Effective date: October 18, 2026
Who we are
This policy covers U Street Capsule Hostel (1931 13th St NW, Washington, DC; ustreethostel.com) and I Street Capsule Hostel (512 I St NW, Washington, DC; istreethostel.com), which are operated by the same owner (“we”, “us”). It explains what personal information we collect when you visit our websites, book, or stay with us, how we use it, and the choices you have.
Information we collect
- Booking details: your name, email address, phone number, dates of stay, number of guests, room or capsule type, and any requests you send us, whether you book on our website or through a travel site such as Booking.com or Expedia.
- Payment information: card payments are processed by our booking and payment providers. We do not store full card numbers on our own systems.
- Check-in and stay information: information needed to check you in and give you access to the building and your capsule (for example, door and capsule access codes), and identification where required.
- Messages: emails, texts and chat messages you exchange with us before, during and after your stay.
- Website data: like most websites, ours use cookies and similar technologies, and record technical information such as your browser type, device and pages visited. Some pages show content from other services (for example our booking engine, a chat button, or social-media feeds such as TikTok), and those services may set their own cookies.
How we use your information
- To take and manage your reservation, process payment, check you in, and give you access to the property.
- To communicate with you about your stay, answer your questions, and send arrival instructions and access codes.
- To keep our guests and property safe, prevent fraud, and respond to payment disputes.
- To meet legal, tax and accounting obligations.
- To run and improve our websites and services. We may also send you news or offers if you have agreed to receive them, and you can opt out at any time.
We do not sell your personal information.
Who we share it with
We share information only as needed to run the hostels: with the companies that provide our booking and property-management system, payment processing, guest messaging, self check-in and door/capsule locks, email and website hosting; with the travel site you booked through; with professional advisers; and with authorities when the law requires it. These providers may use your information only to provide their services to us.
Our internal AI assistant and Google account data
To manage hostel email, documents and schedules more efficiently, the owner uses a private AI assistant (“Bionic Assistant”). It runs locally on our own computer and connects only to the owner’s own Google account. It is not offered to guests or the public, and it never asks guests to sign in with Google.
- What it accesses: with the owner’s permission, it can read the owner’s Gmail messages, Google Calendar events, and Google Drive, Docs and Sheets files, and it can create Gmail drafts. Those emails and files can include messages and booking information from guests.
- What it does with it: it searches, summarizes and drafts replies so the owner can answer guests and run the business. A person reviews every draft. The assistant cannot send email on its own.
- Where the data goes: Google data is processed on our own computer by a locally run AI model. It is not sold, not used for advertising, not used to train AI models, and not shared with anyone else except where required by law.
- Storage: access tokens are stored only on that computer. Access can be revoked at any time at myaccount.google.com/permissions.
The use and transfer of information received from Google APIs by Bionic Assistant adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
How long we keep it
We keep booking and payment records for as long as needed for your stay and for tax, accounting, legal and dispute purposes, and then delete or anonymize them. Messages are kept as long as they are useful for customer service or required for those purposes.
Security
We use reasonable safeguards, including access controls and reputable service providers. No system is completely secure, so please contact us right away if you think your information has been misused.
Your choices
You can ask us for a copy of the personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it where we are not required to keep it. You can also unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time, and block or delete cookies in your browser settings.
Children
Our websites are not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their personal information online.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top shows when it last changed.
Contact us
U Street Capsule Hostel: contact@ustreethostel.com
I Street Capsule Hostel: contact@istreethostel.com