{"id":268182,"date":"2026-01-05T10:10:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T10:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/268182\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T10:10:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T10:10:07","slug":"an-unhappy-holiday-in-turkey-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/268182\/","title":{"rendered":"An unhappy holiday in Turkey \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A reader booked a holiday with TUI<\/a> to a hotel in Turkey<\/a> and was happy out until shortly after touchdown when it became clear the stay would not be a Turkish delight, with mouldy surfaces, some questionable cleaning practices and vomiting cats marring her week away.<\/p>\n

We know January is when many minds turn to summer holidays and beautiful dreams of chilled out, sun-kissed days on sandy beaches, but for Tilly it\u2019s a far from relaxing trip that was taking up her thoughts as the new year bells chimed.<\/p>\n

She travelled with her daughter from Dublin<\/a> to a popular Turkish resort on October 22nd and checked in during the early hours of the following day.<\/p>\n

The first thing the travelling pair noticed when they got to their room, bleary-eyed and in need of a freshen up, was the absence of soap in the dispenser in their bathroom.<\/p>\n

Because they were unable to wash their hands, they went down to reception and the soap was quickly replaced. It was not a big deal.<\/p>\n

But that was just the starting point. <\/p>\n

When Tilly and her daughter woke up they had, she explains, a \u201cbetter view of our room and the hotel facilities\u201d. And that view did not make them happy. <\/p>\n

Tilly says the place was a long way from clean and certainly not at the standard that you might expect from a four-star resort. <\/p>\n

She says the hotel room bathroom had \u201cmould and dirt all around the shower\u201d and she points out that there \u201cwere cats on site everywhere\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0PTSB customer given the runaround trying to access virtual moneyOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

She sent us photographs of the mould and of the cats.<\/p>\n

Now the presence of cats might not be an issue for everyone; lots of people love cats after all and for some it might be a selling point. <\/p>\n

But not so many people would love the notion of cats prowling around the restaurant while they eat. The next sentence from Tilly would probably put most people off their scrambled eggs of a morning. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy daughter saw a cat vomit on the chair next to where we were eating,\u201d she tells us. <\/p>\n

These cats \u201cwere being fed by staff straight from their hands and who were then serving customers food and drink\u201d and they were seen to be drinking out of the pool water \u2013 the cats not the staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sun loungers were totally stained,\u201d she continues. She sent us pics of them too. \u201cThe carpets had the same crisps and other debris built up and were not hoovered for the entire duration of our stay, and the \u2018clean\u2019 towels in our hotel room were not clean,\u201d she goes on.<\/p>\n

She notes that some of the towels were stained. She has some suggestions as to what those stains might have been, but in the absence of forensic evidence we won\u2019t include any of her suggestions. <\/p>\n

She also included photos of the towels and they don\u2019t look great. <\/p>\n

Tilly points to the \u201cgeneral neglect of cleanliness across communal areas and says she is \u201cbaffled as to how this property received [its] TUI rating\u201d.<\/p>\n

The state of the hotel is only part of the story, however. <\/p>\n

As part of the holiday package, a TUI representative was available in reception to meet and greet guests who had recently arrived at the hotel, she says. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe availed of this to express our concerns … We were the only TUI customers at the meeting. The representative was quite dismissive and did not offer any solutions other than informing us it would cost an additional \u20ac500 each to move hotel and we should speak with guest relations.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0I was wrongly told a dress was vintage – so asked for a refund. Then the row startedOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Tilly explained that they were customers of TUI and as such it should be up to the company to address her concerns. She said she did not believe the hotel deserved the high star rating it had been given.<\/p>\n

The rep stood their ground, so Tilly spoke to guest relations at the hotel and also completed an online form on TUI\u2019s website informing them of her concerns. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe received a response email from TUI requesting photos, which we sent across. For the rest of the 23rd and 24th of October, there were numerous emails back and forth with TUI. We really felt this was consuming our holiday and TUI did not want to address the issues,\u201d she writes. <\/p>\n

Mailing about mouldy bathrooms and vomiting cats certainly does not seem like a fun way to start your holiday in the sun. <\/p>\n

Nothing came of the mails, and the upshot was that the mother and daughter stayed in the resort for the duration of their holiday.<\/p>\n

But Tilly did not let it lie. She was mystified how the place could get its rating with TUI.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been no acknowledgment from any TUI representative that this hotel clearly does not meet the standards of a four-star property, despite the fact in excess of 22 emails\/correspondence were exchanged,\u201d Tilly says. <\/p>\n

She believes she did not get what she paid for \u2013 and has made that point to TUI on multiple occasions. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs a family, we have travelled with TUI on numerous occasions and have always chosen all-inclusive packages for convenience \u2013 even though some of us do not drink alcohol \u2013 and have never previously encountered issues significant enough to warrant contacting TUI while abroad. While no holiday is ever perfect, our experiences have always been acceptable and enjoyable. Unfortunately, this trip was an exception,\u201d she writes.<\/p>\n

\u201cRather than receiving constructive support, we were left feeling dismissed and unsupported throughout what should have been a relaxing week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fast forward to now. After all the over and backs, TUI offered a \u20ac250 voucher to cover the disappointment of a holiday which cost in the region of \u20ac1,500.<\/p>\n

Tilly included some correspondence from TUI. <\/p>\n

\u201cThank you for your further contact. As part of a dedicated team, specifically trained to deliver final decisions made by TUI UK & Ireland, I am writing to confirm our final position concerning the issues you have raised,\u201d a TUI rep wrote to her. <\/p>\n

\u201cI apologise that we have been unable to reach an agreeable resolution on this occasion. Whilst I appreciate the strength of your feeling, this is our final position on the matter. I realise that you may remain dissatisfied with this response, however, I would like to respectfully reiterate that this is our final decision and therefore further correspondence within any area of TUI UK & Ireland concerning the issues raised will conclude with the same, consistent response.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018Aer Lingus ghosted me\u2019: Overbooking, a vanishing reservation and \u2018zero communication\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

And that is where the door closed for Tilly and it was when she contacted us. <\/p>\n

We had a look at the reviews of the hotel on a leading online platform and it actually scores very highly. We went through many of the most recent reviews, and while some were incredibly effusive about the food and the resort and the staff and pretty much everything you could possible imagine, there were others who echoed Tilly\u2019s concerns about the cleanliness of the hotel, value for money, and the presence of cats all over the place. <\/p>\n

Many guests had posted pics that appeared to back up what we were told. <\/p>\n

We sent Tilly\u2019s story to TUI to see what they had to say. <\/p>\n

They came back with the following response: \u201cWe appreciate that this complaint has been brought to our attention and are working with our colleagues in the wider TUI business to undertake a thorough review. This review is currently under way and we will update once it is complete.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A reader booked a holiday with TUI to a hotel in Turkey and was happy out until shortly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268183,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[73],"tags":[79,2190,18,19,17,6641,13272,385],"class_list":["post-268182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-cost-of-living","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-pricewatch","tag-tui","tag-turkey"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115841952948639699","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}