Tunbridge Wells woman slams TUI after £3.5k holiday from hell in Cape Verde with poo in the pool

Two woman who spent £3,500 on an all-inclusive break to Cape Verde have branded it the holiday from hell after several problems – including the pool being repeatedly pooed in.

Esther Watson and pal Gemma Bailey, 36, forked out the eye-watering sum for the week long trip off the coast of West Africa in April with Gemma’s autistic seven-year-old son Henry.

Hoping for a well-earned break the friends from Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge, travelled to a five-star resort in the Boa Vista area through a package deal booked with travel agents TUI.

But the pair were left so upset and angered by the facilities they asked to be brought home after three days.

Esther, a cyber security manager, explained her friend Gemma had spent two years saving up for the holiday.

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“I’ve never seen my friend cry but this brought her to tears,” she explained.

“The restaurants were often closed and if you wanted a snack during the day there was no snack bar, so you went to the shop and it’s closed, even though the opening times says it should be open.

“Trying to explain to an autistic child why he can’t play in the pool for three days was heartbreaking, he got so upset. It was horrendous. It was like playing Poo-do over there, constantly asking ‘who pooed in the pool?!’

“It was a disaster from day one and as the holiday progressed it was obvious TUI had no interest in helping us, just kind of take our money and run.”

Esther also slammed the facilities which were often closed – including the shop, pool and restaurant, which made other restaurants nearby busy.

She added: “There was very limited food choices repeated day in day out at the restaurants. My friend’s son is lactose intolerant so that was a nightmare.

“The pool was cordoned off three times in a week and that was just from someone defecating in it. I found a strawberry lace in my bed and by the time we discovered it, we’d been there for three days.

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“There was no hot water in our room, the room was unsanitary and unclean, the air con didn’t work.

“I got sick three days that week, the lights didn’t work. It was diabolical and the problem is when you’re in that situation, an all inclusive resort, you can’t go anywhere.”

Esther explained she had messaged the TUI rep constantly throughout the holiday but was ignored and gave the company a month from when they returned to get in touch with them about what had happened.

She was told earlier this week there was nothing the travel company could do and they advised her to message their directors with any complaints or contact the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA).

The Tunbridge Wells woman has said she and her friend will be contacting ABTA and are considering legal advice for what they have labelled as “false advertising”.

She added: “We’re struggling because we spent our holiday contacting them throughout the week but nobody responded.

“We were so happy with the booking when it happened that I sent them a hamper, although I had other complaints about the price going up when their systems went down and I had to go in to pay more money.

“There was definitely language barriers and hotel staff did try to help a little bit, but struggled to understand us. More than anything when you’re in a situation like that you want someone to help you. Getting home was the best part of our holiday.

“We met a lot of cockroaches and there was even just random blotches of blood around the hotel.

“We told TUI before we travelled that we had an autistic boy who had a dairy allergy, but that wasn’t communicated. He had to live on chips for a week. It pushed us to the limit. The whole thing was upsetting.

Esther says the price of the holiday was also really expensive as it was booked for half-term week.

“The reps avoided us and by the time we got hold of one I got cross and burst into tears,” she added.

“I’ve been on lots of holidays and can’t say they’ve all been fantastic, some have been disappointing, but this one tops them all.

“My friend saved up for two years to take her son on a one week holiday and it was devastating. I’ve never seen her cry and that then got upsetting for me and her son.

“To spend a week not being able to eat the food as we were getting sick, staying in an unsanitary room and to be sold a holiday which was five-star all inclusive, and to be stuck there is terrible.

“I’m glad it’s over and I want others to be warned about it all. We’re struggling now to get any response and we are considering taking legal advice.”

It’s not the first time Kent residents have raised issues regarding “holidays from hell”.

A couple from New Ash Green compared their holiday to the “one from the Inbetweeners movie” after their pool was cordoned due to safety concerns and the facilities failed to live up to expectations.

A TUI spokesman said: “We are very sorry to hear about Mrs Watson’s holiday experience in Cape Verde.

“We recognise that on this occasion some services fell short of our usually high standards.

“Our customer care team will be in touch with Mrs Watson shortly to further discuss the issues and offer an additional goodwill gesture.

“We’d like to reassure customers that health and safety is our highest priority and these circumstances are very rare.”