Pools empty, air conditioning broken, the room a disaster. A family shelled out more than 4,000 euros for their dream vacation, which turned into a horror trip.
Cairo – Azure waters, miles of beaches and ancient culture. Egypt is one of the most popular travel destinations in the world, with many luxury resorts promising an unforgettable vacation. It's particularly bitter when the expected dream vacation ends in failure.
“Now we’re suing”: 5-star vacation in Egypt turns into a debacle for the family
A family from Lower Austria has now experienced this; they are making numerous complaints against a 5-star hotel and are even taking legal action. “Now we’re suing,” says father Robert (name changed) at
meine.at
.
He hardly leaves anything good about the resort; according to his descriptions, there was almost nothing there like you would imagine in a luxury resort. “The facility was supposed to have seven pools with different activities, but only two were filled. There was no German-speaking childcare either. And the entire facility was inadequate.” One of his children is said to have even cut his foot on a broken pool tile.
But the “nightmare trip” doesn’t stop there. “The room was also a disaster,” complains Robert, “the air conditioning was broken and leaked heavily. And we had problems with the room card and had to wait in front of the room for several hours until a hotel employee could open the door for us." At least the food doesn't seem to have been a problem; an influencer in Egypt had different experiences.
Family pays 4,370 euros for a “nightmare trip”: the hotel gives them a fruit basket
The family had shelled out 4,370 euros for ten days in the hotel. She doesn't want to leave it like that and complained on site. In Egypt, the tour operator donated a fruit basket and a wristband to another hotel as compensation. Back home, Robert immediately complained in writing and the organizer offered a “succinct amount of money”. Not enough, from the perspective of the Austrians who hired a lawyer.
Complain about defects during the trip: This is how much money vacationers can get back
What are the chances of receiving compensation now? And how much can they expect? At first glance, the family seems to have done everything right. The ADAC recommends the following for complaints:
Report any defects to the tour guide on site.
Preserve evidence.
Claim a price reduction from the organizer after the trip.
How high the repayment will be depends on the individual case. Guideline values according to ADAC:
Lack in the hotel |
Price reduction |
Dirt in the hotel or hotel room |
3 to 60% of the travel price per affected holiday day |
Missing balcony/terrace/view |
5 to 75% of the travel price |
Bugs in the hotel |
5 to 100% of the travel price |
Swimming pool is missing or dirty |
Up to 25% of the travel price |
Missing and limited sports facilities/ entertainment/ disco |
Up to 15% of the travel price |
construction noise |
Up to 60% of the travel price |
According to meine.at, the family's lawyer believes there is a good chance of a noticeable repayment. And they are probably right. For example, a German family got their money back because all the loungers at the pool were reserved. The father of the family can definitely say one thing: “This is not how we imagined our vacation would be.”
(moe)