A family of four claimed their holiday to Cape Verde was ‘ruined’ after they allegedly found bedbugs in their hotel room. They said they got ‘itchy bites’ and were left ‘absolutely horrified’
A family of four suffered the ultimate holiday from hell after allegedly finding bedbugs in their hotel room.
The ordeal was such a nightmare that the family said they had to abandon £800 worth of their clothes because of the alleged infestation.
Natalie Slater and her husband, Steven, both 45, were excited for their trip of a lifetime to Cape Verde, Africa, with their two children, Alfie, 13, and Amelia, seven. But on the second day of their family getaway in a five-star hotel, beauty business owner Natalie claimed she and Steven woke up covered in itchy sores.
As with many hot climate locations, they initially thought they had been bitten by pesky mosquitoes. It wasn’t until their children found bites five days later that their concerns grew.
“I could feel biting at night time,” Natalie, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, said. “I sprayed mosquito spray on the bed and had plug-ins.”
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She added: “Amelia started getting bitten on her face, then my son got bitten. My husband said I looked like a pepperoni pizza because I was covered in that many bites.
“They were shockingly painful, itchy and had pus in them. There were more and more every day, so we looked under the mattress and behind the bed.”
Natalie then claimed: “The mattresses were covered in brown blood stains, and there were bed bug shells on the floor. I was absolutely horrified.”
“I stormed to see the rep who was amazing and couldn’t do enough to help. She told the hotel to do an investigation but they never came so me, my husband and two children sat up all night on the settee.
“Amelia was crying, sat up on the settee. She had 25 bites on her face. I didn’t know what to do. I got my torch out in the pitch black and took photos of the bugs on the bed at 2am.”
The couple claim that they checked underneath the mattresses and were left disgusted when they discovered bloody patches and bed bug shells.
Natalie said she reported the suspected bedbugs to staff and was told that someone would have a look. But she claims that no one arrived at their room, and the family were forced to sleep on a sofa.
TUI maintains that a third-party contractor inspected the room on the same day Natalie lodged the complaint, finding no signs of bed bugs, only mosquitoes.
The company further stated that they relocated the family to a new room and proposed to wash their clothes, insisting there was no proof of bed bugs in the room, and that no other holidaymakers had reported any.
“If they weren’t bedbugs, why did they offer to wash our clothes?” Natalie said.
Despite being moved into a new room, Natalie said that the ordeal had ruined their holiday, which they had been saving for all year. “We couldn’t settle but we had two children and had to try and make the most of it,” she said.
“I cried every day. I wanted to go home but it would have been £400 each and we didn’t have that money.”
With concerns that their clothes could have bedbugs on them, Natalie said she opted to leave £800 worth of clothes behind. However, she made sure to take home £2,000 worth of designer labels, but said she’ll have to replace them.
She said: “We had thousands of pounds of designer clothes that are in a suitcase in the garage. There were Casablanca shirts that are £350 a pop, pairs of crocs for £40, sandals, FCUK tops, Stone Island clothes, Amelia had a Burberry dress and £25 rucksacks. We can’t afford to replace all that.”
Natalie demanded: “I want a full refund for my holiday being ruined, and what about my clothes?” She claimed that she’s “covered in scars” and her daughter can’t “sleep properly”.
She added: “It’s awful. I don’t want it to happen again. We saved all year and go to work. I’m fed up and I don’t want other people to go through it.”
The Mirror has contacted TUI and the hotel for comment.
