Cookie Policy

Birch Stays — birchstays.com

Effective date: 4 August 2026
Last updated: 4 August 2026

1. Who we are

This Cookie Policy explains how Birch Stays Ltd ("Birch Stays", "we", "us", "our") uses cookies and similar technologies on https://birchstays.com (the "Website").

Birch Stays Ltd is a private limited company registered in England and Wales under company number 13824705. Our registered office is at 76 Duddy Road, Disley, Stockport, England, SK12 2GB.

For questions, contact hello@birchstays.com.

This policy should be read with our Privacy Policy, which explains how we process personal data more broadly.

2. What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website. They help sites work, remember preferences, and understand how people use the site.

We also use similar technologies such as:

  • pixels / tags (small pieces of code that record events, for example a page view or completed booking);
  • local or session storage in your browser (for short-lived technical needs, such as preventing a purchase event from firing twice if you refresh a confirmation page);
  • scripts loaded from our analytics and advertising partners when you have given the relevant consent.

In this policy, “cookies” covers these technologies where relevant.

3. How we use cookies

We use cookies to:

  • make the Website work securely (for example, keeping you signed in);
  • remember your cookie preferences;
  • understand how you found us (for example, a campaign link or referring website);
  • measure how the Website is used, with your consent;
  • measure advertising performance, with your consent.

4. Your choices

When you first visit the Website you will see a short notice explaining your choices.

Statistics are on by default. We measure how the Website is used so we can improve it. This measurement is first-party: it tells us things like which pages are visited, how people arrive, and where a booking journey stops. It is used only to understand and improve our own service. It is not used to build advertising profiles, and it is not shared with anyone else for their own purposes. UK law permits this kind of measurement without prior consent, provided you are told clearly and can object easily. You can turn it off at any time using the button in the notice, or by contacting us.

Marketing is off until you accept it. Cookies and tags that measure advertising performance, such as Meta and Google Ads, only run if you choose "Accept all".

The buttons do the following:

  • Accept all — statistics and marketing both run.
  • Analytics only — statistics run, marketing does not.
  • Turn off all optional — neither runs. Only strictly necessary cookies remain.
  • Preferences — set statistics and marketing separately.

We use Google Consent Mode v2 to apply your choice to every tag on the Website.

Your choice is stored in the birch_consent_v1 cookie for 365 days. To change it, open the preferences link in the footer, or clear cookies for birchstays.com and revisit the Website so the notice appears again.

5.3 Statistical cookies (on by default, you can object)

These help us understand how the Website is used. They run unless you turn them off.

ProviderPurposeExamples of cookies / storage

Google Tag Manager

Loads and manages our tags according to your choices

No cookies of its own

Google Analytics 4

Counts visits, pages, traffic sources and booking funnel steps

_ga, _ga_* (typically up to 2 years)

For this measurement we have turned off Google Signals, user-provided data collection and advertising personalisation signals in Google Analytics. That means the data is used to produce statistics about our own Website and is not used by Google to personalise advertising to you.

When you complete a booking we also send a record of that booking from our own servers to Google Analytics, so our booking counts are accurate even if a tag fails to load. It carries the booking reference, the value, and the property booked. It does not carry your name, email address or phone number.

To object: choose "Turn off all optional" in the notice, or email hello@birchstays.com. We will stop this measurement for you.

5.5 Live chat and session recording (consent required)

If you accept analytics, we load our live chat widget, provided by Conduit (base.conduit.ai). The chat widget also loads Microsoft Clarity, which records how pages are used, including mouse movement, scrolling and clicks, to help us find problems with the Website.

ProviderPurposeExamples of cookies / storage

Conduit

Live chat with our team

Conduit cookies and local storage

Microsoft Clarity

Session replay and heatmaps used to improve the Website

_clck, _clsk (typically up to 365 days)

Hotjar

Session analytics, heatmaps and behaviour insights

_hjSessionUser_*, _hjSession_* (durations vary)

Session recording goes beyond simple statistics, so unlike section 5.3 these only run after you actively accept. If you decline, live chat will not be available and you can reach us by email instead.

6. Third-party cookies

Some cookies are set by third parties when their tools run on the Website, for example Google, Meta, Microsoft, Conduit, Hotjar or Stripe. Those providers process data under their own privacy policies.

Marketing tags and session recording only run after you accept them. The statistical measurement in section 5.3 runs by default and is configured so that the data is not used by the provider for its own advertising purposes.

7. Managing cookies in your browser

Most browsers let you:

  • see which cookies are stored;
  • delete cookies;
  • block third-party cookies;
  • block cookies from specific sites.

Browser controls vary. Look under Privacy, Security, or Cookies in your browser settings. Useful starting points:

8. Changes to this policy

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time. The current version will always be available at https://birchstays.com/cookies/.

9. Contact us

Birch Stays Ltd
Email: hello@birchstays.com
Website: https://birchstays.com
Registered office: 76 Duddy Road, Disley, Stockport, England, SK12 2GB
Company number: 13824705

This document is provided for publication on birchstays.com. It is not legal advice. We recommend having it reviewed by a qualified adviser before publication.

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