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A dad says he was left crying in the hotel restaurant after his family trip to Turkey turned into the holiday from hell.
Ashley Sutton compared the Grand Bahama Beach Alanya to something out of The Inbetweeners movie, saying the state of the accommodation could have ended up with “someone getting seriously injured or even killed”.
The dad-of two, from Maidstone, said he had to save a drowning child from a pool, saw another youngster getting stung by a swarm of wasps and was given a room with a toilet that did not flush.
Mr Sutton had booked the four-night trip to Antalya through loveholidays as a surprise for his son Dougie-Lee, 10, and daughter Blossom, nine.
But upon arriving at the hotel at 7am on June 22, he, wife Jade, and the children were met with a dining area still littered with glasses and napkins left over from the night before.
Entering the family’s room, they found the toilet did not flush and the bathroom door did not close, and despite booking for a family of four, their room had one double bed and one single.
He said: “When we got there it really felt like something out of The Inbetweeners. I was just in absolute disbelief.”
The children’s play garden – consisting of a swing set and slide – had pool chemicals in containers lined up along the wall and piles of breeze blocks behind the swing.
Inside an ‘enchanted forest’ room which had been advertised for the children to play in were piles of rubbish including old televisions, with exposed wires in the walls.
Speakers and an entertainment box nearby trailed exposed wires along the floor.
Ashley continued: “There was no water on the water slide whatsoever, kids were burning themselves.
“There were no lifeguards on duty at the pool and I actually had to save a child from drowning after he went under the water.
“Myself and a German dad had to dive into the water fully clothed to get him out.
“Later we were sat outside the pool and heard a massive scream. A kid had got 15-20 wasp stings from a wasp nest next to the children’s swing park.
“We told staff who came out and threw boiling water on the nest to kill the wasps, but they all died and fell on the slide and no one cleaned them up or put signs out to say they were there, so kids kept on trying to use it.
“It just got worse and worse. I’m not afraid to say I cried in the restaurant.
“It was just the rudeness from staff – it was pure danger, there was no entertainment.”
Ashley reported the situation to loveholidays, who, he says, replied saying the hotel had refuted the claims and offered €22 in compensation. They later increased their offer to €280 – still a fraction of the cost of the holiday.
The holiday packages are marketed as costing a minimum of £336 per person.
According to loveholidays, it is carrying out a thorough investigation with the hotel supplier, and says it has been in contact with Ashley since to offer a full refund for the hotel.
A spokesman said the team acted immediately when Ashley alerted the firm to the problems upon his return, and had been pushing for compensation on his behalf.
The company added that it requests complaints about accommodation are made to the 24/7 customer service team during the holiday to rectify any issues during the stay.
The spokesman added: “We’re sorry to hear Mr Sutton’s holiday did not live up to expectations. We recognise his experience fell short of our usual high standards and have therefore provided him with a full refund for his accommodation costs while we further investigate the issues raised with the hotel supplier.”
Ashley said he and his wife derived “no enjoyment” from the holiday, and were upset the whole time.
He added: “I’m still sitting here flabbergasted.
“I just want to warn other families not to use that hotel. Someone is going to get seriously injured or killed.
“It is literally the worst holiday ever and completely dangerous for any family, and I feel you could end up seriously hurt or worse.”