A mother of four has described her family's summer holiday to Turkey as the 'worst experience' of her life after they were left 'abandoned on the streets' with no accommodation.
Holiday turns into nightmare
Yasmin Kauser, from Stratford-upon-Avon, booked a 10-night package holiday to Turkey through Loveholidays for £4,863, expecting to stay at a four-star hotel with her husband and four children aged 4, 12, 14 and 18. The family arrived at their pre-booked hotel in Alanya at around 2am after a long journey from the UK.
"We were knackered, we just wanted to go to bed, and the children were sleeping everywhere," Yasmin told the Mirror. But they were told there were no rooms available. After waiting until around 5:30am, the hotel provided just one room for six people instead of the two rooms booked.
Moved to resort, then turned away
Yasmin repeatedly contacted Loveholidays, and the family was given arrangements to move to a five-star resort about half an hour away. However, upon arrival, they waited for around an hour only to be told there were no rooms. "I said to them, 'But we've got a reservation from Loveholidays, and they said, 'There are no rooms', so you've got to leave the hotel'," she alleged.
At around 3pm, Yasmin was left with her children on the road with their luggage. "We were sitting outside the hotel; everybody was walking out, and we were like homeless people - we were abandoned," she said. Loveholidays advised the family to wait inside the hotel lobby for their safety and said they were working on the issue as a "matter of urgency".
Emergency accommodation
As it got dark, Yasmin began to panic. The family remained without accommodation until around 11pm, when her sister in the UK contacted the emergency number. After a further two-hour wait, Loveholidays arranged emergency accommodation at a three-star hotel. The family received two rooms at around 1am.
One of the rooms was effectively a small box room with no windows, and Yasmin said there was "a strong smell of urine and mould" and she struggled to breathe comfortably. She was told that the company had provided her with 'shelter' and was left in the emergency accommodation for the remainder of the holiday, despite raising concerns. The family were later moved to another room.
Company response
A Loveholidays spokesperson said: "We are very sorry that Ms Kauser’s experience fell below our usual high standards, and are investigating the issues she faced with the relevant hotel suppliers as a matter of urgency." They added that their On Holiday Support team worked hard to put things right, including an offer of cash compensation and a relocation to an upgraded five-star property, but did not receive a response to these offers. They are now contacting Ms Kauser to apologise and offer a full refund.
