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A family has claimed their $11,000 dream trip to Jamaica turned into a nightmare after their teenage daughters were offered drugs at the hotel pool and found stained sheets and cockroaches in their room.
The mother, Michaela Travis, 38, also added there were drunk people twerking by the pool while blasting lewd rap songs during the two-week trip by TUI Holidays (formerly Thomson Vacations).
The family booked a 5-Star all inclusive vacation through TUI holidays to the Grand Bahia Principe hotel in Jamaica. What was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime became an outrage shortly after checking into the hotel. The family told The Sun upon checking into their rooms, they were completely disgusted by the conditions. The bed sheets were stained with what appeared to be old blood and there were dead cockroaches laying on the floor.
Michaela Travis had been looking forward to the vacation she had organized for her husband Ryan, her five daughters and elderly parents Leslie and Tim. Michaela explained that the property was filthy and not even close to a luxury 5 star resort that she was promised when booking. The family, from Grimsby, UK, complained to staff soon after they arrived on July 9.
"I booked the five-star platinum because I thought it was the best that you could get and it would be an absolute luxury. But obviously, it wasn’t."
It was the first time the entire family had been on a holiday since Michaela and Travis were married last November. “Since it was a bit of a special holiday we thought we’d go somewhere nice and a bit further away” said Michaela. “It’s the last time going on holiday with my older daughter as she’s nearly 18.”
Things continued to take a turn for the worse as their holiday began. Michaela said she was horrified when she and her three girls – Georgia, 17, and 14-year-old twins Sophie and Em – were offered drugs at the hotel pool.
"They would just say, 'Want some good stuff?' to me and the girls.If we were together, they’d say it to us but if they were alone, they’d say it to my daughters."
It didn't end there as people at the pool were twerking to very loud obscene rap music in front of the family. To top everything off, the hotel sounded like an active construction site as the sound of jackhammers filled the atmosphere.
"The complex was like a noisy building site"
One of Michaela's main reasons for booking the Grand Bahia Principe hotel in Jamaica was the children's area which actually eneded up being closed when they arrived.
It left her youngest kids Isabella, two, and Madison, nine months, devastated.
"The little children’s area was one of the reasons that we booked it. It had a little water park which I thought was ideal but when we got there, there was caution tape all over it, it looked like a crime scene. They did fix it after the first week but only after I complained, and it only took them a couple of hours."
Michaela noticed once they were at the resort, that the online star rating for the hotel had changed to a 4-star.
"They’ve now changed the star rating but they didn’t let us know ahead of time. Obviously we thought we were going to a five-star hotel but actually it was a four-star hotel which was more like a three-star hotel anyway."
A TUI spokesperson said they are “very sorry to hear of the Travis party's experience in jamaica.”
"We would like to thank the customers for bringing their concerns to our attention and we will certainly be looking into this with our team in resort. Unfortunately, we were not made aware of the building work soon enough to notify customers before they travelled. However, we understand this must have been a disappointing experience and we are in touch with the customer to apologise and offer a gesture of goodwill."
There was no word on what compensation was offered to the family at this time and The Sun is still waiting to hear back on a comment from the Grand Bahia Principe Resort.
A version of this story originally appeared on The Sun
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