WE booked to stay in the NH Krystal laguna and villas complex in Cayo coco in cuba. The holiday has been booked since november 22nd 2006, we are due to depart on the 23rd august 2007.
everything was fine untill june 21st when i was reading reviews online and became worried about building works. So i contacted first choice who told me they would contact the hotel and then get back to me. they returned my call and told me there was nothing to worry about. That there was some building works but they would be finished by the time we departed. so again i believed them and thought everything was fine.
untill reading more reviews on the 5th august, when it became obvious that half the complex was closed, including the lagoon villas that we had booked to stay in. as first choice were not open after 10 on a sunday i contacted the hotel direct, and they told me half the hotel was closed due to renovations and we had been moved to the opposite end of the complex and would i like a 1st, 2nd or 3rd floor room.
i was not happy that i had not been informed of this, so contacted first choice in the morning. I visited the holidya hypermarket where i booked my holioday andspoke to an assistant, shetold us that there was nothing on their system to say anything about the building works renovations orhalf the complex being closed. so i again contacted the hotel who confirmed again that we did not have the lagoon villa we had booked. The holiday is for my 21st birthday, and we wanted something different which the lagoon villas were.
many phone calls and visits to the store later,not to mention a call to NH head office who also confirmed therbuilding works and closures and another phone call to the hotel.First choice refused to phone the hotel direct and insisted that there was nothing going on ans that we would have to come back to the store 56 hours later when they had chance to speak to the reps in cuba.
on return we were told nothing was happening and hotel was fine.
more calls later, it was finally accepted that yes! half of the resort was closed due to renovations.
so we have asked to be moved hotel, first choice first told us we would have to pay a £50 administration fee each and pay any difference for an upgrade hotel.
However had something been done on the 21st june when the first phone clal had been made the admin fees would have been £20 per person.
we were not happy about this at all.this was all first choice were offering as apparantly the renovations would not affect out holiday.
so we continued with the phone calls to find out why this had happened as Nh head office said first choice had been notified in may.
There are only 6 hotels in cayo coco, ours a 4* and there is a 3* but it costs more and another 4* £40 more but also has major renovations, which first choice have published. There is also 2 other 5* hotels.
had we been given the chance on june 21st we would hae been able to amend out holiday for £20 each and gather together more money for the upgrade. As it stands 12 days before we fly we have no more money to add.
As at the time of the booking we booked out holiday from the old tropical brochure a new one waqs now out, noth bokos covered the same dates. the new brochure did not state that in times of low occupancy some bars and resutrants would be shut however the old one did. We were not complining about bars being closed but renovations and being moved rooms from one which we had based out entire holiday on. first choice told us that this statement in the old book covered them.
we decided to visit trading standards who told us that first choice were in breach off the package holiday regulations and abta code of practice, so we sent a letter to first choice head office and antoher to the store,
yesterday we were rang and told that we couild upgreade out holiday for free, eg no admin charges. but they would not pay anything towards an upgrade.
first choice are still advertising the same holiday with no renovations or nothing going on at the complex and are syaing that the lagoon villas are available.
After booking my holuday in good faitl and spending over £2000 on it, why was i not informed.first choice will not put any of what they say in writing.
not sure what to do next! please help!!!!! sorry its long!
