A woman has shared her shock at the conditions inside a hotel after shelling out £2,000 on a holiday. Dani Baker and her partner, Keiran, jetted off from Birmingham Airport to Kos in Greece on June 28 for a week of relaxation.
They headed to the Kipriotis Panorama Hotel and Suites, which they believed to be a five-star resort. But Dani claims she was confronted with stained carpets, faulty air conditioning, and a ceiling that was coming loose. The door of her hotel room was also broken with no functional lock so they had to barricade the door with a chair, reports Birmingham Live.
The 24-year-old attempted to get help from TUI by ringing their emergency number. But after struggling to find a resolution, she and Keiron found themselves having to cough up extra cash to move to a new hotel just one day after landing on the island.
She is now urging TUI to offer her a refund for her original hotel, which she says was not as advertised.
The travel company offered her a €200 voucher towards a future TUI holiday or €100 towards a meal as compensation, which she turned down.
She was also offered a different room at the hotel, which she declined.
Dani said: “The holiday fell significantly below the standard advertised and promised five stars, resulting in considerable financial loss, distress, and a serious impact on my health.
“We arrived at the hotel at approximately 1am, expecting an older property, as described on the TUI website. However, what we found bore no resemblance to the advertised five-star accommodation for which we paid over £2,000.
“From the moment we entered the hotel, it was immediately apparent that the property was in an unacceptable state. There was no functioning air conditioning in reception despite the extreme heat, sandwiches were left uncovered on the reception desk beneath a cloth, and large sections of the hotel were unlit, creating an unwelcoming and unsafe environment.
“As we made our way to our room, numerous health and safety concerns became evident. The corridor carpets were heavily stained and torn, causing me to trip on several occasions.
“On our floor, there was a steep step concealed beneath a loose piece of carpet in what appeared to be an inadequate attempt to make the area accessible. We struggled to manoeuvre our suitcases over this hidden obstacle, and I cannot see how anyone with mobility issues or a wheelchair could safely access this area.
“Sections of the ceiling were visibly damaged and hanging loose, creating further safety concerns.”
Dani claims that conditions in the bedroom were even more appalling. She added: “The air conditioning was virtually non-existent. The only source of cool air was a vent beneath the entrance door, producing only mildly cool air.
“Walking further into the room felt like stepping into an unbearable sauna, making the room almost impossible to occupy comfortably.
“The room itself was completely unacceptable and entirely inconsistent with the accommodation advertised by TUI. We discovered broken furniture, heavily stained carpets, mould growing on the ceiling, corroded pipework, a persistent sewage odour throughout the room, and a faulty door lock which would not secure properly.
“As a result, we had no option but to barricade the door with a chair during the night. At no point did I feel safe or secure in this accommodation.
“Given the seriousness of these issues, I contacted TUI’s 24-hour helpline immediately. I explained the condition of the hotel in detail and emailed photographic evidence of the problems as requested. I was assured this would be investigated and someone would contact me as soon as possible.”
Dani revealed that nobody returned her call, forcing her to ring back the next day.
“I have Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), and the extreme heat, stress, and complete lack of sleep triggered multiple flare-ups over the following two days,” she said.
“The following morning, I contacted the TUI helpline again. I was informed that the previous representative had failed to pass on any details of my complaint and that no action whatsoever had been taken overnight.
“I therefore had to explain the entire situation again from the beginning.”
Dani says that she was told by TUI that her booking had been transferred to an unnamed third-party company without her knowledge. This meant they could not address the issue directly and had to contact the other company.
She said: “This arrangement was never made clear at the time of booking and only complicated an already distressing situation. Furthermore, they were not allowed to share the name of this third party.”
Dani and Keiron then allegedly waited hours for a room change and to speak with a TUI representative in person.
“After waiting more than two hours, we had still not been shown another room. Housekeeping staff even arrived asking why we remained in our original room, clearly unaware of the situation.
“Meanwhile, members of my family in the UK visited our local TUI branch seeking assistance. They were given the same telephone number I had already been using.
“When I contacted them again, he explained he could submit a request to relocate us to another hotel, but this could take more than 24 hours and there was still no guarantee TUI would cover the costs.
“When I explained that I was prepared to book alternative accommodation myself simply to escape the conditions, I was advised not to do so. Instead, I was offered either a €200 voucher towards a future TUI holiday or €100 towards a meal.
“Given the seriousness of the circumstances, this offer was wholly inadequate and completely unacceptable. By this point, I was already unwell, exhausted, and had effectively lost an entire day of my holiday attempting to resolve a situation that should never have arisen.
“To make matters worse, despite booking an all-inclusive holiday, when we attempted to get food and drinks around midday, the bars were closed and the restaurants had little or no food available. This was entirely inconsistent with the all-inclusive package that had been advertised and paid for.
“By approximately 2pm, having lost confidence in both TUI and the hotel, we made the difficult decision to leave and secure alternative accommodation at our own expense in order to salvage the remainder of our holiday.
“From that point onwards, neither TUI nor the hotel made any meaningful attempt to follow up with us regarding our welfare or the status of our complaint. When I later checked the TUI app, I discovered the complaint had simply been closed without any resolution or communication.”
Dani says that the problems left her facing extra holiday expenses, including: change of hotels, taxi transfers, airport transfer from the new hotel and food and drink, as the new accommodation wasn’t all-inclusive.
She added: “As a result of these failures, I requested TUI to provide appropriate compensation, and investigations into this hotel and any future bookings.
“After multiple back-and-forth calls with the TUI complaints team, it was decided that, as we had not accepted the voucher offer and moved hotels of our own accord, for health and safety reasons, they could not compensate us. I took this further to management who reiterated the same thing.
“This has caused us to lose faith in booking any future holidays with TUI. Their behaviour and support towards this issue was disgraceful and disrespectful. I lost half of my holiday due to being unwell which was triggered by the stress and poor conditions provided and not supported.
“I have now taken this to ABTA in hopes of regaining some compensation for our holiday. Unfortunately, TUI is still being rather difficult as I have requested the information of who I have spoken to and details of our discussion, stating that for this information, I had to request a Subject Access Request for this, delaying further enquiries.”
TUI declined to comment.