1. Information We Collect

1.1 Information You Provide

When you submit a booking enquiry or contact us, we may collect:

• Your first and last name
• Email address and phone number
• Company or organisation name (where provided)
• Event details — the nature of your event, preferred dates and times, number of guests, and the space you are interested in
• Any notes or additional information you choose to share, and how you heard about us

1.2 Usage and Technical Information

• Pages visited and interactions on our website
• Device and browser information
• IP address and general location (country/region)
• Cookies and similar analytics data

2. How We Use Your Information

We use your personal information for legitimate business purposes, in accordance with applicable law, including to:

• Respond to your booking enquiry and manage your reservation
• Send confirmations, quotations and event-related communications
• Coordinate the details of your event and provide our services
• Maintain our records and manage enquiries in our booking and customer-management system
• Improve our website, services and guest experience
• Send you marketing or updates about Lora Gardens, only where you have consented

3. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell your personal information. We may share it with trusted service providers who help us operate our website and deliver our services, including:

• Email providers: to send booking confirmations and notifications
• Booking & customer-management systems: to record and manage your enquiry and event
• Website hosting and infrastructure providers: to run and secure our website
• Analytics providers: to understand website usage, using aggregated or anonymised data where possible
• Our AI provider (OpenAI): where you chat with Lora, our planning assistant — see section 8

We may also disclose information where required by law, to comply with legal process, or to protect the rights, property or safety of Lora Gardens, our guests or others.

4. Data Security

We implement reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorised access, loss, misuse or alteration. These include secure infrastructure, access controls and working with reputable service providers. However, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

5. Data Retention

We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected — including responding to your enquiry, delivering your event, and meeting our legal, accounting and business obligations. Where information is no longer required, we securely delete or anonymise it.

6. Your Rights (POPIA)

Under POPIA and applicable law, you have the right to:

• Request access to the personal information we hold about you
• Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information
• Request deletion of your information where legally permitted
• Object to or withdraw consent for certain processing, including marketing
• Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details below.

7. Cookies and Analytics

We use cookies and similar technologies to remember your preferences, keep our website secure, and understand how it is used so we can improve it. You can manage or disable cookies through your browser settings, though some features may not function as intended if you do.

8. Lora, our AI Planning Assistant

Lora is the AI planning assistant on our website. She can check whether a date is open, show you our spaces and menus, work out a priced estimate and place a 48-hour provisional hold on a date. Using her is entirely optional — our enquiry form, WhatsApp and phone lines work exactly as before.

8.1 What the Conversation Collects

• The messages you type, and the dates, guest numbers, spaces and menu choices you tell her about.
• Your first name and one contact method — an email address or a mobile number — and only at the point where you ask for an estimate to be emailed or a date to be held.
• Any dietary requirements or allergies you choose to share, so our chef can plan for them.

Lora never asks for an identity number, card or banking details, a home address or a child's name, and she is instructed not to record them if you offer them. Please do not type them into the chat.

8.2 Who Processes It

Lora runs on models provided by OpenAI, which processes your messages as our operator under POPIA, on our instructions and for no other purpose. OpenAI does not use this data to train its models, and we do not ask it to keep the conversation on its side.

8.3 Processing Outside South Africa

OpenAI processes this data in the United States. By chatting with Lora you are sending your messages to be processed outside South Africa. We rely on our operator agreement with OpenAI, which requires it to protect your information to a standard substantially similar to POPIA, as the basis for that transfer under section 72 of POPIA.

8.4 How Long We Keep It

• Chat transcripts: kept for up to 30 days for quality review, with email addresses and phone numbers removed from them.
• Estimates, holds and handovers: kept as business records under section 5 above, like any other enquiry, because they are a record of a request you made.

8.5 What Lora Cannot Do

She cannot confirm a booking, take a payment or issue a formal quotation. A hold she places is provisional for 48 hours, and one of our coordinators confirms the date with you and arranges the deposit. Estimates are subject to availability, your final numbers and confirmation by our events team, and dietary and allergen information is always confirmed by our chef.

8.6 Marketing

Lora does not add you to any marketing list. Event news and offers are a separate opt-in that you choose yourself, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

9. Third-Party Links

Our website may link to third-party websites or services, such as social media or ticketing platforms. We are not responsible for their privacy practices, and we encourage you to review their policies before providing any information.

10. Children's Privacy

Our website and booking services are intended for adults making enquiries and reservations. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children without appropriate consent. Children are of course welcome at the venue as guests under the supervision of a responsible adult.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. The current version will always be available on our website with its effective date. We encourage you to review it periodically.

12. Contact Us

If you have any questions or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal information, please contact us: