Terms & conditions

About these terms

• Who looks after you. Our Manager lives on site, welcomes you, cooks breakfast and is your first point of contact, day and night. Our housekeeping team is in the house during the day.
• A shared compound. The ground floor is Anderson Consultants, a working architecture office on weekdays. Daytime brings ordinary office life below.
• Booked through Airbnb or another travel site? That platform's payment, cancellation and refund terms apply to your booking. Everything else here applies once you arrive.

Booking and payment

• Direct bookings are paid in full when you book, through a secure Razorpay link. A booking still unpaid after 24 hours is released; we'll remind you at 12.
• Booking directly with us can save you up to 15% on our public rate.
• Walk-ins are welcome when a room is free.
• Each room takes up to two adults and one child.
• Rates are subject to GST as applicable, and every stay comes with a GST invoice.

Incidental deposit

We may hold a refundable ₹2,000 per room while you stay. It applies to direct, walk-in, MakeMyTrip and other OTA bookings. Airbnb bookings are exempt, since Airbnb handles damage claims itself.

• When. At check-in, after we've seen your ID and you've signed the registration card, before we hand over your key. Arriving late? You can pay it by link the day before.
• How. UPI to Selah's QR code, cash against a signed receipt, or card through a Razorpay link. We never write card numbers down.
• Getting it back. At check-out, after a 10-minute look over the room, to the same UPI ID or payment method. Card refunds take five to seven working days to reach you.
• Deductions. Anything we deduct is itemised, photographed and shown to you before you leave. If charges go over ₹2,000, the balance is paid by UPI or payment link before departure.

Cancellations and date changes

Plans change, and the earlier you tell us, the more of your money comes back. These terms apply to bookings made directly with Selah. On Airbnb, Booking.com or any other platform, the policy shown there when you booked applies, and that platform handles your refund.

• No-shows. If you haven't arrived or been in touch by midnight on your arrival date, we count the booking as a no-show.
• One date change per booking, to new dates within three months of the original, in the same room category. Date changes aren't available on peak dates, which we list when you book.
• Moved bookings are final. Once a booking has been moved, it can't be cancelled for a refund.
• When the road closes. The hills have their own ideas about travel. If an official road closure, a landslide or a bandh stops you reaching Shillong, send us proof and we may move your dates at no charge, at our discretion.

How refunds come back to you

Refunds go back the way you paid: a Razorpay refund to your card, or UPI to the same ID. We refund in cash only when you paid in cash or there's no other way, and a 10% processing fee applies; incidiental deposit refunds carry no fee. Every refund comes with written confirmation.

Check-in and check-out

Your room is ready from 2 pm, and check-out is by 11 am.

• Arriving. Please arrive by 6 pm if you can; later is fine when a flight or the drive up runs long, so just tell us. If you expect to arrive after 10 pm, confirm your time by 6 pm that day so that our Manager can check you in.
• Arriving early. There's no charge. Your room is ready once it has been cleaned and checked, and until then the hall and verandah are yours and your bags are safe with us.
• At the door. Every adult shows a valid government photo ID and gives a phone number. Meghalaya requires us to register each guest through the state tourism app. The lead guest signs the registration card and these terms before we hand over keys.
• The staircase. Selah is reached only by an outdoor metal staircase, with no lift. Take care in the rain, and hold the railing.

Staying a little longer

Ask the Manager the evening before. We confirm late check-outs on the morning you leave, once we know who is arriving.

Children and visitors

• Children up to 12 years stay free, one per room. Please tell us about them when you book. Guests over 12 count as adults. A baby chair is available on loan from the Manager.
• Day visitors are welcome to enjoy the house, indoors and out, while you're staying.
• Overnight visitors register with a photo ID. In a room booked for one, a second adult can stay for ₹500 per night. A room already booked for two can't take a third adult; your visitor can take a separate room at the full nightly rate, without discounts, if one is free.

Breakfast

Breakfast is the one meal we serve, and our Manager cooks it in the house: Khasi dishes alongside familiar ones, brought to the dining table in the hall.

Order by the evening before so we can shop and prepare; breakfast timings are shared at check-in. Tell us about allergies or dietary needs when you book. The kitchen is a working kitchen for breakfast service and isn't open for guest cooking.

Housekeeping and your room

Rooms are looked after during the day, roughly between 9 am and 5 pm. If you'd rather not be disturbed, tell the Manager and we'll come at a time that suits you.

• On loan. An iron and ironing board, and a baby chair, from the Manager.
• Valuables. Every room has a safe. Please use it; Selah isn't responsible for valuables left out of it.
• Inventory card. Each room carries a card listing its furnishings and supplies, with replacement prices.
• Wood, paper and glass. The house is wood floors, wooden furniture, wallpaper and glass light fittings. On rainy days, leave umbrellas and wet shoes at the stand by the entrance, and keep wet things off the floors and walls.

The fireplace and safety

The stone fireplace in the hall still burns. When it's available, ask and the Manager will light it for you, at no charge.

• The fire is ours to tend. The Manager lights it and looks after it. Please don't add fuel, move logs or leave it unattended, and keep children well back.
• No flames in the rooms. Candles, incense, heaters and any open flame stay out of the bedrooms.
• Safety kit. Fire extinguishers and first aid kits are placed around the house.
• CCTV. Cameras cover the hall and outdoor areas. There are none in the bedrooms or bathrooms.

House rules

Selah is a home in a quiet residential neighbourhood, and the people around us live here too. A few things keep the house the way you'll want to find it.

• Quiet from 10 pm. Conversation, music and company wind down by 10 pm.
• Smoking is welcome on the verandah and outdoors, never inside. Smoke settles into wallpaper and old timber and doesn't come back out.
• Paan and gutkha. Please don't spit indoors.
• No parties or events. The house doesn't host parties, reunions or large gatherings. The hall and rooms are for the people staying at Selah.
• Pets aren't allowed.

Noise after 10 pm, smoking indoors and spitting indoors each carry a ₹8,000 charge.

Damage and liability

Accidents happen in any home. Accidental damage up to ₹1,000 is on us.

• Replacement cost means like for like, never an upgrade.
• Charges come out of your security deposit first, with any balance paid before you leave, and every one is itemised, photographed and shown to you.
• Airbnb guests. Damage is claimed through the Airbnb Resolution Center within 14 days of check-out.
• You're responsible for the conduct of everyone in your party and your visitors. Selah isn't liable for loss of or damage to personal belongings, or for injury, except where caused by our negligence.

General terms

• Your information. We collect your name, phone number and photo ID to register your stay, as Meghalaya law requires, and to run your booking. Read our privacy policy for the full picture.
• Our right to refuse or end a stay. We may decline a booking, or end a stay without refund, if a guest puts people or the house at risk, repeatedly breaks the house rules, or refuses to show ID.
• Things beyond our control. Weather, landslides, road closures, bandhs, and power or network outages are part of life in the hills, and we can't be held liable for the disruption they cause. If the house can't host you, we refund what you paid for the nights affected.
• Changes. We may update these terms. The version in force on your booking date applies to your stay.
• Governing law. These terms are governed by the laws of India, with disputes subject to the courts of Shillong, Meghalaya.

Questions

If anything here is unclear, or your plans need something these terms don't cover, ask us before you book.