Need some advice, have I got a case for a claim?

HoneyBunnyBulldog

Hi All, 

I am new to this page so hello! I really need some advice, I feel that the travel agent (Jet2) has made an error and I booked something that was not clear but they have said they will not be compensating us for the holiday. Should I take this further or was this my mistake? 

We booked a holiday to Ibiza (Invisa Es Figureal ) - we booked what I thought was a 4-star resort. What is actually was upon arrival was two separate hotels within the same resort (one is a 3-star and one is a 4-star). The price of the holiday paid was that of other 4-star prices at the time. Although initially I had complained that it was unclear there was two hotels within the resort, it is more due to the fact that upon arrival we were placed in the 3-star hotel and not in the 4-star hotel as expected. The whole experience was a 3-star hotel experience and this was not what I thought I had paid for. The overall resort is advertised as a 4-star resort, yet one hotel is a 3-star. 

No where in the small print does it state one hotel within this resort is graded at a 3-star and one is graded at a 4-star. Despite the same cost you can not select which hotel you are in. 

I have requested compensation for the price difference from a 3-star hotel to a 4 star-hotel. 

26th Aug - I raised a complaint with the agent holiday rep in the hotel , advised this was not what I expected and that we specifically asked not to be put on the ground floor (which we were) asked if we could move which they couldn't accommodate. Advised by the rep many families each month complain about the hotels being of different grades.
2nd Sep - Back home - logged a full complaint with Jet2 
13th Sep - Chased Jet2 to make sure they had my complaint as nothing received
23rd Sep - Rang Jet2 again advised, customer care have no phones. Holiday was 28 days ago and no response to my complaint. Told to wait until its been 28 days from complaint. 
30th Sep - Rang Jet2 for an update - told to be patient despite holiday now being 35 days ago
4th Oct - Update to say they had everything they needed and I needed to wait longer.
9th Oct - Agent from Jet2 called to say that the advert was in line with their terms and conditions and that the 4-star is their rating. Advised this made no sense, and was misleading etc when booking. The lack of empathy from the agent actually made me so frustrated I cried. She told me no refund. She said I should of researched more, and her legal team agreed no refund claim. 

So my question is, if so many families make the same mistake as we did, are we just all unlucky and should we have done more research on this hotel? And I suck this up as an epic error on my behalf. 
Or
Should this be advertised more clearly? ie stating one hotel is a 3-star and one is a 4-star, and should I be able to get the difference between grades refunded back?

Essentially I feel I booked a 3-star hotel on a 4-star expectation and price. I have logged with ABTA but Jet2 told me on the phone call that ABTA will side with Jet2. 

Westin

https://www.jet2holidays.com/balearics/ibiza/playa-es-figueral/invisa-figueral-resort

• Official rating: 3 star
• Jet2holidays rating: 4 star

Seems fairly clear that this 4 star rating is a Jet2 one.  What do you feel that you did not receive from the listed facilities? What had you been expecting from Jet2 in terms of recompense?

bagand96

In addition to the post above, the Jet2 information page for the hotel states:

Introduction

The Invisa Figueral Resort is a spacious property spread across two hotels - the Cala Verde and the Cala Blanca. Guests can be located in either hotel but can use the facilities in both

Ratings shown on tour operator sites are nearly always their own ratings, this is pretty standard and not unique to Jet2. They have shown the official rating (and note that even official ratings vary greatly from country to country and are usually only an indicator of facilities not quality)

TELLIT01

Ratings are generally based on facilities available.  As the OP had full access to both hotels, albeit with possibly a slightly lower spec room, I doubt they will get anywhere with their complaint.

NoodleDoodleMan

I can't see any grounds for a complaint.

Voyager2002

Do remember that the star rating tells you nothing about hotel quality, but only about the facilities that are available. And since you had access to four-star facilities on the resort, the fact that some of these facilities were not offered within your hotel does not seem to be any kind of loss.

Now, if you made your booking on the understanding that your room would have its own massage table but you found that only rooms in the other hotel had this, so that you needed to slum it and use a shared massage table, you might have some kind of claim, but as you have prevented the case I cannot see any basis for a complaint.

NoodleDoodleMan

Looks like Jet2 gave a 4 Star rating based on the combined facilities available across both hotels - can't see where one is graded as 3 Star and the other as 4 Star - although this perceived rating differentiation seems to be central to the OP's issue.

cw8825

The very first thing it says on Jet2 - 
The Invisa Figueral Resort is a spacious property spread across two hotels - the Cala Verde and the Cala Blanca. Guests can be located in either hotel but can use the facilities in both.

OP has no complaint to make
the usual case of expectations being way above what is reasonable.

heatherw_01

Also with star ratings, travel companies often rate slightly different, so they can rate 4 star when it is really a star.

But the Jet2 page does say there are 2 hotels you may be in.

Sorry but no grounds for complaint here.