A FAMILY claim their TUI holiday apartment was so bad they shelled out an extra £600 to stay elsewhere for the remainder of their break.
Pictures show broken beds, a dirty toilet, leaky sink, exposed wiring and an electric kettle plonked on top of an electric hob at the accommodation in Kos, Greece.
Tui’s brochure pictures of the “three-star” Harriet’s Apartments in Kardamena show simple but spotlessly clean and well maintained accommodation.
But Chloe Blewitt and John Myers, together with daughter Tiana, seven, instead discovered a grubby and rundown apartment which they described as an “absolute joke”.
The family from Redruth, Cornwall, who paid £1,344 for their two-week, self catering break starting on August 14, bailed out after nine nights.
Instead, they paid out of their own pockets to stay the remaining five nights at another hotel.
Chloe, 35, uploaded pictures to social media with the caption: “No TUI smile with this accommodation! Absolute joke!”
She and John, 46, also said they were “sick of being ignored” by TUI reps despite their complaints.
Harriet’s Apartments are rated four out of five stars on TripAdvisor. TUI describe the apartments online as “small and friendly” and as a “family-run property with character”.
But Chloe’s pictures show that “character” in the case of their apartment meant a bed which had multiple wooden slats missing, two large cracks in the glass door, crumbling plaster, a fire alarm without a cover and exposed wiring covered with black tape..
Melanie Low responded: “Holiday from hell! Hope TUI listen up now.”
Lea Nne commented: “That looks awful, so sad when you work hard and save for a lovely family holiday to end up with something like this.
“You must have been gutted, hope they strike that one off their books and compensate you.”
Stevie Chesterfield said: “Oh Chloe that’s awful. I hope now they have seen this go public they will take your complaints seriously.”
Helen Blake commented: “Oh no! This isn’t on Chloe. A dreadful standard of accommodation. Who do they think wants to stay there?
“I can’t get my head around the fact that someone happily gave you the keys to this room/apartment? Shameful.”
Speaking today, Chloe said: “On Friday 23rd we decided to pay 700 euros to move to another hotel.
“My partner has been emailing and calling since we have been home and we still have not had a satisfactory response.
“The customer care line is a call centre who respond with the system is down at the moment which almost sounds scripted. You have probably seen on the post but they have sent a few responses, the last one being they will get back to us in 28 days.
“I don’t believe this as my partner was told he needed a ticket number in response to the email and we have yet to receive one.”
Despite the bad experience suffered by Chloe, the apartments enjoy a four out of five rating on TripAdvisor.
User Mandie_73_Heathfield gave the apartments a top rating last month and wrote: “Our room was a pleasant surprise as it is only a 2 star property we were not sure of what to expect.
“Overall we had a great time thank you George and family for making is feel so welcome!”
Also rating the complex five stars last month, 59elaine13 commented: “We had a great time and would recommend Harriet’s apartments and would return.”
A TUI spokesman said: “We’re sorry to hear that Ms Blewitt’s holiday didn’t live up to its expectations. It’s clear that we fell short of the high standards we set ourselves.
“When the issues were raised in resort, our rep was on hand to support and we upgraded the customers to a pool-view room and offered a gesture of goodwill.
“Now Ms Blewitt has returned from her holiday we’ll be in direct contact to discuss further.”
