A family has told of how they ended their Pontin’s holiday early after being met with “disgusting” facilities and unhelpful staff.
Clare Abbott and her family, claim they were horrified upon visiting the holiday park in Camber Sands, East Sussex, and finding pubic hairs around their bathroom sink.
“It was just really disgusting and dirty,” she said.
The mum-of-four, from Horley, Surrey, said showering in privacy was made impossible as the bathroom door failed to shut, due to it being “too big for the actual frame”.
Speaking to SurreyLive, Clare also described how the toilet went into the kitchen, so that anyone in the kitchen could see whoever was doing their business in the bathroom.
"I went to reception and told them the toilet door doesn't shut, they said they'd send someone up from maintenance and they never did. So we didn't get to shower at all,” she said.
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After their first night, Clare's fiancé claimed his back was hurting from laying on the sofa bed, and that they were shocked to discover a sharp nail sticking through the bed.
The family laid a complaint with maintenance both on Saturday and Sunday and were told they would send someone up, but no one came.
"Eventually the maintenance men came up and told us they had no sofa beds, so one of them literally hammered the nail down and just put gaffer tape over it,” Clare said.
The mum also said her stepdaughter's mattress had springs coming through it on both sides, and that the family were forced to go out and buy a duvet to put across it.
She added: "We had to do this because when a woman from maintenance came up to our room she just looked at the mattress and told us it wasn't her job and that she doesn't deal with mattresses.
"Every member of staff, even the manager, basically replied with 'it's not my job'."
A few days after persistently asking for a room change, Clare claimed the manager at the Pontins facility eventually agreed to the room swap, only for the family to find the mattresses to be just the same.
Her frustrations continued once she and her family went to the restaurant, as she claimed she found there was none left of many items of food.
She said: "We were told that they also ran out of trays, so after waiting for 45 minutes we eventually managed to get one after standing in the queue.
"Once we finally got to the front, I asked for some cutlery, and the waiter came back with knives and forks which must've come straight out of the dishwasher halfway as they had mashed potato and gravy on them.
"So I had to take the cutlery to the bathroom toilets and wash them under the tap. It was the same thing every day.”
Upon asking a waiter what was going on, Clare was told that the accommodation lost so much money due to Covid-19 that they had to cut several staff.
Despite having paid £1,049 for a half-board holiday with food included, Clare and her family felt forced to spend even more money by eating out as a getaway from the stress.
"Everyone was constantly moaning, shouting, and being aggressive, and the staff got so much grief. I couldn't deal with the stress anymore, so we spent even more money going out and eating just to feel relaxed,” she said.
The last straw that saw Clare take her family back home early was when her son became really poorly the day before they were supposed to check out.
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Clare said: "Once we got home and tested him, he was positive for Covid-19. It's not surprising because there were so many people, we were all crammed in, and they had completely empty hand sanitiser bottles around the place.
"Having dirty cutlery that's been taken out of a dishwasher that was half finished – no wonder my son was poorly."
Almost three weeks on she says she is still waiting for a response to her complaint and refund request.
She said: "We just wished we never went on the holiday – it's just ruined us really. I think we need a holiday to get over it."
The Mirror has approached Pontins for comment.
