What is Habbo Hotel?
It's a virtual hotel, where teenagers can hang out and chat. Each person
in the hotel is represented by a personalised figure called a Habbo. It's
a bit like a computer game, but all the characters are real people in
different places.
Who's it for?
It's aimed at UK children of secondary school age and upwards, but anybody
can register.
Is it a safe place for my child?
Habbo Hotel is patrolled 24 hours a day by volunteer moderators called
Hobbas. Hobbas can be recognised by their badges. Hobbas can alert, kick
and ban Habbos who break the rules. Hobbas can be asked for help from any
room in the hotel through the blue question mark.
Hobbas are backed up at all times by paid members of Habbo Ltd staff.
These staff members are trained moderators and all are police vetted. If
you'd like to help out as a volunteer moderator, please
email us, (choose 'I'm a parent').
Every conversation in the hotel passes through the ‘Bobba Filter’ before
it appears on the screen. This filters out swearing, racist and sexist
terms and other words unsuitable for children, changing them to the word ‘bobba’.
The filter also covers Habbo names and missions, and room names and
descriptions. The filters are updated on a daily basis and contain many
hundreds of words and terms.
In addition to these measures we also work hard to educate our members
about being safe in the hotel and online in general. Along with our
prominent safety information, we produce a weekly safety newsletter,
HabboHood Watch and display safety messages while Habbos are moving from
room to room.
Are my child's personal details safe with Habbo Hotel?
We have a strict
Privacy Policy and will not share your child's details with anyone, be
they fellow Habbos or companies other than Habbo Ltd. In addition, all
Habbo Ltd staff members have been police vetted to work with children.
Why do you ask for my child's email address?
One of the reasons we ask for email addresses is so that we can send
password reminders. Habbos can choose whether they want to receive emails
from us (such as the hotel newsletters).
We also ask for email addresses so that your child can use the Habbo
Console effectively. The Console lets them send instant messages to other
Habbos in the hotel and emails to Habbos who aren't online. We designed
this tool specifically to stop them giving out their personal details -
when emails are sent from the Console, email addresses are not revealed to
either party. In addition, only people they have chosen to be on their
Friends List can contact them in this way and it is very easy to remove
someone from this list if needs be.
Does it cost anything to go to Habbo Hotel?
It is free to register and check into the hotel - there are many Habbos
who enjoy the service for free. We only charge for 'extras' like gaming
elements (diving in the swimming pools), text messaging from the Console
and room furnishings (referred to as 'furni' by most Habbos).
These items are paid for with Habbo Credits, the hotel's currency. Credits
can be bought in a variety of secure ways, such as by mobile phone text
message, cheque or postal order, from a home phone, and by Splash Plastic
(a teen pre-pay card).
Credits are priced according to the payment method used and most methods
have maximum limits in place. All of the instructions on how to buy
Credits are written in a way that is easy for children to understand and
warnings to gain permission before purchase are very prominent.
Call to the Habbo Credits Line (09056575575) cost £1, which buys the
caller 10 Habbo Credits. Only ten calls can be made in one day and only 25
in any week. We do NOT operate automatic 'diallers' - the only way a
charge can appear on your telephone bill is if someone in your house has
picked up your phone and dialled our number. If you don’t want your
children to use this method at all, you can ask your telephone provider to
block our number, or all premium rate numbers.
SMS (text message) purchasing is limited to £15 a day, with each text
costing £1.50 for 15 Habbo Credits. The sender of the message is only
charged when they receive a message back from us, which contains a special
code they need to use to get the Credits.
There is no limit to Credits purchased by Splash Plastic, but this is
because card holders have to put money on the card before they can use it
and so can only spend money they actually have. Credits cost 10p each with
Splash Plastic.
Similarly, cheques and postal orders have no maximum spend, since children
cannot send these without adult intervention. Habbo Credits cost 11p each
when bought in this way.
Can my child's Habbo Credits or 'furni' be stolen?
Not if your child keeps their password secret. Someone else needs to know
their password to check into the hotel as them and take their 'furni' or
spend their Credits.
Unfortunately, children are very trusting and can be taken in by scammers.
To counteract this we developed a special section of our site called Scam
Busters, which provides information and advice on how to keep Habbo
accounts secure. You can visit Scam Busters from our home page (it’s in
the Help and Safety section).
How can I get further information about Habbo Hotel?
This guide only provides a simple outline of the hotel - more detailed
information can be found in our FAQs (within the Help and Safety section).
If you have a specific question please feel free to use our
Contact Us form to email us - choose 'I'm a parent' from the drop down
menu.
www.habbohotel.co.uk
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