Tui customer loses £1.2k holiday deposit after reading ‘terrible’ reviews for £6k resort

A Tui customer has lost £1,200 after cancelling his holiday over concerns over an illness outbreak at the Blue Manar hotel in Tunisia.

Kieran Ockenden and his family were due to travel to the North African country for a week long get away but made the decision to change plans after alarming reviews.

In recent months the Blue Manar hotel has had its five star rating downgraded and a number of guests have shared complaints on social media.

Expressing his fears, Ockenden said: “Initially we had no concerns, but once the hotel reopened four weeks later, people were posting on the hotel pinboard on the Tui Blue app that they had severe sickness and diarrhoea.

“Again, we weren’t concerned as it can happen, but as the months went on, more and more people were claiming to be ill.”

The British family had splashed out as much as £6,636 for the trip before cancelling it.

Ockenden was told by Tui that under the terms and conditions on which he booked his trip, a cancellation fee applies for not going through with the holiday.

Tui adds that there have been no formal reports of anyone falling ill at the Tui Blue Manar since August 4.

Ockenden said that he felt unable to take the risk of going ahead with his holiday, which is booked for October, because of his wife’s own condition.

“My wife has a form of Crohn’s”, he explained.

“Getting ill like that will result in hospitalisation and it ruined our excitement so we decided to cancel.”

A Tui spokesperson said: “We are sorry to hear that Mr Ockenden and his family have chosen not to travel on their holiday as planned.

“We would like to reassure customers that we take reports of illness very seriously.

“We can confirm that there have been no reports of customer sickness at the TUI Blue Manar since August 4, 2024.

“As Mr Ockenden and his family were not due to travel until October, our normal terms and conditions and therefore cancellation fees were applied.”

Tui’s cancellation policy states that anyone who is forced to cancel their holiday within 14 days of travel due to a serious underlying health condition can change to another hotel in the same destination on the same dates and flights without any fees.