Bookly connects students with verified hostels across Ghana. Browse rooms, pay securely through Paystack, and move in — all from your phone.
A straightforward process designed for students who need accommodation fast.
Explore personally inspected hostels near your campus. View photos, amenities, room types, and pricing — all in one place.
Pick the room that fits your budget. Your selection is held while you complete your booking.
Pay in full or use part-payment — deposit now, balance later. All payments go through Paystack directly to the hostel owner.
Your booking confirmation is instant. Show up at semester start and move right in. It’s that simple.
Built specifically for the Ghanaian student experience — practical, reliable, and honest.
Pay a deposit to secure your room, then clear the balance before the deadline set by the hostel owner. Flexible for every student’s budget.
Every payment is processed by Paystack and disbursed directly to the hostel owner. Bookly never holds or stores your card details.
Every hostel is physically visited and verified by our team before appearing on the platform. No unverified or ghost listings.
Get instant alerts for booking confirmations, payment reminders, and balance due dates — straight to your phone.
See exactly where each hostel is located. Every listing has a pinned location you can view on Google Maps before you commit.
Submit and track maintenance issues directly in the app. Hostel owners are notified and can update you on progress.
List your hostel, manage bookings, and receive payments directly — without the paperwork or phone calls.
Create your hostel listing with photos, room layouts, amenities, and pricing in minutes.
Set up rooms, track availability, and prevent double-bookings — all automated.
Receive payments directly to your Paystack account immediately upon successful transaction. No middleman holding your funds.
View occupancy, revenue, and part-payment statuses for all your rooms at a glance.
Get notified when a student books, pays a balance, or submits a maintenance request.
Set open and close dates for each booking season. Students can only book during your set window.
Bookly is built on transparency. Here’s exactly how we protect both students and hostel owners.
Bookly never holds your money. All payments are disbursed directly and immediately to the hostel owner’s Paystack account. No escrow, no delays.
Every hostel is physically visited by our team before being approved. We verify the property, rooms, and amenities match what the owner submitted.
Cancel before moving in and you’re entitled to your deposit back (minus the Paystack transaction fee). The rules are written clearly in our Terms & Conditions.
If something goes wrong, email us. We respond within 48 hours and issue a determination within 7 business days.
Bookly operates under Ghanaian law including the Rent Act 1963 (Act 220). All disputes are subject to the jurisdiction of Ghanaian courts.
support@booklyapp.co — we respond within 48 hours on business days. For fraud or safety concerns, mark your email URGENT.
Our full Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy — complete and unabridged.
Bookly (“Bookly”, “we”, “us”, “our”) is a digital marketplace platform that connects students seeking hostel accommodation with hostel owners and operators in Ghana. Bookly operates as a technology facilitator only — it is not a landlord, property manager, tenancy agent, or party to any rental agreement between a Student and a Hostel Owner.
These Terms & Conditions (the “Terms”) constitute a legally binding agreement between:
Bookly will update these Terms upon formal business registration. The entity name, registration number, and registered address will be inserted at that time. These Terms remain valid and enforceable in their current form.
By creating an account, listing a property, or completing a booking on the Bookly platform, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, you must not use the platform.
To use Bookly, you must:
By registering, you represent and warrant that all information you provide is true and accurate. Bookly reserves the right to suspend or permanently remove any account where false or misleading information is discovered.
Bookly is a technology platform only. We do not own, control, manage, inspect, or guarantee any hostel property listed on our platform. The following must be clearly understood:
Because Bookly disburses funds directly and immediately to Hostel Owners, Bookly cannot guarantee, execute, or enforce refunds from its own funds. All refund obligations described in Section 7 are obligations of the Hostel Owner, not Bookly. Bookly’s enforcement mechanism is platform suspension and removal.
Each user may hold only one account. Sharing accounts between multiple individuals is prohibited. You are solely responsible for:
Hostel Owner accounts are subject to a manual approval process before activation. Bookly reserves the right to reject any application without providing reasons. Approval of a Hostel Owner account does not constitute Bookly’s endorsement of the owner, their property, or their business practices.
By submitting a listing on Bookly, the Hostel Owner warrants that:
If a student raises a complaint that a listing is materially false or misleading — including but not limited to: photos that do not match the actual room, advertised amenities that are absent or non-functional, or materially different room sizes — Bookly will:
False listing complaints do not automatically trigger a refund through Bookly. Because funds are already in the Hostel Owner’s account, refund execution is the Hostel Owner’s obligation. However, Bookly will record the outcome of all investigations and may share findings with authorities if fraud is suspected.
Bookly reserves the right to remove any listing at any time, without prior notice, if the listing:
A booking is created when a student selects a room and completes a deposit payment through the Bookly platform. The booking process is as follows:
Deposit amounts are set by individual Hostel Owners and may range from 20% to 80% of the total annual room price. The deposit percentage is displayed on each listing before payment. Students should confirm the deposit amount and balance due date before completing payment.
The balance of any booking made on a part-payment basis must be paid through the Bookly platform using Paystack. The balance due date is set by the Hostel Owner and is displayed in the student’s booking details.
All payments — both deposits and balances — must be made exclusively through the Bookly platform. Bookly accepts no responsibility for, and provides no protection in relation to, any payment made outside the Bookly app, including cash payments, mobile money transfers, or bank transfers made directly to a Hostel Owner.
Bookly charges a commission to Hostel Owners on each successful booking. This commission is a percentage of the booking value and is deducted or invoiced separately. The applicable commission rate is communicated to Hostel Owners during the account registration process and may be updated with 30 days’ notice.
Students are not charged a platform fee. The price displayed on a listing is the price the student pays.
Payments are processed by Paystack, an independent third-party payment processor. Paystack charges a transaction fee (currently approximately 1.95% + GH₵0.50 per transaction, subject to change by Paystack). This fee is included in the payment amount processed and is not separately itemised to students.
This section contains Bookly’s complete refund policy. Read it carefully before completing any payment. Because payments are disbursed directly and immediately to Hostel Owners, all refund obligations are between the Student and the Hostel Owner. Bookly’s role is to facilitate, investigate, and enforce compliance — not to finance refunds from its own funds.
If a student cancels a booking after paying a deposit but before physically moving into the accommodation, the following applies:
Once a student has physically taken possession of the accommodation (moved in), no refund is available regardless of the reason for cancellation, including:
This no-refund-after-move-in policy is consistent with standard tenancy practice in Ghana. Students are advised to inspect the room before moving in and to raise any concerns with the Hostel Owner before taking possession. Nothing in this clause limits a student’s rights under applicable Ghanaian law in cases of serious uninhabitability.
If a student moves in on a deposit and subsequently fails to pay the outstanding balance by the due date:
If a Hostel Owner cancels a confirmed booking after a student has paid a deposit:
| Scenario | Who initiated? | Refund amount | Transaction fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cancel before move-in (any reason) | Student | Deposit paid minus Paystack fee | Borne by student |
| Owner cancels after deposit paid | Hostel Owner | Full deposit refunded | Borne by hostel owner |
| Student moves in, refuses balance | Student | No refund — owner pursues balance directly | N/A |
| Student moves in, wants to leave early | Student | No refund once moved in | N/A |
| False listing confirmed by Bookly | Hostel Owner (fault) | Full deposit refunded (owner obligation) | Borne by hostel owner |
| Payment outside Bookly app | Either party | No protection — Bookly uninvolved | N/A |
To initiate a refund request:
Bookly is building an in-app dispute and refund request system. Until that system is live, email remains the required channel for all refund and dispute communications.
Before a Hostel Owner’s account is activated on Bookly, they undergo a manual review process conducted by Bookly. This review includes assessment of the information provided during registration. However:
Students are advised to visit a property in person before paying any deposit, where practically possible. Bookly provides a platform for discovery and payment but does not substitute for a student’s own due diligence.
Because payments go directly to Hostel Owners and Bookly does not hold funds, Bookly cannot unilaterally return money from its own account if a Hostel Owner behaves fraudulently. However, Bookly will:
Bookly strongly encourages any student who has been defrauded to file a report with the Ghana Police Service (GPS) and the Bank of Ghana’s Consumer Protection Unit. Paystack also has a disputes process that students can initiate directly.
The following conduct is strictly prohibited and may result in immediate account suspension or permanent ban:
Students must not:
Hostel Owners must not:
Any student or Hostel Owner who has a dispute arising from a Bookly transaction must:
Upon receipt of a formal dispute, Bookly will:
Bookly’s determination is final within the platform. It does not constitute a legal judgement and does not prevent either party from seeking legal remedies through the Ghanaian court system.
These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Ghana, including but not limited to the Rent Act 1963 (Act 220) where applicable to the accommodation relationship between students and hostel owners. Any dispute that cannot be resolved through Bookly’s internal process shall be subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Ghana.
All content on the Bookly platform — including the app design, logo, software code, user interface, text, and graphics — is the property of Bookly or its licensors and is protected by applicable intellectual property laws. You may not:
Hostel Owners retain ownership of the photos and content they upload. By uploading content to Bookly, Hostel Owners grant Bookly a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to display that content on the platform for the purposes of facilitating bookings.
To the fullest extent permitted by Ghanaian law, Bookly’s total liability to any user for any claim arising from or related to the use of the platform shall not exceed the platform commission fee received by Bookly in connection with the specific booking giving rise to the claim.
Bookly shall not be liable for:
Nothing in this clause limits Bookly’s liability for fraud, wilful misconduct, or any liability that cannot be excluded under mandatory Ghanaian law.
Bookly reserves the right to suspend, restrict, or permanently terminate any user account at any time, with or without prior notice, for reasons including but not limited to:
Users may request account deletion at any time by contacting support@booklyapp.co. Deletion requests will be processed within 30 days. Active bookings must be resolved before an account can be deleted. Certain records may be retained for legal compliance purposes as described in the Privacy Policy.
Bookly reserves the right to update these Terms at any time. Material changes will be communicated to registered users via in-app notification and/or email at least 14 days before the changes take effect. Your continued use of the platform after the effective date of any changes constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms.
The version number and effective date at the top of this document will be updated with each revision. You are encouraged to review these Terms periodically.
Email: support@booklyapp.co
Response time: Within 48 hours on business days (Monday–Friday, excluding Ghanaian public holidays)
For urgent matters involving suspected fraud or active safety concerns, please mark your email subject line as “URGENT” and include your full name and booking ID.
Bookly (“Bookly”, “we”, “us”, “our”) is the operator of the Bookly student hostel booking platform. We are the data controller for all personal data processed through the platform. Our contact for data-related matters is support@booklyapp.co.
When you register and use Bookly as a student, we collect:
When you register and use Bookly as a Hostel Owner, we collect:
Bookly does not collect or store:
We process your personal data for the following purposes:
When a student completes a booking, the following student data is shared with the relevant Hostel Owner to facilitate the accommodation:
Hostel Owners are required to use this data solely for the purpose of managing the accommodation. They may not use student data for marketing, share it with third parties, or retain it beyond the end of the accommodation period without consent.
We share data with the following third-party service providers who process data on our behalf:
We will disclose personal data to law enforcement, regulatory authorities, or courts where:
Bookly does not sell, rent, or trade personal data to third parties for commercial or marketing purposes. We do not display advertising in our platform, and we do not share data with advertisers.
We retain personal data for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide our services. Specific retention periods:
We implement the following security measures to protect your personal data:
No system is completely secure. If we become aware of a data breach that affects your personal data, we will notify affected users as required by applicable law and take immediate steps to contain and remediate the breach.
Depending on applicable law, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at support@booklyapp.co. We will respond within 30 days. We may ask you to verify your identity before processing your request.
The Bookly platform is not intended for use by persons under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from minors. If you believe a minor has registered on our platform, please contact us immediately at support@booklyapp.co and we will take prompt action to remove the account and associated data.
The Bookly app may contain links to third-party websites or services (e.g. hostel owner social media profiles). Bookly is not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party sites you visit.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our data practices or applicable law. We will notify registered users of material changes via in-app notification and/or email at least 14 days before changes take effect. The version number and effective date will be updated with each revision.
Email: support@booklyapp.co
Subject line for data requests: “Data Request — [Your Full Name] — [Registered Email]”
Response time: Within 30 days for formal data requests; within 48 hours for general privacy queries.
Download Bookly and secure your hostel accommodation today.
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