AIBU that a holiday costing £1650 per day (!) should come with a reasonable standard of accommodation.

[Domino20]

So my Mum retired earlier this year after defering for several years to take the money as a lump sum. As a very very expensive indulgence for her grandson (8 in January) she decided to take the three of us to Lapland for a short break. The trip is two nights and includes flights, transfers, half-board, snow suit kit hire and a day of activities at an 'arctic centre' which includes a 'majical' search for Santa. The total cost is £3355:70. Yes, a fucking huge sum for 2 nights.
The problem however is that the accommodation is APPALLING. Truly totally and utterly inapporiate for that level of cost. 'Basic' doesn't even begin to describe it. If I had paid £29.99 for a Travelodge I would still feel ripped off. I approached 2 different reps, emailed the company, tweeted them ( copying in Simon Calder ), no one has taken my complaint seriously. The trip is over tomorrow and it's really been ruined. I'm heart broken for my Mum who was trying to give us an amazing treat.
Please avoid this Company, 'Santas Lapland' who haven't even had the decency to reply to my email. I've been fobbed off with utter bullshit by the resort reps and had to spend the last two days fake enjoying myself so that my son's holiday isn't ruined. Awful awful experience.

Bluntness, my Mum is upset with or without my input. She wasn't expecting to spend that sort of money and stay at Hi de Hi (not sure that was the name of the sitcom but hopefully you recognise the reference?)
And my title did state 'holiday', I don't think it was at all misleading.
There's plenty of perfectly lovely places to stay here, we just didn't get one of them. In fact when she booked they only told her the name of hotel, not level/classification of accommodation, there are several classifications in the one hotel.

can you pop some photos up?

My dsis took her family and they all loved it, although it was very expensive.
They had a lodge and went for 4/5 days before xmas a couple of years ago.
It was amazing apparently, just go with the flow and after dark have snow ball fights and then hot drinks.

It's not a luxury hotel, you pay that insane money for the experience at this time of year.

There are some basic faults that should be fixed, however, your rage seems unjustified. I suggest next year you book a 5* hotel somewhere boring with no activities for your child.

OP, your title is perfectly ok and your anger at your accommodation is perfectly justified too. I'd be really dissapointed.

I get a bit stressed about booking holidays as I have to research everything to death. I don't mind less than stellar accommodation if that's what I'm expecting.

I'd try and make the most of it and then complain.

Thanks for your insight Rafflesway, we did do a bit of research and tbh the only negative we saw were in relation to the food but our rooms are MUCH WORSE than the standard of the food.
Shadowsmane, the others are asleep right now so can't turn on lights (or do anything at all really as very small, no privacy or separate space) but will take some pictures tomorrow.
Yes, search for Santa was today and it was great but the reindeer would have needed to be pooping golden nuggets for me to feel like it was value for money.

Lapland is lovely and there are lots of places to stay that are amaizing. The problem is booking through agency. You should book things separate.

I go to Finland often (not lapland though) to visit family and flights are normally £110. But because of Christmas they are over 3 times the usual price because people want to visit here at this time. And this is flying to Helsinki.

If you fly to Rovaniemi etc it will be much more. Probably half if not more of your cost was flights. Then the transfers and all the different things you have booked would be almost the other half leaving not much for accomodation. Finland is expensive.

i know its hard to be happy when you fell you have been ripped off, but just enjoy being with your mum and dc - you'll be home soon

i know some holidays i have been on have been SO BAD that looking back on them makes us smile!

like the time we tried to get to one place and (standby) got offloaded and ended up somewhere else.....

or got diverted and had to drive ALL day in a foreign country to get to our destination....

make the most of it that you can - dont worry about the accom, and just enjoy the bits you can

You complain a lot!!

Towels/heater/bed situation is bad, and worthy of complaint, definitely.

But, tbh, I think that sounds quite a reasonable price for visiting Lapland at this time of year for that price. I really do. All that stuff is included in the price.

You're there 2 days before Christmas whilst I'm stuck at home cleaning and tidying for the big day.

How much time do you spend in the room anyway? Go and enjoy the reindeer, snow, Northern Lights, huskies and elves

We've just come back from Luosto in Lapland with Canterbury Travel & it was amazing. Accommodation was a basic cabin but the whole trip was so well organised & magical that I couldn't fault it at all. It cost us more for 3 nights than our usual summer vacation for 2 weeks but the whole experience was worth it. Sorry to hear you've been disappointed as we all loved it so much.

So my Mum retired earlier this year after defering for several years to take the money as a lump sum. As a very very expensive indulgence for her grandson (8 in January) she decided to take the three of us to Lapland for a short break. The trip is two nights and includes flights, transfers, half-board, snow suit kit hire and a day of activities at an 'arctic centre' which includes a 'majical' search for Santa. The total cost is £3355:70. Yes, a fucking huge sum for 2 nights

It's hard to get any further than that. Did you not know what you were getting for parting with that kind of money? Who did you book through?

Pursue it through them?

Or if you want to do the name and shame thing try Tripadvisor?

You're paying the most expensive price for that particular break because of the dates - the last travel dates before Christmas. I don't disagree that it's a ridiculous amount of money for a 2 night break - one of the main reasons I'd never book it myself! But the accommodation is a tiny part of the cost of one of those holidays, the flights, activities, clothing and staffing are the main parts. You could have had a better standard of accommodation by moving the travel dates just a few days (going by 2017 prices) if that was an important factor to you. Many people put up with the more basic accommodation because they are in it for such a short amount of time.

You're justified in complaining about the broken bed and heating, and lack of towels, those are things that should be right and are fixable. But the standard of accommodation is reflected in that it was the cheapest on offer, the description is quite clear that it's small and basic. However, as the broken things are not major elements of the holiday, if the company is using ABTA compensation guidelines, then you'll be getting a refund of £10s rather than £100s. Or rather, your mum will, should she choose to complain, given that she made the booking.

You've got one day left, make the most of the activities and the delight on your son's face.

You have really put me off considering this sort of trip. The cost Our family holiday, all inclusive 5 star hotel to maritiis for six of us was only £10k

Have just read your latest comment regarding the rooms "very small, no privacy or separate space". That's what was booked though, for a family of 3 it's a twin room that's on offer with a put-up bed (that's then going to take up any space there would normally be). It's not a family room with extra space, or inter-connecting rooms, but it hasn't been described as that.

Were you involved in the booking at all? As I get the impression your expectations of this holiday were high which is contributing to your disappointment.

Thanks for all your replies.
Merry Christmas all. It's late here now so good night.

Is this weird/clever reverse/goady viral marketing?

The hotels are well known for being basic. The trip advisor photos show how basic it is.
Yes the accommodation doesn't equate to the cost of the holiday. In fact if you look at the cost of the hotel to book at any other time it's peanuts. But the activities, the setting, the staff, the flights, coach transfers. The fact demand is huge as the kids have broken up is where the money is. Go and roll in the snow, it's a truly special place. Enjoy it

I believe you op, and commiserate.
We did Lapland a couple of years back but just a day trip. Leaving our house at 3am for a 7am flight and arriving back just before midnight the same day.
For our family it was £2500. My DH organised it as surprise and didn't let on to me or the kids until 3 days before. We went the second week in December.
It was fucking awful. Like badly organised chaos. Shit food and disappointing excursions.
It really was a rip off and I actually broke down in tears at one point in the day.

We had a trip to Lapland three years ago. My mum treated us. It was wonderful, so much to do and experience. My daughters and I loved, by the time we got to bed we were exhausted, up at 4am for a husky ride, me driving the thing and the two children sat in the sledge going so fast as we were so light! The santa activity day was awesome, the tobogganing, the ice hockey, the fishing, the elves, the trip through the woods to meet the real Santa. Fabulous. The food was fine, basic, healthy and plenty of it. If you get the chance go for it. Unforgettable.

Great photo OP!

I'd love to see the northern lights.

This is the the reason we spent £500 doing Lapland UK last year which was the most amazing experience and worth every penny vs paying thousands for all I could find were very poor reviews for actual Lapland trips. I'm sorry you were ripped off OP but I think a little bit research would have suggested it was a bad move