BA Package Holiday - Waterpark Closed

Jemma031283

Good mornings all,

I booked a BA flight and hotel back in Feb this year. We fly on the 19th of this month. We are 2 adults and 1 14 year old and we are going to Dreams Onyx in Dominican. A massive reason we booked was because they had a water park and lazy river for my son to play in. Yesterday I found out on Facebook that barring one day, the whole water park and lazy river would be closed for the duration of our stay I contacted BA chat and they confirmed it was closed. I would have never booked if I knew. Who wants a bored teen on holiday! They told me it’s only closed as minor maintenance because there are other pools open. Great, but we booked for a water park and lazy river. They offered to waive the change costs to another hotel and offered me two far less superior hotels with crappy reviews on tripadvisor and then typically, chat lost connection. I have also emailed them, no response yet as it was only yesterday. We can’t pay a ton of money extra as we had already overspent a little. Is there anything I can do or do I just need to resign myself to the fact that I may have a bored and disappoint teen? Thanks all! 

eskbanker

What resolution are you hoping for, i.e. is there a more suitable hotel nearby or are you looking to cancel for a refund?  The Package Travel Regulations do make a distinction between significant changes and those that are less so, but the definition is fairly circular, so you'd have to convince BA Holidays that the closure amounts to a significant change to one of the 'main features' of the accommodation.

Jemma031283

eskbanker said:

What resolution are you hoping for, i.e. is there a more suitable hotel nearby or are you looking to cancel for a refund?  The Package Travel Regulations do make a distinction between significant changes and those that are less so, but the definition is fairly circular, so you'd have to convince BA Holidays that the closure amounts to a significant change to one of the 'main features' of the accommodation.

Hiya and thanks for the reply! There is a similar hotel which is also a Dreams Resort in Dominican which has the same facilities which I have asked if we can be moved to. We are even open to change countries if it has like for like facilities. Unfortunately now we are relatively close to flight date (including our original hotel) all of the hotels are a minimum of £500pp more expensive which is totally out of budget. I’m feeling like unfortunately I might have to resign myself to not having the facilities for him which is not the end of the world but we have spent a lot of money on this holiday and we could have picked somewhere else cheaper that also doesn’t have the facilities. Thanks!

eskbanker

Jemma031283 said:

eskbanker said:

What resolution are you hoping for, i.e. is there a more suitable hotel nearby or are you looking to cancel for a refund?  The Package Travel Regulations do make a distinction between significant changes and those that are less so, but the definition is fairly circular, so you'd have to convince BA Holidays that the closure amounts to a significant change to one of the 'main features' of the accommodation.

Hiya and thanks for the reply! There is a similar hotel which is also a Dreams Resort in Dominican which has the same facilities which I have asked if we can be moved to. We are even open to change countries if it has like for like facilities. Unfortunately now we are relatively close to flight date (including our original hotel) all of the hotels are a minimum of £500pp more expensive which is totally out of budget. I’m feeling like unfortunately I might have to resign myself to not having the facilities for him which is not the end of the world but we have spent a lot of money on this holiday and we could have picked somewhere else cheaper that also doesn’t have the facilities. Thanks!

It wouldn't be unreasonable for you to ask them to move you from your existing one to one that's priced at a similar level (on current pricing) to it, i.e. not comparing February cost of current hotel with September cost of alternatives....

Jemma031283

eskbanker said:

Jemma031283 said:

eskbanker said:

What resolution are you hoping for, i.e. is there a more suitable hotel nearby or are you looking to cancel for a refund?  The Package Travel Regulations do make a distinction between significant changes and those that are less so, but the definition is fairly circular, so you'd have to convince BA Holidays that the closure amounts to a significant change to one of the 'main features' of the accommodation.

Hiya and thanks for the reply! There is a similar hotel which is also a Dreams Resort in Dominican which has the same facilities which I have asked if we can be moved to. We are even open to change countries if it has like for like facilities. Unfortunately now we are relatively close to flight date (including our original hotel) all of the hotels are a minimum of £500pp more expensive which is totally out of budget. I’m feeling like unfortunately I might have to resign myself to not having the facilities for him which is not the end of the world but we have spent a lot of money on this holiday and we could have picked somewhere else cheaper that also doesn’t have the facilities. Thanks!

It wouldn't be unreasonable for you to ask them to move you from your existing one to one that's priced at a similar level (on current pricing) to it, i.e. not comparing February cost of current hotel with September cost of alternatives....

Thank you so much! In that case, I shall not give up hope just yet. My package is currently sitting around £1550pp at the moment. There are a few within a similar range. I will do my research and ask when they reply. Thank you! 

bagand96

I agree with the good advice given by @eskbanker. Have a few alternatives in mind.  Explain that the waterpark facilities were a big factor in you booking the holiday and that you consider the loss of facilities significant and see if you can get them to move you to a similar hotel waiving the charge.

If you can find time I think you'll be better telephoning them during the BA Holidays office hours and actually speaking to someone rather than relying on online chat or emails - sometimes much easier to get a satisfactory outcome with a human connection.

Jemma031283

bagand96 said:

I agree with the good advice given by @eskbanker. Have a few alternatives in mind.  Explain that the waterpark facilities were a big factor in you booking the holiday and that you consider the loss of facilities significant and see if you can get them to move you to a similar hotel waiving the charge.

If you can find time I think you'll be better telephoning them during the BA Holidays office hours and actually speaking to someone rather than relying on online chat or emails - sometimes much easier to get a satisfactory outcome with a human connection.

Thanks so much! I have spent the day researching alternatives. I am going to call them during lunch tomorrow and see if I can speak to someone as there is such little time until departure. I hope they can help without trying to pull my pants down for a change of hotel!!

la531983

Maybe an obvious question - is your child even bothered if its going to be shut? You use the word "may" in your opening post.

Jemma031283

la531983 said:

Maybe an obvious question - is your child even bothered if it’s going to be shut? You use the word "may" in your opening post.

Hiya, yes he is. My partner, son and I all have a list of things we’d like from a holiday. The water park was his and the lazy river the cherry on the cake for him. Me the a la cartes and my partner a swim up bar. It’s one of the reasons we picked the hotel as it ticks all the boxes.