Privacy Policy

01Who we are

This website, swahilispice.co.ke, is operated by Swahili Spice Hostel, Mombasa, Kenya (“we”, “us”, “our”). We are the data controller for the personal data described in this policy.

We respect your privacy and handle personal data in line with the Data Protection Act, 2019 of Kenya. If you have any questions about this policy, contact us on 0794149805 or WhatsApp 0794149805.

02Information we collect

We only collect the personal data we need to respond to you and look after your stay:

• Booking enquiries: your name, phone number, check-in and check-out dates, number of guests, room preference and any message you choose to include.
• Calls and WhatsApp messages: your phone number, name and whatever you share with us in the conversation.
• When you stay with us: details needed to register and manage your stay, which may include identification details where the law requires them.
• Technical data: when you visit the website, our hosting provider and font provider automatically receive standard technical information such as your IP address, browser type and the pages requested. We don’t use this to identify you.

We do not knowingly collect information from children. A parent or guardian should make enquiries on a child’s behalf.

03How our enquiry form works

Our booking enquiry form checks your details in your browser and then opens WhatsApp with your enquiry ready to send. Nothing is sent to us or stored on our website until you press send in WhatsApp yourself.

Once you send it, your message is delivered through WhatsApp, a service provided by Meta Platforms. WhatsApp’s own privacy policy applies to how it handles your messages.

04How we use your information

We use your personal data to:

• reply to your enquiry and share availability and rates;
• confirm, manage and provide your reservation and stay;
• contact you about your booking, for example to share directions or arrival details;
• keep records we are required to keep by law, and protect the safety and security of our guests and premises;
• respond to feedback you choose to share with us.

We rely on your consent when you contact us, on the need to take steps to perform a contract (your booking), on legal obligations, and on our legitimate interest in running a safe, well-managed hostel.

We will not sell your personal data, and we will not send you marketing messages unless you have asked us to.

05Cookies and analytics

This website does not use cookies, advertising trackers or analytics tools, and it doesn’t store personal data in your browser.

To display our typefaces, your browser loads fonts from Google Fonts, and Google receives your IP address as part of that request. See Google’s privacy policy. Our location map is provided by Google Maps, which may set its own cookies when the map loads.

06Sharing your information

We only share personal data when we need to:

• with service providers that help us run the website and communicate with you, such as our web host and WhatsApp;
• with authorities where the law requires us to;
• to protect the rights, safety or property of our guests, staff or business.

Some of these providers may process data outside Kenya. Where they do, we rely on providers that apply appropriate safeguards to protect it.

07How long we keep it

We keep enquiry and booking information only for as long as we need it to deal with your enquiry or stay, and afterwards for as long as the law or legitimate record-keeping requires. When we no longer need it, we delete it or make it anonymous.

08Keeping it secure

We take reasonable technical and organisational steps to protect your personal data against loss, misuse and unauthorised access. Our website is served over a secure (HTTPS) connection. No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, so please avoid sending sensitive information, such as payment card details, by message.

09Your rights

Under the Data Protection Act, 2019, you have the right to:

• be told how your personal data is used;
• access the personal data we hold about you;
• ask us to correct inaccurate or misleading data;
• ask us to delete data that is no longer needed or was unlawfully processed;
• object to us processing your data;
• ask for your data in a portable format, where this applies.

To use any of these rights, contact us on 0794149805 or WhatsApp 0794149805. We may need to confirm your identity before acting on a request.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (odpc.go.ke).

10Changes 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.