The friends, from Pontypridd, had travelled to Benidorm to celebrate a 50th birthday but were left with nowhere to stay when they arrived at the hotel they’d booked
A group of 18 Brits were left in disbelief when they arrived at their hotel in Benidorm, Spain, for a celebratory weekend only to discover their rooms hadn’t been booked.
The pals had travelled from Pontypridd to the popular holiday destination to mark a 50th birthday but were left stranded with no place to stay.
They had initially arranged the trip through loveholidays, but upon arrival, the hotel had no record of their booking and they were informed they would need to seek alternative accommodation. Karin Collins, a member of the group, shared their ordeal, claiming that they were assured by the travel company that they would be reimbursed if they found another place to stay.
“We arrived at the hotel around 5pm to be told that the rooms hadn’t been booked. We were told that if we found somewhere else they would pay us back but it took us until about 10pm to get sorted so we missed the first night of our holiday,” she said.
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The group eventually found another hotel, which cost them an additional £3,000, not including the extra taxi fares. “We did manage to find another hotel and had to pay out £3,000 for that and pay for the extra taxis on top of it. It was not the start to the weekend that we had planned. We were only there for three days and was a real upset to have to deal with all of that. Then we had to phone and try and make lots of contact to try and get our money back,” Karin added.
Loveholidays sprang into action, launching an urgent probe with their accommodation provider to unravel the mishap. After being contacted by WalesOnline, the company’s spokesperson confirmed that not only would the full sum be refunded for the extra accommodation costs, but compensation was also dished out, reports Wales Online.
A spokesperson for loveholidays said: “We are very sorry to hear of Ms Collins’ and her travel party’s experience after their hotel overbooked. We have processed a full refund for the additional expenses they incurred and have offered compensation for the inconvenience caused. We are continuing to investigate the issue with the hotel to ensure it does not happen again.”
This week England fans have vowed to head to Benidorm for the Euros final, with many Three Lions’ supporters having been priced out of grabbing tickets to Germany. In a bid to soak up some sunshine as well as some atmosphere, many are now racing to Spain instead.
Nigel Pope, also known as the ‘King of Benidorm’, has lived in the sunny seaside hotspot for seven years now. He’s even built up a collective 70,000 TikTok followers for being in the know with all things Costa Blanca. The all-seeing and all-knowing Cornish native, who also works behind a bar, has been observing the atmosphere between Spanish and England fans throughout the tournament.
Nigel has warned that tensions could rise in the Spanish resort ahead of the final on Sunday. “I have noticed a very big increase in the amount of police here in Benidorm over the last few days. Many are walking around on foot so hopefully that will help stop any problems that might arise,” he told the Daily Star.
“There are always areas in the New Town where most of the English tend to drink, I hope that most fans know that you don’t mess with the Spanish police. I have heard of one incident where half a dozen English fans were throwing their drinks about, but not seen or heard of any violence.”
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