An elderly couple who spent almost £1000 of savings on their ' dream holiday ' say they felt like ' prisoners ' during their stay at a hotel. John and Sally Robinson were devastated after their fantasy trip to the Royal Clifton Hotel quickly turned into a holiday from hell when they were given a room from the '1800's', reports LancsLive.
The couple had been long term visitors to Southport and considered the area to be their dream destination for a vacation. Despite their various summer trips to the area, they had never stayed at the 'prestigious' Royal Clifton Hotel and it was on their bucket list to visit.
Eventually the duo had enough in their savings and decided to phone up to book a week's stay at the hotel. John, 82, was quoted £125 a night for a sea-view room and was happy to pay the steep price for what he thought would be a great room.
The couple's son Kev Robinson, 43, says his parents had been dreaming of the trip for years and saved up for a long time. Kev said: "They'd always wanted to stay at this hotel because of its reputation that dates back a long time.
"For that generation it was perceived as being quite grand, it's the Royal Clifton so it was more the tradition of it and the significance to them. They'd been thinking about it for around two years and then I went over and they said they'd finally done it, they booked the Royal Clifton.
"I'll be perfectly honest, they don't use the internet and my dad wouldn't have looked online, it was just what he wanted to do. They're not a well to do couple, they're just living on their pension and this was a holiday for them."
The couple arrived at the hotel ready for their dream holiday but when they arrived they were shocked to learn that they were checked into a room they didn't book. Kev says despite the knock his parents tried to remain positive and chose not to "make a scene".
He said: "They were given another room but they're a couple that comes from a generation where they don't want to cause any fuss and where they feel they would be upsetting people if they were to complain."
The room the pensioners were given was like something from the '1800's' said the 43-year-old. Describing his parents' room Kev said: "There were stains on the wall, visible stain. The headboard of the bed looked like it was broken and the bedside table had stains all over it."
"The heating didn't work and when they'd gone down to tell them the heating didn't work, they gave them this radiator which was tiny and said this is all you've got it's an old hotel what do you expect? It was just in a state of disrepair, the lights were hanging off the wall, the bulbs in the lamps were actually broken so they didn't work.
"The windows were filthy inside and out so even though they wanted a sea view, all you could see was the filth. The windows were draughty so in the evening my parents said they were sat in their coats.
"When they came back home they were poorly, it was that cold they came back ill. When we saw them my son said, nanny what's wrong and she just said, it's awful here, we're waiting on the taxi to come and get us early.
"My dad was angry with himself- he thought it was something special but it was awful."
The situation was made even worse by the fact that Kev went onto a third party website to book a room at the hotel and was only quoted £49 a night for a 'far superior' room. The 43-year-old says he was planning to join his parents during their holiday with his son for an evening and was shocked at the difference in price.
The room given to Kev shocked the couple who saw what their son got or fraction of the price they paid. Kev says the room is exactly what you'd hoped to get for what he paid but for his parents, left them feeling "ripped off".
He added: "My dad's room, he said he wouldn't even put a dying dog in there. When he saw my room he said straight away, he said they've ripped us off. He said I feel like they've taken advantage of us."
"When they'd seen the rooms on the brochure, they looked amazing. My parents are old school and I just feel like there are other older people who would use that hotel for the same reason and I'm just upset that older people could be treated this way.
"The room was dingy and I felt it was unsafe and depressing. They didn't want to complain, they just made do and tried to spend their days outside but in the evening, they're not particularly mobile so they had to just stay there.
"You can't under estimate how life is like at 82 and you know people will say oh they should've done this and they should've done that but they're not from that generation where they do that.
"They're from a generation where they make do and don't cause a fuss."
On behalf of his parents, Kev says he's now in a lengthy complaints process with the owners, Britannia Hotels, to try to get some form of response from the company to see "if they think that room is acceptable".
LancsLive contacted Britannia Hotel who confirmed "that the guests have been communicated with directly."
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