The 32-year-old dental nurse booked the two-week holiday to Hotel Playa Cayo in Santa Maria, Cuba, in September 2018 with her partner.

After arriving at the hotel, they quickly found numerous problems with their accommodation.

Lauren told Sun Online Travel: "We were constantly locked out of our room as the key cards kept stopping working.

"The rooms were in desperate need of repair and dirty with mould and the toilets were very unsanitary with used pads and faeces everywhere.

"The food temperature was not consistent and flies were often crawling on the food and we both ended up poorly for a few days."

Despite also finding loose wiring, broken mirrors and a broken safe in their room, she said there was no attempt from reception to help, despite the couple contacting them five times.


The couple, who live in Worksop, also found a dead kitten on the hotel grounds.

Throughout the holiday, Lauren tried to bring up the complaints with the hotel but failed to find any help from Thomas Cook themselves.

She explained: "We complained whilst there but were told we’d have to pay for a room upgrade [as] the rep was never there."

In a message to a Thomas Cook rep, Lauren explained how her designer bags were also "covered in mould" after being stored in the wardrobe .

After her holiday, she spent three months contacting Thomas Cook for a partial refund of her holiday.

Lauren said: "On returning I chased my complaint to be told I had to register another complaint in the UK, which took them two and a half months to acknowledge even though their policy is 28 days.

"I’ve tried to reason with them by not asking for a full refund as I understand there are still costs involved with flights etc. but they don’t care."

Thomas Cook's first offer to Lauren was a £280 refund or £530 in Thomas Cook vouchers, which they later increased to a £400 refund or a £650 Thomas Cook voucher.

However, Lauren refused as she said it was not enough even for an alternative holiday deposit.

She said: "I tried to resolve it by settling for £900, which is less than half, to avoid stress and they’ve refused.

"I went to ABTA and they replied finally and said they’d offer £400 and their position would not change so I could choose to take them to arbitration or court."

According to the ABTA website, a claim for compensation can be made up to £5,000 per person through arbitration.

In one of the e-mails seen by Sun Online Travel, Thomas Cook admitted Lauren's was "not the only complaint" regarding the hotel, which has been placed on an improvement plan.

However, they claimed they were "unable to offer" the amount she was looking for.

Lauren explained: "Now I’ve got the added stress of arbitration or court to correct them not providing the service I paid for.

"It is their attitude [which] stinks, not one of the staff can provide me with a copy of the policy or give me their variation on it."

"With the rumours about financial difficulties I’d think they’d treat customers better so they get repeat travellers.

"Hopefully they’ll adapt a better policy to treat customers fairly."

Thomas Cook told Sun Online Travel: "We work hard to make sure all our holidays are the highest possible standard for our customers, and we’re sorry that Ms Davis did not enjoy her holiday.

"We offered compensation for the issues raised, which was refused, and ABTA is now reviewing this complaint. Following a review of our destinations, we no longer offer this hotel."

Last year, Sun Online Travel revealed how a holidaymaker in Cuba ended up with food poisoning during a Thomas Cook holiday.

The unnamed tourist had to be treated with an IV drip as a result of the food poisoning.

Sun Online Travel has contacted ABTA for additional comment.

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