Family’s horror at hotel effigy of tragic son
HOTEL staff created a ‘horrifying’ effigy of a couple’s dead son in a tasteless attempt at a tribute.
Andrew and Faye Stephens were appalled by the dummy which had been left lying on a bed. Made by stuffing towels into clothes, it had tears on its face and was holding a can of lager. On its lap was a birthday cake and beside it a message made of flower petals, which read: ‘We miss you.’
The Stephens’ son Alex, 21, died on holiday in Barcelona in 2014. In an act of remembrance, the family jet to Jamaica every year to celebrate his birthday.
His godmother Karen Baker, who was travelling with the group this year, paid staff at the five-star Royalton Negril Resort to decorate a room with cake and balloons. But instead of a sensitive gesture, holidaymakers were shocked to find the effigy. Mrs Baker, from Hertfordshire, said she was ‘utterly horrified’ and managed to remove the dummy before Alex’s parents found it.
She told the BBC: ‘Staff had gone through my friend’s wardrobe and stuffed the clothes with towels to make it look like a body on the bed. I have truly never seen anything like it. I still look at the photographs now and can’t believe somebody thought to do that.’
Travel agent TUI has apologised for the ‘misunderstanding’ and refunded the family £1,300 each. Hotel manager Stefano Sturni said: ‘We regret any offence caused by our staff’s well-meaning but misguided attempt to satisfy this unique guest request.’ Alex, a promising footballer from Willesden in north-west London, died after he fell from a fourth-floor balcony during a trip to a music festival in Spain.