Relating to complaint raised internally via our rep: Complaint reference number: ********** To TUI Customer Service / Guest Relations, I am writing to formally lodge a serious complaint regarding our 14-night stay at the Ocean Coral and Turquesa (August 5 – August 19), booked through TUI at a cost of £4,479.88. This holiday was booked to celebrate my milestone 30th birthday. Instead of a celebration, this trip evolved into a prolonged nightmare characterized by false advertising, severe illness, appalling customer service, and uninhabitable room conditions. The physical and emotional toll this trip has taken on both my partner, Beth, and me is profound. Rather than making memories, we spent our time unwell, ignored by staff, and fighting for basic amenities. I am requesting a full reimbursement of the £4,479.88 paid for this holiday, as the package delivered was fundamentally different—and vastly inferior—to the one we purchased. Please see the catalogue of failures detailed below: 1. Mis-selling, \"Bait and Switch,\" and Poor Arrival We initially booked \"El Beso,\" which was advertised and sold to us as an Adults-Only experience. Just seven weeks before arrival (on May 23rd), we were emailed and told the Adults-Only concept was no longer available, but that we had been \"upgraded.\" This was entirely false. We were placed in the exact same room type we originally booked. Furthermore, we learned the hotel actually ceased its Adults-Only offering on May 1st. TUI withheld this information for weeks, depriving us of the opportunity to make alternative arrangements. Upon arrival, the lack of hospitality set the tone for the trip. We were not escorted to our room or shown any facilities; a staff member simply walked us outside, pointed in a general direction, and left us to navigate the resort alone. Furthermore, despite being categorically assured that smoking was restricted to the 3rd-floor smoking area, guests openly smoked and vaped around the pool daily, with staff refusing to intervene. 2. Unsafe Room Conditions & Property Damage From day two, our room’s air conditioning controller displayed \"Er1\" and \"Er0\" (wiring faults), and the room phone was dead. Despite reporting this immediately and being promised a fix, nobody arrived. Following a nighttime power cut, the AC failed completely. Our room became a humid, wet environment. Our clothes were soaked through with dampness. We were told a broken dehumidifier in the room would be replaced; only the dehumidifier was swapped, and no staff member came to address the AC or the catastrophic condensation. This extreme dampness has caused physical damage to our personal property. Both Beth and I brought brand-new mobile phones on this trip. Due to the severe condensation in that first room, moisture has irreparably damaged the charging ports on both devices, meaning neither phone will fast-charge or hold a sustained charge for more than a few minutes. 3. Severe Food Poisoning & Substandard Dining To compound our misery, both Beth and I contracted severe food poisoning during our stay (Beth suffered from it once, and I suffered from it twice). We were left violently ill, unable to keep anything down, and suffering from severe gastrointestinal distress. Even when we could eat, the food quality was abysmal. For example, the Route 66 restaurant advertised \"brisket,\" but served microwaved, processed slices of beef that were entirely inedible. 4. A Disastrous Room Move While Violently Ill While we were bedridden and recovering from food poisoning, we were subjected to an agonizing room move. Because our initial room was wet and uninhabitable, we requested a change. It took two separate butlers to \"confirm\" our completely valid issues, followed by a 3 to 4-hour wait. We were finally moved at 10:00 PM—while still violently ill—only to find we couldn't get into the new room. I had to wander the resort in the dark to hunt down our butler, Sebastian, just to gain access. To add insult to injury, our new room featured black mold on the shower door. Furthermore, the bed in this new room was noticeably shorter, incredibly firm, and far less comfortable than our previous one. Any slight movement from one person made the other feel as though they were on a water bed, ultimately destroying any chance of decent sleep for the entire latter half of our holiday. 5. Ruined 30th Birthday & Appalling Staff Behavior The absolute lowest point of the trip was my 30th birthday. We had pre-booked a celebratory meal on the day we arrived. However, on the night of my birthday, the restaurant had no record of the meal and did not even know it was my birthday. Sebastian claimed the system had the booking for \"next Saturday\"—a date when we would already be back in England. Instead of apologizing, Sebastian avoided me. He cowardly sent a waitress (who had nothing to do with the error) to inform us they didn't even have the steaks we had pre-ordered. It was only after I expressed my sheer distress, highlighting how much we had paid for this stay (£4,479.88) and the relentless issues we had faced, that they scrambled to source steaks from another hotel. Sebastian never apologized, did not wish me a happy birthday, and refused to even look at me for the remainder of his time there. When Sebastian transferred to another hotel, our new butler, Carlos, was even worse. He actively ignored us, walking straight past Beth and me around the pool to tell other guests he was leaving for the day, without saying a single word to us. 6. Discriminatory Poolside Service The poolside service was actively hostile. The waiter would routinely ask everyone around us for drink orders but skipped us over 50% of the time. When Beth politely asked him to fill her Stanley water bottle—a courtesy he was happily extending to other guests—he rolled his eyes, aggressively grabbed the bottle without a word, and walked off. On another occasion, she waited 45 minutes for a simple glass of water while the waiter stood around doing nothing before finally serving her. 7. Unusable Beach & Unhygienic Pool Conditions Upon arrival, we were assured that staff would regularly clean the seaweed off the beach. This never happened. As a result, the beach was completely unusable, and the Balinese beds could not be enjoyed. The smell of sulfur from the rotting seaweed was overpowering and inescapable, persisting all the time, every single day. Furthermore, the pool maintenance was unhygienic and entirely inappropriate. The pool officially opened at 8:00 AM, yet staff would arrive to \"clean\" at 9:00 or 10:00 AM. Their method of cleaning consisted of sweeping surrounding debris directly into the pool rather than away from it, leaving the bottom of the pool filthy. Most alarmingly, staff used chemicals to clean the edge of the pool while guests were actively swimming in the water, demonstrating a shocking disregard for basic health and safety. 8. Inequitable Resolution We have since discovered that TUI and hotel management moved other complaining guests to entirely different, superior hotels to salvage their holidays. When we brought this up, we were callously told, \"You should have said sooner.\" Why should the burden fall on the customer to beg for a hotel transfer when management was already fully aware that our room was uninhabitable, our belongings were damaged, and we were violently ill? Conclusion Under the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018, TUI is legally responsible for the proper performance of all travel services included in this package. It is undeniable that this holiday fell catastrophically short of any reasonable standard of quality, safety, and customer care. This was not a minor inconvenience; it was a ruined milestone birthday, physical illness, property damage, and severe emotional distress. I expect a prompt acknowledgment of this letter and a full refund of £4,479.88. If a satisfactory resolution is not reached within 14 days, I will not hesitate to escalate this matter to ABTA (The Travel Association), pursue Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) via the relevant travel ombudsman, and take legal action through the Small Claims Court for breach of contract and damages to our electronics. I look forward to hearing from you. Yours sincerely, Mr Reece Errington Email: **********

No facilities to dry clothes out in room. Evening entertainment poor. Poor choice of restaurants, not able to book the a la cartes. Seaweed issue so not able to access the beach, also creating an awful smell.

We loved it. Brilliant staff (particularly Gustavo on the entertainment team) Lovely rooms Great food and drinks Great excursions

Nice hotel, looking a bit tired and some restaurants closed which I wasn't informed about

Advertised as a beach front location with non motorised water sports available. However, due to the sargassum problem the beach was totally unusable and therefore there was no non motorised water sports. Building work is going on at the hotel as it is due to close for refurbishment at the end of August. We were not made aware of any of this before we went on holiday!!