Online Privacy Policy

Effective June 1, 2007

Thank you for visiting [columbiahospitality.com], a Columbia Hospitality, Inc. (CHI) site. To demonstrate our commitment to respecting your privacy, we provide this notice explaining our online information practices and the choices you can make about the way your information is collected and used on our websites.

On our websites we collect information that you voluntarily provide in order for us to provide services and products, process reservations and other transactions you request, and provide customer service. We may also use the personal information we collect for other business purposes such as to better understand customer needs, enhance relationships, or make appropriate offers.

This Online Privacy Policy applies only to the personal information that is collected on those public websites where we post this policy (i.e. not information collected elsewhere,) including numerous other CHI websites.

Categories of Information We Collect

Making Reservations:
When you make a reservation or purchase a vacation package we will request your name and address information along with other information to assist with your reservation and stay such as credit card number, date of arrival/departure, and room preferences.

Requests for Information:
When you request additional information related to our services or properties, we may request your name and contact information such as street address, phone number, and email address.

Email Offers Sign-Up
If you are interested in receiving special offers via email, we require that you provide your first name and email address. You may also provide additional information such as your city of residence, birthday, or interests, to help us tailor our special offers.

Planning Meetings and Events:
If you are interested in obtaining more information about meeting and event planning, we may request your name and contact information such as street address, phone number, and email address.

Contacting Us by Email with Questions or Comments:
When you send us an email from one of our sites, we may retain information such as the content, your email address, our response, and the text of any follow-up questions you may have. We may use this information, for example, to measure how effectively we address customer concerns online, to personalize your experience, and to continuously improve our service to you.

Employment:
If you choose to apply for employment online, you will be required to provide your name, street address, telephone number, email address and any other information required on a standard employment application. 

Collection of Information Through Web Technologies:
We may automatically track and collect your IP address, domain server, the type of computer and type of web browser you are using and use "cookies" to (i) customize content specific to your interests, (ii) ensure that you do not see the same advertisement repeatedly, and (iii) store your password so you do not have to re-enter it each time you use the sites. Some of the websites operated on our behalf are hosted and managed by other companies who may track and collect this information.

What are Cookies:
"Cookies" are pieces of electronic information (specifically, a string of text) that your browser and your operating system store on your hard drive for record-keeping purposes.  Cookies can store a user's ID and password, personalize home pages, identify which parts of a site have been visited or keep track of previous selections or purchases.  Cookies can enhance the user's visit.  The use of cookies is an industry standard-you'll find they are used by most major commercial websites.

How We Issue and Use Cookies:
We issue and use cookies to enhance your visit and the services we offer on the sites. The sites consist of thousands of pages of content. We want you to be able to find the information and offers that interest you, as quickly and easily as possible. The use of cookie technology helps us to achieve that objective.  We issue and use cookies to keep track of the areas of the sites which interest our visitors most. In doing so, we can determine areas of the sites that are most popular and those that are not. Many improvements and updates to the sites are based on such data as total number of visitors and pages viewed. This information is most easily tracked with cookies.  Visitors to the sites who accept cookies may be presented with targeted messages, offers and ads on the site and via email that we believe would be of value, based on observed preferences.  If you have registered as a member of the sites and accept cookies, we can tailor your use to your personal preferences, and it is easier and faster to take advantage of the sites' benefits.  If you have submitted your email address, you may receive targeted messages we believe you will find of value. Remember, you may request to be removed from your email subscription lists.

Your Choice to Accept or Deny Cookies:
You can choose whether to accept or deny cookies; your browser on your computer is often initially set to accept cookies. However, you can choose to deny cookies and continue browsing the sites.  Keep in mind that your choice to accept or deny a cookie is different from your choice to accept/deny email messages.

Sharing Personal Information Collected on our Websites

We may share personal information among CHI affiliates and owners and operators of our managed hotels and facilities. From time to time we may partner with other companies to provide co-sponsored or co-branded promotions, products and services and may share your information with our co-sponsor. For example, we may co-sponsor some sweepstakes or contests on our site with other companies or we may provide prizes for sweepstakes and contests sponsored by other companies. If you enter one of these sweepstakes or contests, we may share your information with our co-sponsor or the third party sponsor. When you use a credit card to purchase goods or services, we may share your information with the credit card company. Use of shared information is subject to third parties' policies.

We rely on service providers to help us deliver products and services, such as providing services in connection with our websites including reservations, airline and rental car packages, communicating news and delivering promotional materials via email and direct mail, processing credit card transactions, and administering sweepstakes and surveys.

During the course of our business, we may also share aggregated and share with third parties demographic and statistical information that is not personally identifiable.

Business Transactions:
In the event that CHI, merges with or is acquired by another legal entity, the personal information subject to this party may be transferred to that other legal entity as an asset.

Legal Requirements:
CHI will disclose personally identifiable information without your permission when we believe in good faith that such disclosure is required by law, or is necessary or desirable to investigate or protect against harmful activities to guests, visitors, employees, or others, or to property (including this site).

We may require you to provide your age and date of birth in order to ensure compliance with U.S. government restrictions on web sites providing content to, and acquiring information from, children.

Third Party Websites

We do not control and shall not be responsible for the collection of personal information by third party websites, including websites owned or controlled by third party owners or managers of hotel properties, hotel room distributors, or websites not controlled or authorized by CHI. Third party websites that are accessed through links on our websites have separate privacy practices. We have no responsibility or liability for the practices and policies implemented by third parties on their websites. Third party websites may have received permission from CHI to use CHI logos or trademarks but will not be governed by this Online Privacy Policy. You should contract third parties directly to ask questions about their privacy practices and policies.

Our Commitment to Children's Privacy

Protecting the privacy of children is especially important. CHI does not encourage children to provide us with their personal information over our websites. In accordance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.) ("COPPA"), we do not collect or maintain personally identifiable information over our websites from anyone we know to be under the age of 13.

Our Commitment to Data Security

To prevent loss, destruction, unauthorized access or alteration, to maintain data accuracy, and to ensure the correct use of information, we have put in place appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online. However, we cannot guarantee that security of all communications with or information submitted to our websites. 

Online Privacy Policy Changes

In the future, we may make changes to this Online Privacy Policy. The revised Online Privacy Policy will be displayed via a link on this website so that you will know what types of information we gather and the categories of third parties with whom we may share the information.

Special Notification for California Residents

Individual customers who reside in California and have provided their personal information to the CHI may request information about our disclosures of certain categories of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes.  Such requests must be submitted to us at the following addresses: 2223 Alaskan Way, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98121. Within thirty days of receiving such a request, we will provide a list of the categories of personal information disclosed to third parties for third-party direct marketing purposes during the immediately preceding calendar year, along with the names and addresses of these third parties. This request may be made no more than once per calendar year. We reserve our right not to respond to requests submitted other than to the address specified in this paragraph.

How to Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about the CHI online policy for this site or its implementation you may contact us at info@columbiahospitality.com.