Hotel by beach now with no beach - Options?!

Anthony_MK

Hi All,

10 months ago I booked our 5th consecutve holiday at a First Choice Holiday Village. We chose Lanzarote because of the lovely beach that was next to the hotel, because our kids like going to the beach every day and when you have paid £3k for all inclusive you dont want to be a long way from the resort at meal times.

Today we received a letter informing us that the beach outside the hotel has been closed due to regeneration work and will be unavailable to us for the duration of the holiday.

We have been told that a courtesy bus will be available to take us to a beach 2km away, with 2 drop offs and pick ups per day. This may seem a minor detail to some, but for us it totally changes the holiday we had planned when we booked.

Can anyone advise what options we have available to us. I would not have booked a £3k family holiday with no beach and we would have booked a different location with First Choice had we known sooner.

We are due to fly in less than 3 weeks Any advice greatly appreciated.

delwynshd

ask to cancel and be refunded, 3k is alot of money you could be somewhere equally as nice or even better

these first choice holiday villages are way too pricey in my opinion

Del

Anthony_MK

Thanks Del. I dont really want to cancel (unless I have no options) but assuming we do, would First Choice cover me against losses for parking etc that I have paid for? We really like the Holiday Villages so if we could transfer to another we would be up for that, if that is something we could ask for? Or could we get a discount and stay here we are?

I want to know my options before I call them, as I dont want to over invest in being annoyed as it will take the shine off a holiday I have been paying for for 10 months and my kids are really looking forward to.....though they dont now about the beach!

delwynshd

Hi

They wont give you refund on parking but im sure the company for the parking would let you ammend it

They wont compensate you for the beach closure, they will offer to change the holiday to another holiday village depending on the availability, if the cost for the other holiday is more expensive they will ask for the extra, they will only offer these options or give you the option to cancel and full refund

Del

Anthony_MK

They did offer me an alternative hotel in Lanzarote, but it wasnt a Holiday Village. They had no availabilty for any of the Holiday Villages I asked then to look into and they said if there was I would have to pay the rates now which unlike my current booking would not include free kids places or the superior room that I seleced. They did not give me the option to cancel.

withabix

Anthony_MK wrote: »

They did offer me an alternative hotel in Lanzarote, but it wasnt a Holiday Village. They had no availabilty for any of the Holiday Villages I asked then to look into and they said if there was I would have to pay the rates now which unlike my current booking would not include free kids places or the superior room that I seleced. They did not give me the option to cancel.

Free kids places are a marketing deception and always have been. The adult prices are inflated to make up the difference.

Check the discounts currently available and you will see what I mean.

Anthony_MK

Is that a fact for all travel agents? When the kids places are removed (as they ae frequently with Holiday Villages) the price does go up.

I am not sure I want to cancel, but am I in my rights to do so, without penalty?

delwynshd

Yeah you are in your rights to cancel

Del

withabix

There is no such thing as a free lunch. Or a free child place.

The closure of the beach is a major change, allowing you to cancel.

Check out late availability first.

Try Thomson website for late availability, as it will include the First Choice packages (only on the Late availability section) and the Thomson website works better.

Have you considered Turkey? Lots of Holiday Village-type hotels with water slides, beach, activities etc. Very hot though.

Also consider pricing two rooms rather than squeezing into one - we have found that two rooms currently comes up LOWER than one room for some holidays, as you get a larger discount. Wierd but true.

cubegame

Why don't you ask if they can offer a free or heavily discounted hire car for the duration of your holiday?