Refund & Cancellation Policy

Last updated: 28 July 2026

This policy covers stays and experiences booked through Kashmir Explorer. Individual properties may set stricter terms; where they do, the terms shown on the property page at the time you book take precedence, and we will always show them before you confirm.

How a booking is confirmed

A reservation is created as pending and the property has 24 hours to accept it. Until it is accepted you are not committed and no cancellation charge can apply. If a property does not respond within 24 hours the reservation lapses and any amount paid is refunded in full.

Cancelling a confirmed booking

Unless the property states otherwise, the following applies from the confirmed check-in date:

Weather, road closures and access

Kashmir is a mountain region, and passes, highways and flights close at short notice. If a public authority closes access to your destination, or your inbound flight is cancelled by the airline, and you can no longer reach the property, we will refund in full regardless of when you cancel. We may ask for the airline cancellation notice or a public advisory. This does not extend to changes of plan, or to weather that is merely inconvenient.

If the property cancels

If a property cancels a confirmed booking, or cannot provide what was booked on arrival, you receive a full refund. Where we can, we will also help you find comparable accommodation for the same dates. We do not charge you the difference if the alternative we arrange costs more.

How to cancel

Cancel from your bookings page, or contact us with your booking reference (it looks like KE-A1B2C3). The cancellation takes effect when we receive it, not when the property acknowledges it.

When refunds reach you

Approved refunds are issued to the original payment method within 5–7 working days of approval. Your bank or card issuer may take a further few days to post it. Where a booking was paid directly at the property, the refund is settled by the property and we will help mediate if it is delayed.

Disputes

Most problems are settled quickly if they reach us early. This section sets out what to do, what we will do, and how long each step takes.

If the stay is not as described

Tell us within 48 hours of check-in, while you are still at the property. A room that is not what was listed, a facility that does not exist, or a serious cleanliness or safety problem can usually be fixed on the spot — moved, corrected, or the property changed. Once you have left, the same complaint becomes one account against another, and there is far less we can do.

Photographs with visible timestamps help more than anything else. Send them with your booking reference.

If you disagree with a charge or a refund

Raise it with us within 14 days of the charge or of the refund decision. Include your booking reference and what you expected to be charged. We will show you how the amount was calculated, including any cancellation tier applied.

What we commit to

• We acknowledge every dispute within 2 working days.
• We reach a decision within 10 working days. Where we need something from the property or your bank, it can take up to 21 working days, and we will tell you if that applies rather than leave you waiting.
• We put the decision, and the reason for it, in writing.
• Where a refund is owed, it is sent to the original payment method. We cannot redirect a refund to a different card or account.

How we decide

We ask both you and the property for an account and any evidence, and we hold the listing as it stood when you booked. Where the evidence is genuinely balanced, we decide in favour of the guest — you were not in a position to verify the listing before arriving, and the property was.

Card disputes and chargebacks

You are entitled to dispute a charge with your bank or card issuer. We would ask you to come to us first, because we can usually resolve it in days where a chargeback takes weeks and is decided by people who have seen neither the property nor the booking.

If a chargeback is raised, we will respond to it with the booking record, the payment record, our correspondence with you, and the property's account. Timelines for that process are set by the card network and your issuing bank, not by us.

Raising a chargeback does not stop us dealing with you directly, and we will not cancel a confirmed booking because one has been raised. What we cannot do is refund the same amount twice — if a chargeback succeeds after we have already refunded you, we will ask for the duplicate back.

Claims by a property against a guest

A property may raise a claim for damage beyond ordinary wear, or for a missing item. They must do so within 7 days of your check-out and provide evidence. We will put it to you and hear your side before anything is decided. We do not hold a deposit and we cannot charge your card for such a claim without your agreement.

If you are still not satisfied

Ask for the decision to be reviewed and it will be looked at again by someone who was not involved the first time. Say plainly that you want an escalation.

Where a complaint concerns a payment, and you are not satisfied with our response after 30 days, you may take it to the Reserve Bank of India Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, which covers payment system participants in India. Our payment processing is handled by our payment gateway, whose own grievance process is also open to you.

What we keep

We retain the booking record, the payment and refund records, and any dispute correspondence for at least 3 years, so that a decision can be reviewed long after the event. You can ask us for a copy of what we hold about your own bookings.

Contact

Questions about a cancellation or a refund go to our contact page. Please include your booking reference so we can find it quickly.