A family has slammed an 'appalling' easyJet holiday to Spain - which they forked out a whopping £3,900 for - after claiming they stayed at a three-star hotel which had 'dirty' rooms that you 'wouldn’t put a dog in'.
Back in June, Mark Field, 61, and his wife Karen, 59, joined their son Nathan, 32, their daughter-in-law Nadia, 38, and their two grandchildren Albie, eight, and Baxter, four for a seven-night 'familymoon' holiday.
Immediately, things weren't off to a good start when the family landed in Cala d’Or in Mallorca and arrived at Hotel Club Es Talaial – a three-star hotel which says it offers 'families all-inclusive fun'.
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Mark claims they discovered that their rooms looked 'nothing like' the pictures published online, adding: "You wouldn’t have put a dog in there."
He and Nadia also hit out at the 'dirty' rooms which featured exposed wires, broken cupboards, an unclean bathroom and a balcony overlooking a car park with a skip and bins.
Understandably, the family were disappointed and 'upset' as the rooms did not reflect the images shown online and were not what was 'promised'.
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"We were on the top floor of five flights of stairs, with a balcony overlooking a car park, and the rooms were just disgusting," Mark said.
"I’ve stayed in some horrible places over the years but there were exposed wires, it was dirty, the cupboards were all broken, and the linen didn’t look particularly clean and fresh.
"So I said, 'I’m going downstairs, this isn’t the room that we’ve booked'."
When Nadia went to reception and showed staff pictures of the rooms they had booked on the hotel website, she said she was told they would have to 'pay extra for those' but they were not available at the time.
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Nadia said that she contacted easyJet via its app and the airline offered them another similar room but this was much further away - meaning the family would have been separated.
She also said the hotel offered to upgrade the family’s two rooms later in the week, but they were told this would cost an additional 150 euros (£128) per room so they declined.
Later on that day, the family went down to the hotel restaurant for dinner – which Mark described as a 'nightmare'.
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They added that the tables in the restaurant were 'filthy', and they had to pay one euro each for a plastic cup to have drinks throughout their stay.
"It was horrible. There was no variety in the food at all, it was either just chips or pork – that was about it," Mark said.
"We had to queue for about 15 minutes to get a drink and then when we sat outside at the tables, I did a cursory wipe of the table and they were filthy. I just got a paper tissue and I wiped the dirt off.
"When we went out to the bar area, we then discovered you have to pay one euro each for a plastic cup."
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A video taken by Mark shows him seemingly wiping 'dirt' from a hotel restaurant table with a tissue, leading the family to decide to dine elsewhere which they said cost at least an additional £600.
Mark said the family had no complaints about the hotel breakfast, however, when they went to the kids’ pool, they noticed the surfaces were 'slippery' and the concrete was broken, which was 'dangerous', and the snack bar allowed each person to have four items, with only limited staff serving - meaning the queues were 'ridiculous'.
The family claim they were only offered a room change rather than the option of moving hotels, so they remained at Hotel Club Es Talaial until their check-out.
Although easyJet has offered a £200 partial refund, Mark said no-one has apologised to the family, the 'familymoon' was tainted by the poor standards of the hotel, and he will 'never book with easyJet again'.
"It was just appalling," Mark said. "Looking at their website, if I’m booking it and I see those rooms, that’s perfect for us – but it was just not what they said it was going to be.
"If we knew that, Nadia would not have accepted that, she just wouldn’t have put her kids in those rooms. They were disgusting."
Nadia added: "The main thing is the price of the holiday and the lies – the pictures did not match the hotel.
"We paid £3,900 and what has hurt me the most is that was money that we had to borrow – we took out a loan – and then with the money from family and friends, we paid the loan back, so it was almost like I threw their money down the drain, which is why I want to get as much of it back as I can.
"It was a holiday from hell and it ruined my honeymoon – I can’t get those memories back."
A spokesperson for easyJet said: "We’re really sorry to hear of (Nadia’s) experience and that her chosen hotel didn’t meet expectations.
"Our on holiday support team was in close contact with (Nadia) throughout the holiday, and we worked alongside the hotel to resolve the issues reported.
"To apologise for any disappointment caused, we offered a partial refund to (Nadia), which she has accepted, and we will continue to work closely with our hotel partner to ensure all our customers are satisfied with their holidays."
Hotel Club Es Talaial did not wish to share a statement, but said that several alternatives were offered to the guests during their stay and the problems were resolved in a timely manner.
Tyla has reached out to easyJet for further comment.
Rhiannon Ingle