Being served mouldy coissants was one of the complaints of the British family.
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A British family’s luxury holiday experience was scuppered by their “mouldy and dirty” hotel room at a prestigious four-star resort, with the couple claiming tens of thousands in damages from the French chain, receiving around £4000 – 150% less than their claim – after a court ruling.
Damen Bennion, 52, who is a lawyer, and his wife Jane, 49, an accountant, set out to have a “gourmet” experience at a top four-star hotel resort in France, Club Med Hotel, as part of their expensive all inclusive week holiday.
Mouldy rooms and uneatable food at France Club Med Hotel
The British family were shocked to see, upon arrival, the “mouldy, smelly and dirty” condition of their room however, which, in addition to “uneatable” food at the hotel’s restaurant, meant the couple and their two sons “went home miserable.”
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The couple paid nearly £7000 for the holiday in Provence, in the south of France, back in July 2023, and their “awful” experience urged them to make a furious claim in court, making headlines recently. They have now been duly compensated, with the couple giving their perspectives on the torrid time they had.
After their awful dinner on the first night of their stay at Club Med, and the “stale breakfast pastries” they sampled the next day, the couple forced their children to eat out instead of coming back to the hotel for the rest of the week, to avoid more disappointment.
Speaking to Central London County Court, Bennion said: “We told our children on the first night that daddy would get things sorted, but it wasn’t sorted. At the end of the week, we as a family went home feeling miserable.”
Judge ruled nearly £4000 to be compensated to family by Club Med Hotel
After a long and arduous legal ordeal for the family, judge Justin Althaus ruled that it was the couples choice to opt not to eat their meals at the hotel, and that it was not necessarily fair to base their entire holiday expectations on a single meal.
He did, however, agree that the state of the rooms were not fit for any family, and ensured Club Med Hotel would compensate the couple for £3945 in damages.
The judge did also “accept that the breakfast pastries were unimpressive for the south of France.”
Upon receiving photographic evidence of the sorry state of the rooms the family stayed in during their ‘luxury’ holiday, he deemed them “dirty and showed signs of considerable wear.”
Club Med also put up photos for the judge to assess, but he thought that, while these pictures showed the rooms in a far superior condition, they were outdated, so could not be used as viable evidence for the case.
Club Med spokesperson gave statement
A spokesperson from the hotel resort gave a statement yesterday, January 23, amid the drama. “We recognise the recent court ruling in the case concerning a guest complaint about one of our resorts. While we always strive to provide the best possible experience for our guests, we do accept that on this occasion, there were issues that affected the guests’ enjoyment of their stay. That is why we offered a 20% reduction to them.”
The spokesperson continued: “It is worth noting that while the judge did identify some areas with issues, the awarded damages were substantially lower than the initial claim by around 150%, and much more in line with the initial offer Club Med made of 20% compensation.”
The hotel representative concluded: “We remain committed to delivering high quality holiday experiences and continuously strive to improve our resort standards.”
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