BRITISH holidaymakers have been left fuming after claiming to have paid £1,000 extra for an “all inclusive plus” package at a five star hotel – only to be offered sandwiches.
A raging customer, known as Helen, blasted the Hard Rock Hotel in Tenerife on Tripadvisor on Thursday following the lack of included food on offer.
Helen claim to have paid over £2,000 for four nights for her and her sister at the luxury hotel and expected premium drinks, unlimited poolside snacks and ice cream.
Instead, Helen claims she arrived at the resort to discover that all the benefits from the all inclusive plus package had been removed.
Helen was left even more raging after the hotel manager supposedly offered the siblings’ just a two hour slot to eat provided sandwiches.
Hard Rock Hotel has since apologised to Helen on the reviews website and said they hope she will visit again so she can have a “real rocking experience” like other guests.
Helen’s review read: “Avoid the scam.
“The management have set out a lucrative ‘all inclusive plus’ deal to get as much money into the hotel for the busiest month of the year.
“They’ve taken people’s hard earned cash and promised premium drinks, unlimited snacks by the pool and ice creams for the kids.
“Once they max out the hotel’s occupancy and get the customers money, they have taken away all these benefits and their only explanation is that they are allowed to change any policy within 24 hours.
“People have paid thousands of pounds for an all inclusive package to get here and to be told that things have suddenly changed is completely outrageous!
“I’ve never experienced this recklessness from any hotel especially for a 5* hotel.
“Today Omar the hotel manager explained that we can now get sandwiches from 4.30-6.30.
“Brilliant, one thousand pounds extra for sandwiches. Our experience has been ruined because of their efforts to claw back as much money from the pandemic as possible at the expense of their customers.”
Staff from the hotel responded to the complaint later on that day, writing: “I would like to sincerely apologise for any inconveniences you experienced during your stay with us.
“We feel really sorry that you had to leave with this perception since, at HRHT, we follow strict standards and procedures in order to deliver an exceptional and amplified service to all our guests and we all aim to create memorable and unique experiences, always.
“We would like to apologise for the inconvenience that our All-Inclusive options may have caused you, but we hope you could give us another chance as we will show you the real rocking experience that many of our guests have already had.”
A woman, believed to be Helen’s sister, shared the review to a Facebook group on Saturday writing: “I really could cry, I paid all inclusive for the Hard Rock Tenerife to get this.
“It’s frustrating as I paid just over £2,000 for four nights for me and my sister.”
Dozens of group members have been left shocked by the experience.
One user said: “I have stayed here before, it’s an absolute fortune in the hotel and not much around it to give you other options to eat and drink.”
Whilst another said: “The same thing happened to us at H10 Conquistador.
“We paid an extra £800 so we could use restaurants, then we found out they are only open once a week. They’re just grabbing money at the moment so we cancelled.”
Another member added: “I’ve seen this on a fair few groups today. One woman and her family of 17 went and had this. It’s so, so wrong.”
A spokeswoman for the Hard Rock Hotel Tenerife today revealed that the hotel was operating differently than usual because of a steep increase to the their occupancy over a short period of time.
She said: “We are very sorry to hear about Helen’s experience. Due to the hotel occupancy increasing substantially in a very short time frame (doubling in a five day period), we had to review our food & drink service in compliance with the COVID safety standards.
“This meant temporarily changing the All Inclusive lunch service from the Splash and Lagoon Pool Bars to a buffet at the Sessions Restaurant which is more spacious and allows us to ensure people are suitably distanced.
“This proposition included paellas, rice and pasta dishes, salads, cheeses plus a wide range of desserts until 4pm. We subsequently amplified the all-inclusive options for guests adding the Splash Pool Bar and Beach Club as additional options.
“We have also opened the Sport Bar as an AI dinner option in addition to the A la Carte Restaurants to provide our guests with further options throughout the day.”
