On the Beach Holidays Reviews

Me and my friend booked a holiday to Turkey through On the Beach, staying at what was advertised as a 4-star hotel. When we arrived and walked around while waiting for our room, we quickly noticed how filthy, unsafe, and hazardous the entire hotel was. These issues were not reflected in the photos shown on the On the Beach website - in fact, several problematic areas appeared to be completely left out. Once we got to our room, it was clear that, although it had modern furniture, it was far from clean. The shower had visible black mould, surfaces were dirty, and the overall condition was extremely poor. It was completely unsuitable, especially for anyone with health concerns - both of us have asthma and heart conditions. We immediately tried to contact On the Beach. We called the number provided, only to hear an automated message saying the lines were closed and would reopen at 9pm. I then tried to contact them via the online messaging service. Each time I waited in the queue, my internet connection would drop, cutting me off before I could speak to a human. It was incredibly stressful. Overwhelmed, worried about our health and safety, and with no proper support from On the Beach, we made the decision to leave and book alternative accommodation ourselves. We complained directly to the hotel staff before we left, told them why we were leaving, and asked them to note our complaint. They assured us they would. Once I returned home, I submitted a formal complaint to On the Beach with clear evidence - photos of the room and hotel grounds, screenshots of my messaging attempts, phone call records, and receipts. Despite all this, it took 33 days for them to respond, and when they finally did, they refused a refund for the unused nights. They claimed we didn’t try to contact them and that we didn’t complain to the hotel - both of which are completely untrue. The hotel apparently told them we left without saying anything, which is an outright lie. What’s even more frustrating is that On the Beach have repeatedly used the fact that we couldn’t get through to them as a reason to deny us a refund. They also implied that because the hotel wasn’t expensive, we should have expected it to be in that condition - which is completely unacceptable. Budget doesn’t mean unsafe or unhygienic. I’ve stayed in plenty of affordable hotels that were basic but clean and well-maintained. After everything, they had the audacity to offer us just £75 which then went down to £57. That barely scratches the surface of what we spent to correct a situation that should never have happened in the first place. Whilst at the hotel which was until the next morning we did not see a single cleaner. Bin bags were left out from the moment we arrived until we left the next day. There were wires hanging down in toilets and corridors, broken tiles, used cotton buds, dirt, clumps of hair, dead flies - it was absolutely unacceptable. On the Beach has shown a complete lack of responsibility and support. I would strongly urge anyone considering booking through them to think twice.