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Holidaymaker Freda Jackson, 81, claimed she cried at the end of her two-week getaway to Spain in May 2018 due to her hotel being full of Spanish people. The British OAP, who suffers with some mobility issues, says her hotel was filled with "rude" locals that ruined her break away. <\/p>\n
Freda said: "The hotel was full of Spanish holidaymakers and they really got on our nerves because they were just so rude. One evening a Spanish guy nearly knocked me flying and he just walked off without even apologising. The entertainment in the hotel was all focused and catered for the Spanish \u2013 why can't the Spanish go somewhere else for their holidays?"<\/p>\n
Freda had booked to stay at the Poseidon Playa, on the outskirts of Benidorm in south east Spain, with a friend. The pensioner says travel operator Thomas Cook even recommended the hotel despite her request for flat ground access that she could manage with her mobility issues.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Britain's worst hotel chain revealed as guests slam 'awful' and 'filthy' rooms<\/b><\/p>\n
Read all the latest stories from the Daily Star's travel team<\/b> <\/p>\n
However, after travelling 1,500 miles from Manchester to Alicante, Freda and her 61-year-old travelling companion were shocked to find the hotel was located on a hilltop. The grandmother-of-six and her friend paid of \u00a31,133 for the holiday and went on to demand a full refund or a free trip.<\/p>\n
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Freda, who has previously visited Greece, Turkey, Portugal and Tenerife, claimed at the time that Thomas Cook "mis-sold" and "ruined" her dream holiday due to the hilltop hotel and its rude guests. The holiday firm initially offered Freda and her friend a \u00a375 holiday voucher as compensation.<\/p>\n
But after declining this initial 'goodwill gesture' made by the travel company, they made an improved offer of \u00a3566 to be split between Freda and her friend.<\/p>\n
A Thomas Cook spokesperson said at the time: "Due to a system error Ms Jackson was not informed of a change to her flights until six days before departure. We are very sorry for the inconvenience this caused and are investigating to make sure it doesn\u2019t happen again. We have offered Ms Jackson and her travel companion a gesture of goodwill to try and put things right which we hope she will accept."<\/p>\n
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But, it wasn\u2019t just Freda who noted that the hotel was geared towards the Spanish population. Mark Clewlow posted on TripAdvisor: "Holiday spoilt by too many Spanish playing cards and dominos during entertainment. "<\/p>\n
While Tina, who also stayed at the Poseidon Playa added: "Sorry to say worst holiday we have ever had, no complaints of staff or the hotel, just the very rude, ignorant, pushy Spanish that invaded the hotel.\u201d She complained that too much of the music and food was aimed at Spanish guests rather than Brits. <\/p>\n
The hotel responded: "We regret that our entertainment was not to your liking. It is usually very well rated by the most Customers (any nationality). Our daily entertainment includes activities like GAP, games, power dance, latin dance, laugh therapy, English petanque, etc. and our night entertainment includes shows, live music, contests, cabaret, etc."<\/p>\n
The hotel does however receive more good reviews than bad with 633 "excellent" postings on TripAdvisor versus just 65 "terrible" ones. One commenter said: "Lovely Hotel, great location, superb views, very clean, great breakfast, very friendly staff, 50metres from superb beach."<\/p>\n