Privacy policy
Last updated: 2 October 2026
This policy explains how The Fig Tree Hotel collects and uses personal information about guests, callers, website visitors and people who contact us, and the rights you have. We have written it in plain English. If anything is unclear, please ask us.
Who we are
The Fig Tree Hotel, 10 Queen's Road, Shanklin, Isle of Wight, PO37 6AN, is run by Fig Tree Hotel Ltd, a company registered in Scotland with company number SC837463, registered office 122 Woodside Way, Glenrothes, KY7 5DP.
Fig Tree Hotel Ltd is the "controller" of your personal information, which means we decide how it is used and we are responsible for looking after it.
Contact us about anything in this policy:
- Email: reception@thefigtreehotel.co.uk
- Phone: 01983 241 010
- Post: The Fig Tree Hotel, 10 Queen's Road, Shanklin, Isle of Wight, PO37 6AN
The information we collect
When you book or stay with us: your name, contact details (email, phone, address), the dates and room you book, the number of guests, the names and ages of children in your party, payment details, your booking history with us and any requests you make. When you arrive we ask for government-issued photo ID and a payment card.
Guest registration: UK law requires hotels to keep a record of guests aged 16 and over. We record your full name and nationality and, if you are not a British, Irish or Commonwealth citizen, your passport number and place of issue and your next destination.
Information about your needs: if you tell us about accessibility needs, dietary requirements, allergies or other health information so we can prepare for your stay, we record it. This is sensitive information and we only use it for that purpose.
Dogs: if you bring a dog, we note that on your booking.
When you phone us: some calls are answered by our AI receptionist. It tells you at the start of the call that it is an AI assistant and that calls are recorded. We keep the recording, a written transcript and a short summary. From the call we may note your name, phone number, email, dates, number of guests, whether you are bringing a dog, any accessibility needs, and what you asked about. If you ask for a booking link, we send it to you by text message.
When you message or email us: the content of your message, your contact details and our replies, including conversations through the chat on our website and through social media.
When you book an event or retreat: your name, contact details, payment and any information you give us for the event. If you book through a third-party site such as Meetup or Eventbrite, that site shares your name and contact details with us.
When you visit our website: technical information such as your IP address, browser and device, the pages you visit and how you arrived. Non-essential cookies are only used if you agree (see Cookies below).
How we use it, and our legal reasons
| What we do | Our legal basis under UK data protection law |
|---|---|
| Take and manage your booking, prepare for your stay, take payment, look after you while you are here | Performing our contract with you |
| Keep the guest register and our tax and accounting records | Legal obligation |
| Answer enquiries by phone, email, chat and social media, and follow them up | Our legitimate interest in responding to people who contact us, or taking steps at your request before a contract |
| Record calls and keep transcripts and summaries | Our legitimate interest in following up accurately, training our team and improving our service |
| Use call summaries and feedback to spot common questions and improve our service | Our legitimate interest in running and improving the hotel |
| Use accessibility, dietary or health information you give us | Your explicit consent, which you can withdraw at any time |
| Send you news and offers by email | Your consent, or, if you have stayed with us or booked before, our legitimate interest in telling you about similar stays and events. Every email lets you unsubscribe. |
| Keep the hotel, our guests and staff safe, and prevent fraud | Our legitimate interest in safety and security |
| Use non-essential cookies on our website | Your consent |
Our AI receptionist answers questions, takes your details and sends booking links you ask for. It does not make decisions about you that have legal or similarly significant effects. A member of our team handles anything it cannot.
Who we share it with
We never sell your information. We share it only when we need to, with:
- Our booking and payment system, Mews, which runs our online booking and processes payments.
- Our customer management and messaging system, GoHighLevel, which stores enquiries, calls, chats and emails, and sends messages on our behalf.
- Our telephone, AI receptionist and text-message providers, ElevenLabs (the AI voice assistant and call recordings) and Twilio (phone lines and text messages), plus the secure hosting service that connects them (Railway).
- Our email provider, Microsoft 365.
- Online travel agents such as Booking.com or Expedia, if you booked through them.
- Event platforms such as Meetup and Eventbrite, if you booked an event through them, and the guide or host running an event you have booked, who receives your name and any needs relevant to the event.
- Professional advisers such as our accountants and insurers, and the police, courts or regulators when the law requires it.
These providers act on our instructions and must keep your information secure.
Transfers outside the UK
Some of our providers are based in, or process information in, the European Union or the United States. When your information leaves the UK we make sure it is protected, using UK adequacy regulations (including the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework where a provider is certified) or the ICO's International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum.
How long we keep it
| Information | How long |
|---|---|
| Bookings, invoices and payment records | 6 years after the end of the financial year, for tax and accounting |
| Guest register (name, nationality, passport details where required) | 12 months after your stay, as the law requires |
| Accessibility, dietary and health information | Until your stay ends, unless you ask us to keep it for future stays |
| Enquiries that did not lead to a booking, and chat and email conversations | 2 years after our last contact |
| Call recordings | 90 days; transcripts and summaries stay with the enquiry record |
| Marketing | Until you unsubscribe; we then keep your email on a "do not contact" list so we respect your choice |
Your rights
You have the right to:
- ask for a copy of the information we hold about you
- ask us to correct anything that is wrong or incomplete
- ask us to delete your information, where we have no legal reason to keep it
- ask us to restrict how we use it, or object to our using it on the basis of legitimate interests
- object to marketing at any time, and we will stop
- withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on consent
- ask us to send information you gave us to you or another organisation, in a commonly used format
To use any of these rights, contact us using the details above. We will reply within one month and there is normally no charge.
Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please tell us first and we will try to put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint, or 0303 123 1113.
Cookies
Cookies are small files stored on your device. We use strictly necessary cookies so our website works. We only use other cookies, such as those that measure how people use our site, if you agree through the banner when you first visit. You can change your choice at any time using the cookie settings link at the bottom of every page, or through your browser settings.
Our website links to other sites, such as our booking page run by Mews and the ferry companies. Their own privacy policies apply when you use them.
Children
Our website is not aimed at children and we do not knowingly collect information online from anyone under 13. We record children's names and ages only as part of a family booking made by an adult.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top shows when it last changed.