible if you cancel due to unforeseen circumstances.
If you cancel within 60 days of your stay, we will do our best to re-let your accommodation. If we take the same value booking, we will refund you in full less an administration fee of £40 to cover our time re-marketing. If we have to take a price reduction for a new booking this will be reflected in your refund along with the administration fee of £40. If the accommodation remains empty, we regret there will be no refund so do please make sure you have travel insurance for any eventualities.
If you cancel prior to this date, we will refund any monies paid less your deposit, or reschedule your stay for another date.
In the unlikely event that we need to cancel your stay (to perform unexpected repairs for example) we will refund all money paid to us within 14 days of notifying you.
If we cannot provide your holiday due to unforeseen events beyond our control for example: war, terrorism, civil unrest, industrial action, weather eg: flooding, hurricane, snow, a natural disaster, epidemics, pandemics, lockdowns, health risks and similar events (Force Majeure) we will do our best to offer you alternative dates if we have to close ourselves, we will not be liable for refunds. We highly recommend you have appropriate travel insurance cover.
If you ask us to move your date or re market a holiday you can't make, our administration fee is £40.
Check in and access to the farm is 4pm onwards.
Please try and arrive in daylight if you are staying in a safari tent, ideally before 8pm, if you think you're going to arrive later please let us know.
Check Out by 9.30am.
All accommodation must be empty by 9.30am please. We ask for you to have vacated your accommodation by this time and to have left the accommodation nicely. (Ie: doing your washing up, tied and returned toys, furniture and fittings to their original positions, rubbish put out and shop bills paid please. We also ask guests to take used linen off their beds so we don't launder clean linen unnecessarily).
Dog Rules:
We have 4 dog friendly safari lodges called Kestrel, Hawk, Buzzard and Porlock. Up to 2 well behaved dogs are welcome to stay in one of these accommodations. A 2-3 night stay is £30 per dog, 4-7 nights is £40 per dog. Please make sure your dogs are healthy, without any skin conditions (eg mange), wormed and up to date with injections, we have a lot of animals on the farm so it's important your dogs doesn't bring any nasties with them! We recommend you don't bring a female dog if she is in season either! Dogs must be on a lead at all times. Please do not leave your dog on its own in the safari lodge (or locked in your car). Please don't let your dog lie on our sofas, beds or go in the hot tubs please. You must pick up your dog poo, a bin is provided for dog waste. Dogs can run off a lead in our designated dog paddock. If any dogs appear to be out of control or aggressive we reserve the right to ask you to leave immediately and there would not be a refund. We reserve the right to retrain money from your deposit if your dog causes damage or soiling, or if you haven't cleared up after your dog. If we find your dog has been left alone we reserve the right to enter your tent and we will call the RSPCA.
No other pets on the site please.
Groups (families or adult groups).
Please do not book a group stay of any more than 5 people without talking to us first as we manage group stays carefully. Family groups can stay at any time of the year, but we ask adult groups to only book outside the school holidays and Bank Holidays please. If you're a group of families or friends, please get in touch before booking. Please note we don't accept Stag weekends, sorry!
Decorations
If you're celebrating something whilst you're here, do let us know and we can put some bunting up, if you're bringing your own decorations that's absolutely fine, we just ask for no confetti please, as it blows into the grass which is not good for the environment or our animals. Please make sure all decorations are removed at the end of your stay. Thank you.
No Candles Please
From October 2023 we are no longer providing candles and tea lights, this is because there is new Government fire legislation for holiday accommodation, preventing naked flame. Please DO NOT bring candles with you either. This is for your own safety.
Couple's Discount Offer
If you have booked with our couple's offer and you're staying in a safari tent we will ask you which room you would like made up. You have the choice of the king room, twin room, or cabin bed.
Occupancy
Your booking form will specify how many people are booked into the accommodation. If you wish to change the makeup of your group please let us know a couple of weeks before you arrive, we need to know exactly who is staying here. Please do not exceed our maximum occupancy, if you do we reserve the right to cancel your booking without a refund. We do not allow extra guests beyond who you have entered on your booking form or for extra people to turn up during your stay.
· The Deckhouse Cabin sleeps 2 adults and 2 children under the age of 12.
· The Stable Cottage sleeps 2 adults and 2 children under the age of 12.
· Kestrel, Hawk, Buzzard, Kilve, Bossington and Porlock Lodges all sleep 6 guests
We do not allow our accommodation to be used for business purposes (such as making a film) without prior approval.
If you have booked a safari tent we reserve the right to change the tent you are staying in if one is more appropriate, or if we need to fix something in a tent or for a weather related reason. We will of course let you know before you arrive if we have moved you.
The Farm
This is a working farm and a rural experience. You might hear tractors during your stay, you might hear cows, dogs, sheep, owls, foxes, chickens and all sorts of rural sounds, you shouldn't hear any urban noise here though, we're a good distance away from any towns. In a damp summer there are flies around farming communities, we put up metal fly chains on the doors, and provide sticky fly papers if there are flies around. We advise guests to keep food in the fridge or in the cupboards and this should prevent flies (or any little mice) coming into your accommodation.
Day Visitors
If you want to have visitors during your stay please let us know, we will need their contact details and car registration number, we don't have masses of room for extra car cars during the school holidays when we tend to be busy, so please let us know your plans before your stay. We ask for visitors to have left the site by 6pm please.
Noise Rules
We are not a suitable venue for noisy gatherings and we ask guests to keep voices to a minimum after 10pm please. The safari lodges have canvas walls so we ask for all our guests to be considerate of other people staying here. If you're staying in a safari tent noise will carry so please use headphones if you want to listen to music when other people are staying in the lodges next to you.
If guests report noise from other glampers we will come out and ask you to be quiet and this is really embarrassing for all of us. In exceptional circumstances we reserve the right to ask you to leave if there is repeated noise after a couple of warnings. As you will have breached the terms of your contract there would be no refund.
Smoking and Fires
No smoking or vaping in or around any of our accommodation please. If you wish to smoke please wander away from the accommodation and dispose of your cigarette buts responsibly. Please do not leave any lit candles, lanterns or fires unattended.
Parking
There is a designated parking space for each accommodation with space for 2 cars per safari lodge, 1 car for the cabin and 1 car for the cottage. If you think you are coming in more cars, please get in touch. CCTV, there is CCTV on guest parking areas.
Electric Vehicle Car Charging
We have two EV car chargers on the farm, if you are booked in and wish to use them please contact us and we can confirm charge costs and how to access the chargers. Please do not use any other socket on our farm for charging your vehicle. Don't forget to pack your charging cable!
Sorry no supermarket deliveries.
Sorry but we do not allow supermarket deliveries here. We have a shop and there are shops in Wiveliscombe, a supermarket, butcher and farm shop. Taunton has all the large supermarkets. If you're staying in our cottage or cabin in the winter when our shop is closed, you may organise a delivery, but please let us know first as we'll need to let you know where they should come to and we may need to move a tractor to make room for the van to turn around.
Hot Tubs
Each accommodation has its own private wood fired hot tub, these are optional extras and can be hired on the reservation form. If you wish to use it please select it when you make your booking. Payment for the hot tub is required up to a week before your stay so we make sure we have enough staff to prepare them for you. Safety instructions for the use of the hot tubs must be adhered to. Children under the age of 5 are not allowed to use the hot tubs due to the risk of overheating, pregnant women should check with a health care professional about using them too. Please be careful with the hot tub lids, they mustn't be jumped on and guests mustn't throw stones, glass or any hard objects in the hot tubs as the fibreglass can chip. We provide safe plastic wine glasses for hot tub drinking! Details about how they work and further safety instructions are in each accommodation and on our website. Please note if you hire a hot tub, then decide during your stay not to use it, there will not be a refund as if they've had water in them, they still have to be serviced between guests.
Safety and Responsibility on The Farm
Due to the proximity of electric cables, livestock and thatched buildings we do not allow kite flying over the farm, drones (it's stressful for the animals), Chinese lanterns or fireworks on our farm please.
You will be staying on a farm with animals, potentially dangerous farm equipment and several ponds amongst other hazards and it is your responsibility to watch your children at all times. Guests have use of the two glamping fields, please do not enter any other fields.
Please be aware that some of the guest equipment, including the barbecues, hot tubs and wood burning stoves can be dangerous if misused. We will send you a video with fire instructions before you arrive, there are safety instructions in the accommodation and we're always available during your stay if you need our help. Please do not allow children to swing on the wooden tent poles, the tent ropes or the rope fences, they could snap and cause a nasty injury. Use of the facilities at Middle Stone Farm such as the playground is the responsibility of the guest and is done so at their own risk. Children must be supervised at all times.
The safari lodges are set in open fields which can be uneven with areas of long grass and rabbit holes, please make sure you wear suitable footwear - eg welly boots and please make sure you arrive in day light. The hedges and fences may have barbed or electric wire around them, please do not climb on them. The animals on the farm are not tame pets, do not feed them or stroke them unless you are with us or on our farm tour. If you do touch an animal, you must wash your hands with soap and water afterwards. Pregnant women should not touch any of the animals. Please do not wander through any closed gates on the farm without us. And please do not feed our dogs at any times otherwise they will become a nuisance.
All our accommodation has smoke and carbon monoxide detectors as well as fire extinguishers and fire blankets. Fire guards and heat proof gloves are provided. Each accommodation also has a barbecue which must be kept in the allocated safe area away from the property and must not be moved by guests.
By booking and staying at Middle Stone Farm you agree to be responsible for yourselves, including your children and animals and take all reasonable precautions against personal injury, injury to others, damage to the facilities and our accommodation.
Your Belongings
Whilst you're staying in a safe and peaceful area, please never leave valuables unattended including in your accommodation. We accept no liability for theft, loss or damage to your belongings that may arise from your stay. Please make sure you have adequate holiday insurance. We have CCTV on guest parking areas.
If you have forgotten things and wish us to return them to you please get in touch. Large items can be collected by a courier, or we can take smaller items to Taunton Post Office, we usually visit once a week. We charge £10 for our time locating lost items, packing and posting.
WiFi
There is WiFi in The Stable Cottage, we do not have WiFi in any of our other accommodations. We do however have a decent 4G signal on the farm
All bookings are made safely via our website using a credit or debit card. When you make a booking via our online reservation system you will receive an immediate automated booking summary by email to the email address you provided. Please make sure you use an email address you check regularly and a mobile number (not landline).
Your booking requires a 30% non-refundable deposit and the balance is then due 60 days before your arrival. If your stay is less than 60 days away the system will take the full amount. You will be sent an automated email with a link to pay your balance so please use an email which you check regularly. If your balance is not paid by the due date, we reserve the right to re let your accommodation and retain your deposit.
Middle Stone Farm only accepts bookings from persons over 18 years of age. We reserve the right, at all times, without statement of reasons, to refuse or cancel a booking.
Your Damages Deposit and Departure Requirements
We require a damages deposit of £150 per accommodation, this will be held against the card you paid with 1-3 days before you arrive, please make sure there is some credit on your card to enable the system to do this. The £150 is 'held' against your card in the event of damages or an unpaid shop bill, it's a similar system to a hotel, this money is not actually drawn. During the hold period, the funds are unavailable to use - they won't be able to withdrawn from an ATM, or to spend elsewhere. Although the funds cannot be accessed, no money has been debited in the pre-auth, it is simply reserved. When you leave, providing there are no significant issues and the shop bill has been settled it will be released back to your card again.
We do not charge for minor breakages, we hold this in case of serious damage, significant deep cleaning, not checking out when the cleaners are waiting or an unpaid shop bill for example. On departure day we require guests to do their washing up properly, put rubbish and recycling out in the dedicated bins, return any furniture if it has been moved, we also ask you to take used sheets off the bed and place in a bag provided. If you have stayed as a group and moved our things or furniture into different accommodations we expect items to be back in the original accommodation they were when you arrived please. In the case of a major problem or a very deep clean being required we reserve the right to invoice your card in addition to drawing your damages deposit.
Cancellations, Refunds and Date Changes
Please ensure that you have adequate travel insurance to cover you in the event that you need to cancel your stay. Even if you are holidaying in the UK, travel insurance is sensible if you cancel due to unforeseen circumstances.
If you cancel within 60 days of your stay, we will do our best to re-let your accommodation. If we take the same value booking, we will refund you in full less an administration fee of £40 to cover our time re-marketing. If we have to take a price reduction for a new booking this will be reflected in your refund along with the administration fee of £40. If the accommodation remains empty, we regret there will be no refund so do please make sure you have travel insurance for any eventualities.
If you cancel prior to this date, we will refund any monies paid less your deposit, or reschedule your stay for another date.
In the unlikely event that we need to cancel your stay (to perform unexpected repairs for example) we will refund all money paid to us within 14 days of notifying you.
If we cannot provide your holiday due to unforeseen events beyond our control for example: war, terrorism, civil unrest, industrial action, weather eg: flooding, hurricane, snow, a natural disaster, epidemics, pandemics, lockdowns, health risks and similar events (Force Majeure) we will do our best to offer you alternative dates if we have to close ourselves, we will not be liable for refunds. We highly recommend you have appropriate travel insurance cover.
If you ask us to move your date or re market a holiday you can't make, our administration fee is £40.
Check in and access to the farm is 4pm onwards.
Please try and arrive in daylight if you are staying in a safari tent, ideally before 8pm, if you think you're going to arrive later please let us know.
Check Out by 9.30am.
All accommodation must be empty by 9.30am please. We ask for you to have vacated your accommodation by this time and to have left the accommodation nicely. (Ie: doing your washing up, tied and returned toys, furniture and fittings to their original positions, rubbish put out and shop bills paid please. We also ask guests to take used linen off their beds so we don't launder clean linen unnecessarily).
Dog Rules:
We have 4 dog friendly safari lodges called Kestrel, Hawk, Buzzard and Porlock. Up to 2 well behaved dogs are welcome to stay in one of these accommodations. A 2-3 night stay is £30 per dog, 4-7 nights is £40 per dog. Please make sure your dogs are healthy, without any skin conditions (eg mange), wormed and up to date with injections, we have a lot of animals on the farm so it's important your dogs doesn't bring any nasties with them! We recommend you don't bring a female dog if she is in season either! Dogs must be on a lead at all times. Please do not leave your dog on its own in the safari lodge (or locked in your car). Please don't let your dog lie on our sofas, beds or go in the hot tubs please. You must pick up your dog poo, a bin is provided for dog waste. Dogs can run off a lead in our designated dog paddock. If any dogs appear to be out of control or aggressive we reserve the right to ask you to leave immediately and there would not be a refund. We reserve the right to retrain money from your deposit if your dog causes damage or soiling, or if you haven't cleared up after your dog. If we find your dog has been left alone we reserve the right to enter your tent and we will call the RSPCA.
No other pets on the site please.
Groups (families or adult groups).
Please do not book a group stay of any more than 5 people without talking to us first as we manage group stays carefully. Family groups can stay at any time of the year, but we ask adult groups to only book outside the school holidays and Bank Holidays please. If you're a group of families or friends, please get in touch before booking. Please note we don't accept Stag weekends, sorry!
Decorations
If you're celebrating something whilst you're here, do let us know and we can put some bunting up, if you're bringing your own decorations that's absolutely fine, we just ask for no confetti please, as it blows into the grass which is not good for the environment or our animals. Please make sure all decorations are removed at the end of your stay. Thank you.
No Candles Please
From October 2023 we are no longer providing candles and tea lights, this is because there is new Government fire legislation for holiday accommodation, preventing naked flame. Please DO NOT bring candles with you either. This is for your own safety.
Couple's Discount Offer
If you have booked with our couple's offer and you're staying in a safari tent we will ask you which room you would like made up. You have the choice of the king room, twin room, or cabin bed.
Occupancy
Your booking form will specify how many people are booked into the accommodation. If you wish to change the makeup of your group please let us know a couple of weeks before you arrive, we need to know exactly who is staying here. Please do not exceed our maximum occupancy, if you do we reserve the right to cancel your booking without a refund. We do not allow extra guests beyond who you have entered on your booking form or for extra people to turn up during your stay.
· The Deckhouse Cabin sleeps 2 adults and 2 children under the age of 12.
· The Stable Cottage sleeps 2 adults and 2 children under the age of 12.
· Kestrel, Hawk, Buzzard, Kilve, Bossington and Porlock Lodges all sleep 6 guests
We do not allow our accommodation to be used for business purposes (such as making a film) without prior approval.
If you have booked a safari tent we reserve the right to change the tent you are staying in if one is more appropriate, or if we need to fix something in a tent or for a weather related reason. We will of course let you know before you arrive if we have moved you.
The Farm
This is a working farm and a rural experience. You might hear tractors during your stay, you might hear cows, dogs, sheep, owls, foxes, chickens and all sorts of rural sounds, you shouldn't hear any urban noise here though, we're a good distance away from any towns. In a damp summer there are flies around farming communities, we put up metal fly chains on the doors, and provide sticky fly papers if there are flies around. We advise guests to keep food in the fridge or in the cupboards and this should prevent flies (or any little mice) coming into your accommodation.
Day Visitors
If you want to have visitors during your stay please let us know, we will need their contact details and car registration number, we don't have masses of room for extra car cars during the school holidays when we tend to be busy, so please let us know your plans before your stay. We ask for visitors to have left the site by 6pm please.
Noise Rules
We are not a suitable venue for noisy gatherings and we ask guests to keep voices to a minimum after 10pm please. The safari lodges have canvas walls so we ask for all our guests to be considerate of other people staying here. If you're staying in a safari tent noise will carry so please use headphones if you want to listen to music when other people are staying in the lodges next to you.
If guests report noise from other glampers we will come out and ask you to be quiet and this is really embarrassing for all of us. In exceptional circumstances we reserve the right to ask you to leave if there is repeated noise after a couple of warnings. As you will have breached the terms of your contract there would be no refund.
Smoking and Fires
No smoking or vaping in or around any of our accommodation please. If you wish to smoke please wander away from the accommodation and dispose of your cigarette buts responsibly. Please do not leave any lit candles, lanterns or fires unattended.
Parking
There is a designated parking space for each accommodation with space for 2 cars per safari lodge, 1 car for the cabin and 1 car for the cottage. If you think you are coming in more cars, please get in touch. CCTV, there is CCTV on guest parking areas.
Electric Vehicle Car Charging
We have two EV car chargers on the farm, if you are booked in and wish to use them please contact us and we can confirm charge costs and how to access the chargers. Please do not use any other socket on our farm for charging your vehicle. Don't forget to pack your charging cable!
Sorry no supermarket deliveries.
Sorry but we do not allow supermarket deliveries here. We have a shop and there are shops in Wiveliscombe, a supermarket, butcher and farm shop. Taunton has all the large supermarkets. If you're staying in our cottage or cabin in the winter when our shop is closed, you may organise a delivery, but please let us know first as we'll need to let you know where they should come to and we may need to move a tractor to make room for the van to turn around.
Hot Tubs
Each accommodation has its own private wood fired hot tub, these are optional extras and can be hired on the reservation form. If you wish to use it please select it when you make your booking. Payment for the hot tub is required up to a week before your stay so we make sure we have enough staff to prepare them for you. Safety instructions for the use of the hot tubs must be adhered to. Children under the age of 5 are not allowed to use the hot tubs due to the risk of overheating, pregnant women should check with a health care professional about using them too. Please be careful with the hot tub lids, they mustn't be jumped on and guests mustn't throw stones, glass or any hard objects in the hot tubs as the fibreglass can chip. We provide safe plastic wine glasses for hot tub drinking! Details about how they work and further safety instructions are in each accommodation and on our website. Please note if you hire a hot tub, then decide during your stay not to use it, there will not be a refund as if they've had water in them, they still have to be serviced between guests.
Safety and Responsibility on The Farm
Due to the proximity of electric cables, livestock and thatched buildings we do not allow kite flying over the farm, drones (it's stressful for the animals), Chinese lanterns or fireworks on our farm please.
You will be staying on a farm with animals, potentially dangerous farm equipment and several ponds amongst other hazards and it is your responsibility to watch your children at all times. Guests have use of the two glamping fields, please do not enter any other fields.
Please be aware that some of the guest equipment, including the barbecues, hot tubs and wood burning stoves can be dangerous if misused. We will send you a video with fire instructions before you arrive, there are safety instructions in the accommodation and we're always available during your stay if you need our help. Please do not allow children to swing on the wooden tent poles, the tent ropes or the rope fences, they could snap and cause a nasty injury. Use of the facilities at Middle Stone Farm such as the playground is the responsibility of the guest and is done so at their own risk. Children must be supervised at all times.
The safari lodges are set in open fields which can be uneven with areas of long grass and rabbit holes, please make sure you wear suitable footwear - eg welly boots and please make sure you arrive in day light. The hedges and fences may have barbed or electric wire around them, please do not climb on them. The animals on the farm are not tame pets, do not feed them or stroke them unless you are with us or on our farm tour. If you do touch an animal, you must wash your hands with soap and water afterwards. Pregnant women should not touch any of the animals. Please do not wander through any closed gates on the farm without us. And please do not feed our dogs at any times otherwise they will become a nuisance.
All our accommodation has smoke and carbon monoxide detectors as well as fire extinguishers and fire blankets. Fire guards and heat proof gloves are provided. Each accommodation also has a barbecue which must be kept in the allocated safe area away from the property and must not be moved by guests.
By booking and staying at Middle Stone Farm you agree to be responsible for yourselves, including your children and animals and take all reasonable precautions against personal injury, injury to others, damage to the facilities and our accommodation.
Your Belongings
Whilst you're staying in a safe and peaceful area, please never leave valuables unattended including in your accommodation. We accept no liability for theft, loss or damage to your belongings that may arise from your stay. Please make sure you have adequate holiday insurance. We have CCTV on guest parking areas.
If you have forgotten things and wish us to return them to you please get in touch. Large items can be collected by a courier, or we can take smaller items to Taunton Post Office, we usually visit once a week. We charge £10 for our time locating lost items, packing and posting.
WiFi
There is WiFi in The Stable Cottage, we do not have WiFi in any of our other accommodations. We do however have a decent 4G signal on the farm
