Family offered refund after 'holiday from hell' in 'filthy' Spain three-star hotel
After landing in Mallorca on June 24 and arriving at the three-star hotel, which says it offers 'families all inclusive fun' - Mark said they discovered their rooms looked 'nothing like' the pictures published online, adding that 'You wouldn’t have p
A family has slammed easyJet for an “appalling” £3,900 (€4,578) holiday to Spain after claiming they stayed at a three-star hotel which had “dirty” rooms that you “wouldn’t put a dog in”.
Mark Field, 61, who lives in Birmingham and owns an entertainment business, and his wife Karen, 59, joined their son Nathan, 32, their daughter-in-law Nadia, 38, and their two grandchildren – Albie, eight, who is autistic and non-verbal, and Baxter, four – for a seven-night “familymoon” holiday in Spain in June this year.
After landing in Cala d’Or in Mallorca on June 24 and arriving at Hotel Club Es Talaial – a three-star hotel which says it offers “families all inclusive fun” – Mark said they discovered their rooms looked “nothing like” the pictures published online, adding: “You wouldn’t have put a dog in there.”
Mark and Nadia said the two rooms were “dirty” and there were wires exposed and broken cupboards, they had to clean the bathroom themselves, their balcony overlooked a car park with a skip and bins, the tables in the restaurant were “filthy”, and they had to pay one euro each for a plastic cup to have drinks throughout their stay.
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A video taken by Mark, seen by PA Real Life, shows him wiping “dirt” from a hotel restaurant table with a tissue, meaning the family decided to dine elsewhere, which they said cost at least an additional £600 (€704).
Mark and Nadia have complained to easyJet and the hotel, but they said no-one has apologised to them or acknowledged the “dreadful situation”.
EasyJet has said it “worked alongside the hotel to resolve the issues reported” and offered a partial refund of £200 (€235) “to apologise for any disappointment caused”, which Nadia has accepted, but she said she is “not going to stop fighting”.
Mark told PA Real Life: “This wasn’t a cheap, last-minute, ‘let’s just go on this and see what it’s like’ type of holiday, this was planned out. If you knew Nadia, she’s fiercely protective over her kids and she had planned it to the nth degree.
“She’s still upset about it now because she wanted it to be perfect, and it’s not very often they can get away. We’re annoyed and frustrated that nobody has said sorry. It feels like they’ve just cast us off and they don’t care.”
Nadia added: “This was meant to be so special and it was just hell.”
Mark’s son Nathan and daughter-in-law Nadia, who works as a nurse, booked the trip to Spain as a “familymoon” following their wedding on June 22 2024. Having two young children, one of whom is autistic and non-verbal, Nadia said she had done her research, ensuring the holiday appeared suitable for the whole family.
The four adults and two children flew from Birmingham Airport to the “beautiful” Cala d’Or in Mallorca on June 24 2024, “excited” for the trip ahead, and Mark said he thought: “What could possibly go wrong?”
However, when they were taken to the two rooms after arriving at the hotel, they said they were disappointed and “upset” as they did not reflect the images shown online and were not what was “promised”.
“We were on the top floor of five flights of stairs, with a balcony overlooking a car park, and the rooms were just disgusting,” Mark said.
“I’ve stayed in some horrible places over the years but there were exposed wires, it was dirty, the cupboards were all broken, and the linen didn’t look particularly clean and fresh. So I said, ‘I’m going downstairs, this isn’t the room that we’ve booked’.”
When Nadia went to reception, showing staff pictures of the rooms they had booked on the hotel website, she said she was told they would have to “pay extra for those” but they were not available at the time. Nadia said she contacted easyJet via its app and the airline offered them another, similar room, but this was much further away, meaning the family would have been separated.
Mark said: “I mean, the hotel looks lovely from their pictures, but it’s just nothing like that at all. The room that we stayed in, you wouldn’t have put a dog in there – it was just disgusting, it was dirty. There were no cups, no spoons, no kettle, nothing in the kitchen, the aircon just blew out warm air, the bathroom was dirty and we had to clean it ourselves. It was just rundown and nasty.”
Nadia said the hotel offered to upgrade the family’s two rooms later in the week, but they were told this would cost an additional €150 per room, so they declined. Later on that day, the family went down to the hotel restaurant for dinner – and Mark described this as a “nightmare”.
“It was horrible. There was no variety in the food at all, it was either just chips or pork – that was about it,” he said.
“We had to queue for about 15 minutes to get a drink and then when we sat outside at the tables, I did a cursory wipe of the table and they were filthy. I just got a paper tissue and I wiped the dirt off. When we went out to the bar area, we then discovered you have to pay one euro each for a plastic cup.”
Mark said the family had no complaints about the hotel breakfast, but when they went to the kids’ pool, they noticed the surfaces were “slippery” and the concrete was broken, which was “dangerous”, and the snack bar allowed each person to have four items, with only limited staff serving, meaning the queues were “ridiculous”.
The family said they were only offered a room change, rather than the option of moving hotels, so they remained at Hotel Club Es Talaial until their check-out on July 1.
Although easyJet has offered a £200 (€235) partial refund, Mark said no-one has apologised to the family, the “familymoon” was tainted by the poor standards of the hotel, and he will “never book with easyJet again”.
“It was just appalling,” Mark said. “Looking at their website, if I’m booking it and I see those rooms, that’s perfect for us – but it was just not what they said it was going to be. If we knew that, Nadia would not have accepted that, she just wouldn’t have put her kids in those rooms. They were disgusting.”
Nadia added: “The main thing is the price of the holiday and the lies – the pictures did not match the hotel.
“We paid £3,900 (€4,578) and what has hurt me the most is that was money that we had to borrow – we took out a loan – and then with the money from family and friends, we paid the loan back, so it was almost like I threw their money down the drain, which is why I want to get as much of it back as I can. It was a holiday from hell and it ruined my honeymoon – I can’t get those memories back.”
A spokesperson for easyJet said: “We’re really sorry to hear of (Nadia’s) experience and that her chosen hotel didn’t meet expectations. Our on holiday support team was in close contact with (Nadia) throughout the holiday, and we worked alongside the hotel to resolve the issues reported.
“To apologise for any disappointment caused, we offered a partial refund to (Nadia), which she has accepted, and we will continue to work closely with our hotel partner to ensure all our customers are satisfied with their holidays.”
Hotel Club Es Talaial did not wish to share a statement, but said several alternatives were offered to the guests during their stay and the problems were resolved in a timely manner.
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