Raw Deal: Christmas cheer after hotel room mix-up

IN this season of good will to all men it is nice to be able to tell a story with a happy ending – and that involves nice people doing a good job.

Gordon Latto, of Glenrothes, took himself off for a holiday to Benalmadena, southern Spain, for a seven-day break in early September. He was to stay at the Las Arenas Hotel.

He had booked a double room, but when he arrived he discovered he had only been allocated a single room.

The room itself was a bit odd. There was a bathroom, but the layout was such that there was a quite bizarre lack of space.

Gordon pointed out to staff that he had paid for a double room, but the single was all that was available that night.

To make matters worse, the room faced the front of the hotel and the double-glazing proved largely ineffective in its attempts to block out traffic noise.

The Las Arenas is close to the beach, but the main coast road (the N-340) also runs along the shore.

It’s the main artery serving the towns of Torremolinos to the north and Torrequebrada to the south of Benalmadena.

Gordon was moved to a lovely double room the next day, but his lack of sleep, re-packing and flitting between rooms had cast a shadow over his first 24 hours.

No compensation was offered. Gordon isn’t the sort of chap who will be fobbed off easily, so when he returned to Scotland he complained to his travel agent David Urquhart Sky Travel. He had, he admitted, thoroughly enjoyed the holiday and, despite the first-night trouble, reckoned the hotel was a good ’un. But his request for compensation didn’t get him very far very quickly.

Gordon is a loyal Sunday Post reader so he had a word with Raw Deal. We contacted David Urquhart Sky Travel – and it leapt into action.

Commercial manager Emma Barr got on to the hotel asking for an explanation. Under ABTA guidelines, the hotel has 28 days in which to answer such a query (which explains the delay in getting useful information back to Gordon).

When the hotel hadn’t replied after 24 days, Emma and her assistant Claire got on to it again in a sterner tone.

Emma and sales team leader Claire McCormick pride themselves on the high standards of customer service their company gives and, after listening to the hotel’s side of the story (as the guidelines demand they must do), vowed to make matters right with Gordon.

Gordon takes up the story: “I have just received a letter containing a generous cheque, plus a holiday discount voucher.

“This is more than I had expected and it is greatly appreciated.

“I thank everyone for your efforts on my behalf and I will certainly use David Urquhart Sky Travel again in the future.

“They, and the Las Arenas Hotel, have restored my faith in tourism trade.”

Gordon also thanked Raw Deal for highlighting his complaint.

Finding a satisfied customer is good at any time of year, but we were pleased about getting a great result for Gordon just in time for Christmas and a chance to (for once) praise the swift actions of a firm we deal with.

So we bid a “well done” to the staff at David Urquhart Sky Travel – and to all our readers.

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