A couple’s dream trip to Jamaica turned into hell when their hotel became a construction site – with workmen drilling around the resort 12 hours a day.
Phil and Linda Coupe, from Norton, Stoke-on-Trent, were woken at 6.30am by ‘deafening’ drilling on their £2,200 two-week trip to the Caribbean island.
The noise – which was part of scheduled maintenance work they weren’t made aware of – affected every part of the ClubHotel Riu Ocho Rios hotel where they were staying.
And to prove their point to Thomson, who they had booked the holiday through, the Coupes made a video from their time staying on the Caribbean island.
Phil and Linda Coup’s dream trip to Jamaica turned into hell when their hotel became a construction site
This the view the Coupe’s had to get used to as drilling went on every day for the second week of their holiday to Jamaica
After a peaceful first week, their dream holiday came crashing down as they were woken by the incessant noise at the crack of dawn
It was so bad it left ringing in their ears – and the couple came back exhausted instead of revitalised.
Linda, 55, said: ‘We were so overworked and we were looking forward to a relaxing break where we could chill out.
‘We were just desperate for a holiday.’
The couple booked the vacation for April, as soon as they both secured time off work, but it was far from the rest they needed.
Mum-of-two Linda said: ‘We booked it five weeks in advance, as soon as we both had the time off work approved.
‘We work in the same dementia care home so it’s not always easy for us to get time off.’
The noise from the building work was so bad the couple claim they came back with ‘ringing in their ears’
Phil, 58, and Linda’s room was above the maintenance work which was being carried out on the pool
But after a peaceful first week, their dream holiday came crashing down as they were woken by the incessant noise at the crack of dawn.
Linda said: ‘The first week was fine, and then on the following Tuesday morning we were woken at 6.30am by this drilling.
‘I complained to reception and it stopped, but then it started up again at 8am.
‘Then that was it every day, 8am to 8pm there was this deafening drilling.
‘Even at night after it’d stopped they’d be ringing in your ears, it drove me up the wall.
‘You couldn’t escape it. We could still hear it when we got back home.’
This was what tempted the Coupes to book the holiday – but they claim they were not told that building work would be carried out during their stay
What should have been a peacful two-week break for the Coupes at the ClubHotel Riu Ocho Rios hotel turned into something they’d rather forget
Phil added: ‘For me the best part of my holiday is sitting on the balcony at night, reading a book and having a beer.
‘I couldn’t even do that because of the noise. Thinking about it, it’s far quieter where we live so I would have been better staying at home with a couple of drinks.
‘This was our main holiday and it was ruined. Because it was an all-inclusive resort there was nothing else near us.
‘We were trapped with that noise.’
Phil, 58, and Linda’s room was above the maintenance work which was being carried out on the pool.
The restaurants in the resort were also to the side of the drilling, and even on the other side of the hotel the noise could still be heard.
Senior care assistant Linda said: ‘Quite loud doesn’t even come into it. You couldn’t hear yourself think.
‘The only place you could get away from it was at the deluxe pool on the other side, but even there you could hear it.
‘By 6am you couldn’t get a sunbed on that side either.’
Thomson Holidays refunded the couple £1,100 – half the cost of the holiday – but for Linda, it’s not enough
Linda claims she wasn’t made aware of the maintenance work when they booked their holiday, which they went on at the end of April this year.
She said: ‘The rep on the resort said there was nothing they could do.
‘At one point guests were queuing to speak to her. We were all going mad. We were so frustrated and worn out from all the noise.’
Thomson Holidays refunded the exhausted couple £1,100 – half the cost of the holiday – but for Linda, it’s not enough.
She added: ‘It doesn’t make up for it. It’s two weeks of holiday I can’t get back.
‘We might not be able to get another holiday this year. We won’t be going back there, and we wouldn’t have booked it if we knew about the work on the pool.’
A Thomson spokesman said: ‘We’re sorry to hear of the inconvenience caused as a result of emergency maintenance works on the pool at the RIU Ochos Rios and the impact this had on the second week of the Coupes’ holiday.
‘While our reps were on hand in resort during this time to assist any customers and make any alternative arrangements for them, we have been in direct contact with the customers since their return to offer our apologies and the matter has now been successfully resolved.
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