Brit couple Frankee and Jonny James have hit out at a Spanish hotel after their family break was turned into a holiday from hell by “rude” staff who served Spaniards first at the bar
A British family say their holiday to Spain was “ruined” by rude staff who served local Spanish guests first at the hotel bar – while Brits had to queue. Frankee and Jonny James, both 33, said their £1,800 break in the Costa Brava’s Malgrat de Mar was a “holiday from hell” which was riddled with bad smells, poor hygiene standards and “mistreatment” of English guests.
The couple, who flew home two days early, say workers at the four star Hotel Sorra Daurada Splash ignored them “for 10 to 15 minutes” as they went “over and above for the Spanish guests”.
And they now plan to stick to UK holidays instead of going abroad claiming they got food poisoning and staff made them feel “unsafe” during the holiday with son Rowan, eight.
Prison officer Jonny said: “When my wife and I were ignored for 10 to 15 minutes at the bar, I witnessed the staff go over and above for the Spanish guests. They’d serve the Spaniards first while the Brits waited in the queue.
“I expected it to some extent because I’m aware how the Spanish in Spain can be but it was annoying at the same time. We had all paid the same amount but they were getting a better service than anyone else. It was annoying and frustrating.”
The family of three headed out on their first foreign holiday since the pandemic on Saturday, October 25, and claim the four-star resort had advertised a water park and family-friendly atmosphere.
But they flew home to Bedford on Thursday, October 30, instead of their planned return date of Saturday, November 1, after it failed to live up to their expectations.
Optical adviser Frankee said they had to pay five euros for a reusable drinking cup upon arrival and the vegetarian claimed the food was “bland” and poorly labelled. She said the water park was closed and there was a foul smell of sewage from their room’s toilet.
She said: “In my head, I can get food and drinks whenever I want and there’ll be things to do for my son. I purposefully booked somewhere I assumed I wouldn’t need to leave the resort. It turned out to be the holiday from hell.
“We had to keep the toilet seat down and the bathroom door closed. If someone went to the toilet in the middle of the night, they’d wake us all up with the smell.”
Frankee claimed the hotel buffet was stacked with raw eggs, mouldy butter and tomatoes. She said ate only chips, pasta, salad and pizza, but by the next morning, she was “vomiting”.
Jonny also fell ill following the meal and a doctor later confirmed that both parents had acute gastritis, they said. Frankee said tensions with the manager – who could not speak English – reached such a height that she felt “unsafe”.
She added: “I thought it could be because there was water on the salad. The same pizza cutter was being used for every pizza like ham and fish, so it could have been that also.
“The manager only spoke Spanish and said he didn’t understand English. When I did find him, he went to walk off while shouting in Spanish.”
The family have been refunded just £214 of the £1,800 they had to pay out, but they also had to pay £370 to change their flight.
Online reviews of the resort show other guests have had bad experiences at the hotel. One TripAdvisor user said it was the “worst holiday I have ever been on” and also complained of the water park being closed.
Another holidaymaker scribed: “Rooms don’t get cleaned properly. Manager is arrogant and denies he is the manager and doesn’t take complaints. Seen an elderly Spanish man push a child over and the manager refused to do anything about it.
“Manager speaks awfully to the younger generation of workers even though they work the hardest. Entertainment is awful and on too late for children. You can just tell they don’t want British tourists in this hotel.”
Another said the food was more befitting of a one-star establishment than a four-star one. They added: “The lack of labelling of foods – you just did not know what you were eating or what was in the food.
“Trying to communicate this to the catering staff was a waste of time and energy as most did not speak any English. I have been to a few 4* hotels and this one takes the biscuit.”
Hotel Sorra Daurada Splash did not respond to a request for comment.
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