A family have been left ‘devastated’ after their dream Greece holiday turned into hell when they contracted rashes, ear infections and worms from a ‘dirty’ green pool, ant-infested rooms and their food.
Mother Rebecca Price, 41, flew from Bristol to Rhodes on July 20 for a family holiday filled with fun and relaxation, but said she was dismayed to find unclean facilities.
This included a lack of running water in certain rooms, which she claimed left her son with a rash and another family member with a stomach bug.
Ms Price, a domestic cleaner from Cardiff, stayed in the four-star Evita Resort in Faliraki, Rhodes with her husband, 40, and three children, aged 16, 13 and eight, for what was meant to be an 11-night stay in the hotel.
She had booked her all-inclusive package holiday through easyJet for just over £4,000 and had high expectations of ‘wonderful food and gorgeous surroundings’.
However, when Ms Price arrived she claimed they were immediately shocked by the disgusting state of the resort.
Ms Price said the ‘green and murky’ pool was so unclean that she was able to write into the dirt at the bottom of it.
As well as having ants, their accommodation had no shower door and poor facilities that included no running water in the bathrooms. The four-star hotel also had a closed waterpark section, as well as a poor food and drink selection.
The family said their surroundings were so unhygienic that Rebecca’s son had started to develop a rapidly expanding rash on his back.
Another family member had contracted worms, which Rebecca is certain was caused by the unhygienic surroundings and lack of handwashing facilities due to no running water at times.
Rebecca complained to the staff at the resort, who had argued that their facilities were up-to-code and insisted that they could provide the paperwork to show that the pool was verified to be clean and suitable for use.
Rebecca had complained several times prior to this about the pool, but she was always fobbed off with excuses, including that it was green due to the shadows of the trees and the tree sap.
However, on this occasion Rebecca had brought in photographic evidence of the murky green pool, leaving the manager with no excuse but to apologise and inform her that there would be an investigation.
Soon after this, a cleaning service was called to dump ‘horrendous amounts of chlorine’ into the pool, which eventually ended up bleaching guests’ swimwear.
As Rebecca’s son’s rash continued to worsen and he developed an ear infection alongside it, they were advised by doctors not to fly, so they had to stay in the resort for a further two days before they were able to travel back to Bristol Airport.
Throughout the ordeal, Rebecca had also been complaining to EasyJet about their situation, but she was told that they were too busy to deal with her and that she should be happy she had a place to stay.
‘We went with EasyJet as a package holiday from Bristol to Rhodes,’ she said.
‘We were told we should be grateful we have a place to stay.’
Commenting on the state of the hotel and surroundings when she arrived, Rebecca said: ‘It was dirty, unorganised, not a four-star, poor food and drinks, closed waterpark, broken facilities such as sunbeds, ants in my accommodation, no shower door, and pool green.
‘The worst thing was the pool and hotel expecting guests to use it.’
Rebecca and her family were devastated that they had to stay for another two days as their son recovered from a rapidly developing rash and ear infection, especially after being brushed off by the hotel staff over their worries for the previous 11 days.
‘We were devastated, it was stressful, my son became ill and we had to stay longer as he wasn’t fit to fly home,’ she said.
‘So it developed suddenly and I complained to reception and said it was down to poor pool hygiene.’
She added: ‘The manager was very defensive and offered to show me paperwork to back up the pool check.
‘I showed her my photographs of the state of the pool with the date and time and she was mortified and kept apologising saying she would investigate.
‘The pool team came and just poured a horrendous amount of chlorine in whilst some guests still used the dirty pool. This then bleached the swimwear of guests.’
After contracting the rash, Rebecca’s son developed an ear infection from what she believes to be from the unhygienic surroundings.
Another family member had worms, which she believes was caused by the lack of running water to wash their hands.
‘My son after the rash had an ear infection from the dirty pool,’ she said.
‘Another family member developed worms which I can only imagine came from lack of handwashing facilities.
‘The food choices were very poor for a four-star resort. Lots of frozen vegetables and chips. Cheese in puff pastry – all very random choices. We were devastated.’
Evita resort was contacted for a statement but has not provided one at this time.
EasyJet has also been contacted for comment.
Source: Dailymail
