Tourists are being duped into booking dumps by misleadingly glam images on holiday websites.
Watchdog Which? found one supposedly picture-postcard cottage boasting a “VIP” hot-tub in its garden was “more akin to a prison yard”.
And one inviting pool area with swaying palm trees turned out to be a building site with a swaying crane.
Businessman Robert Thompson, 45, got £500 in compensation from Tui after he got to Hotel Castello di Rodi, Rhodes, and found cracked pool tiles, rusty sun loungers and ripped armchairs.
Travel firms caught "misleading customers" with photos that don't match reality
The 45-year-old, from Norwich, Norfolk, said: “The whole place was tatty, tired and dingy.”
One couple booked the cottage with the hot-tub on the Isle of Wight after seeing an image of a happy couple sipping bubbly in it with a neat white fence as a backdrop.
But the reality was “a mound of gravel surrounded by overgrown weeds, tree roots and cigarette butts”.
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Which? travel editor Rory Boland said: “Hotels and booking sites should not be misleading holidaymakers with promises they can’t keep. If your hotel is a far cry from what you expected you have rights to be moved or to a refund.”
Tui said it took “all feedback seriously” and is “reviewing the content”.
Holiday booking website Hoseasons said it is “reviewing pictures to ensure they give a clear overview”.
