A couple say their trip of a lifetime turned into a holiday from hell after they shelled out £3,000 for hotels that were in a total a "state of disrepair" with "body fluid" stains left on walls.
Lauren Jones, 37, and her partner Adam Donlevy, 36, couldn't wait for their five-star stay, booking the two-week getaway with five nights in Singapore followed by 10 days in Bali - splitting the time between Ubud and Seminyak.
They paid £1,500 each for the incredible break with Hays Travel, CheshireLive reports.
But the the duo from Chester, Cheshire, couldn't get home soon enough.
The first part of the trip in Singapore, Asia, turned into a nightmare as Lauren said they had issues with mould and general uncleanliness in the rooms, which was so bad she said left them "unwell".
She said: "It was just despair and anxiety. Despair at having to stay in such horrendous, dirty conditions and the anxiety of whether we were going to become unwell.
"We did both become unwell in those conditions, with stomach problems. But it's also the fear you're going to contract something else.
"I'm a nurse, I know the things you can contract in those situations.
"As much as you can be careful by just using bottled water or that sort of thing, when the place itself is that dirty, you are bound to get ill which obviously we did.
"It's the anger as well - the anger and shock that we were placed in what should have been five star hotels that were nowhere near five stars.
"But also the anger towards Hays Travel for the way they treated us and how much I had to fight to get us moved to a safe and clean environment.
"It was meant to be the holiday of a lifetime and it was a hellhole. It was literally a holiday from hell."
Hays Travel confirmed the couple have been offered a refund for their stays at both hotels plus an "additional goodwill gesture".
The travel agency will also be conducting an 'urgent review' and has put a "stop-sale" on the two venues.
Following their five-night stay in Singapore, Lauren and Adam arrived at Sthala, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel in Ubud, on June 25.
They arrived late on that Saturday night, went to bed and then got up the next morning when Lauren said they noticed the room "smelled quite damp".
She said: "We noticed that Adam's coat had started developing mould on it when it had just been hanging up in the wardrobe.
"When we looked around the room, we found black mould going up half the walls.
"We turned the cushions over on the outdoor seating part and they were covered in mould.
"There was just mould everywhere so we had to keep all our clothes in the suitcases.
"We were unimpressed with the view. We looked out at what looked like a rotten fence wall with loads of equipment put out there, when we weren't promised that."
She said they also didn't feel "safe" in the area and claimed there was a lot of "crime".
She added that they were "constantly watching over our shoulders".
They contacted Hays Travel on the Tuesday (June 28) to complain about the hotel.
Lauren said she was asked why they hadn't contacted them earlier, but explained they were both "shocked" and "didn't want to feel more uncomfortable" than they already did.
They went to their next hotel on the Thursday (June 30), which was the Jambuluwuk Oceano Seminyak Hotel in Seminyak.
Lauren said the venue was "10 times worse".
"We found the bodily fluids on the bedding and the towels. The pool was actually closed because the roof was falling down and held together with blue rope," she said.
"There's a tiny pool at the top of the hotel, which was green, so you wouldn't want to go in there.
"We couldn't eat at the hotel because it was just that dirty, it was vile.
"It wasn't a safe place to be in at all and the bathroom was horrendously dirty.
"The hotel wasn't fit to be open and it said on the sign that they were compliant with Covid-19 safety, which was a blatant lie."
Lauren said that, following their stay at the first hotel in Bali, Hays Travel promised to move them to a new place "immediately" if the second was just as bad.
But she said they weren't moved until Saturday (July 2), despite numerous attempts to contact the travel agency.
They were found a room at the Grand Hyatt Bali Hotel.
She said this left the couple with two full days of a "truly five star experience".
They arrived home on the Tuesday (July 5) and filed a complaint with Hays Travel, asking for a refund.
But Lauren said that as of Tuesday (July 12), no response had been received.
A spokesperson for Hays Travel said: “We were sorry to hear that Miss Jones and her partner were not satisfied with the hotels during their stay in Bali.
"When Miss Jones made contact from her second hotel and asked to be moved we worked with our overseas supplier to find a suitable alternative which Miss Jones and her partner relocated to.
"We have since passed the details of both properties to our product management team for urgent review and can confirm we have now put these hotels on stop sale.
"The Broughton team have contacted Miss Jones to offer a refund of both hotels plus an additional goodwill gesture.”
