‘Nightmare’ £3,000 Turkey trip as family finds resort in ‘disrepair’
Family’s £3,000 ‘dream’ holiday to Turkey turned into a ‘total nightmare’ after arriving to find the resort ‘in a state of disrepair’ with closed facilities and the beach deserted
- A British family has accused loveholidays of ‘misleading’ customers online
- They claim the ‘all-inclusive’ luxury trip promised was ‘a shadow’ of the advert
A family’s dream £3000 trip to Turkey turned into a nightmare as they arrived to allegedly find the resort in disrepair, the amenities closed and the beach empty.
Laura Forrest was left fuming after booking the ten-day holiday for herself, partner Gary Juggins and her children Toby and Finn at the Aria Claros resort in Turkey in April.
The 39-year-old and her family claim they booked the trip through loveholidays and were concerned as soon as they arrived after being given just one double bed for the four of them.
Upon further investigation the family from Sudbury, Suffolk claim that the all-inclusive resort they had been promised was a shadow of itself, with no facilities open and no other holidaymakers around.
The family accused loveholidays of ‘false advertising’ and ‘misleading’ customers – although the company says it has now agreed to refund the cost of the hotel.
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Laura Forrest, pictured alongside partner Gary Juggins and her children Toby and Finn, booked the holiday expecting a dream all-inclusive experience
Instead they found almost all the resort’s amenities closed and the hotel in ‘a state of disrepair’
The family said the waterpark advertised to them by loveholidays was closed
Ms Forrest explained how the family arrived only to walk into their hotel room and discover there was only one bed for the four of them – despite having paid extra for an apartment with a double and two singles.
They say the hotel claimed there was no booking for a family room of four at the hotel by loveholidays.
The family was given a second room next door for Toby and Finn to stay in.
She said: ‘It was supposed to be a ten-day all-inclusive dream holiday.
‘The day we got there, we arrived late and we had booked a two-bed family room but we were given a key card and walked into the room and it only had one double bed.
‘We went back to reception and they gave us a further key card and said we [could] have two rooms next to each other so basically my two boys had to sleep in a room by themselves.
‘We had paid extra for the two-bed apartment but we were told that none of the apartments were open yet.’
The holiday swiftly went downhill even further as they wandered the resort to view the range of exciting facilities which were all advertised by loveholidays.
Ms Forrest said: ‘When we booked the holiday it stated six restaurants, water park, playground, mini golf, daytime and evening entertainment but we had one restaurant and no entertainment.
‘There was no mini golf, the playground didn’t exist and there was no water park so we had nothing to do.
The family spent more than £3,000 on the trip, thinking it would be a holiday of a lifetime
The family said areas of the resort were ‘in a state of disrepair’ and there were no other holidaymakers around
Other parts of the resort were dirty or taped off and unusuable
Their plight came to attention after the frustrated family filmed a video to raise awareness of what they say was an ‘unfair’ and ‘misleading’ experience at the hands of the firm
Areas such as the waterpark and the mini golf were in a state of disrepair, and were either cordoned off or dirty and disused
Upon further investigation the family from Sudbury, Suffolk claim that the all-inclusive resort they had been promised was a shadow of itself
‘We all became very bored, especially the boys, they were bored beyond belief.’
She added when they contacted loveholidays to complain, they were offered just £50, which Ms Forrest described as an ‘insult’.
‘We emailed loveholidays and they said it was down to the hotel to sort the rooms, they offered us £50 and we declined as it was an insult.
‘The stress of going back and forth was too much, the day after we contacted them I checked the website and they had changed the bottom of the website.
‘It now said that this was a seasonal hotel, this was not on there when we booked and they haven’t answered our questions on this.’
The family said of all the alleged promotions made by loveholidays about the resort only one bar was open to customers.
Other areas such as the waterpark and the mini golf were in a state of disrepair, and were either cordoned off or dirty and disused.
Their plight came to attention after the frustrated family filmed a video to raise awareness of what they say was an ‘unfair’ and ‘misleading’ experience at the hands of the firm.
Alongside a selection of images of the shocking facilities at the Aria Claros, the family sings along to Tiffany’s 1987 hit I Think We’re Alone Now.
They sing: ‘Tourists beware, loveholidays misleads customers, their website’s not fair.’
In the video, there is not another soul on the beach, which is eerily quiet.
Ms Forrest said the behaviour of the company was ‘absolutely disgusting’
Ms Forrest posted the video about the family’s holiday on social media last week, writing: ‘Posting this as no job with a refund, total nightmare holiday, made this video because we had nothing to do.
‘We paid over £3,000, advertising an all inclusive water park, six restaurants, mini golf, water sports, entertainment, false advertising.
‘When we arrived we were told nothing opened for another month then loveholidays changed their website the day after we complained to state this hotel was seasonal, absolutely disgusting.’
A spokesperson for loveholidays told MailOnline: ‘We’re sorry to hear that Ms Forrest and Mr Juggins’ holiday did not live up to expectations.
‘We recognise their experience fell short of our usual high standards and will therefore be providing them with a full refund for the value of the hotel while also fully investigating the issues raised with the accommodation provider.
‘We always endeavour to ensure the content on our website is up to date but will also be reviewing our processes with our accommodation providers to avoid instances like this happening again.’
