Self Catering Holidays in Spain

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I have added this page to my web site in the hope that it will help others to avoid disapointing holidays through no fault of their own. If any of the following rings a bell with you then let me know and I will add your story here.

For many years my wife has been going on holiday with 3 lady friends and even after we moved to a mountain village in Spain the habit continued. All four of them are closer to retirement than they like to admit but all they ask for is a pool to relax by and good restaurants close by for evening meals. They dont want the hassel of car hire so if they want a day out they use public transport or taxi's. This year they found what looked like the perfect apartment in Mojacar on a web site called Spain Holiday.com. property id number 1478.

As Mojacar is just a 3 hour drive from our home it was decided that my wifes 3 friends from the UK would fly to Almeria where we would pick them up and take them on to the apartment . Of course I would then have to leave them there and return home to work while they holiday and then face the same drive to pick them up . Who said its a mans life!!

A few weeks after making the booking my wife slipped over and broke both her leg and ankle which necessitated a stay in hospital for an opperation on the ankle to insert a plate that is held in place with 10 screws and she was told not to put any weight on it for 10 weeks. She spent most of her time in a wheel chair or on the sofa with her leg up but after talking to her friends it was agreed that this would not spoil her holiday and between them they would manage. Just to make sure I sent the following email to the owners of the property.

Original Message ----- From: KenSilverlock To: david.bury Sent: Thursday, July 23, 2009 8:01 PM Subject: RE: Enquiry from Spain-holiday.com on id:1478 - kennneth silverlock Hi David Can you tell me if your apartment is on the ground floor or is a lift available. The reason for asking is because my wife has fractured her leg and broken her ankle and will not be able to use it for about 10 weeks Regards Ken

Here is the reply that I received

Hi Ken, Sorry to hear of your wife's misfortune. The apartment is at ground floor level at the rear of the apartments but it looks out over three floors up at the front, there is no front entrance. Hope this makes sense. PS There are two steps at the front. Please call me if you wish to discuss this matter further as I may be able to provide further information. Regards, David & Allison

So, no problems you would think. The apartment, according to the advert has a large pool and it is only a 250 meter walk of 4 minutes to the beech and restaurants. When you look at the 1st photo on the advert it purports to show a short flight of steps down to the pool. Having been there I can assure you that this is not the case and that is a photo of a totally different apartment. The alarm bells started to ring when we turned right away from the sea front as per the directions received from the owners and then had to change into bottom gear to get up the very steep slope which continued up for about a quarter of a mile till we reached the apartment. By this time we knew that the wheelchair in the back of my car was going to be useless.

Having gained access to the apartment we went through to the balcony that overlooks the pool. The pool was there, the only problem was it was a straight drop of 3 floors with no stairs. One of the other ladies set off to find out how to get to the pool and it turned out that this was only possible by going out the front door, walking down the street and then going down a flight of 42 steps. The only other way was to walk right round the apartment block, down a very steep hill and then down some more steps. A long way on crutches, impossible to push a wheelchair back up that hill, but no problem in a car!

I will take serious issue with the owners description of 4 minutes and 250 mtrs to the beech. It might be that distance as the crow flys, but at least twice as far by road and I doubt very much if an olympic athlete could do it in 4 minutes and to get back up that hill would take a reasonably fit person the better part of 30 minutes. They used taxis each evening to get down to the bottom of the hill and the fare each way was 10 euros and we think that taxis are cheap here. They wondered why there was a notice in the apartment telling then to take their waste to the bin at the bottom of the hill each day till the taxi driver explained that the bin men could not get up the hill to these apartments!!

Why could the owners not say in their ad that this apartment was not suitable for the disabled and that a car was a good idea?

Here is the email that I sent to the owners on my wifes return together with their reply. You will no doubt notice that they fail to deal with most of the points raised. There were no children in the party and there idea of a shallow end is 1.5mtrs deep. Hardly child friendly

Subject: Re: Enquiry from Spain-holiday.com on id:1478 - kennneth silverlock Dear David My wife has now returned from her holiday in your apartment and too say she was disappointed would be an understatement. I told you in my email that she had broken her leg and ankle and asked about steps or lifts at the apartment. All you said was that there were just 2 steps into the apartment when in fact there are 3. You forgot to mention the 42 steps and 60 meter walk to get to the swimming pool or the fact that with a broken leg it would be impossible to get into such a high sided pool. No where can I find any mention of the fact that this pool is unsuitable for children or that there is no pool side seating available. The photo in your advert shows what appears to be a short flight of steps down to the pool when in fact from your apartment there is no access to the pool. My wife was told by her surgeon that swimming would be good for her leg but in fact it proved to be impossible. There is no mention of the fact that a car is essential to enjoy this apartment. You would need to be an olympic athlete or a bird to get to the beach in 4 minutes and to say that it is only 250 meters is a down right lie unless you are flying. You also forgot to mention that all though it is a fairly easy walk down to the beach for an able bodied person you would need to be a mountain goat to get back in 4 times the time. The fact that your guests are told by the notice in the apartment to carry their own waste down to the bottom of the hill because the bin men cant get up there tells its own story. To claim as you do that you can hear the waves gently lapping the sand from the terrace is another lie. The only time you could hear the waves would be if there was a raging storm and then you wouldn't hear them over the noise of the wind. I could go on, 45 minutes drive from Almeria airport etc, but I just haven't got the time. Your total lack of honesty has ruined my wifes holiday and if you are that desperate for a booking then I feel sorry for you. Heres hoping somebody in the future treats you in the same way Ken Silverlock

Dear Mr Silverlock We are sorry to hear that you did not enjoy your time in Mojacar, it is always our hope that people will enjoy their stay. To address some of your e-mail - The pool is also accessible via 4 steps or a ramp to the right hand side of the apartments - The booking was for 4 adults, we were unaware that you were taking children and there is a shallow end to the pool - Most of our guests use a car and see this as a trade off for the view We are lucky that we don't have difficulty in renting out our apartment, in fact a number of our guests book every year. Again we are truely sorry that you did not enjoy your stay in Mojacar. Kind regards David and Allison Bury

The moral of this story I think is, before booking a holiday home, make a list of all the things that are important to you and when you find what seems to be the ideal place then check it against your list. If anything is missing then ask the questions and if it is still a bit vague then perhaps it is not the place for you. You could also ask the renter if they are being tottaly honest with you.

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