British tourists ‘are left sleeping on beaches’ in Europe after paying for locked down hotel rooms

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British tourists are having to resort to sleeping on beaches and booking new rooms in Europe after paying for hotels that are still closed due to coronavirus lockdown. 

Craig Fletcher, 38, booked his trip to the Canary Island of Tenerife through Loveholidays, who have already been criticised for failing to tell customers that their bookings are no longer available due to lockdown.  

The 38-year-old arrived at the Hotel Blue Sea in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife where a lady was, ‘freaking out saying “you can’t come in, we’re closed”.’ 

She told Mr Fletcher, who works as a product manager, that he was not allowed to enter because of coronavirus restrictions.  

The woman advised him to take a taxi to the Blue Sea’s sister hotel, the Costa Jardin, which is roughly a mile away.  

On arrival, Mr Fletcher was disappointed at the vast difference in accommodation. 

‘I booked a hotel with a huge pool, but (the Costa Jardin) had a pool maybe the length of an average backyard,’ he told the Mirror. 

He added that the room’s furniture was not up to a suitable standard and that it looked like they ‘got it on the cheap’. 

‘The restaurant is nice but there is a single bar. There are also 48 sun loungers for 300 guests,’ he said. 

‘I’m basically in lockdown on holiday.’.

Mr Fletcher, who believes the taxis and price difference between hotels have cost him £286 in total, said he tried to contact Loveholidays but  was unable to get through.   

A loveholidays spokesperson told the Mirror: ‘We wholeheartedly apologise to Mr Fletcher for the inconvenience and distress this has caused.

‘Our customer services ‘in-resort’ team is urgently contacting Mr Fletcher to try to resolve this to his satisfaction and ensure that he can enjoy the rest of his holiday.

‘We can confirm that Mr Fletcher will be compensated for the inconvenience.’     

Other British tourists have reported having to sleep on beaches in Europe after paying for rooms in hotels abroad that are still closed due to the lockdown. 

Consumer watchdog Which? reported the findings and said that the travel agency Loveholidays has been the main offender, according to the Times newspaper.   

One tourist resorted to paying £600 for an apartment for her son because she was scared he would have to ‘sleep on the beach’. The man had already paid £1,500 for a hotel that was locked down when he arrived. 

Another, who set off for a break in the Spanish sun, arrived with his partner and 10-year-old son, only to find that the hotel was closed. The family were forced to seek out and pay for new accommodation.  

Paul Davis, 48, from Lincolnshire, booked a holiday in Salou on the Costa Daurada in Spain on the 1 July to arrive just three days later on 4 July. 

The trip, which cost over £1,500, was booked the day the Foreign Office relaxed its international travel advice, allowing Britons to take a hard-earned break in the sun.   

On arrival, the 4R Regina Gran hotel was shuttered and Mr Davis was left with no other option than to book a new room. Eventually, he was able to transfer to a hotel run by Loveholidays, but he lost his £250 deposit for cancelling the second resort.    

‘When we pulled up I thought we must have the wrong hotel: it was all shut and hadn’t been opened for a good while,’ he told the Times. ‘It’s disgusting. We were fortunate enough to have the money to stay somewhere else but lots of other people probably aren’t in that position.’

The original hotel was still available to book yesterday through Loveholidays.

One social media user tweeted at Loveholidays: ‘My family is leaving for Gran Canaria shortly and i called hotel and they are closed and so i need new hotel booked and any other changes done asap’.

Another ranted to On The Beach: ‘You lot are p*** takers. My son has been trying to get in touch with you for 16 days but you leave it to the day before he is due to fly knowing his hotel is closed, then say his hotel has been changed’. 

According to Which?, the majority of complaints of rooms being sold at locked down hotels involve Loveholidays, but that there were some others.  

Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel magazine, told The Times: ‘It is beyond belief that holidaymakers have been left in a position where they have either had to fork out hundreds of pounds for alternative accommodation or risk being left with nowhere to sleep.’

A Loveholidays spokeswoman said: ‘We are aware of a few instances where customers have arrived at hotels that are closed and our in-resort emergency assistance team are working with those customers to find them suitable alternative accommodation.’ 

She insisted that in some cases the hotel had not informed the agent of its closure, adding: ‘We apologise for any inconvenience or distress this may have caused our customers. We will of course refund the cost of his hotel booking.’ 

Britons land in Ibiza as ‘air bridges’ come into force – but will have to wear masks or face fines as Costa del Sol joins growing list of Spanish destinations where face coverings are mandatory 

By Sam Blitz and Rita Sobot for Mailonline 

Around 500 British tourists arrived in Ibiza via air bridges on Saturday as the first holidaymakers to travel to the Balearic Islands since quarantine restrictions were lifted.

On the first weekend since the air bridges were announced by the UK Government, sun-seekers from London and Manchester airports took flights via travel agency company TUI.  

However, British tourists travelling to Spain‘s most popular destinations, including the Costa del Sol, Mallorca as well as Ibiza, will have to wear masks in most public areas – or face fines of up to €100 (£90). 

The Balearic Government ruled on Monday that face masks must be worn by everyone in shops and other public places, but not on beaches and by swimming pools. 

A similar rule has been adopted by the Andalusian Government which will see the Costa del Sol conform to these regulations, while city of Barcelona will also follow this policy following an announcement by the Catalonia government. 

Juanma Moreno, president of the Andalusian Government, revealed that the Costa del Sol is not in a critical health state, saying: ‘All cases are being controlled and isolated, but this can change at any time. 

‘Therefore, the best we can do is prevent and adopt with all rigor all the measures within our reach. We all have to work together until there is no effective treatment or a vaccine.’ 

Some Britons were initially fearful of travelling to places on holiday due to fears of contracting the virus.

Katy De Freitas, who travelled to Ibiza with her boyfriend over the weekend, said: ‘We were quite worried because a lot of our close friends or colleagues at work, they thought it was too risky to travel abroad and they didn’t think it was a good idea to make a rash decision and go away any time soon.

‘We did have initial worries and we wanted to make sure we read the Government rules correctly and that we didn’t do anything wrong.’ 

In Ibiza, the need to wear masks is being followed by British tourists, even though some do not agree with the decision. 

Lee Peacock, a 41-year-old gas engineer who travelled to Ibiza from Manchester, told PA: ‘I don’t agree with the masks. I don’t think they do anything but I’ll wear them to help get the economy going again.’ 

Other Britons have found social distancing to be difficult while travelling to and spending time in Ibiza.

Graham Milne, 55, from Newcastle said: ‘You’ve just got to have your wits about you and be as careful as you can. As for social distancing, I think sort of, on the plane, that goes out the window to be honest. 

‘You wear a mask when you are on the plane but you’ve just got to be careful and wash your hands as much as possible.’

Despite gaining a reputation amongst Brits for being a party island, Ibiza’s main nightclubs are still shut in order to maintain social distancing rules.