Introduction

Stay Express® ("SE", "we", "our", or "us"), a trade name of Care Hotel Group, respects your privacy and is committed to protecting the personal information you share with us. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, with whom we share it, and what choices you have.

This policy applies to personal information collected through our website (www.stayexpress.com), mobile applications, and any other digital services we operate. By using our site, you agree to the practices described in this policy.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Information You Provide Directly

We collect information you voluntarily provide when you:

• Create an account or join our loyalty program
• Make a reservation or purchase
• Contact our customer support team
• Sign up for our newsletter or marketing communications

This may include your name, email address, phone number, mailing address, payment information, date of birth, and loyalty program preferences.

1.2 Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our website, we automatically collect certain technical information, including:

• IP address and general geographic location
• Browser type, version, and language settings
• Device type and operating system
• Pages visited, time on site, and referring URLs
• Cookie identifiers and session data

This information is collected using cookies, web beacons, and similar tracking technologies (see Section 5).

1.3 Information from Third Parties

We may receive information about you from third parties such as:

• Travel agents or booking platforms that facilitate reservations on your behalf
• Loyalty program partners
• Social media platforms (if you connect your account or interact with our social content)
• Analytics and advertising partners

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• Reservations & Services: To process bookings, confirm reservations, and deliver the services you request.
• Account Management: To create and manage your loyalty account and preferences.
• Communications: To send booking confirmations, receipts, service updates, and responses to your inquiries.
• Marketing: To send promotional offers, newsletters, and personalized recommendations (where you have consented or where permitted by law).
• Site Improvement: To analyze site usage, troubleshoot issues, and improve user experience.
• Security: To detect, investigate, and prevent fraud, unauthorized access, and other harmful activity.
• Legal Compliance: To meet our obligations under applicable law, including tax, financial reporting, and consumer protection requirements.

3. Legal Bases for Processing

Where applicable under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or similar laws, we process your personal data on the following legal bases:

• Contract Performance: Processing necessary to fulfill your reservation or provide services you requested.
• Legitimate Interests: Analytics, fraud prevention, and site security, where these do not override your rights.
• Consent: Marketing communications, cookies, and other processing where you have given explicit consent.
• Legal Obligation: Processing required by applicable law or regulation.

4. Sharing Your Information

We do not sell your personal information.

We may share your information with the following categories of third parties, only to the extent necessary:

• Hotel Properties: Individual Stay Express® properties need your reservation details to fulfill your booking.
• Service Providers: Payment processors, IT providers, analytics vendors, and email delivery platforms that process data on our behalf under data processing agreements.
• Business Partners: Loyalty program partners, where you have chosen to connect your account.
• Legal & Regulatory: Government agencies or law enforcement when required by law or to protect the rights and safety of Stay Express® or its users.
• Corporate Transactions: In connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, where your information may be transferred as a business asset.

All third-party service providers are required to handle your data securely and in accordance with applicable law.

5. Cookies & Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to operate the site, remember your preferences, and analyze traffic. You can manage your cookie preferences through your browser settings. The main categories of cookies we use are:

• Essential Cookies: Necessary for the site to function. Cannot be disabled.
• Functional Cookies: Enable enhanced features and personalization.
• Analytics Cookies: Help us measure and improve site performance (e.g., Google Analytics).
• Marketing Cookies: Used to show you relevant advertisements across other platforms.

To opt out of analytics tracking, you may use your browser's Do Not Track setting or a tool such as the Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-on. To opt out of interest-based advertising, visit optout.networkadvertising.org.

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this policy, unless a longer retention period is required by law. Specifically:

• Reservation and transaction records are retained for a minimum of 7 years for tax and accounting compliance.
• Loyalty account data is retained for the duration of your membership, plus a reasonable period after account closure.
• Marketing preferences and communication history are retained until you withdraw consent or request deletion.
• Website analytics data is typically retained in anonymized form.

7. Your Rights & Choices

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Correction: Request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Deletion: Request that we delete your personal data, subject to legal retention requirements.
• Portability: Request that we provide your data in a machine-readable format.
• Objection / Restriction: Object to certain types of processing or request that we limit how we use your data.
• Withdraw Consent: Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.
• Opt Out of Marketing: Unsubscribe from promotional emails at any time using the "unsubscribe" link in any email, or by contacting us directly.

8. California Residents - Additional Rights

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) grants you additional rights:

• Right to Know: You may request information about the categories and specific pieces of personal data we have collected about you in the past 12 months.
• Right to Delete: You may request deletion of personal data we have collected from you, subject to certain exceptions.
• Right to Opt Out of Sale: Stay Express® does not sell personal information. However, if our practices change, we will provide a "Do Not Sell My Personal Information" link.
• Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising your CCPA rights.

9. Children's Privacy

The Stay Express website is not directed to children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected such data, we will delete it promptly. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us.

10. International Data Transfers

Stay Express operates in the United States. If you are located outside the U.S., your personal information will be transferred to and processed in the U.S., which may not have the same data protection laws as your country. Where required, we implement appropriate transfer mechanisms such as Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) to ensure adequate protection of your data.

11. Security

We use a variety of technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal information, including TLS encryption, access controls, regular security assessments, and PCI DSS-compliant payment processing. For full details, see our Site Security Policy. While we take reasonable precautions, no transmission over the internet is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

12. Links to Other Sites

The Stay Express website may contain links to third-party sites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites and encourage you to review their privacy policies independently before providing any personal information.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post the revised policy on our website with an updated effective date. If we make material changes, we will notify you by email (where we have your address on file) or by a prominent notice on the site. Continued use of the site after updates are posted constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

14. Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests related to this Privacy Policy, please contact us.