A couple cut short their three-week, five-star beach resort holiday that cost them £2,700 because they could not stand the stench of sewage in their room and having to walk nearly an hour in blistering heat to escape the pool bar’s loud techno music.
Clive Murray, 65, and his wife Rosie, 52, from Macclesfield, Cheshire, booked the all-inclusive Hotel Riu Touareg on the island of Boa Vista in Cape Verde in April through Tui.
It was supposed to be a “relaxing holiday” while the couple were in the process of moving house but instead they said it felt more like being in Benidorm or Kavos and were shocked by the condition of their double room – which they said smelled of sewage.
Clive, who served in the British Army as an airborne engineer for 26 years, said he had to fix the bathroom’s shower head with a rubber band and kept having to refit the toilet’s flush – as it fell off the wall when he pressed it. After two weeks trekking nearly an hour to escape “the noise” of techno music from the hotel’s pool bar, the couple threw in the towel and booked an Airbnb in Sal Rei, despite having paid for five more nights.
All in, Clive and Rosie said they spent more than £3,000 on the holiday and, despite complaining to Tui representatives at the hotel, have not been contacted by the company for a refund or compensation.
Clive, who is now busy renovating their new home in Cumbria, said he will never book with the company again.
“We wanted a relaxing three weeks away because, with the house move and everything, the whole year has been really stressful,” he told PA. “We just wanted to relax… if only. Almost every day, we would walk 50 minutes up the beach so we could get away.
“So we’d make our sandwiches in the morning at breakfast – remember this is an all inclusive – and go sit on the beach as far away from the hotel as possible, so we didn’t have to listen to this constant noise. And you could still hear it.
“I know some people will call me an old grouch, but there was a lot of older people there and yet the hotel had adopted a Benidorm or Kavos model with really loud techno music.”
It was not all bad, according to the couple, who said the food was excellent and the hotel staff were always very polite and friendly.
The retired couple booked a holiday in early April after selling their house in Cheshire and moving into an Airbnb while waiting to exchange on their new property.
“There’s little point us just sitting in an Airbnb at £400 a week in the Lake District,” said Clive. “So I said to Rosie, let’s go on holiday.”
Having been to Cape Verde before, in 2019, Clive and Rosie wanted to book the same hotel, but could not remember its exact name. Instead of the Hotel Riu Karamboa, Clive “made a mistake” and booked the Hotel Riu Touareg, which is around 15 miles away, on Boa Vista’s south coast, which cost £2,700.
At first glance, this appeared to be a blessing in disguise.
The all-inclusive five-star hotel, which advertises a range of facilities, including three salt water swimming pools, a Jacuzzi and Turkish bath, claims on their website to offer an “unforgettable experience” and promises to make guests’ stay “as relaxing as possible”.
“It looks five-star on the surface,” Clive said.
But from the moment they arrived at the hotel, which boasts more than 1,100 rooms, alarm bells started ringing.
Upon opening the door to their luxury room, a five-minute walk from the lobby, the couple said they were greeted by a stench of sewage.
“Immediately I thought, there’s a bit of a smell of sewage in the room, perhaps it’s not been used for a long time because it’s so far away,” said Clive.
“So we opened the door and walked out on the balcony and literally, the white plastic furniture, I’ve seen better in skips.”
After their six-hour “crammed” flight, they were looking forward to a warm shower, but Clive said the shower head was broken, so he used an elastic band to hold it in place.
Then, when he flushed the toilet, the button fell off the wall and he realised where the foul smell was coming from, he added.
“We were on the top floor and of course smells rise,” he said.
“The smell was coming out of the hole … and clearly every bathroom is on top of the other.
“Ultimately, it was just poorly designed. This shouldn’t be advertised as a five-star.”
Again, Clive, a DIY enthusiast, came up with a temporary fix by “messing about” with the system inside the wall.
They complained to Tui reps and were told that their grievances would be reported, but said nothing was done to remedy the situation and when Clive brought it up with reception a few days later, it was the first they had heard of it.
But the room was not Clive and Rosie’s biggest concern, as they were planning to spend most of their time outdoors.
Soon after reaching their allocated sunbeds, the hotel bar began playing loud techno music and shouting out bingo numbers.
“It started about 12 o’clock,” he said. “It was almost like they were trying to replicate Ibiza.
“Some people like that sort of holiday and that’s great for them, I’m not judging.
“But I went there for a quiet, peaceful, five-star holiday, I didn’t go to replicate Benidorm or Ibiza.”
In a bid to escape the booming beats, the couple went on daily walks along the beach and into the surrounding “desert”.
They had been at the hotel several days when Rosie opened one of the draws to find a pile of neatly folded clothes which Clive said belonged to another guest who had moved room before they arrived because of the smell.
After two weeks, Clive and Rosie could not take it any more and decided to book an Airbnb in Sal Rei, the island’s main city, for the remaining five nights, which cost them an additional £200.
“I said, right that’s it, we’re not staying any longer, I’ve had enough of this,” said Clive. “I went down to reception with all our bags and said I want to check out.
“The Tui rep came over and said, ‘Why are you checking out?’ And I went through the whole thing.
“I said, I just can’t stand it any longer, I would rather pay for an Airbnb and stay in Sal Rei. I can’t put up with the smell any longer, every time I flush the toilet, the thing falls off.
“She said, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry’, but saying sorry doesn’t help does it. They just weren’t interested.”
The couple said they had a “lovely time” for the rest of their holiday in Sal Rei.
Since returning to the UK, the couple have completed on their new house in Maryport, Cumbria, which they are currently renovating.
Clive will not be booking another holiday with Tui any time soon.
“It’s not happening,” he said. “Never again.”
Tui UK and RIU Hotels & Resorts have been contacted for comment.