What we collect when you use this website, why, and how to reach us about it.
Drift Lodge is a two-bedroom holiday villa in Wadi Jebal, Soma Bay, Egypt, run by its owner (“the Host”). This notice explains what personal information the Drift Lodge website collects, why, and what you can ask us to do with it. Questions: info@driftlodge.online.
Booking requests: your name, email, phone or WhatsApp number, dates, number of guests, group type, arrival time and any message you write.
Contact form: your name, email, booking reference if you add one, and your message.
Guest area: your booking reference and your email or WhatsApp number to sign you in (or the personal sign-in link we send you), the services you request, and any review you choose to leave.
We do not collect card or payment details, or copies of your ID, on this website.
To answer your questions, review and confirm bookings, prepare the lodge and arrange your arrival, send booking emails, and meet legal duties such as guest registration. We use your details because you asked us to (to answer you or arrange a booking), because the law requires it, or, for news and offers, because you agreed. If you tick the box for news and offers, we may also email you about Drift Lodge; you can unsubscribe at any time. If you stayed with us before and agreed to hear from us, we may send you a message about our website and offers; just reply to stop.
Before arrival you send copies of ID or passports (and, where required, other documents) directly to the Host by WhatsApp or email. They are used only for Soma Bay gate access and guest registration as Egyptian rules require, shared only with Soma Bay security or the authorities where needed, and deleted once they are no longer needed.
We do not sell your information. We share it only with: Soma Bay security for gate access; Egyptian authorities where the law requires; and the service providers that run this website, our email and our backups (hosting and email: Bluehost; backups: Google Drive). If you write to us in German or French, your message or review is translated with DeepL (Germany) so the Host can read it, and our replies are translated back. These providers may store data on servers outside Egypt, for example in the United States; we use providers with recognised security standards. Bookings made on Airbnb, Booking.com or Vrbo are also covered by that platform’s own privacy policy.
If you leave a review in the guest area and agree to it being shown, we may publish your rating, your words and your first name on this website. If you send the Host a review on WhatsApp or by email and agree to it being shown, we may publish it the same way, marked as shared by you. You can ask us to remove it at any time.
Booking records are kept for as long as Egyptian tax and accounting rules require. Messages and requests that did not lead to a booking are deleted within 12 months. Your guest area closes 3 days after check-out. Backups of the website, including booking records, are stored in a private Google Drive account and kept for up to 4 weeks, so we can restore the site if something goes wrong.
You can ask to see, correct or delete the information we hold about you, or to stop marketing emails, by writing to info@driftlodge.online. We reply within 30 days. If you live in the EU, you can also complain to your local data protection authority.
This website uses only the cookies it needs to work, such as keeping you signed in to your guest area. If we add analytics later, we will update this notice and ask for your consent where required.
