Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 7, 2026

At Portugal Best Hostels, we take your privacy seriously. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your personal information when you use our website and services.

Information We Collect

  • • Your name, email address, message and IP address when you use the contact form
  • • Your name, email address, post and IP address when you post in the forum
  • • Device, browser and usage data from analytics tools, only after you accept analytics cookies

How We Use Your Information

  • • To reply to your messages
  • • To publish and moderate forum posts
  • • To understand which pages are useful and improve the site
  • • To keep the site secure and block spam and abuse

Information Sharing

  • • With the service providers that run the site (hosting, email delivery and analytics)
  • • We don't take bookings. When you follow a link to a booking site or partner, that site receives your visit directly under its own privacy policy
  • • When required by law or to protect rights

Your Rights

  • • Access your personal information
  • • Correct inaccurate data
  • • Request deletion of your data
  • • Withdraw consent to, or opt out of, analytics and marketing cookies at any time

Cookies and Tracking

We use cookies and similar technologies to improve your browsing experience, analyze site traffic, and understand where our visitors come from. Apart from essential and privacy-friendly measurement, how they load depends on where you are: outside the United States they load only after you give consent, and in the United States they load unless you switch them off — see "Your Choices & Consent" below.

Categories of Cookies:

  • • Essential: Required for basic website functionality and security. Always active.
  • • Analytics & Performance: Help us understand how visitors use our site. Opt-in (opt-out in the United States).
  • • Marketing & Partner: Used by partner services to measure referrals and show relevant content. Opt-in (opt-out in the United States).

Third-Party Services We Use:

  • • Google Analytics: Aggregate traffic and usage statistics (pages viewed, approximate location, device, referrer).
  • • Microsoft Clarity: Anonymised usage insights and heatmaps (clicks, scrolls, navigation) to improve the site.
  • • PostHog: Product analytics to understand which features are used.
  • • Ahrefs Web Analytics: Privacy-friendly, cookieless traffic measurement.
  • • GetYourGuide: Measures tour and activity referrals made through our links.
  • • Partner advertising script: A third-party script used to support and fund the site.

Each provider processes data under its own privacy policy. We do not sell your personal information.

Your Choices & Consent

We use your approximate location, from your IP address, only to decide which of these applies. If we can't tell where you are, we use the opt-in model.

Outside the United States (including the EU, EEA and UK), a banner lets you Accept or Reject non-essential cookies and tracking. Nothing in the "Analytics & Performance" or "Marketing & Partner" categories loads unless you accept.

In the United States, a notice tells you these cookies are in use, and you can dismiss it. You can switch either category off at any time. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, we treat it as an opt-out of "Marketing & Partner" cookies.

Wherever you are, you can change your choice at any time using the "Cookie settings" link in the site footer, or by clearing the site data in your browser.

Data Security

We take reasonable steps to protect the personal information you send us against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure or destruction.

Our Security Measures Include:

  • • Every page and form is served over HTTPS
  • • Forms use spam checks such as rate limits and a hidden honeypot field, and the forum also uses Cloudflare Turnstile

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal information, please contact us at:

Email: privacy@portugalbesthostels.com

Based in: Portugal

This privacy policy was last updated on October 7, 2026. We reserve the right to modify this policy at any time. Changes and clarifications will take effect immediately upon their posting on the website.