An elderly, retired couple spent their savings in order to stay at a hotel they'd always wanted to stay in. But the exciting break quickly turned into a nightmare.
John Robinson, 82 and his wife Sally were stuck in a dingy room "like prisoners" for a week. Worlds away from the stay they'd long dreamed of.
The couple has had many happy summers in Southport. For them, the coastal town is full of memories and it's one of their favourite places to visit.
In September 2022, John and Sally finally used up their savings for an extended stay in hotel they'd always wanted to stay in, The Royal Clifton Hotel in Southport has always been on the couple's bucket list according to their son Kev Robinson, 43, Lancs Live reports.
Kev says that his parents deemed the hotel to have a prestigious reputation based on its history. Their desire to visit the promenade hotel was so great that their decision to book took them two years in making but eventually, this year, they decided to fulfil their dream.
As an 82-year-old, Kev says his dad John struggles with using the internet and "isn't media savvy" so instead of looking the hotel up online he chose to ring the reception desk. John was told he would have to pay around £125 a night for his sea view room, even then the elderly man was happy to pay this amount in the hopes they would get a great room.
"They'd always wanted to stay at this hotel because of its reputation that dates back a long time," Kev said. "For that generation it was perceived as being quite grand, it's the Royal Clifton so it was more the tradition of it and the significance to them. They'd been thinking about it for around two years and then I went over and they said they'd finally done it, they booked the Royal Clifton.
"I'll be perfectly honest, they don't use the internet and my dad wouldn't have looked online, it was just what he wanted to do. They're not a well to do couple, they're just living on their pension and this was a holiday for them."
John and Sally had booked to stay in a sea view room for seven night in mid September. The hotel informed John that for a sea view room, they would have to pay an added £42 each night.
The couple arranged for a local taxi firm to take them to their hotel but when they arrived they were checked into a room they didn't book. Kev says even at this point, his parents tried to remain positive and chose not to "make a scene".
"They were given a another room but they're a couple that comes from a generation where they don't want to cause any fuss and where they feel they would be upsetting people if they were to complain."
The room the couple were given "was something that came from the 1800's" Kev says. While his parents were away, he had already planned to book a room for himself and his son to spend something with his parents for a night on a Friday.
Kev booked via a third party online system and only paid £49 for the night. When he saw his parents room in contrast to his, he says it was "far superior" for more than half of the price.
Describing his parents' room he said: "There were stains on the wall, visible stain. The headboard of the bed looked like it was broken and the bedside table had stains all over it."
Due to the age of the building, a lot of the windows haven't been double glazed, the 43-year-old says which meant the room stayed at a very low temperature. On top of this, the central heating in the room didn't work for the duration of the couple's stay.
After speaking to the staff at the deck, John was able to inform them that their room was freezing cold and was provided by a heater. However the size of the heater was not substantial enough to provide heat for the full room.
"The heating didn't work and when they'd gone down to tell them the heating didn't work, they gave them this radiator which was tiny and said this is all you've got it's an old hotel what do you expect? It was just in a state of disrepair, the lights were hanging off the wall, the bulbs in the lamps were actually broken so they didn't work.
"The windows were filthy inside and out so even though they wanted a sea view, all you could see was the filth. The windows were draughty so in the evening my parents said they were sat in their coats. When they came back home they were poorly, it was that cold they came back ill.
"When we saw them my son said, nanny what's wrong and she just said, it's awful here, we're waiting on the taxi to come and get us early. My dad was angry with himself- he thought it was something special but it was awful."
The room given to Kev shocked the couple who saw what their son got or fraction of the price they paid. Kev says the room is exactly what you'd hoped to get for what he paid but for his parents, left them feeling "ripped off".
"My dad's room, he said he wouldn't even put a dying dog in there. When he saw my room he said straight away, he said they've ripped us off. He said I feel like they've taken advantage of us," Kev added.
"When they'd seen the rooms on the brochure, they looked amazing. My parents are old school and I just feel like there are other older people who would use that hotel for the same reason and I'm just upset that older people could be treated this way.
"The room was dingy and I felt it was unsafe and depressing. They didn't want to complain, they just made do and tried to spend their days outside but in the evening, they're not particularly mobile so they had to just stay there. You can't under estimate how life is like at 82 and you know people will say oh they should've done this and they should've done that but they're not from that generation where they do that.
"They're from a generation where they make do and don't cause a fuss."
