Cookie policy

This policy explains how Hot Group Holdings Ltd (company no. 17154361) uses cookies and similar technologies on hothotels.co. Read it with the Privacy policy and Terms of service.

1. What cookies are

Cookies are small files stored on your device. We also use similar technologies, including local storage. They do not provide access to other files on your device. Some persist only for a session; others remain until they expire or you delete them.

2. Strictly necessary

These run the Service. They do not need consent under PECR. If you block them, search, checkout or sign-in may fail. They include:

• session and authentication cookies set by us or Clerk so you stay signed in;
• booking-state cookies or storage (dates, occupancy, selected rate) so checkout can finish;
• hh_consent / hh_cookie_consent so we remember whether you allowed optional cookies (kept up to 180 days);
• security and load-balancing cookies from our host;
• Stripe cookies on payment steps so the card form can tokenise the payment;
• hh_comeback / hh_comeback_on (kept up to 48 hours) if we have emailed you a discount, so the site can show it and checkout can take it off; and
• hh_stay (kept up to 30 days) remembers the dates and guests you last chose, so other hotels and pages open on the same stay;
• hh_home (kept up to 12 months) is set when you visit from the UK or Europe, so the site stays open to you when you browse from further away, for example on holiday. It protects the site from automated traffic and does not identify you;
• hh_ads (kept up to 90 days) if you arrive from a Google ad, so we can show you the same advertised rate on later visits. It is a first-party flag only — it does not identify you to Google.

3. Preferences

If you choose a currency or similar display option, we may store that for up to 12 months so the site stays consistent. If you visit from outside the UK, we may set your starting currency from the country you are browsing from; you can change it at any time in the menu. These are still functional rather than advertising.

4. Analytics and advertising measurement

We only set non-essential analytics and advertising cookies after you accept them on the banner (or an equivalent control). We do not sell cookie data.

If you choose Accept all we load Google Tag Manager. Through it, Google Ads may set cookies (including conversion and click identifiers such as _gcl_aw) so we can measure whether an ad led to a visit or a booking. We send Google a purchase event after a confirmed stay, including the booking reference and value, so Ads can attribute the conversion. Until you accept, Consent Mode keeps advertising and analytics storage denied.

Accept all also turns on Microsoft Clarity, which records how pages are used (scrolls, taps and where people leave) so we can make booking easier. Anything typed into forms is hidden from these recordings, and card details are never recorded. Clarity sets its own cookies (such as _clck and _clsk).

Accept all also turns on the TikTok Pixel, so we can measure whether a TikTok ad led to a visit or a booking. It tells TikTok when you view a hotel, start and pay for a booking, and the booking reference and value once it is confirmed. TikTok sets its own cookies (such as _ttp).

Accept all also turns on the Meta Pixel, so we can measure whether a Facebook or Instagram ad led to a visit or a booking. It tells Meta when you search, view a hotel and move through the steps of a booking, and the booking reference and value once it is confirmed. Meta sets its own cookies (such as _fbp, and _fbc if you arrived from one of its ads). For a confirmed booking we also send Meta the same event from our servers, as the Privacy policy explains.

If you choose Essential only, those Google, Microsoft, TikTok and Meta tags stay off and nothing is sent to Meta from our servers. You can still book. We do not use the measurement cookies to sell a profile to other advertisers.

5. Third parties

Clerk and Stripe set their own cookies when you sign in or pay. Google sets cookies if you use Continue with Google, if we load a map or place image, or — after Accept all — through Tag Manager and Google Ads as described above. Microsoft sets cookies through Clarity, and TikTok and Meta through their Pixels, after Accept all. Those parties are controllers for that part of the flow. Their notices apply in addition to this policy.

6. How to manage cookies

You may record your choice via the consent banner or by deleting site data in your browser. Blocking strictly necessary cookies may prevent the Service, including booking, from functioning. Guidance: aboutcookies.org.

7. Contact

privacy@hothotels.co