- Title: Hotel locked my room demanding payment, says Thomas Cook customer
- Date: 24th September 2019
- Summary: SALOU, SPAIN (SEPTEMBER 24, 2019) (REUTERS) SALOU BEACH SIGN FOR LAS VEGAS HOTEL, WHERE THOMAS COOK HOLIDAYMAKERS ARE STAYING EXTERIOR OF LAS VEGAS HOTEL GUESTS ENTERING LAS VEGAS HOTEL GUESTS BY HOTEL SWIMMING POOL (SOUNDBITE) (English) THOMAS COOK GUEST AT LAS VEGAS HOTEL, JANE BELL, SAYING: "And we went out for dinner last night, and came back to the hotel and we couldn't get into our room. So we had to go downstairs to the lobby and the lady said, basically, give us 340 euro and you can get back into your room. So that's what we had to do. Needless to say, like that's nearly half our spending money. If I could get home now, I'd go." EXTERIOR OF HOTEL BEST CAP SALOU, ANOTHER HOTEL WITH THOMAS COOK GUESTS HOTEL SWIMMING POOL GUESTS BY THE POOL GUEST IN POOL (SOUNDBITE) (English) THOMAS COOK GUEST AT BEST CAP SALOU HOTEL, JULIE RILEY, SAYING: "No, that's been the good side, they really have looked after us. Because it's such a big problem isn't it they've got at the moment, so yeah it's been good, it has been good. No problems so far." EXTERIOR OF CALE FONT HOTEL, WHERE THOMAS COOK HOLIDAYMAKERS ARE STAYING VARIOUS OF GUESTS BY HOTEL SWIMMING POOL PEDALO BOAT IN THE SEA TOURISTS AT SALOU BEACH HOLIDAYMAKERS ON PEDALO BOAT IN THE SEA HOLIDAYMAKERS IN THE SEA VARIOUS OF HOLIDAYMAKERS ON THE BEACH VARIOUS OF HOLIDAYMAKERS IN RESTAURANTS AND CAFES HOLIDAYMAKERS STROLLING BY THE SEA HOLIDAYMAKERS WITH BAGS AND LUGGAGE VARIOUS OF HOLIDAYMAKERS STROLLING IN SALOU MALLORCA, SPAIN (SEPTEMBER 24, 2019) (REUTERS) TOURISTS LYING ON FLOATS IN SEA TOURISTS ON BEACH TOURISTS WALKING AWAY FROM BEACH TOURISTS SITTING BY WATER VARIOUS OF TOURISTS SITTING ON DECK CHAIRS TOURISTS BY SWIMMING POOL SIGN FOR THOMAS COOK HOTEL BEARING COMPANY LOGO HOTEL ENTRANCE WOMAN ENTERING ROOM AND CLOSING BALCONY DOOR VARIOUS OF TOURISTS LEAVING HOTEL TOURISTS WALKING PAST HOTEL THOMAS COOK REPRESENTATIVE TALKING TO PASSENGERS VARIOUS OF PASSENGERS QUEUING AT AIRPORT BOARD SHOWING DEPARTURES OF THOMAS COOK FLIGHTS VARIOUS OF PASSENGER, STEPHEN SILVA FROM CARDIFF, CHECKING AT CHECK IN COUNTER AIRLINE REPRESENTATIVE ATTACHING TAG TO SILVA'S LUGGAGE (SOUNDBITE) (English) PASSENGER, STEPHEN SILVA FROM CARDIFF, SAYING: "They were trying to make people sign for stuff like to pay for the extra nights but no-one in the hotel was signing so yeah, we didn't sign nothing, so..." AIRLINE REPRESENTATIVE LOOKING AT PASSPORT VARIOUS OF PASSENGERS QUEUING AT AIRPORT PASSENGERS TALKING TO BRITISH GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL
- Embargoed: 8th October 2019 15:18
- Keywords: Mallorca Thomas Cook planes Mallorca airport cancellations delays passengers Mallorca hotels collapse travellers
- Location: SALOU AND MALLORCA, SPAIN
- City: SALOU AND MALLORCA, SPAIN
- Country: Spain
- Topics: Company News Markets,Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA001AY0OYFB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Following the collapse of British travel operator Thomas Cook, holidaymakers in Spain said on Tuesday (September 24), that their rooms had been locked and they were asked to make payments to the hotels they were staying in.
Jane Bell, a Thomas Cook guest staying at Las Vegas hotel in the holiday resort town of Salou in Catalonia, told Reuters that she was refused entry into her hotel room after coming back from dinner until she had paid 340 euros directly to the hotel, which was "half our spending money."
Stephen Silva, a holidaymaker from Cardiff, reported a similar experience in Mallorca, saying his hotel tried to make people "sign for stuff like to pay for the extra nights," but that he and the other guests had refused to do so.
In Spain's Balearic Islands, one of the main operating centre's of the defunct tour operator, the hotel business association is still calculating the losses where Thomas Cook guests represent 15% of British tourists on the islands, Spanish daily El Pais reported.
The hotel association in the Balearic Islands said the economic consequences for the region were huge, but the hotel owner refused to publicly express their concern although privately they said they were worried about who would pay for the losses.
The collapse of British travel firm Thomas Cook has affected 53,000 Britons in Spain, Spanish Acting Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto told reporters on Tuesday (September 24).
The company ran hotels, resorts and airlines ferrying 19 million people a year to 16 different countries.
Its liquidation marks the end of one of Britain's oldest companies that began in 1841 running local rail excursions before it survived two world wars and became a pioneer of package holidays and mass tourism.
(Production: Jordi Rudio, May Ponzo, Marco Trujillo, Catherine Macdonald, Jeevan Ravindran) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
