The first holiday since 2019 did not quite live up to expectations for Christine Kristoffersen and her family. Together with her husband and her two children aged 18 and 20, she arrived on Monday evening at Nino’s Grand Beach Hotel & Resort in Kanali in northwest Greece. In Apollo’s catalogue, the hotel was marketed as a newly renovated, lucrative four-star hotel with a short distance to the beach and facilities such as a tennis court, table tennis, fitness room and several à la carte restaurants. However, the reality was different. “Choosing to laugh rather than cry. If you have booked a trip here this summer – do yourself a favor and cancel”. Kristoffersen writes that on his own Facebook profile. Feeling cheated – Everyone is disappointed and upset, she says to news. This is what the pool at the hotel looked like when the family woke up this morning. Both the toilet and the floor were dirty in the bathroom when the family came to their room on Monday evening. Several places in the hotel look more like construction sites. The beach in front of the hotel. The playground at the hotel is not available for use. Several of the restaurants in the hotel cannot be used yet either. Kristoffersen has written a point-by-point list of promises from Apollo, which she believes have not been fulfilled. Among other things, she mentions that the two à la carte restaurants, where the family has one meal included in the price, do not exist. She also writes that the fitness room is not available for use, the tennis court and table tennis table are missing, there are no sunbeds on the beach in front of the hotel, the toilet in the room was dirty, as well as construction dust and the smell of paint throughout the room. – It is sad for us as a family. We have bought the trip based on the catalog of Apollo, then we come down here, then the reality is not as described, says Kristoffersen. She claims to have spoken to several Apollo guides in the area, who say the hotel will be completed soon. But according to Apollo’s advertisement, the hotel should already be ready for use. Kristoffersen believes Apollo must have been aware of this when they ordered, and calls it trickery on the part of the travel company. Read Apollo’s answer further down in the matter. Cashed out The family of four has paid close to NOK 80,000 for two weeks at the hotel. Now they are standing in the middle of a building site, and dare not change hotels until they have been promised their money back. – We have been to many great Ving hotels before. We have always chosen four-star hotels with the children in mind, and have never been disappointed before. We haven’t traveled since 2019, so now we’re “splashing” with sea views and stuff, but this is probably the punishment for wasting money, says Kristoffersen in conclusion. Apollo apologizes – takes full responsibility – We have opened many new hotels over the years – and with new construction projects it unfortunately happens that not everything is 100 per cent completed on time, says communications manager Beatriz Rivera. She explains that they have been in regular dialogue with the hotel, which promised that everything would be ready. – Unfortunately, not all given deadlines were met, and ultimately it is of course our responsibility as organisers, says the communications manager. Rivera further states that they were told by the hotel that the themed restaurants, cafes and fitness room would not open in time. The communications manager explains that they sent an SMS to affected customers and informed them of this – but this SMS never reached the customers. – We are now trying to find the cause of it and it is probably rooted in a technical error. Whatever the reason, it’s obviously not good enough, and we just have to apologize, she explains. According to Apollo, there was a lapse in communication between the receptionists and the cleaning staff, which meant that not everyone got rooms that were finished and cleaned. The communications manager says that a lot has now happened in a day, and that several facilities have opened today and that more will open in the course of tomorrow. – When it comes to compensation, it is clear that this will be given. We take full responsibility for the fact that the hotel was not ready on time, and of course our guests must be compensated for this, concludes the communications manager at Apollo.
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– Everyone is disappointed and sad – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
