Five-star hotel staff create effigy of couple’s dead son
TUI apologises for ‘tribute’ dummy left on bed with cake and a can of lager
HOTEL staff have apologised for creating a “horrifying” effigy of a dead man in his parents’ room in an attempted tribute.
Karen Baker, from Hertfordshire, had arranged for staff at the five-star Jamaican hotel resort to dress a room for her friends Faye and Andrew Stephens, whose son Alex, a footballer, died after falling from a balcony on holiday in 2014.
The couple were on holiday with Mrs Baker, Alex’s godmother, to celebrate his birthday, a tradition they began after his death. Instead of the planned tribute, however, the family from Willesden, north-west London, were met by a figure made of clothes lying on the bed, holding a birthday cake and a can of lager.
TUI UK, the tour operator, has since refunded the family for the “misunderstanding” after they raised it on BBC radio.
Ms Baker had paid two staff from the Royalton Jamaica Resort to secretly decorate Mr and Mrs Stephens’ bedroom with cake and balloons. But the two hotel workers created the mannequin instead, complete with a can of lager and tears on its face. The dummy was lying next to petals arranged to read: “We miss you Alex”.
Mrs Baker, who discovered the effigy, said she was “utterly horrified” and had managed to remove it before Alex’s parents saw it.
She told the BBC: “When I walked into the bedroom, all I can describe is a dummy body on the bed,” she said.
“Staff had gone through my friends’ wardrobe and stuffed the clothes with towels to make it look like a body on the bed.
“They even put tears down the face and a can of lager in his hand.
“I was absolutely horrified – as you can imagine I was sweating and shaking. We just didn’t want our friends to see it.
“I have truly never seen anything like it. I still look at the photographs now and can’t believe somebody thought to do that”.
Alex Stephens died after flying to Barcelona with friends for a music festival in 2014. The 21-year-old footballer was scouted by Watford FC aged 10 and played for Norwich City between 2009 and 2011 before becoming a first team player for AFC Wembley.
A TUI UK spokesman said: “We offer our sincere apologies to the Baker party for their holiday experience in Jamaica.
“We’re following up with the hotel and believe it was a misunderstanding with no intention to cause upset.”
The family have since received a full refund from TUI of £1,300 per person for the five-star holiday after raising the issue on BBC radio.