A couple’s five-star “vacation of a lifetime” turned out to be a “vacation from hell” after staying in “filthy” hotels with moldy rooms and beds stained with bodily fluids.
Nurse Lauren Jones, 37, and her partner Adam Donlevy, 36, booked the two-week getaway Singapore and Bali with an agent at the Broughton branch of Hays Travel – the UK’s largest independent travel agency – in September for £3,000.
The Cheshire couple planned to start their well-deserved vacation on June 20 with a five-night stay at a Singapore hotel.
This was followed by 10 nights in Bali – five in the cultural hotspot of Ubud and five in the seaside resort of Seminyak before heading home on July 5th.
But the holiday turned into a nightmare for the couple during the first leg in Singapore after arriving at the “five-star” hotel, which she described as a “hell hole”.
“It was going to be the vacation of a lifetime and it was a hell of a hole. It was literally a vacation from hell,” said Sister Lauren Jones (right), 37, of her trip to Singapore and Bali with partner Adam Donlevy (left), 36
The holiday turned into a nightmare for the couple during the first leg in Singapore after arriving at the “five-star” hotel, which she described as a “hell hole”.
Miss Jones said they were “uncomfortable” due to mold and generally dirty rooms and “body fluids” stains on the bed linen.
“It was just desperation and fear. Desperation at having to stay in such horrific, filthy conditions and fear that we would not be comfortable,” said Miss Jones CheshireLive.
“In these conditions we both got sick, with stomach problems. But there is also the fear of infecting something else.
“I’m a nurse, I know the things to pull yourself together in situations like this. As much as you can be careful by only using bottled water or similar, when the place itself is that dirty you are bound to get sick, which we obviously did.
“It’s also the anger – the anger and the shock that we were put up in a five star hotel that was nowhere near five stars. But also the anger at Hays Travel for the way they treated us and how much I had to fight to get us to a safe and clean environment.
“It was going to be the vacation of a lifetime and it was a hell of a hole. It was literally a vacation from hell.”
After their five-day stay in Singapore, the couple arrived at Sthala, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel in Ubud, Balie, on June 25.
They arrived late that Saturday night, went to bed and got up the next morning when Miss Jones said they noticed the room smelled “rather damp”.
“It was just desperation and fear. Desperation at having to stay in such horrific, dirty conditions and fear that we would not be comfortable,” said Miss Jones
“We found the bodily fluids on the sheets and towels”
She said: “We discovered that Adam’s coat developed mold while it was just hanging in the wardrobe. Looking around the room we found black mold on half the walls.
“We turned the cushions in the outdoor seating area and they were covered in mold. There was mold everywhere so we had to keep all our clothes in suitcases.
“We were unimpressed by the view. We were looking at what appeared to be a rotten fence with a lot of gear out there when we weren’t promised.
Miss Jones said she didn’t feel “safe” and that she and her partner were “looking over our shoulders all the time” as she claimed to have seen a lot of “crime”.
She and Mr Donlevy contacted agent Hays Travel on Tuesday 28 June to complain about the hotel.
Miss Jones said she asked why they hadn’t gotten in touch sooner, but explained they were both “shocked” and “didn’t want to feel any less uncomfortable”.
Two days later, on Thursday, June 30, they went to their next hotel, the Jambuluwuk Oceano Seminyak Hotel in Seminyak, which was “ten times worse.”
“We found the bodily fluids on the sheets and towels. The pool was actually closed because the roof fell off and was held together with a blue rope,” said Miss Jones of the Jambuluwuk Oceano Seminyak Hotel in Seminyak
“We found the bodily fluids on the sheets and towels. The pool was actually closed because the roof fell off and was held together with blue rope,” she said.
“There is a tiny pool at the top of the hotel that was green, you wouldn’t want to go in there. We couldn’t eat in the hotel because it was just so dirty, it was disgusting.
“It wasn’t a safe place at all and the bathroom was horribly dirty. The hotel was not ready to open and the sign said it was in compliance with Covid-19 safety regulations which was a blatant lie.
Miss Jones said that after her stay at the first hotel in Bali, Hays Travel promised to transfer her to a new location “immediately” if the second was just as bad. But she said they were only relocated on Saturday July 2 despite numerous attempts to contact the travel agent.
They found a room at the Grand Hyatt Bali Hotel, leaving the couple with just two full days of a “true five-star experience” on their two-week vacation.
They got home the following Tuesday, July 5, and filed a complaint with Hays Travel asking for a refund.
Miss Jones said she had had no reply from the travel agent as of Tuesday 12 July.
However, Hays Travel has now said the couple have been offered a refund for their stays at both hotels, as well as an “additional goodwill gesture”.
The travel agency also said it would conduct an “urgent review” and has imposed a “sales freeze” on the two venues.
A spokesman for Hays Travel said: “We are sorry to hear that Miss Jones and her partner were not happy with the hotels during their stay in Bali.
“When Miss Jones made contact from her second hotel and requested a move, we worked with our overseas supplier to find a suitable alternative for Miss Jones and her partner to move to.
‘We have since forwarded the details of both properties to our product management team for urgent review and can confirm that we are no longer selling these properties.
“The Broughton team have contacted Miss Jones to offer a refund for both hotels as well as an additional goodwill gesture.”
The couple was only able to experience their true five star holiday in Indonesia for two days after finally moving to a good quality hotel
Miss Jones also wanted to warn people about online reviews of hotels that date from before the pandemic.
She said: “A lot of hotels have been closed during the pandemic and the reviews people are looking at are from when they were open, operational and amazing.
“The problem is that many of them have just started operating and many have been left to decay within two years.”
She added: “People need to look at reviews over the last few weeks and not rely on what a travel agent is telling you from a review from two years ago when it was last open.
“We didn’t realize that until we got out there and saw how bad things were.”
