These Terms of Use govern your access to and use of Roch Dog, operated by Roch Dog Inc. By accessing or using Roch Dog in any capacity, you agree to be bound by these terms in full. If you do not agree, do not use Roch Dog.
1. About Us
Roch Dog is a service operated by Roch Dog Inc, a corporation organised under the laws of the State of Delaware, United States. You can reach us by email at info@rochdog.com. References to "we", "us", or "our" in these terms mean Roch Dog Inc.
2. Acceptance of Terms
By creating an account, accessing, or using Roch Dog, you confirm that you have read and understood these Terms of Use, that you are at least 18 years of age, that you have the legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement, and that you are not prohibited from using Roch Dog under any applicable law. If you are using Roch Dog on behalf of a business or organisation, you confirm that you have authority to bind that entity to these terms.
3. Eligibility
You must be at least 18 years old to use Roch Dog. We do not knowingly permit minors to register or use the service. If we become aware that a user is under 18, we reserve the right to suspend or terminate that account immediately.
4. Your Account
You are responsible for keeping your login credentials confidential, for all activity that occurs under your account, and for notifying us promptly at info@rochdog.com if you suspect unauthorised access. We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your account if we believe your credentials have been compromised or your account is being used fraudulently.
5. Acceptable Use
You agree to use Roch Dog only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these terms. You must not use Roch Dog in any way that violates any applicable United States or international law or regulation, submit false, misleading, or fraudulent information, attempt to gain unauthorised access to any part of Roch Dog or its infrastructure, introduce viruses, malware, or other harmful code, scrape, crawl, or extract data from Roch Dog without our prior written consent, use Roch Dog to harass, harm, or deceive other users or third parties, impersonate any person or entity, or use the service in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair it. We reserve the right to investigate any suspected breach of this section and to take appropriate action, including suspension or termination of access.
6. Our Service
We will use reasonable skill and care in providing Roch Dog. We aim to keep the service available and accurate, but we do not guarantee that Roch Dog will be uninterrupted, error free, or available at all times, that information provided through the service is complete, accurate, or up to date, or that the service will meet your specific requirements. We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of Roch Dog at any time. Where we discontinue a material feature or the service entirely, we will give you reasonable notice where practicable.
7. Intellectual Property
7.1 Ownership
All content, software, and materials on Roch Dog are the property of Roch Dog Inc or our licensors and are protected by United States and international intellectual property law. This includes, without limitation, the Roch Dog Dataset, being the compiled collection of hotel and accommodation data gathered, verified, and maintained by Roch Dog Inc, whose selection, arrangement, verification, and aggregation constitute original authorship protected as a compilation under United States copyright law. It includes the Roch Dog Friendly Standard and the Roch Dog Residence Standard, our proprietary rating, certification, and standards methodologies, encompassing all scoring criteria, weightings, thresholds, grade definitions, defined terms, and certification requirements. It includes all Roch Dog scores, rankings, and grades, being all ratings, scores, grades from A+ through F, rankings, and certification statuses produced by applying our methodology to hotel data, which constitute our editorial work product. It includes KALI (K9 Aligned Lodging Inspector), our proprietary automated verification system, including its design, methodology, outputs, and all data generated by it.
7.2 Trademarks
The following names, brands, and logos are trademarks of Roch Dog Inc: the word Roch and the Roch logo; Roch Dog; KALI and K9 Aligned Lodging Inspector; Kali Concierge; Kali Talk; the Roch Dog Friendly Standard and the Dog Friendly Standard; and the Roch Dog Residence Standard and the Dog Friendly Residence Standard. These, together with our other names, logos, product names, service names, and slogans, are protected under United States and common law trademark rights, whether or not registered. Nothing in these terms grants you any right or licence to use any Roch Dog trademark. You may not use any Roch Dog trademark, or any confusingly similar mark, without our prior written consent, and you may not use any Roch Dog trademark in a manner that is likely to cause confusion or that suggests sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement by Roch Dog Inc where none exists. All goodwill arising from use of our trademarks inures to the benefit of Roch Dog Inc.
7.3 Restrictions
You may not use, copy, reproduce, distribute, modify, extract, or create derivative works from any Roch Dog content, including any part of the dataset, any ratings or scores, or any output of our verification systems, without our prior written consent. Nothing in these terms grants you any right, title, or interest in our intellectual property. Copying or reproducing a substantial part of the Roch Dog Dataset is prohibited. Repeated or systematic copying of insubstantial parts of the dataset that cumulatively amounts to a substantial part is also prohibited, whether such copying is manual or automated.
8. Hotel Ratings, Data Collection, and Editorial Independence
8.1 Right to Rate
Roch Dog is an independent rating and certification service. We assess hotels and accommodation providers based on publicly available information and our proprietary methodology. This process does not require the prior consent, cooperation, or participation of any hotel or accommodation provider. Hotels are rated because they operate as consumer facing businesses and publish information about their services to the public. This is consistent with the longstanding and lawful practice of independent rating agencies, consumer guides, food critics, travel reviewers, and editorial publications worldwide.
8.2 Data Collection
We collect publicly available information about hotels from open sources including hotel websites, online travel agencies, booking platforms, public directories, social media profiles, and publicly accessible review sites. We access this information in the same manner as any member of the public. We do not bypass access controls, paywalls, or authentication systems. We also use proprietary automated verification systems to collect and cross-reference publicly available hotel data at intervals to ensure accuracy and detect inconsistencies.
8.3 Editorial Independence
Roch Dog ratings, scores, grades, and certification statuses are the independent editorial opinion of Roch Dog Inc. They are not endorsements, guarantees, or statements of fact. They represent our honest assessment based on verifiable underlying facts, evaluated against objective criteria applied consistently across all rated properties.
Hotels may not demand the alteration, suppression, or removal of their rating, score, or grade. Hotels may not claim that their rating constitutes defamation where it is an honest opinion based on publicly available facts. Hotels may not use legal threats or commercial pressure to attempt to influence their rating. Hotels may not represent themselves as Roch Dog certified or use Roch Dog branding without a current, valid certification agreement.
Hotels may contact us at info@rochdog.com to report factual inaccuracies in the data we hold about their property, and may apply for certification through our standard certification process.
8.4 Factual Correction Process
If a hotel believes that the factual data underlying its rating contains an error, it may submit a correction request to info@rochdog.com. Requests must identify the specific data point believed to be incorrect and provide verifiable evidence of the correct information, such as a link to the hotel's current published policy. We will investigate correction requests in good faith and will update verified factual errors. A factual correction may or may not result in a change to the property's rating or grade. Correction of underlying data does not entitle a property to any particular score, and we are under no obligation to change a rating as a result of a correction request. We will not enter into correspondence regarding editorial judgements, scoring methodology, or grade thresholds.
8.5 Certification and Decertification
Certification and ranking are separate. All hotels within our dataset receive a rating and grade based on publicly available information, regardless of whether they have any commercial relationship with us. Certification is an optional, paid programme that provides additional recognition to properties meeting the Roch Dog Friendly Standard. A hotel's ranking and grade are determined independently of its certification status.
Certification is granted at our sole discretion based on compliance with the Roch Dog Friendly Standard. We reserve the right to revoke certification, remove properties from our listings, or downgrade ratings at any time if a property fails to meet or maintain the required standard. Payment of certification fees does not influence, guarantee, or entitle a property to any particular rating, grade, or ranking position. Certified properties are assessed using the same methodology and criteria as all other properties. There is no preferential treatment in scoring.
9. User Content
Where Roch Dog allows you to submit, upload, or share content, you retain ownership of that content. By submitting content, you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty free licence to use, store, display, and distribute that content as necessary to provide the service. You are solely responsible for any content you submit. You must not submit content that is unlawful, defamatory, obscene, infringing of third party rights, or otherwise objectionable. We reserve the right to remove any content that violates these terms or that we deem inappropriate, without prior notice.
10. Disclaimer of Warranties
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Roch Dog is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. We make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement, the accuracy or completeness of any information provided through the service, or that use of the service will be uninterrupted or error free. Nothing in these terms excludes or limits any warranty or liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited under applicable law.
11. Limitation of Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, we shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of or inability to use Roch Dog. Our total aggregate liability to you for any claim arising out of or relating to these terms or your use of Roch Dog shall not exceed the greater of the total fees paid by you to us in the 12 months preceding the claim, or one hundred US dollars (US$100).
Nothing in these terms excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.
12. Third Party Services and Links
Roch Dog may contain links to third party websites or integrate with third party services. We are not responsible for the content, privacy practices, or terms of any third party. Links do not constitute endorsement. You access third party services at your own risk.
13. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Roch Dog Inc and its directors, employees, and affiliates from and against any claims, liabilities, losses, damages, and costs, including reasonable legal fees, arising from your breach of these Terms of Use, your violation of any applicable law or regulation, or your submission of content that infringes the rights of any third party.
14. Privacy
Your use of Roch Dog is subject to our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these terms by reference. By using Roch Dog, you acknowledge that you have read and understood our Privacy Policy.
15. Changes to These Terms
We may update these Terms of Use from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by updating the effective date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, by email or in-service notice. Continued use of Roch Dog after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated terms. If you do not accept the updated terms, you must stop using Roch Dog.
16. Termination
We may suspend or terminate your access to Roch Dog at any time if we reasonably believe you have breached these terms or for any other legitimate operational reason. We will give you reasonable notice where practicable, unless the breach is serious or immediate action is required. You may terminate your account at any time by contacting us at info@rochdog.com. Termination does not affect any rights or obligations that arose before the date of termination.
17. Governing Law and Jurisdiction
These Terms of Use are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, United States, without regard to its conflict of laws principles. Any dispute arising out of or in connection with these terms shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of Delaware, and you consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts.
18. Severability
If any provision of these terms is found to be invalid, unlawful, or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, that provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, or severed if modification is not possible. The remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.
19. Entire Agreement
These Terms of Use, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Roch Dog Inc with respect to your use of Roch Dog. They supersede all prior agreements, representations, or understandings, whether oral or written, relating to the same subject matter.
20. Contact Us
For any questions or concerns regarding these Terms of Use, contact Roch Dog Inc by email at info@rochdog.com.