On Holiday and hate it!

[Ilovemycatalot]

Was just after some moral support am on holiday with my daughter in a shit all inclusive in turkey horrible place and horrible hotel. We are here until Monday 😭honestly been in tears and just want to come home. Any words of wisdom to keep us going. They want £650 for an earlier flight home that I just can’t afford.

Sorry for your holiday OP, I went to Turkey once. I bloody hated it too, only place I have ever been that I counted the days down until home. sending thoughts.

How much did the holiday cost? Did you read any reviews first?

Sorry you are having a terrible holiday. I've been there.... longest bloody fortnight of my life, and then back home to work. You look forward to it so much, please try to get something good out of it. Although that sounds like it might be a big ask!

The OP says the reviews were mixed.

Why do people book package holidays anymore i have no idea..

Book your flights through skyscanner, book accommodation on booking.com
when you arrive at the airport just jump in a taxi.

save money.. more options, flexibility.

Personally i would have just gone to Alanya and booked into a little family run B&B on the coast.

@Day20 I haven't I'm afraid. I tend to go for AirBnB places or actually cheaper hotels. I'm not a big fan of AI. I love Kusadasi and Izmir area of Turkey. I also like Icmeler, Bodrum and Gumbet. I've visited these areas during the past 20 odd years. Turkey is my most visited country, I really love it.

In Kusadasi the business owners aren't allowed to hassle you to go into their shops restaurants, they might try and attract your attention but they won't give the hassle and grief that you get in places like Marmaris and Antalya.

Even top hotels can be mixed. What was the rating for TA? Overall.

Options:

1. Beg/borrow £650 from friend/family to get back.
2. Photograph and video the problems (do this anyway so you can get your money back).
3. Email photographs and videos to Hays/their social media account. To be honest their social media account is usually best as they are far more worried about that than email. Asked to be either flown back asap at no charge or move resorts.
4. You could do lots of day trips but is this not going to just mount up costs? You could quite easily get towards £650 doing this and you may as well have just paid to come home and made a claim when you got back (Travel Regulations are very pro consumer).

Ahhhh thanks

@Justwanttobebythesea Exactly

I went to Turkey and it was disappointing. I don’t blame you OP.

There are some lovely AIs in Turkey so I wouldn’t tarnish the whole country by a bad hotel but unfortunately a shit AI is really nasty. When I was still a student (so pretty low standards) my friend and I booked a dirt cheap AI in Malta. It was really awful and we basically didn’t eat a single meal in the hotel or use the facilities including the pool at all. We did use it as a base though and travelled around and had a nice time but we might as well have been staying at a hostel.

id see if there are any local travel companies who could come and give you a guided trip/do some excursions to get away from the hotel. If you try and view the hotel as a base rather than a destination you can salvage it.

Well aren't you a fucking peach 🙄. People tend to book what they can afford, that still should entitle them to a decent holiday with decent food.

Do hotels in England with a high percentage of overseas visitors have ‘a good grasp’ of French? Spanish? Chinese or Italian? No.

Then why is it expected that everywhere else in the world staff should speak English? What happened to learning some basics of the language before going abroad?

@DavidWirral package holidays provide a lot of protection (usually) if things wrong. The Travel Regulations are very pro-consumer. They are often a lot easier if you have a young child - everything all sorted (flight, transfers, hotels).

I have a disabled child. We always use to book bits/self-catering, but now always go through a travel operator. Holidays are ATOL protected. They sort out all the assistance at airports and hotels. The big operators all have dedicated assistance lines to discuss requirements (rooms at hotels etc). It's just easier.

It is unusual for hotel staff in any European country to not have a halfway decent grasp of English, not just because of the number of British guests they see, but because it is Europe's second language and most people can communicate through English. We get the piss taken out of us for expecting it, but I have travelled round a lot of Europe in my time and have rarely came across any tourist business that does not have English speakers.

What a horrible response to someone who is feeling really low !! Generally the Turkish people in resorts speak good English.
OP just try and take a deep breath…very brave of you to take your child on holiday on your own .
Keep on contacting travel operator explaining your distress 💐💕

@NovaDeltas Nice.

Last time I went to Turkey our hotel had shit coming up from the shower plug hole I tell no lie. That was 12 years ago. Never went back. Just get out all day and go back to sleep there. Or find a hostel they are cheap and some decent. I’ve did that in Spain and it was 10 x better than our hotel.

Agree @Pollydon there are some really unpleasant people on MN !!

I've never had problems..

few cancelled or delayed flights but I always got a refund from the airline.

You can buy separate travel insurance online .. use the compare sites.

You need to keep calling and insist on changes,

What did the travel company say about the room change and you having to pay to upgrade?

Take photographs and videos whilst there of the room, food, pool area, etc to show what it's like and how it definitely isn't 4 star.

Tour company —- go on their Twitter/FB/Instagram page and complain, complain, complain. Pick 3 things and repeat those. Shaming them on SM gets their attention.

Turkish rep. Doesn’t matter what his nationality, it’s his job to fix problems. Again, state the 3 worst things and how they can be resolved ( another hotel, another room etc.)

I work for a Tour Operator and you need to get in touch with them ASAP by phone (most big ones have an emergency line for those with problems in resort). Explain exactly what the issues are, and keep at them.

There's fuck all they can do about anything when you get home, but they may well be able to salvage the rest of your stay if you tell them now. If you can prove that the hotel is dirty / unsafe / inedible food they may be able to move you. They may also be able to send an English-speaking rep to speak to you.

Less resignation to it and more action OP.

Just FYI for those suggesting Twitter / Facebook / the CEO etc; unless you've already spoken to the Tour Op (by phone) and given them a fair chance to react and respond, don't do this. I will bend over backwards to help any of our clients who have a problem they've contacted us directly about, but if their FIRST course of action is to shout and bawl at us in public then my back will immediately be up and they'll get the bare minimum of help.