A family left a hotel after one night because they were let down with the all-inclusive offering.
Mum-of-one Sophie Yesufu was devastated when she and husband Abs and their five-year-old son arrived at their TUI exclusive hotel in Rhodes, Greece.
What should have been the perfect getaway following the pandemic and three years without a break resulted in them forking out almost two-thirds the original holiday price again.
Sophie, from Manchester, had booked an all-inclusive break, staying at the four-star, TUI exclusive, Atlantica Princess Hotel in Rhodes.
When the family arrived they felt like the hotel did not match the promo pictures.
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"What should have been four-star, turned out to be poor star," said the media executive. "I just wanted to cry when we arrived, I felt so deflated.
"My husband and I work hard, and we couldn’t wait to get away after Covid. But as soon as we got there, we felt full of regret.
"I thought all-inclusive means ‘all’ but there was barely anything inclusive – not even a basic cappuccino.
"The free cocktails tasted like they did not have any alcohol in them, and you had to get your drinking water from dispensers instead of having bottles to hand.
"To make matters worse, the water was tepid because most dispensers were outside in the heat. I had to pay extra for an Aperol spritz which was not on the all-inclusive menu either."
She claimed that a few hours in, they asked TUI reps to move them to a different hotel, but there was nothing available that day, so Sophie and her family spent one night in the hotel.
"The next morning, we went down for breakfast, and I asked for a cappuccino and was told by the waitress there was only filter coffee," she said. "I was told it’s not included in the all-inclusive and I needed to wait until 10am before I could even order one.
"I was told it’s not included in the all-inclusive and I needed to wait until 10am before I could even order one.
"There were people queueing at 7am to get on a sunbed, and you had to line up for ages to eat in the restaurant too.
"Everything was a let-down, from when you’re shown the photos and then it looks nothing like it in real life. For example, the kids' pool looked enormous in the photos and then in reality it was teeny tiny."
Sophie said the family decided they would not be spending the week at the hotel.
When an alternative hotel materialised, they were livid to discover that it would cost them an extra £1,411, plus £110 taxi fare, because the only room available had a swim-up pool room.
"After paying thousands already, it was the last thing we wanted to do," said Sophie. "But you go on holiday wanting it to be perfect, and it should be for the amount of money it costs.
"It was just a let-down, especially because we live in Manchester and the weather is rubbish and we’d waited so long to travel again, like many people.
"You have big expectations for a holiday and when it doesn’t deliver it’s really upsetting. My son was so excited to get on a plane, and so were we.
"It’s the giddiness and anticipation of having an awesome holiday and then feeling so deflated because it wasn’t what we asked for, and worse still, costed more than what we’d already forked out while there. It just wasn’t on."
TUI has been contacted for comment.
