Privacy Policy

1.Introduction

This Privacy Policy explains how Smiling House Ltd ("Smiling House", "we", "us") collects, uses and protects your personal data when you visit smilinghouse.com, make an enquiry, request or confirm a booking, join the VIP Club, subscribe to our journal, or list a property with us.

We process personal data in accordance with the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (nDSG/FADP) and, where applicable, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). By using our website and services you acknowledge the practices described in this policy.

⚠ Placeholder: the registered entity is Smiling House Ltd (confirmed 2026-08-29); confirm the registered address and contact details in site settings before publishing.

2.Who we are (data controller)

3.Data we collect

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect:

• Enquiry data — name, email address, phone number, travel dates, destination, party size, budget, preferences and special requests you send through our enquiry and contact forms.
• Booking data — the details needed to arrange and manage a stay: guest names, contact details, stay dates, the booked property, add-on services, and payment status. Payments are handled by our payment provider; we do not store full card numbers.
• Account data — where an account or membership (e.g. the VIP Club) is created: name, email, phone and your stated travel interests.
• Property-owner and partner data — where you list or manage a home with us, or apply to a partner programme: your contact details and details of your properties or company.
• Newsletter data — your email address, where you have subscribed.
• Technical data — IP address, browser type, pages visited and referring pages, collected via cookies and similar technologies. Google Analytics 4 is loaded only after you consent via the cookie banner.

4.How we use your data

We use personal data to:

• Respond to enquiries and prepare tailored proposals and quotes (performance of pre-contractual measures).
• Process booking requests and manage stays, including concierge services you ask for (performance of a contract).
• Onboard, present and distribute listed properties on our platforms and partner channels (contract / legitimate interest).
• Send our newsletter and stories, where you have subscribed — you can unsubscribe at any time (consent).
• Measure and improve our website, collection and services (legitimate interest; analytics only after consent).
• Meet legal, tax and accounting obligations (legal obligation).

5.Cookies

Our website sets a small number of first-party cookies to remember your preferences and, after consent, to measure how the site is used:

• sh_consent — Stores your cookie-consent choice so the banner is not shown again. (retained 12 months).
• sh_currency — Remembers your selected display currency. (retained 12 months).
• sh_wishlist — Keeps the villas you have saved to your wishlist. (retained 12 months).
• Google Analytics (_ga, _ga_*) — Audience measurement (GA4). Set only after you accept analytics cookies via the consent banner. (retained up to 24 months).

See our Cookie Policy at /legal/cookies for full details and how to change your choice.

6.Service providers (processors)

To operate our services we share data with carefully selected providers acting on our instructions. We share only what is necessary for each purpose, and we never sell your personal data. Our main providers are:

• Vercel Inc. — website hosting and content delivery
• Neon Inc. — application database (hosted in the EU, eu-central-1)
• Cloudflare Inc. (R2) — media and image storage
• Resend / SMTP email providers — transactional email delivery
• Guesty Inc. and connected channel-management partners — property, enquiry and booking processing
• Flywire Corporation — payment processing for bookings
• MapTiler AG — map tiles on search and property pages
• Google Ireland Ltd (Google Analytics 4) — audience analytics, loaded only after consent
• PostHog Inc. (EU cloud) — product analytics, loaded only after consent
• Vercel Inc. (Web Analytics and Speed Insights) — aggregate traffic and page-performance measurement; cookieless and IP-anonymous, so it runs without consent
• Functional Software Inc. (Sentry) — error monitoring; personal data is stripped before events are sent

7.International transfers

Because our collection spans homes across Europe, the Americas, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa, personal data may be transferred to providers outside Switzerland and the EEA (for example, US-based hosting and email providers). Where this happens, we rely on recognised safeguards such as adequacy decisions or standard contractual clauses.

8.Data retention

We keep personal data only as long as needed for the purposes described above, and afterwards where retention is required by Swiss law — for example, accounting records connected to a confirmed booking (generally 10 years). Enquiry data that does not lead to a booking is deleted or anonymised within a reasonable period. Newsletter data is kept until you unsubscribe.

9.Your rights

You have the right to:

• Request access to the personal data we hold about you.
• Ask us to correct or delete your data.
• Object to or restrict certain processing.
• Receive your data in a portable format.
• Withdraw consent at any time, where processing is based on consent.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details below. You may also lodge a complaint with the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) or, in the EU/EEA, with your local supervisory authority.

10.Security

We protect personal data with appropriate technical and organisational measures, including encrypted connections (TLS), access controls, and hosting with providers that maintain recognised security certifications.

11.Contact

Questions about this policy or your personal data? Write to Smiling House Ltd, Mettlenstr. 16, 3780 Gstaad, Switzerland, or reach our team by phone / WhatsApp on +41 79 489 70 21.