FAMILY’S HOLIDAY FROM HELL
A father who saved for two years to take his family on a dream holiday claims the ‘Fawlty Towers’ trip left them ill. Paul Hawkins, from Bury, said his wife and two daughters were struck down with sickness and diarrhoea and confined in a dirty room during a stay in the Dominican Republic.
A DAD who saved for two years to take his family on a dream holiday claims the ‘Fawlty Towers’ trip left them ill and bed-bound.
Paul Hawkins, from Bury, said his wife and two daughters were struck down with sickness and diarrhoea and confined in a dirty room after eating under-cooked food in their hotel during a stay in the Dominican Republic.
Paul, 37, said he ‘wouldn’t wish the holiday on his worst enemy.’
He claims there was raw and under-cooked food in the trays at the hotel’s buffet and the room they were put in was filthy.
He added: “It was disgusting – we had to give it a good clean, there was ingrained dirt everywhere.”
They decided to go to the pool but said this was also dirty.
Paul claims his eldest daughter, Nieve, eight, was walking to reception when a loose nail went through her flip-flop into her foot.
They then spent three hours in a medical centre before Paul decided to try to fly home but was told by Thomson it would cost them £1,700 per person.
Paul added: “I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. They offered us another hotel but that would have cost us £2,300. We were all sick to the back teeth of the place and wanted to go home as we didn’t know what else was coming.”
Despite complaining repeatedly online and in person to his rep and hotel staff about the state of the resort, he claims Thomson eventually responded by offering him a $50 dollar voucher to spend in the hotel – 20 minutes before he was due to fly home.
Paul, who owns a car garage, added: “I wouldn’t wish that holiday on my worst enemy.
“It was a complete disaster from start to finish. Things went from bad to worse and just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse something else happened.
“It’s the closest thing to Fawlty Towers.”
A spokesperson for Thomson said: “We’re currently investigating the complaint and will be in touch with the customers directly.”