When Tracy Haslam arrived at her £4,000 Tunisia all-inclusive with her two daughters and six grandchildren, she quickly realised they were bringing down the average age. The 52-year-old noticed a large number of older people by the pool, most of whom were accompanied by carers. She claims it was only when she mentioned this observation in passing to a member of staff that the manager revealed the hotel was part of a residential care home.
Claiming she felt misled, Tracy says she would 'never have booked' the four-star hotel with Loveholidays if she had known. The dog daycare owner believes several of the elderly residents on her April holiday had dementia, with people being wheeled past her sunbed 'every five minutes'. 'I'm not discriminating against old people, but a couple of them were verbal so they were going past us verbally moaning,' the mum-of-three says. 'It's not appropriate for kids.'
Tracy filed a complaint with Loveholidays for not disclosing the hotel was also used as a care home on the original listing. Loveholidays said since Tracy's feedback they 'became aware' that the hotel accommodates residential care guests in a designated portion of the resort. They have temporarily removed the unnamed hotel from sale while they 'investigate further' with their accommodation partner.
Tracy, from Bolton, Greater Manchester, said: 'We went to reception to speak about [my] case and they were quite rude so that already got my back up. The manager was walking past and there were these wheelchairs and I said 'excuse me, is this residential?' He said 'yeah there are just three' [elderly residents] and I went 'you're having a laugh, there's about ten just gone past me'. So part of it has a residential care home attached to it.'
In response to her initial complaint, Tracy says a Loveholidays rep told her hotels 'operate under their own policies and discretion regarding who they accommodate and this is outside of our control'. The rep also stated that after 'carefully reviewing' the evidence provided it 'is not sufficient to support a claim for compensation'. Since journalists contacted Loveholidays they have issued an apology and a full refund.
Tracy said: 'There were nine of us that went and it's a holiday we're not going to get back. It's just been very blasé that the hotel doesn't need to state what clientele they have and I just think that's disgusting. A care home with at least 10 residents being wheeled past you every five, ten minutes, I find it bizarre. It's just a weird experience to go on holiday and have wheelchairs coming past you all day. I just feel I was misled. Some people might not be bothered but it bothered me, I just would never have booked it. I am a bit of a holiday princess, I go away quite a lot and I do like a nice hotel. For a four star it was shocking.'
A Loveholidays spokesperson said: 'We're very sorry that Ms Haslam and her family's experience at their hotel in Tunisia fell short of our usual high standards. We are investigating the issues raised with the accommodation provider as a priority, and have removed the hotel from sale whilst this investigation is underway. We have been in touch with Ms Haslam to offer our apologies and a full refund of the cost of her accommodation.'
The hotel has been contacted for comment.
