SmartStay Owner Standard Terms, Version 2026-09

1. Scope

These terms form part of every Property Management Agreement that refers to them. If the Agreement and these terms differ, the Agreement prevails. SmartStay may publish a new version of these terms for new agreements. An existing Agreement keeps the version of these terms that was current on the day the Agreement was signed.

2. Statements and payments

Each month SmartStay sends Client a statement for the previous month, covering the stays that checked out in it. SmartStay pays Client's share only after the Homestay Website or the Guest has paid SmartStay and the money has cleared.

Rent means the nightly price for the booked nights, as shown on the booking. Any other amount a Guest pays is not considered rent, such as the Cleaning Fee or fees for additional services, including but not limited to linen and towel changes, extra cleaning and other extras a Guest orders. Where a platform bundles the Cleaning Fee into the nightly price, the rent is reduced by the Property's standard Cleaning Fee.

From the rent received, SmartStay deducts, in this order:

• (a) the Tourism Dirham;
• (b) VAT;
• (c) Homestay Website and payment processing charges;
• (d) the Management Fee;
• (e) refunds and chargebacks;
• (f) costs that are Client's under the Agreement;
• (g) a reserve for a named dispute that is still open. SmartStay releases the reserve when the dispute closes.

The balance is Client's payout. If a statement contains an error, SmartStay corrects it in a later statement. SmartStay does not pay interest on money it holds for Client.

3. Payments and checks

SmartStay pays the payout only to a bank account in Client's own name, or to a payee Client has authorised in writing. A change of payout account takes effect only on Client's written instruction, which SmartStay may confirm with Client before paying. A payment may be held while SmartStay completes its identity, sanctions and source-of-funds checks. Client confirms that Client is not subject to sanctions and that Client's funds are lawful.

4. Refunds, chargebacks and Guest disputes

SmartStay decides how to handle Guest refunds, cancellations, chargebacks and disputes, following the Homestay Website's policy where one applies, and may give a Guest compensation or a goodwill credit to protect a rating or settle a complaint. These amounts come off the rent before Client's share is calculated. A refund or chargeback that lands after Client has been paid for that stay is recovered from the next payout or, if none follows, repaid by Client on request.

5. Amounts owed

Any amount Client owes SmartStay, or a company in the SmartStay group, under any agreement or on any property, may be recovered from any payout.

6. Fines and charges

Fines, penalties and charges from DET, the building, the developer or a utility provider that are caused by the Property, the building or Client are Client's cost.

7. Utilities

SmartStay may pay utility, cooling and service-charge bills for the Property from the money it holds for Client, and recovers them on the next statement.

8. Disruption events

Some events are outside everyone's control, for example war, regional conflict, travel bans, platform-wide cancellation waves or government orders. If an event like these affects the Property or the Dubai market, SmartStay may pause the listings and refund Guests. SmartStay charges Client no fee for doing so, and nights that are not sold carry no Management Fee.

9. Unavailability and relocation

If the Property cannot host Guests for any reason, for example a failed air conditioner, a leak, a power cut, a building issue or a missing access card, SmartStay may move the affected Guests to another property and block the Property until the problem is fixed. Costs are allocated as in clause 5.4 of the Agreement: Client covers the relocation and refund costs, unless the cause is SmartStay's own fault.

10. Repairs declined

If Client declines or delays a repair SmartStay needs to host Guests, the nights lost count as unavailability caused by Client, and the Management Fee on them is Client's cost, worked out on confirmed bookings or, for unbooked nights, the Property's rental history. Using the 48 hours allowed by clause 4.5 of the Agreement is not a delay. SmartStay may leave the Property blocked while Client decides on the quotation. Where the work is done in-house, standard rates apply, quoted before the work.

11. Condition and safety

Client confirms that the Property and its contents are safe and compliant at handover to SmartStay. If SmartStay has told Client about a safety defect and Client does not have it fixed, the consequences sit with Client, and SmartStay may block the Property until it is fixed.

12. Access and keys

Client keeps SmartStay's access to the Property uninterrupted for the whole Agreement, and does not change, add or disable any lock, code, access card or utility during the Agreement. Client provides the building and parking access cards SmartStay needs.

13. The permit

Client will not ask DET to cancel, suspend or close the Property's permit while the Agreement runs.

14. Insurance

Client's insurance policy covers the building, the contents, public liability and damage caused by Guests, and names SmartStay as an interested party. Client shows SmartStay the policy again at each renewal. A Homestay Website's host-protection programme is not insurance.

15. Telling SmartStay

Client tells SmartStay within 24 hours of any defect in the Property, any notice from the building or an authority, any lapse in insurance, any court order or mortgage enforcement affecting the Property, and any plan to sell the Property or move into it.

16. Owner use

The Agreement gives Client a yearly allowance of nights in the Property, and Client pays the Cleaning Fee for each owner stay. If Client stays longer than booked, or uses more nights than the allowance, SmartStay may charge Client the Management Fee it missed on those nights. If a Guest has to be moved or refunded because of Client's stay, Client covers that cost. Owner nights do not count towards the term of the Agreement.

17. Client's people and owner nights

Client, and Client's family, staff and contractors, arrange any visit, contractor or building instruction through SmartStay. Owner nights are for Client and for the family members Client names, as non-paying guests.

18. Bookings past the end date

Bookings that run past the end date are moved to another permitted holiday home. Where Client agrees in writing to extend, SmartStay may instead host them in the Property under the Property's permit. The Management Fee on them stays SmartStay's.

If Client ends the Agreement before it allows, or takes the Property back early, Client pays SmartStay the Management Fee it would have earned up to the earliest date on which the Agreement could have ended under clause 7.1 of the Agreement (the end of the initial period plus the three months' notice, or the end of a notice period already running), worked out on the average monthly rent so far, plus the relocation or refund costs of Guests already booked. This reflects the set-up, software and team SmartStay puts behind every Property. Both remedies apply together: the rent SmartStay keeps on a moved booking under clause 7.3 of the Agreement covers those nights, so the fee already included in it counts towards the fee for the rest of the period, and relocation costs are recovered in full where that rent does not cover them.

19. Hand-back at the end

When the Agreement ends, SmartStay and Client inspect the Property together within seven days of SmartStay's request. SmartStay returns all keys and access cards to Client. SmartStay removes its own devices and items, meaning those it supplied at its own cost and did not bill to Client. Client takes over the utility and building accounts from the end date. SmartStay issues the final statement once the Homestay Websites' payment and dispute windows for the last stays have closed. Until then SmartStay keeps paying Client's cleared share under clause 6 of the Agreement, less a reasonable reserve for refunds, chargebacks and disputes still open on the last stays, and settles the balance in the final statement.

20. Hand-back record

If Client does not attend the hand-back inspection, SmartStay's dated photographic record is the hand-back record.

21. Sale

Client gives SmartStay at least 60 days' written notice before selling the Property. Viewings are booked through SmartStay on dates free of Guests, and a viewing day counts as an owner night. If the buyer signs a new agreement with SmartStay before completion, this Agreement ends on completion with nothing further to pay. If the buyer does not, the sale is an early ending by Client and clause 18 applies.

22. Death and insolvency

If Client dies or loses capacity, SmartStay looks after the Guests already booked (hosting them where the law allows, or moving or refunding them), asks Client's lawful representative for fresh authority before continuing, and pays the payout to the person the court names. If Client becomes insolvent, SmartStay follows any direction of the court or the appointed office-holder.

23. Change in law and DET action

If DET or a new law stops the Property from being let as a holiday home, neither party has to perform the Agreement for as long as the stop lasts, and no Management Fee is due on nights not sold. Amounts already earned or owed stay payable. SmartStay may move the operation to a company in the SmartStay group that holds the licence needed.

Any fee, tax or equipment requirement that an authority introduces after signing is Client's cost.

24. Liability and indemnity

The liability cap and the exclusions in clause 8 of the Agreement apply to everything under these terms. Client's indemnity in clause 8 covers claims, losses and costs that arise from Guests, Homestay Websites, DET, the building and the condition of the Property. It does not cover loss caused by SmartStay's own fraud or gross negligence.

25. Notices are enough

Notices under the Agreement and these terms are given by email as clause 10.1 of the Agreement provides. No further formal notice is needed before either party acts on a right under the Agreement or these terms.

26. Data

SmartStay collects and holds Guest data in its own name and is responsible for it. SmartStay does not share Guest names or identity details with Client. SmartStay uses the details of Client, and of Client's representative and signatory, including identity and bank details, only to run the Agreement (statements, payouts and DET permits), and shares them with its team and service providers only where needed for that.

27. Group companies

SmartStay may carry out any part of the Agreement through a company in the SmartStay group, and that company may hold the DET permit for the Property. SmartStay may transfer the Agreement to a company in the SmartStay group by giving Client notice. The Agreement continues on the same terms.

28. General

Confidentiality. Both parties keep the information they learn under the Agreement confidential, unless it is already public or the law requires disclosure.

Disclosure to companies in the SmartStay group, insurers, banks, Homestay Websites and DET is allowed. SmartStay and the companies in its group may use the Property's listings, photos, performance figures and other information about the Property in their marketing, training, coaching and educational material.

Whole agreement. The Agreement, including its schedules and these terms, is the whole agreement between SmartStay and Client and replaces all earlier discussions, agreements and understandings, written or spoken.

Changes. A change to the Agreement is valid only in writing signed by both parties.

No waiver. If a party is slow to enforce a right, or lets one breach pass, it keeps that right and every other right.

Severability. If any part of the Agreement or these terms is found invalid or unenforceable, that part is read down as far as needed to make it valid, and the rest stays in force.

Notices. Notices follow clause 10.1 of the Agreement.

Schedule: Essentials Checklist

The items DET requires in a holiday home, following DET's guide. Client equips the Property to the version current when SmartStay applies for the permit.

• General
  • Acceptable furniture and equipment (subject to good maintenance without damage)
  • Adequate floor covering or finish
  • Wireless Internet service (Wi-Fi)
  • Central air conditioning, or separate air conditioning unit
  • Adequate wall covering or finishes
  • Cleaning tools and accessories (for unit, rooms, bathrooms, and kitchen)
  • Washing machine with dryer
  • Curtains or blackout to completely darken the unit
  • Waste basket
  • Electric iron and ironing board
  • First aid kit for use in emergencies
  • Provide emergency tools (fire extinguishers/fire blankets/gloves/torch)
• Living Room
  • Sofa or armchair for two people, per bedroom or studio
  • Dining table with at least two chairs, per bedroom or studio
  • Color T.V. with remote control
  • Rug or carpet
• Bedroom
  • Beds with headboard and modern mattresses, sheets, pillows, and clean bedspreads of suitable sizes as a minimum:
    • Main bedroom:
      • Bed length 200cm and width 150cm
    • Studios and other bedrooms:
      • Single beds length 190cm and width 90cm
      • Double beds are 190cm long and 135cm wide
  • Bedside table with drawer or shelf, as well as a shaded bedside lamp
  • Wardrobe or cupboard with shelves and a mirror
  • A wardrobe with hangers (at least 6 hangers)
  • Safe box inside the wardrobe or in a hidden place, per studio and main bedroom
  • Two sets of bed sheets and pillow covers for every bed
  • Chest of drawers or shelves for clothes (can be part of the above mentioned wardrobe).
  • Carpet or rug for each bedroom
• Bathroom
  • Shower, or bath tub for each en-suite bathroom
  • Sink with mirror and lighting
  • Lidded WC
  • Hot and cold running water
  • Bathing and personal hygiene accessories (such as: soap, shampoo)
  • Handle for bath tubs
  • Two sets of towels for each room
  • WC spray washer or bidet
  • Towel holder
  • Bath mat
  • Soap holder
  • Hooks
  • Shelves for cosmetics
• Kitchen
  • Sink and draining board
  • Hot and cold running water
  • Cooking device
  • Fridge
  • Microwave
  • Waste bins with covers
  • Cooking utensils
  • Tableware for each bedroom (including ceramic dishes, spoons, knives, cups), two sets per bedroom
  • Odor extractor fan
• Technical Specifications
  • Smart noise notification system
  • Smart locks