'Holiday from hell' family claim 'Fawlty Towers' Thomson trip left them sick and bedbound
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A family have claimed their 'Fawlty Towers' Thomson trip to the Dominican Republic left them ill and bedbound.
Paul Hawkins, from Bury, Greater Manchester, said his partner and two daughters were struck down with sickness and diarrhoea on the ' holiday from hell '.
He claimed they were confined in a dirty room after eating under-cooked food at a hotel on the Caribbean island.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News , the 37-year-old said he "wouldn’t wish the holiday on his worst enemy"
He claimed there was raw and under cooked food in the trays at the hotel's buffet and the room they were put in was filthy.
He added: “It was disgusting - we had to give it a good clean, there was ingrained dirt everywhere.”
They decided to go to the pool but said this was also dirty.
Paul claimed his eldest daughter, Nieve, eight, was walking to reception when a loose nail went through her flip flop into her foot.
They then spent three hours in a medical centre before Paul said he decided to try to fly home but was told by Thomson it would cost them £1,700 per person.
Paul added: “I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It was just money they were after.
"They offered us another hotel but that would have cost us £2,300. We were all sick to the back teeth of the place and wanted to go home as we didn’t know what else was coming.”
Paul, who owns a car garage, added: “I wouldn’t wish that holiday on my worst enemy. It was a complete disaster from start to finish.
"Things went from bad to worse and just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse something else happened. It’s the closest thing to Fawlty Towers.
“The staff there appeared to be clueless and there was no real customer service as nothing seemed to get changed. Thomson couldn’t even be bothered to help, it was disgusting.
"I have been on bad holidays before and usually there is something good you can recall but I can honestly say there was nothing good about this experience at all."
Despite complaining repeatedly online and in person to his rep and hotel staff about the state of the resort, he claimed Thomson eventually responded by offering him a $50 dollar voucher to spend in the hotel - 20 minutes before he was due to fly home.
A spokesperson for Thomson said: “We’re sorry to hear of Mr and Mrs Hawkins’ holiday experience and would like to thank them for bringing this to our attention.
“We’re currently investigating the complaint and will be in touch with the customers directly.
“We’d like to reassure customers that we regularly audit all of the hotels we feature in respect of health and safety, including hygiene.”