'Our £6k honeymoon turned into holiday hell - we'd have preferred Travelodge'

21 September 2023 , 11:34

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Rebecca and Jack said their son Albert was begging to go back to the other hotel

A couple was left horrified after their £6,000 honeymoon turned into a "holiday from hell", after they were struck by food poisoning, had "c***" entertainment and had "dirty" facilities.

Rebecca, 35, a regional manager, and Jack Unwin, 28, a senior project manager, had booked their multi-destination honeymoon at Tui's Meadowhall branch in Sheffield.

The couple, along with their five-year-old son Albert, initially jetted off to the Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya Resort and Spa from June 6 to 14, where they "could not have enjoyed their experience anymore". The newlyweds said a travel agent recommended the second hotel, and told them it was "beautiful". However, upon arrival at Planet Hollywood in Cancun, their joy quickly turned into disappointment.

Rebecca, who has systemic sclerosis and IBS, said she spent most of her honeymoon confined to the bathroom. She was appalled to find that the so-called five-star hotel lacked basic amenities, such as juices and regular maid services.

Rebecca said she was swimming in dirt

Rebecca said: "It was meant to be a holiday of a lifetime, and it was a holiday from hell, we were so disappointed and upset. On our last day, there was a dead bird floating in the children's pool and it took them hours to get rid of it. In the morning, at about eight o'clock, you could see a layer of dirt on top of the pool, all the grime settled at the top. It turned out that the filter had broken, so everyone was swimming in everyone else's dirt.

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"I used to be a hotel manager and I instantly knew what we expected and what we paid for was not what we got. We had the buffet included in our stay, and I got food poisoning. I've got an autoimmune disease called systemic sclerosis, and with that, I've got IBS. I spent most of my honeymoon on the toilet." She expressed disbelief over the lack of basic amenities despite the hefty price tag for their stay, saying: "We just couldn't believe we'd paid so much to stay there and they didn't have basic things."

The family said the accommodation was filthy

Rebecca and her family were also disappointed with the children's entertainment. She said: "It was meant to have an amazing kids' club but it was c***. My son kept asking if we could go back to the other hotel. We booked this hotel because it was meant to be all singing and dancing, there were meant to be shows with Marvel characters but we only saw the characters once. It turned out that everything they had advertised as part of our package, you had to pay extra for."

She said she researched the hotel before she booked, but the reviews were "quite limited" at the time since the hotel had only recently opened its doors. She added: "I went on TikTok and the reviews were varied, some said it was amazing, and some said it was terrible. We also looked on TripAdvisor, but I always take it with a pinch of salt, because we've been to lower-rated places in the past and they've been excellent. I think sometimes people only write a review if it's been bad, but, after the Tui travel agent recommended it, we decided to book it and take our son with us."

Rebecca was left unimpressed by the broken play area

Upon returning home, Rebecca lodged a complaint with Tui via email and visited its Meadowhall branch. However, it took over three months for Tui to respond, she claimed. Tui eventually offered them a £600 holiday voucher or a £370 bank transfer as compensation. Rebecca expressed her outrage over the compensation offered by Tui for their holiday mishap. She stated: "We aren't going to accept it, it's not even a quarter of what we paid for the week. I am shocked that they think it's acceptable to offer more in vouchers than in cash." Reflecting on her disappointing experience, Rebecca vowed to boycott the travel agent and said: "We will never be booking a holiday with Tui again. After getting a recommendation from someone in-store, we couldn't wait, but we just feel like we wasted our money and we would have had a better time staying in the Travelodge."

The Mirror has contacted TUI and Planet Hollywood for comment.

* This article was crafted with the help of an AI tool, which speeds up The Mirror's editorial research. An editor reviewed this content before it was published. You can report any errors to [email protected]

Neil Shaw