Host Standards & Safety
Last updated: 23 July 2026 · Part of the Host Terms
Detor exists so travellers can trust a stranger with their afternoon. These standards are what every host commits to when they apply and every time they publish an experience. Most of it is common sense; the food, allergen and alcohol sections are also the law.
Four things guests should be able to take for granted on every Detor experience.
- What’s promised is what happens Accurate listings, honest photos, on-time starts, and the itinerary guests paid for.
- Safe by design Risks thought through in advance, sensible group sizes, and a host who knows what to do when something goes wrong.
- Everyone is welcome No discrimination, no harassment — the same warmth for every guest.
- Food & drink done right Clean preparation, clear allergen information, registered vendors, and alcohol only for adults — always.
1. The host promise
- Be reliable. Honour every confirmed booking, arrive early at the meeting point, and run the full experience as described. Cancel only for genuine emergencies — and as early as possible.
- Be reachable. Keep your phone on around start times, respond to guest messages promptly, and keep your contact details current.
- Be accurate. Duration, route, group size, what’s included, physical demands, age limits — your listing must match reality. Update it the moment something changes.
- Be prepared. Know your route and venues, check opening hours and weather, and have a plan B for the parts that can fall through.
2. Safety on every experience
- Think risks through in advance. Traffic, water, crowds, equipment, terrain — walk your own experience with fresh eyes and remove or clearly warn about hazards.
- Right-size your group. Never accept more guests than you can genuinely keep track of and keep safe; set your listing’s maximum honestly.
- Equipment must be sound. Bikes, boats, tools, kitchen equipment — anything guests use must be well-maintained and appropriate. Provide required safety gear and show guests how to use it.
- Minors join only with an adult, and only when your experience is suitable for them (reflect this in your listing’s age settings).
- Know the basics of what to do when it goes wrong. Carry a charged phone; in an emergency call 112 first, then report the incident to Detor via the Trust & Safety centre.
- Weather calls are yours to make honestly. If conditions make your experience unsafe, cancel or reschedule — a cancelled walk beats a dangerous one.
This section applies whenever your experience involves food in any form: food tours, tastings, cooking classes, market walks with samples, dinners, picnics — whether you prepare the food yourself or guests eat at venues you bring them to.
One rule above all: nobody gets hurt by what they eat. Allergies can be fatal. You must know what’s in everything you serve, tell guests clearly, and take every allergy seriously — every single time.
Allergens — your legal duty
- EU law (Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011) requires that guests can find out, before they eat, whether any of the 14 regulated allergens are present: gluten-containing cereals, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, tree nuts, celery, mustard, sesame, sulphites, lupin and molluscs.
- Know your ingredients. For anything you prepare or hand out, be able to state which of the 14 allergens it contains — keep a simple written note per dish or product if that helps.
- Ask before you serve. At the start of every experience, ask about allergies and dietary requirements — even if guests noted them at booking. Adapt or skip items for affected guests; never guess.
- At third-party venues, relay guests' allergies to the vendor and let the guest see the vendor’s allergen information before eating.
- Cross-contamination counts: shared knives, boards, fryers and bowls can carry allergens into "safe" food. Separate utensils and clean surfaces when preparing for someone with an allergy.
Hygiene — safe preparation and serving
- EU food-hygiene rules (Regulation (EC) No 852/2004) require HACCP-based working practice. In the Netherlands the practical route is to follow the relevant hygiene code (Hygiënecode) for your activity.
- The chain of basics: wash hands before handling food; keep raw and ready-to-eat food separate; keep cold food cold (≤ 7 °C, fridges at ≤ 4 °C recommended) and hot food hot (≥ 60 °C); when in doubt, throw it out.
- Transport counts. Picnics and market tastings need cool boxes/bags for perishables; don’t let dairy, fish, or meat sit in the sun.
- Registration (NVWA). If you prepare, store or serve food with any regularity or organisation — which commercial hosting typically is — you likely qualify as a food business and must register with the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) before you start. Registration is free and done online; hosting from a home kitchen does not exempt you. If you’re unsure whether you qualify, check with the NVWA.
- Vendors must be legitimate. On tours where guests eat at shops, stalls or restaurants, use established, registered vendors — never unregistered street sellers of unknown provenance.
Tell guests what to expect
- List in your experience description what will be eaten and name any of the 14 allergens that are unavoidable on your route (e.g. "this cheese tour cannot be made dairy-free").
- State clearly which dietary needs you can and cannot accommodate (vegetarian, vegan, halal, kosher, gluten-free…). It’s fine not to accommodate everything — it’s not fine to surprise anyone.
4. Alcohol
- 18+ only — no exceptions. Dutch law (Alcoholwet) prohibits providing alcohol to anyone under 18. If your experience includes alcohol, set your listing’s minimum age accordingly.
- Check ID for anyone who could plausibly be under 25; only accept a passport, EU ID card or Dutch driving licence.
- Serve where it’s legal to serve. On-premise tastings belong at licensed venues (bars, breweries, distilleries, restaurants). You may not sell or serve your own alcohol in public spaces or unlicensed locations, and drinking in many Amsterdam public areas is itself prohibited.
- Moderation is part of the job. Keep tastings tastings — small pours, food and water alongside, never pressure anyone to drink, and always offer a non-alcoholic alternative. Never continue serving a guest who is visibly intoxicated.
- You remain responsible for guest safety for the whole experience — plan routes and endings so nobody is left somewhere unsafe after drinks.
5. Community conduct
- No discrimination. Welcome every guest equally regardless of nationality, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age or disability. Accessibility limits must be practical facts about the experience, stated in the listing — never about who the guest is.
- No harassment, unwanted advances, aggression or humiliation — toward guests, vendors, bystanders or other hosts.
- Respect the city. Follow local rules on group conduct, noise and gathering places; be a good ambassador for the neighbourhoods you bring guests into.
- Stay sober while hosting. Don’t host under the influence of alcohol or drugs; tasting minimally alongside guests where it’s part of the experience is fine — being impaired is not.
- Report incidents. Accidents, injuries, harassment, or anything the platform should know about: report it promptly via the Trust & Safety centre.
6. Honest listings & reviews
- Your photos show your experience — not stock images of things guests won’t see. You must own or have rights to every image.
- Never manipulate reviews: no fake reviews, no incentives for positive ones, no pressuring guests to change or remove reviews.
- Keep business on the platform. Don’t use Detor to advertise off-platform bookings or collect payment outside the platform (see Booking Terms and Host Terms).
7. How these rules are enforced
Every listing is reviewed before it goes live, and we act on guest reports, reviews and incident data. Depending on severity, we may ask you to fix an issue, unpublish a listing, pause or suspend your account, or end our agreement — as described in Host Terms §13. We’ll tell you what we did and why, and you can contest any measure via Contact. For anything involving immediate danger, we act first and explain after.
High standards are why guests book strangers. Thank you for keeping them high. — The Detor team