We booked an all-inclusive £1.5k dream holiday at Turkish hotel – only to be told to ‘go away’ by a security guard when we got there

A group of friends who booked an all-inclusive dream holiday for £1500 arrived at their Turkey hotel only to be told to ‘go away’, they claim. 

Aaron Hatton, 20 and Danielle Halsall, 20, from St Helens, Merseyside, joined another friend for their dream break on October 6 after booking an all-inclusive seven-day package holiday with loveholidays.

After flying out from Manchester Airport, the trio arrived in Turkey and were taken by transfer to their hotel at around 1am.

But the group were confused when they arrived at the resort to see the gates completely closed and locked, with hotel guests on their balconies in the distance. 

Mr Hatton revealed that after they managed to speak to somebody who was standing on a balcony, they were approached by a member of security.

He said: ‘We just wanted to go somewhere hot for a nice little holiday and booked something with loveholidays. We got to the airport [in Turkey] and everything was fine, and we booked a private transfer and went to the checkpoint where they picked us up.

Aaron Hatton, 20 and Danielle Halsall booked an all-inclusive dream holiday for £1500 only to arrive at their Turkey hotel to be told to ‘go away’, they claim

The pair, from St Helens, Merseyside, joined another friend for their dream break on October 6 after booking an all-inclusive seven-day package holiday with loveholidays

‘We were dropped off at about 1am at this hotel we had booked and it was locked at the gates. We went round to the other side and we could see people on the balconies so we asked them how to get in – they said to go around to the front.

‘There was a security guard looking at us and we were trying to get through but they kept saying go away, find somewhere else and that the hotel wasn’t open to the public. 

‘We showed them our phone with the booking and the name of the hotel but they kept shaking their head, he told The Echo.

Aaron and his friends then had no choice but to stay at the hotel’s sister site, but after settling in the friends were later told they could not have alcohol as part of their all inclusive service, which they argue was stated when they initially booked their package holiday.

He said: ‘After 11.30pm we were told we could only get a drink from the water machine and that it wasn’t safe to leave the hotel at night. They told us to go and lock ourselves in our room.

READ MORE: Family’s £3,000 ‘dream’ holiday to Turkey turned into a ‘total nightmare’ after arriving to find the resort ‘in a state of disrepair’ with closed facilities and the beach deserted 

‘We also paid extra for a bigger room with a sea view [at the initial hotel] which was worth £84 a night and after looking up the new hotel that was £18 per night, so we were downgraded. 

‘The room [in the new hotel] had one double bed and one single bed which was very cramped. ‘

The friends didn’t manage to get in touch with loveholidays until October 8, when they decided they had had enough and wanted to go home. 

Their families were forced to pay £570 for the friends to fly home after just 48 hours abroad.

Aaron said: ‘It was so stressful and traumatic. We were left in a country we didn’t know in the middle of the night with nowhere to go.

‘We registered a complaint on October 13 and it just said it was processing, we have tried to call loveholidays but they said the phone line was for people who were still on holiday.

‘It seems like loveholidays are just not bothered.’

A spokesperson for loveholidays said: ‘We’re very sorry Mr Hatton’s holiday did not live up to our usual high standards. We’re investigating the relocation error with our accommodation supplier to ensure it does not happen again and are doing all we can to support Mr Hatton’s claim.

‘While we’re still within the usual timeframe to investigate this complaint, we’ve already been in touch with Mr Hatton to apologise and reimburse his accommodation costs, alongside offering a £100 voucher from loveholidays.’

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