Information we collect
If you submit the contact form, we collect your name, email address, subject, message and submission time. For security and spam prevention, the form also processes a short-lived pseudonymous network identifier and basic request information. We do not ask for payment details, account passwords or sensitive booking credentials.
How we use contact information
Contact information is used to respond to enquiries, review corrections, handle privacy requests, maintain necessary correspondence and protect the form from misuse. It is not sold. Access is limited to people who need it for these purposes.
Google Analytics 4 and Google Tag Manager
With your analytics consent, Google Tag Manager loads Google Analytics 4. GA4 measures page views and SML Stays events such as stay_search and affiliate_click. Event parameters can include page type, page slug, destination key, call-to-action placement, provider, occupancy totals and whether dates were supplied. The events are designed not to include names, email addresses, message text, passwords or payment information.
SML Insights
With your analytics consent, SML Insights records visits, pages, searches and booking-link interactions using pseudonymous visitor and session identifiers. It records acquisition source, medium and campaign where available, along with page and selected booking information. It does not need your name or payment details. Withdrawal stops this tracking and clears its visitor, session and attribution storage on your device.
Cookies and consent choices
Analytics remains opt-in unless a separately approved Australian measurement policy is active and trusted server location identifies the visit as Australian. Under that policy, limited Google Analytics measurement may start without an initial opt-in. Basic Google Analytics and detailed SML Insights have separate controls. Detailed SML Insights journeys still require a specific affirmative choice; enabling basic measurement does not enable them. Advertising consent remains denied. Existing declines are respected in every region. Visitors elsewhere, or with unknown location, retain opt-in controls. The Australian information notice provides an immediate Turn off analytics control. Privacy settings in the footer lets you manage each purpose separately; turning off analytics disables both purposes. You can withdraw either choice; this stops subsequent controlled tracking and clears applicable analytics identifiers on your device. Your explicit choice is saved so the site can remember it.
Affiliate searches and Booking.com
Accommodation searches create an outbound Booking.com link containing the selected destination, dates, occupancy, SML Stays affiliate ID and a page-source label. Clicking the search takes you to Booking.com, which then controls its own site, cookies, account activity, availability, payments and booking transaction under its privacy terms. SML Stays does not receive Booking.com passwords or payment details.
Third-party services and overseas processing
SML Stays uses service providers including Google for analytics and tag management, Booking.com for outbound accommodation searches, and website hosting and database infrastructure for site delivery and contact submissions. These providers may process information in countries other than your own and apply their own privacy terms and safeguards.
Retention and security
Contact submissions are scheduled for deletion after 24 months unless they must be kept longer to resolve an enquiry, establish or defend legal rights, or meet an applicable legal requirement. Short-lived anti-spam rate-limit records are removed after no more than 48 hours. Reasonable technical and organisational controls are used, but no internet service can guarantee absolute security.
Your privacy rights
Depending on where you live, you may have rights to request access to, correction of or deletion of personal information, to object to or restrict certain processing, or to withdraw consent. These rights are subject to applicable law. Use the contact form and select “Privacy enquiry”; identity may need to be verified before a request is completed.
Updates and contact
This policy may be updated when the site, providers or legal requirements change. The current version is effective 28 August 2026. Privacy questions and rights requests can be submitted through the SML Stays contact form using the “Privacy enquiry” subject.
For a privacy enquiry or rights request, use the contact form and select “Privacy enquiry”.
Further information: Google Privacy Policy · Booking.com Privacy Statement