1. Cookie Policy Overview
The River House website (https://theriverhousse.com) uses cookies and similar technologies to support core site functionality, enhance your browsing experience, and help us understand how guests interact with our content, reservations and events pages.
We use cookies to maintain a consistent level of service across devices, ensure that essential features such as booking forms and navigation work correctly, and refine our digital presence in line with our commitment to premium Australian hospitality. This Cookie Policy works alongside our Privacy Policy and should be read together with it.
By continuing to browse our website, using our reservation tools, or interacting with our content after seeing our cookie banner, you acknowledge that you have read this Cookie Policy and understand how we use cookies as described below.
2. What Are Cookies?
Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer, tablet or mobile device when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work, or work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to the site owners.
Cookies allow a website to recognise your device and remember certain information about your visit, such as your preferred language, pages you have viewed, or whether you have already acknowledged a particular notification. Some cookies are set directly by the website you are visiting (first-party cookies), while others may be set by third-party services that the website uses for analytics, booking systems or social media integrations (third-party cookies).
Cookies can be:
- Session cookies, which are temporary and expire once you close your browser; or
- Persistent cookies, which remain on your device for a defined period or until you delete them.
In addition to cookies, we may use similar technologies, such as pixels, tags or local storage, where they serve a comparable purpose.
3. Types of Cookies We Use
We use several categories of cookies on The River House website, each serving a specific purpose. The key types are outlined below.
3.1 Essential Cookies
Essential cookies are necessary for the basic operation of our website and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually set in response to actions you take that amount to a request for services, including:
- Loading core pages and navigation elements;
- Processing reservation or enquiry forms on the Reservations and Contact Us pages;
- Remembering your cookie consent choices and age confirmation status;
- Maintaining security measures and protecting against fraudulent activity.
Without these cookies, the website may not function properly, and key services such as online booking requests or secure form submissions may be unavailable.
3.2 Performance and Analytics Cookies
Performance cookies help us understand how visitors use our website so we can improve the way our pages are structured, written and presented. These cookies collect aggregated, anonymised information such as:
- Which pages are visited most frequently (for example, the Concept, Menu, Poker and Events pages);
- How long guests spend browsing content or exploring gallery imagery;
- Which links or calls-to-action are clicked most often, such as reservation prompts;
- Any error messages encountered while navigating the site.
These cookies do not directly identify you as an individual but provide us with insights that we use to refine our digital experience, support editorial decisions, and prioritise content that resonates with our guests.
3.3 Functionality Cookies
Functionality cookies enable the website to provide enhanced features and a more personalised experience. Examples include:
- Remembering limited preferences, such as previously selected dates for a reservation enquiry;
- Helping ensure that content layouts remain consistent across different sessions;
- Supporting interactive elements, such as contact or event registration forms.
If you choose to disable these cookies, some features may not perform as smoothly, and your experience may feel less tailored.
3.4 Targeting or Marketing-Related Cookies
From time to time, we may work with trusted partners to promote The River House to audiences who are likely to be interested in fine dining, private events or curated poker evenings. In this context, cookies may be used to:
- Measure the performance of campaigns that direct guests to our Reservations, Private Dining or VIP Events pages;
- Limit how often you see a particular advertisement about The River House;
- Understand how users arrive at our website from external platforms.
Any such targeting activity is designed to highlight our hospitality offering, not to encourage gambling or irresponsible behaviour. We do not use cookies to profile sensitive information about you.
4. How We Use Cookies
We use cookies on The River House website to support a calm, reliable and secure browsing experience that mirrors the care we bring to our in-venue service. In particular, cookies help us to:
- Maintain site functionality by ensuring that navigation, content sections, forms and age-restriction tools operate as intended;
- Manage sessions so that you can move smoothly between pages such as Concept, Chef, Wine and Poker without losing context;
- Improve service quality by analysing how guests use the site, which sections they spend time with, and where we can simplify or clarify information;
- Enhance content relevance by understanding which menu highlights, gallery images or event details resonate most with visitors;
- Maintain security by detecting unusual or potentially harmful activity and helping protect our forms and infrastructure.
We do not use cookies to make automated decisions that significantly affect you, nor do we sell cookie-derived information to third parties.
5. Third-Party Cookies
In addition to our own cookies, we may use third-party cookies provided by carefully selected partners to support analytics, reservations, social sharing and other digital services relevant to modern hospitality.
These third-party cookies may, for example:
- Enable privacy-conscious analytics tools that help us understand how visitors find and navigate our website;
- Support integrated reservation or enquiry services, particularly on the Reservations, Private Dining and VIP Events pages;
- Allow you to share content from our site to selected social platforms, such as highlighting a seasonal menu or special event;
- Assist with measuring the effectiveness of digital campaigns that introduce new guests to The River House.
These providers may process information about your device, approximate location, or interaction with our site in accordance with their own privacy and cookie policies. We encourage you to review the privacy and cookie policies of any third parties whose tools you interact with via our website.
Where legally required, third-party cookies used for analytics or marketing are only activated once you have provided consent through our cookie banner or settings tools.
6. Managing Your Cookie Preferences
You have control over how cookies are used when you browse The River House website. You can manage, accept or refuse cookies through a combination of our on-site tools and your browser settings.
6.1 Using Browser Settings
Most web browsers allow you to:
- View the cookies currently stored on your device;
- Delete cookies individually or in bulk;
- Block cookies from specific websites or from all websites;
- Set preferences for how long cookies may be stored.
Instructions for managing cookies can be found via your browser's help section. For convenience, you may refer to the support pages for commonly used browsers such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari and Microsoft Edge.
If you choose to block or delete certain cookies, please note that some parts of our website may not function correctly, and your experience may be less tailored.
6.2 Using On-Site Tools and Banners
When you first visit our website, you may see a cookie banner or notice that provides you with information about our use of cookies and offers options to accept, reject or customise your preferences for non-essential cookies.
Where available, you can update your cookie preferences at any time by revisiting the cookie banner or associated settings link. Essential cookies that are strictly necessary for the operation of the site cannot be disabled through these tools.
Regardless of the method used, we aim to respect your choices and reflect them in the way cookies are set and used going forward.
7. Your Consent
In line with applicable laws, we rely on your consent to set non-essential cookies (such as analytics, performance or marketing-related cookies). When you interact with our cookie banner, your preferences are recorded and stored using a cookie or similar technology so that we can honour your selections during future visits.
Your consent is considered granted when you:
- Click “Accept” or a similar button on our cookie banner; or
- Actively enable specific categories of cookies through our settings interface.
You may withdraw or modify your consent at any time by changing your browser settings or adjusting your preferences via our on-site tools where available. Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of cookies already used based on your previous consent, but it will guide how we use cookies going forward.