LowCostHoliday - Holiday from Hell

MasterPoo

callum9999 wrote: »

It doesn't matter what you told the company though, if they don't guarantee rooms (which I assume they don't) then you aren't guaranteed a ground floor room. I also doubt whoever they spoke to was intimately aware of the hotel and knew there would be a slope involved. If it's so crucial for it to be flat then they should have checked (unless they were specifically told it was?).

It also seems a bit strange that being let out of the taxi on the opposite side of the road to the actual hotel resulted in her bursting into tears and everyone else to get distressed. There seems to be a lot of hyperbole in the story. Though I do agree, that's disgusting service. There's no way in Hell if I was driving that I'd just leave a confused and arthritic mum and largely immobile dad with kids on the side of the road at midnight!

It must be incredibly stressful living with those medical conditions so they have my greatest sympathy that the holiday didn't go as they planned it, but it seems (please do come back and correct this if they were specifically told there would be no slope and a ground floor room) that it was their lack of research that was the problem.

The taxi driver kept pointing in the direction of the building site, stating "Waikiki", then his parting words were "not my problem".

Surely the key fact here IS their hotel which was clearly written therefore confirmed on booking and transfers documents was "Waikiki" and Waikiki IS a building site.

budgetflyer

What did they actually book Hawaii or Waikiki.
On Low Cost Holidays website

WAIKIKI - The right choice?
suitable for families and couples

HAWAII- The right choice?
This hotel with its unbeatable location is the ideal environment for couples and families alike looking for a fun-filled, value-for-money holiday close to the beach and the lively resorts of Palma Nova and Magaluf.
The hotel is situated on a steep incline and may not be suitable for people with limited mobility.

MasterPoo

budgetflyer wrote: »

What did they actually book Hawaii or Waikiki.
On Low Cost Holidays website

WAIKIKI - The right choice?
suitable for families and couples

HAWAII- The right choice?
This hotel with its unbeatable location is the ideal environment for couples and families alike looking for a fun-filled, value-for-money holiday close to the beach and the lively resorts of Palma Nova and Magaluf.
The hotel is situated on a steep incline and may not be suitable for people with limited mobility.

Intertur Waikiki Apartments in Palma Nova

MasterPoo

http://lowcostholidays.faq-help.com/#

Now I find this whilst navigating around their site.

ATOL/ABTA protection, I've just TRIPLE CHECKED if they are registered on these two links i.e. at ATOL and ABTA, returning nothing.

http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=490&pagetype=65&appid=2&mode=searchnoresult

http://abta.com/go-travel/before-you-travel/find-a-member

tamiami

This makes no sense - The Waikiki Apts have been there for years and are still open, plus get decent reviews. Maybe the taxi driver was new to the area and took them to the wrong place!

SW17

MasterPoo wrote: »

http://lowcostholidays.faq-help.com/#

Now I find this whilst navigating around their site.

ATOL/ABTA protection, I've just TRIPLE CHECKED if they are registered on these two links i.e. at ATOL and ABTA, returning nothing.

It's probably just a banner they forgot to update on their FAQ. They definitely stopped their ATOL bonding at the end of October 2013 when they moved the tour operation to Spain. Don't know about Abta, but probably stopped that too for LCH.

MasterPoo

SW17 wrote: »

It's probably just a banner they forgot to update on their FAQ. They definitely stopped their ATOL bonding at the end of October 2013 when they moved the tour operation to Spain. Don't know about Abta, but probably stopped that too for LCH.

Forgotten??? If I was going to book with them and saw that link, I'd happily book with them thinking I'm protected, they should remove it because it's misleading.

Possibly add it as ammunition in the letter or won't that make any difference?

lea2012

We were in Palma Nova last week (half term) and spent a bit of time near to the Hawaii. Whilst the hotel is on a slight incline I would not say that it's up a steep hill. The hotel has a beachfront location, with a big pool area overlooking the bay that also has ramps down to the beach and a lot of bars and shops on it's doorstep.

The Waikiki has been around for years and is just across the road (50m). If guests stay at Waikiki and book breakfast or dinner or even all inclusive then at that time of year they would have had to eat in the Hawaii hotel anyway.

Intertur who own the hotels own three places: Hawaii Hotel, Hawaii Torrenova and Hawaii Waikiki. From next year the Waikiki will be known as the Hawaii Suites I think. All three are within walking distance.

A lot of hotels in Palma Nova were shutting up for the season and I imagine they were moved (and upgraded actually as the Hawaii is a higher rating) because the hotel group wanted to condense all guests into one place to reduce costs. I know I may sound bad here, but your friend over-reacted and had no need to cry or get distressed. As far as i know the Hawaii & the Hawaii Torrenova both have lifts so they could have got round the hotel easily enough and the walk to the nearest supermarket, beach and bars is no longer than 2 minutes. The weather was fantastic last week and was in the 80's all week so they should have had a great time enjoying themselves.

MasterPoo

lea2012 wrote: »

We were in Palma Nova last week (half term) and spent a bit of time near to the Hawaii. Whilst the hotel is on a slight incline I would not say that it's up a steep hill. The hotel has a beachfront location, with a big pool area overlooking the bay that also has ramps down to the beach and a lot of bars and shops on it's doorstep.

The Waikiki has been around for years and is just across the road (50m). If guests stay at Waikiki and book breakfast or dinner or even all inclusive then at that time of year they would have had to eat in the Hawaii hotel anyway.

Intertur who own the hotels own three places: Hawaii Hotel, Hawaii Torrenova and Hawaii Waikiki. From next year the Waikiki will be known as the Hawaii Suites I think. All three are within walking distance.

A lot of hotels in Palma Nova were shutting up for the season and I imagine they were moved (and upgraded actually as the Hawaii is a higher rating) because the hotel group wanted to condense all guests into one place to reduce costs. I know I may sound bad here, but your friend over-reacted and had no need to cry or get distressed. As far as i know the Hawaii & the Hawaii Torrenova both have lifts so they could have got round the hotel easily enough and the walk to the nearest supermarket, beach and bars is no longer than 2 minutes. The weather was fantastic last week and was in the 80's all week so they should have had a great time enjoying themselves.

With all due respect I will assume you are in fairly good health, my neighbours are not, also I am more used to dealing with stressful situations and less prone to crying, so I'm pretty sure what would make you cry might not make me cry, we all react differently to different situations.

Can you imagine being dropped off at midnight in a foreign country with two children, you've booked your Transfers through the holiday so naively assume all will go well and you will not be left on the corner of the road with a "not my problem" parting shot from the Shuttle driver.

I'm sorry if I'm coming across as harsh/angry, these people are like my family and I am very involved in their lives (I wish I had overseen this booking, but I didn't) and I guess I'm overly protective. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

MasterPoo

I've now got all the paperwork in front of me.

The following was all stated and clearly written in bold on all the relevant documentation.

"Ground floor, 25th Anniversary, important ground floor please."

Transfer Voucher and Accommodation Voucher both state:
"Hotel/apartment Intertur Waikiki Apartments in Palma Nova"

On this Transfer Voucher, the Receptionist crossed it out and wrote, "Hawaii Torrenova"

CORRECTION from earlier post: They used Visa Debit, not Credit card.

They also took out the Travel Insurance with Lowcostholidays directly. I will have a read and see if there is anything there, probably not! It was arranged by Rush Insurance and underwritten by Travel Insurance Facilities, who are regulated by the FCA.