Family leave Pontins holiday early because of ‘mould, dead flies and exposed wires’ in their rooms – Wales Online

A family which planned a "nice weekend away" at a holiday camp left after one night because of the "filthy" state of their accommodation.

Teresa Barbato, 21, from Port Talbot went to Brean Sands in Somerset on Friday, February 28, for a three-night stay along with her partner, mother, grandmother and grandmother's partner. They had paid 130 for two apartments.

Teresa received an email from Pontins shortly before the break to offer the family a free upgrade to a higher standard of apartment, called a Club Apartment, which they accepted.

When they arrived, they found that one of the rooms had children's bunk beds in and they claim there was mould in the bedrooms, faulty electronics, and what they thought was faeces on a pull-out sofa bed.

"As soon as we opened the door we found problems. We couldn't believe they expected elderly, disabled people to sleep on bunk beds," said Teresa.

"Also, my mother and I have fibromyalgia and my partner is 6ft 3ins tall so it wasn't appropriate for any of us.

"They ask the age and other details for people before they stay to 'allow the allocation of appropriate accommodation,' which this wasn't."

Teresa's grandmother, Mary John, 68, and her grandmother's partner, Douglas Hookins, 73, both have disabilities.

"We thought a weekend away would be nice and let everyone forget about their problems for a bit.

"After seeing the state of the rooms, we said we'd make the best of a bad situation and just use the rooms as base but by the Saturday morning we'd had enough, we packed up and went home," added Teresa.

On Saturday, Teresa, who has asthma, says she woke up with a tight chest.

"I got out of bed on Saturday and stood right in a puddle of water, there was mould on the walls which must be what set off my asthma," she said.

Her mother, Rebecca Barbato, was staying in the one bedroom chalet opposite and had problems of her own.

"There was a pool of water in the shower that must have been there for days because it had dead flies and spiders in it and there were black stains in the toilet," said Teresa.

"There were also exposed wires in the bathroom and my partner said 'imagine if a child touched those'.

"My mother pulled out the sofa bed and there was what looked like faeces on it."

Shortly after arriving on Friday, Teresa had been to the reception at Brean Sands and said the manager offered her a downgrade to standard apartments, but was told she would have to pay for electricity in the rooms if they decided to move.

She added that a cleaner was sent to their rooms as well but "all they did was let the water out of the shower basin and flush the toilet".

The family decided against the offered downgrade and made the two-hour drive back to Port Talbot on Saturday morning.

Teresa added that she made a complaint on the Pontins Facebook page, but the post had since been deleted and her profile has been blocked.

She said that the family had often gone to Brean Sands for holidays in her childhood but that they had "no intention of going there again".

Pontins has been approached for comment.

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Family leave Pontins holiday early because of 'mould, dead flies and exposed wires' in their rooms - Wales Online