Ko Villas does not host, own or run any villa. We give a group of people the tools to fill one together. Each house is set up by its host under one of three payment models, and these terms explain what happens to your money under each.
Nobody pays anything until a house fills. Once your card is charged in a Ko collects house, the room price is not refunded if you change your mind. Money comes back only when the house falls through or the host is at fault (see §7). In a booking-fee or trust-mode house you pay the rent to the host directly, and Ko cannot refund or recover it.
The host picks the model when they set the house up, and the house page tells you which one applies before you commit.
| Model | Who you pay | Ko's fee |
|---|---|---|
| Ko collects | The host, through the host's own Stripe account. Everyone's card is charged together, or nobody's is. | 12% of the room and shared costs, plus the estimated card processing cost (2.9% + 30¢), taken out of the price. It is never added on top. |
| Booking fee | The host directly, in whatever way the host tells you. Ko is not a party to that payment. | 12% of the room price, added on top and held on your card. It is charged only if every guest in the house is marked as paid. |
| Trust mode | The host directly, in whatever way the host tells you. Ko is not a party to that payment. | None. |
Ko collects is available where the host can receive payouts through Stripe. Where Stripe can't pay out to the host's country, a house that would otherwise use Ko collects uses the booking-fee model instead.
Where Ko processes a card payment, it does so through Stripe. Card numbers go to Stripe, never to Ko. Card payments on Ko Villas are also subject to Stripe's Services Agreement where it applies to you.
A host opens a house for set dates with rooms, prices, a minimum (the amount the house has to reach) and a deadline. People ask to join and the host decides whom to approve. Approved guests pick a room. Picking a room costs nothing.
A house fills when the room prices that guests have committed to reach the host's minimum before the deadline. It does not need every bed to be taken. Only then does the payment step for that house's model begin.
If the house has not reached its minimum by the deadline, it closes. No card is charged, no booking fee is taken, and nobody owes anything through Ko. Ko does not issue credit or any other payment when a house doesn't fill.
The host is the merchant of record. Your payment is made on the host's own Stripe connected account and appears under the host's business name. Stripe separates Ko's fee automatically as an application fee.
Ko has no wallet, no escrow and no stored balance. Ko can only instruct Stripe to place a card hold, charge it, release it, refund it, or release a payout to the host, as these terms describe.
| Part | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Room price | Your room for the stay. Set by the host and fixed when you commit. |
| Shared costs | What the host charges for shared services such as a chef, cleaning or utilities. Fixed when you commit. |
| Occupancy tax | Where the host charges it. Fixed when you commit. Ko takes no fee on tax. |
You see one final price. Ko's fee (12% of the room and shared costs, plus the estimated card cost of 2.9% + 30¢) comes out of that price. The host bears it, not you.
The amounts are fixed when you commit. You will never be charged more through Ko than the price you committed to. There is no damage waiver, no deposit and no other extra charge.
When the house fills, every committed guest has 72 hours to put a hold on their card for their share. If the window ends before enough holds are in, it is extended once, by 24 hours, for the whole house. A hold is an authorisation: nothing leaves your account yet.
All the holds are charged together, or none are. If enough guests have placed holds, all the holds are captured together. If not, nobody is charged and a person at Ko reviews the house with its host. If the house is then cancelled, every hold is released.
Your bank may ask you to confirm the payment.
The money sits in the host's Stripe account on a manual payout schedule. Ko releases it to the host in three stages:
| Stage | When |
|---|---|
| 30% | Once the host's signed lease has been verified |
| 40% | Midway through the stay |
| 30% | Seven days after checkout |
This protects guests: until money is paid out, it can still be refunded. If a guest flags at check-in that the house is not what they paid for, or a dispute is opened, the stages not yet released are frozen until a person at Ko resolves it.
A person at Ko reviews and approves each refund. There is no fixed turnaround, and we tell you the outcome either way. Refunds go back to the card you paid with, which usually takes 5–10 business days once issued.
| Situation | Outcome |
|---|---|
| The house doesn't fill, or falls through before cards are charged | Nothing is charged. Card holds are released. |
| The host doesn't upload the signed lease within 72 hours after the cards are charged | Full refund: room, shared costs, tax and Ko's fee |
| The host is found at fault, for example after an unresolved check-in flag | Full refund: room, shared costs, tax and Ko's fee |
| Shared services you paid for are not delivered | Shared costs refunded pro rata. The room price is not, because the room was provided. |
| The house is materially not as described | Refund in whole or in part, decided by a person at Ko from funds not yet paid out |
| Situation | Outcome |
|---|---|
| After your card is charged, you change your mind, can't travel, don't arrive or leave early | No refund. Ko keeps its fee. We recommend travel insurance. |
| You are removed for breaching the Community Standards | No refund |
| The house is accurately described but you don't enjoy it | No refund. This is not a satisfaction guarantee. |
This model is for hosts who can't use Stripe. Ko can't control or stage the host's money, but the house still commits as one group.
If you send a single booking request to a host outside a group house, the fee is held when you request. It is charged once the host confirms you have paid, and released if the host declines or cancels. If you cancel after the host has accepted, the fee is charged.
Once charged, the booking fee is not refunded automatically. If a host cancels a stay after that, write to [email protected].
Trust mode is free. The host lists the house and reaches the network, and guests pay the host directly, however the host asks. Ko takes no fee.
Ko does not hold, route, guarantee or refund this money. Payment is made directly between the guest and the organiser, outside Ko. Ko only records the guest's payment declaration and the organiser's confirmation.
Only pay a host you trust. Any refund in trust mode is between you and the host.
You can give up your room from the house page. If your card has not been charged yet, any hold on it is released and Ko charges you nothing. After a Ko collects charge, giving up your room does not refund the room price (see §7.1). In the booking-fee and trust models, whether the host refunds rent you already paid is between you and the host.
If you don't recognise a charge or believe there is an error, tell us in the app first, or email [email protected].
Raising a chargeback for a stay you received, or because you changed your mind, breaches these terms. We will respond with the record of your booking: the terms you accepted, timestamps, payment history and messages. We may also suspend your account while the chargeback is resolved.
Prices are shown in the house's currency. Your bank may add conversion or international fees, which Ko doesn't control.
Occupancy or tourist tax is set by the host. In a Ko collects house it is charged with your price, Ko takes no fee on it, and it is included in a full refund. In the other models you pay it to the host directly. You are responsible for your own tax position. Hosts are responsible for theirs.
Some networks charge a membership. You pay through Stripe Checkout. The organiser sets the price, and Ko takes a share of it through Stripe. You can cancel at any time and keep access until the end of the period you paid for.