Cookie Policy

1. What Are Cookies and Similar Technologies?

A cookie is a small text file that a website places on your device — computer, tablet or smartphone — when you visit it. Cookies allow the website to remember information about your visit, such as your preferred language or the items you have added to a booking basket, making your next visit easier and the site more useful to you.

In addition to traditional cookies, we may use closely related technologies that achieve similar purposes:

• Session storage and local storage — browser-based storage areas that hold data for the duration of a browsing session or persistently across sessions, without transmitting it to a server with every page request.
• Pixel tags and web beacons — tiny invisible image files embedded in pages or emails that signal when content has been accessed.
• Scripts and SDKs — small pieces of code that may read or write cookie values and collect usage data.

Throughout this policy the word "cookies" refers collectively to all such technologies unless we specify otherwise.

2. How We Use Cookies

We use cookies to operate and improve the Website, to understand how visitors interact with our content, and — only where you have given your consent — to deliver relevant communications and personalised experiences. The specific purposes are set out in Section 4 below.

3. Your Consent and the Consent Preference Centre

When you first visit the Website, a consent banner will be displayed. You may:

• Accept all cookies — enabling strictly necessary cookies plus any optional categories you choose.
• Manage preferences — open the Consent Preference Centre and switch individual optional categories on or off.
• Reject optional cookies — continue with only the strictly necessary cookies required to operate the Website.

Optional cookie categories remain switched off by default until you actively accept them. Strictly necessary cookies operate without your consent because they are essential to deliver the service you have requested; all other categories are inactive unless and until you enable them.

You can revisit and update your choices at any time by clicking the "Cookie Settings" link found in the footer of every page. Withdrawing consent is as easy as granting it and will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before withdrawal.

4. Categories of Cookies We Use

The table below describes each category, its purpose, whether it requires your consent, and the typical storage duration of the cookies within it.

4.1 Duration Explained

• Session cookies are temporary and are erased automatically when you close your browser tab or window.
• Persistent cookies remain on your device after your browsing session ends, for the period stated in the table above or until you delete them manually. They are recalled when you return to the Website.

5. First-Party and Third-Party Cookies

5.1 First-Party Cookies

First-party cookies are set directly by merquorianroyalretreat.com. We control both their placement and their data. Strictly necessary and preference cookies are predominantly first-party.

5.2 Third-Party Cookies

Some cookies on the Website may be set by third-party service providers whose tools we incorporate — for example, analytics platforms, mapping services or social-media plugins — when and only when you have consented to the relevant optional category.

Third-party providers operate under their own privacy and cookie policies, over which we have no control. Once a third-party cookie has been set on your device, the third party may collect data in accordance with its own terms. We encourage you to review the privacy notices of any third parties whose cookies you permit.

We are not responsible for the content or data practices of third-party websites or services, including those accessible via links on this Website.

6. Browser-Level Controls

Independently of the consent choices you make on this Website, most modern browsers provide built-in tools that allow you to manage cookies at the device level. Depending on your browser, you may be able to:

• View the cookies currently stored on your device.
• Delete some or all cookies.
• Block cookies from specific websites or from all websites.
• Set your browser to notify you before a cookie is placed, giving you the option to accept or refuse it.
• Enable "private" or "incognito" browsing, which generally prevents persistent cookies from being stored after the session ends.

Guidance on managing cookies in widely used browsers is available directly from their publishers:

• Google Chrome — support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647
• Mozilla Firefox — support.mozilla.org
• Apple Safari — support.apple.com
• Microsoft Edge — support.microsoft.com

Please be aware that restricting cookies at the browser level may affect the functionality of this Website and of other websites you visit. In particular, disabling strictly necessary cookies may prevent core features — such as completing a reservation — from working correctly.

6.1 Do Not Track

Some browsers offer a "Do Not Track" (DNT) signal. Because there is currently no universally accepted standard for how websites should respond to DNT signals, the Website does not alter its behaviour in response to them. Your consent choices made through our Consent Preference Centre remain the most reliable way to control optional cookies on this Website.

7. Withdrawing or Changing Your Consent

You may withdraw or adjust your consent at any time using either of the following methods:

1. Consent Preference Centre — click the "Cookie Settings" link in the page footer to open the preference panel, then toggle the optional categories you wish to enable or disable and save your selection.
2. Browser settings — delete existing cookies and adjust your browser's cookie controls as described in Section 6 above.

Withdrawal of consent takes effect going forward. It does not retroactively affect any processing that took place while consent was in place. After withdrawal, optional cookies in the category you have disabled will no longer be set on subsequent page loads.

8. Personal Data Collected Through Cookies

Where cookies collect or are associated with personal data — for example, an identifier linked to your booking account or a pseudonymous analytics identifier — that data is handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy and with our obligations under the Privacy Act 2020 (New Zealand). The Privacy Policy explains:

• The types of personal data we hold.
• The lawful bases on which we process it.
• How long we retain it.
• Your rights, including your right to access, correct and request deletion of your data.

To exercise any privacy rights or to raise a concern about how your data is handled, please contact our Privacy Officer at privacy@merquorianroyalretreat.com.

9. Casino Facilities and Age Verification

Access to casino facilities at Merquorianroyalretreat is restricted to persons aged 18 years and over. Where the Website includes any casino-related features or content, cookies may be used to support age-verification processes and to maintain session integrity for authenticated users. These cookies fall within the strictly necessary category and operate regardless of your optional-cookie preferences.

If you have concerns about gambling-related harm, the New Zealand Gambling Commission publishes information and self-exclusion resources at www.gamblingcommission.govt.nz, and the Problem Gambling Foundation of New Zealand provides free support resources at www.pgf.nz.

10. Governing Law

This Cookie Policy is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of New Zealand. Any dispute arising in connection with it shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the New Zealand courts.

11. Updates to This Policy

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in technology, applicable law or our operational practices. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Where changes are material, we will notify you by displaying a prominent notice on the Website or by re-presenting the consent banner.

We encourage you to review this page periodically. Continued use of the Website after any update constitutes acceptance of the revised policy to the extent permitted by applicable law.

12. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Cookie Policy or about the way we use cookies on the Website, please contact us by any of the following means:

We will endeavour to respond to all legitimate enquiries within a reasonable time and no later than the period required under the Privacy Act 2020.