Yasmin Kauser from Stratford-upon-Avon (England) was eagerly awaiting the chance to spend more quality time with her four children – aged 4, 12, 14, and 18 – and her husband during the annual August trip abroad. For this occasion, she booked a 10-night holiday package to Turkey through “Loveholidays” for £4,863 (about 5,000 euros). The family was supposed to stay at a four-star hotel.
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After a long journey from the United Kingdom, the six-person family arrived at the pre-booked hotel in Alanya, Turkey, around 2 a.m.
“We were completely exhausted, just wanted to go to sleep, and the children were sleeping wherever they could,” Yasmin exclusively told “The Mirror”.
However, it suddenly became clear that there was a problem with the hotel reservation: “We were told that there were no available rooms for us.”
She explained: “We stayed at the hotel until about 5:30 a.m. As I became increasingly disappointed and upset, they finally gave us only one room for six people instead of the two that were booked.”
According to Yasmin, she contacted “Loveholidays” several times until the family was “arranged to be transferred to a five-star resort.” On the second day of the holiday, the family went to a resort about half an hour away by car.
“I hadn’t slept the night before, I was exhausted. I’m only human, and I broke down because I was very tired, and the children were also very tired,” the woman shared.
“No rooms available”
However, upon arrival at the other resort, the problem arose again.
“We waited at the resort for about an hour until we were told that there were no rooms for us,” Yasmin said. “I told them, ‘But we have a reservation from Loveholidays,’ and they replied, ‘There are no rooms, so you have to leave the hotel.'”
She recounted being on the street with the children around 3 p.m., with all their luggage, no access to a toilet, and no accommodation.
“We sat by the hotel, everyone was walking by, and we felt like homeless people – we were left to our fate,” the British woman said.
Yasmin contacted “Loveholidays” and explained the situation. In an email, the company advised the family to “wait in the hotel lobby for their own and their children’s safety” and stated that the issue was being handled “urgently.”
The mother of four recalled: “At first, I didn’t panic because it was about 3 p.m., the weather was good, we had water and snacks from the store, so we just sat outside.”
We felt like homeless people.
However, Yasmin added that the temperature was about 40 degrees Celsius, and when 9 p.m. came, the situation became truly worrying: “When it started getting dark, I panicked – I was thinking about what to do. We are with children, and it was the peak of the season.”
She said the family remained without accommodation until about 11 p.m. Finally, her sister in the United Kingdom contacted the emergency number. After about two more hours of waiting, “Loveholidays” arranged emergency accommodation at a three-star hotel.
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Yasmin said that when her sister contacted “Loveholidays,” the company stated that they had sent Yasmin an email earlier that day, but the woman claims she did not receive it. She had informed the company that she was switching between a regular SIM card and eSIM, and the travel company said they were trying to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.
Nevertheless, the family went to a third hotel, hoping to finally get a room for their holiday.
“I didn’t know what the hotel was like, but after so much time on the street, I was only thinking that we needed at least some accommodation and a roof over our heads,” Yasmin said. “We had to take another taxi to this hotel and finally got two rooms around 1 a.m.”
“Strong smell of urine and mold”
Although the family managed to get rooms, Yasmin was disappointed.
“One of the rooms was basically a small storage-type room without windows, and its condition shocked me. There was a strong smell of urine and mold, and I found it hard to breathe properly,” she said.
Yasmin said she had difficulty sleeping in that mess and contacted “Loveholidays” again early the next morning about the accommodation.
She stated: “During the conversation, I was told that they had given me ‘shelter.’ Later, I was left in that hastily arranged accommodation for the rest of the holiday, even though I repeatedly raised my concerns.”
Later, the family was moved to another room in the same hotel.
Upon learning that Yasmin was unhappy with the alternative accommodation, “Loveholidays” offered her about 1,200 euros in compensation for the inconvenience. Additionally, the family was offered to move to a higher-class five-star hotel with an “all-inclusive” meal plan. However, despite repeated attempts to contact Yasmin through various channels, the company received no response.
Yasmin said: “I don’t know if I was more tired before leaving the United Kingdom or after this trip. I was in survival mode the whole time. We would have been better off staying at home. It was the worst experience of my life.”
I don’t know if I was more tired before leaving the United Kingdom or after this trip.
Offered a refund
A “Loveholidays” representative told “Mirror”: “We deeply regret that Ms. Kauser’s experience did not meet our usual high standards, and we are urgently investigating the issues she encountered, together with the relevant hotel suppliers.
Our holiday support team tried to resolve the situation during Ms. Kauser’s trip, including offering financial compensation and the option to move to a higher-class five-star hotel. Despite several attempts to contact Ms. Kauser, we received no response to these offers or subsequent messages, so unfortunately, we were unable to implement these solutions during her holiday.
We are reaching out to Ms. Kauser to apologize for the stress and inconvenience caused and to offer a full refund for her holiday.”
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