"I have been coming to PP for 40 years. I grew up coming here as a little girl, and it has always held such a special place in my heart. Now that I have my own family, being able to return with my children and create those same memories has always meant a great deal to me.
This is why we were so excited to find what we felt was the perfect hotel for our family. We enjoyed our stay overall enough that, while we were still there during the final few days of our holiday, we actually booked to return next August.
Unfortunately, on our final morning, when we came down to check out, the situation became extremely upsetting and confrontational. It began with an issue regarding notes that had apparently been left under our door.
We had been told that we had ignored a note asking us to come to reception the previous evening. However, we had not ignored it. We had seen the note, attended reception and paid the Mallorca tourist taxes as requested. We were then told that another note had apparently been left under our door, which we had not seen.
Considering that the hotel had other ways of contacting us, including the telephone in our room, and that nobody had raised any concerns with us during our 14-night stay, we found it unreasonable that these matters were only brought to our attention as we were checking out.
We were then told that the second note related to a broken lamp. However, the lamp was already broken when we arrived and did not even have a bulb in it. We were accused of breaking it and attempting to repair it with tape. This is completely untrue and, frankly, makes no sense. We would not have had access to electrical tape, nor would we have any reason to attempt to repair an electrical light ourselves.
When we explained this, the situation became increasingly heated. The manager asked us to go into his office. I explained that I could not do so because we had our children with us, but that my husband could speak to him. The manager initially said that I should bring the children into his office. After several exchanges, my husband said that if the manager wanted to discuss the matter, he should speak to him directly, and my husband went into the office.
My husband was told about various alleged issues during our stay, including the lamp, a coffee spill that had marked the wall, our son’s bed-wetting accidents and a poo accident. We accepted responsibility for the coffee spill and for the accidents involving our three-year-old son. However, we made it clear that we did not break the lamp or attempt to repair it with tape.
The manager became very angry and said that he now had to arrange for someone to come and paint the walls. We responded that this was the type of issue that should ordinarily be dealt with by the cleaning or maintenance team. The cleaner was then brought into the conversation and began shouting at us as though we had done something terrible. This was particularly upsetting because we had always been happy to leave tips for her during our stay and had treated her respectfully.
The cleaner also raised an incident involving our son. He had briefly left our room while naked for approximately two seconds. This happened only once during our entire stay. The doors to the rooms did not appear to have suitable childproof locks or additional locks positioned high enough to prevent a young child from opening them. We explained that this was a safety concern and that the rooms should have appropriate childproof security measures. Instead of acknowledging this concern, we felt that we were blamed and subjected to further criticism.
It was during this wider confrontation that we were told by the manager that we had been a “complete nightmare” from the moment we arrived. This came as a huge shock to us, particularly as nobody had raised these concerns with us during our 14-night stay.
A significant part of the conversation related to our three-year-old son, who has only just turned three and is currently being potty trained. During our 14-night stay, he unfortunately had two bed-wetting accidents and one poo accident. We were told that we were a “disgrace” and that the manager had “never had anyone staying in his hotel have accidents”.
I stripped all the beds for the cleaner I also every morning made our bed and put away the sofa bed!
We found this incredibly upsetting and humiliating. He is three years old. Accidents can happen with a toddler who is potty training, and we would never knowingly leave a mess or expect hotel staff to deal with something without taking responsibility for it. Had there been a problem, we would have expected to be approached respectfully and given the opportunity to address it.
The manager then discussed our booking for next August, which we had already made while staying at the hotel. We were initially told that when we returned, we would need to be “sat down” and have the rules explained to us. This was then followed by the statement that the hotel did not want us to come back.
We were completely taken aback. We had booked another stay because we genuinely believed we had found our family hotel and were looking forward to returning. To be treated in this way on our final morning was incredibly distressing.
However, the most concerning part of the conversation was being told by the manager that the hotel had photographs of our just-turned-three-year-old son naked.
We are absolutely shocked by this statement. As parents, we need a clear explanation as to why photographs of our naked child were allegedly taken, who took them, when they were taken, where they are stored, who has had access to them, and why they were taken in the first place.
This is an extremely serious matter for us and one that we cannot simply overlook.
We would therefore like a full written response addressing:
* The allegations made about our behaviour during our stay.
* Why we were described as a “complete nightmare” and a “disgrace”.
* Why these concerns were not raised with us during the 14-night stay.
* Why we were not contacted directly about the alleged broken lamp or any other concerns, given that the hotel had access to the telephone in our room.
* The circumstances surrounding the notes allegedly left under our door.
* The allegation that we broke the lamp and attempted to repair it with tape, despite the lamp already being broken and having no bulb
* The conduct of the manager and cleaner during the confrontation at checkout.
* The safety arrangements for the room doors, particularly in relation to young children being able to open them.
* The circumstances surrounding the photographs we were told existed of our naked three-year-old child.
* Whether such photographs exist, who took them, why they were taken, who has accessed them and how they have been stored.
* What will happen to any photographs or copies of photographs of our child.
* The circumstances surrounding the cancellation or reconsideration of our booking for next August.
We came to this hotel as a family because we genuinely believed we had found somewhere special. PP itself has been part of my life for 40 years, which makes the way our stay ended even more upsetting.
We are not looking to create unnecessary conflict. We simply want a proper explanation, accountability for what was said to us, and, most importantly, reassurance regarding the very serious issue of photographs allegedly taken of our young child.
We would appreciate a full written response from the hotel management addressing each of the points above."
