Friends set for legal action over Benidorm holiday hell

AN Ormskirk widower and two friends plan to pursue legal action after reportedly being forced to share a bed on a dream holiday to Benidorm.

Grandads Frank Christian and John Hough, both 71, and Bernard Fitzgibbon,

69, paid more than £1,100 each to Hayes Travel for their holiday over Christmas and the New Year.

The three, who have been friends since they were children, booked to stay at the luxurious Flash hotel and say they were promised three single beds.

But, when they arrived at the hotel, staff could only offer them a double room with two single beds.

After complaining to the hotel and travel agent over the uncomfortable stay, they were offered a £1,000 refund between them and a further £300 in holiday vouchers.

But Frank said this wasn’t good enough and said they were planning legal action over the incident. Shortly after the holiday, he said: “We spoke to reception and they said they had no other rooms we could swap to.

“I even offered to get another room for just one of us and we will pay the extra money, but they said they had no more left.”

Frank, John and Bernard have refused to accept the offer from Hays Travel and intend to pursue action through a small claims court.

Frank said: “We want either a full refund or another holiday of the same value.

“The offer they have made us just isn’t enough to put right everything we had to deal with.

“We spent so much time just trying to sort the issue, we didn’t even get to fully enjoy the holiday.

“We are going to see if there is any way we can go through the small claims court and get back what we paid for the holiday.”

Despite the issues,

Frank said the group would return for another holiday in Benidorm.

He said: “We have all been out there before and would definitely go again, but it was hard to enjoy ourselves.”

A spokesperson for Hays Travel said: “We are sorry to hear of the customer’s continued dissatisfaction. Having considered all factors, we believe the revised gesture is fair.

“However, we have added an additional £300 worth of holiday vouchers as a gesture of goodwill.”

A spokesperson for the Flash Hotel said that the issue was entirely the fault of Hays Travel.

The sleeping arrangements for Frank Christian, John Hough and Bernard Fitzgibbon, inset, below, were less than satisfactory in Benidorm

The friends bought an inflatable bed in an attempt to cope with their limited space and, right, a sketch showing how they managed to share two beds between three