A couple’s Caribbean holiday turned into a nightmare when they found a dead body at their hotel and saw people having sex in a pool. Alan and Sarah Stevens, who hails from Hull, went to the Dominican Republic in June.
Stevens said their stay at a hotel, worth £2,800 ($3569) became a “nightmare” and he felt “let down” by the offer of £200 ($254) as compensation by the holiday operator.
The travel agency which arranged the trip accepted that its “usually high standards were not met”.
When Stevens and his wife Sarah first reached the hotel, they found the room comfortable and the food was also “quite nice”, reported BBC.
However, he said that the holiday became “seedy” with “constant cannabis smoking” and people having sex in the pool. He added that he also saw a dead body under a sheet and was informed that two other guests had died because of drug overdoses at the hotel.
“The pool had to be emptied twice a day because the water was so murky. People were chucking their drugs in the pool and there was absolutely no security. When doing our research, no holiday provider described it as a ‘party hotel’ – but it was,” he said while speaking to the BBC.
“It turned into a 100% car crash holiday,” Stevens added. He said that when he tried discussing the issues with the hotel manager, he replied, “People die every day.”
“We weren’t taken seriously and weren’t even taken to a private area to talk about our complaints. TUI offered to move us to another hotel but we had heard from other guests that it was just as bad,” Stevens said.
The couple had to spend their 17-day holiday by a “quieter” pool with other guests, who are older in age, however, they did not enjoy the “Dominican vibe” and just had to “grin and bear it”.
Stevens said that he was “a loyal customer of TUI for more than 25 years” so he felt disappointed at the compensation offer of £200 in counselling and vouchers.
“I’ve spent thousands with TUI and they are offering us each what equates to £5.88 a day compensation and not even a proper apology. We feel so let down and my wife, whose birthday treat it was, is really saddened by TUI’s response. After we turned down the offer, we haven’t heard anything,” he said.
