Hippo Homestay - Guidelines for a Happy Homestay Experience

Welcome to New Zealand and to the Hippo Homestay’s homestay programme! We are sure that you will find homestay an enjoyable experience..  It is a great way to enjoy the New Zealand lifestyle and practise your English skills outside school hours. To help things go more smoothly, our Homestay Co-ordinators have come up with a short list of house rules and courtesies that we would appreciate you follow while staying in homestay. Please discuss these items with your homestay family so that everybody knows where they stand! 

1. Curfew:

If you are under 18, you must be home no later than 8pm from Sunday to Thursday and 12am Friday and Saturday. Please contact your homestay family if you are going to miss a meal for any reason.  If you are over 18, you are allowed to stay out as late as you wish. However, you must still let your homestay family know when to expect you home. Please be careful not to disturb anyone in the house when you return.

2. Overnight stays:

If you wish to spend a night away from your homestay family, you must ask permission from both Hippo Homestay and your homestay family. If you are under the age of 18, you will also need to provide written permission signed by your parent(s).

3. Internet use:

If you wish to use the internet regularly, please talk to your homestay family about this. You may need to pay for your internet use or arrange to have your own phone line installed (this will cost a small fee each month.) Please ask your homestay family or your Homestay Co-ordinator for help with this.

4. Meals:

Your homestay family will provide you with breakfast and dinner Monday to Friday and 3 meals at weekends.  You should buy your own lunch.  Your homestay family would really like you to join them for dinner each evening. If you are not able to make it, you should always call your homestay family and let them know. Also, please remember to tell your homestay family if there are any foods you do not like. They will not be offended and would much rather know what your likes and dislikes are! It is a good idea to list the foods you can’t eat:

5. Smoking:

Very few of our Hippo Homestay host families either smoke or are prepared to accept a smoking applicant.  Please let us know if you are a smoker.

6. Telephone calls:

If you wish to make local phone calls, you are welcome to use your homestay family’s telephone. Please keep the phone calls short. The maximum time for a phone call is 10 minutes. If you wish to call overseas or a mobile phone, please use a prepaid or credit calling phone card.

7.  Placement Conditions:

(a) Homestay placements are made after the homestay fees have cleared Hippo Homestay Ltd’s bank account.

(b) Any booking is for the length of stay covered by the applicant’s initial booking.  No extensions are guaranteed or implied.

(c) Hippo Homestay Ltd reserves the right to decline any applicant’s placement without giving any reason.

(d) As a general rule, homestay families are heavily booked during the period June-August.  It is advisable to make any bookings well in advance (6-8 weeks is advisable) in order to ensure a placement.

(e) Payments are made to host families weekly in arrears.

(f) Hippo Homestay retains a handling fee on each weekly payment.

8.  Extending homestay:

If you would like to extend your stay with your allocated family, please complete the “Request for Extension” form at least 3 weeks prior to the expiry of your current contract.  No extension guarantee is given or implied.

9.  Homestay Changes

(a) Where there is a pressing and genuine reason for a change of family, (e.g. the applicant has specified a family with no dogs, and the family has recently acquired a dog), then Hippo Homestay undertakes to make a second arrangement with no additional charge.

(b)  Where the applicant requests a change of family for a non-pressing reason, a further homestay placement fee is payable.  The requirement for 3 weeks notice continues to apply in this case.

10. Holidays

There are no homestay commencement dates in the period:  1 week prior to Christmas and one week following New Year.  This is because few New Zealand families are able to accept visitors over that period.

11. Cancellations and withdrawals.

Changing/leaving homestay early:

(a) If you wish to either change homestay, or leave earlier than planned, you must give Hippo Homestay Ltd 3 weeks notice and fill in a “request to leave / change homestay” form and give it to Hippo Homestay’s homestay co-ordinator.

(b) If the applicant cancels the application after fees have been paid but before a placement has been made, a penalty of 50% of the placement fee will be forfeited.

(c) If the applicant cancels the application after a placement has been made, 100% of the placement fee will be forfeited.

(d) If the applicant gives notice of withdrawal more than 21 days prior to the homestay start date, 100% of the homestay fees (not including the homestay placement fee) will be refunded.

(e) If the applicant gives notice of withdrawal inside 21 days of the homestay start date, the balance of fees will be refunded either (i) less a penalty of 2 weeks or (ii)  less the total amount of fees paid if the booking is for a period shorter than 2 weeks.

(f) If the applicant wishes to withdraw from the arrangement after having started homestay, s/he must give 3 weeks notice in writing to Hippo Homestay Ltd.

(g) When a applicant withdraws from the homestay arrangement, after having given the required 3 weeks notice, s/he is charged a withdrawal fee of 10% of the balance of homestay fees.

(h) Should a applicant withdraw from the homestay arrangement without meeting the 3 weeks notice requirement, s/he is charged a withdrawal fee of 10% of the balance of homestay fees and forfeits a further two weeks of homestay fees.

"Hippo Homestay - the homestay host family specialists in Auckland New Zealand"