Raw Deal: Sicilian birthday treat turns out to be holiday from hell for Scots couple

Jessie-Anne Malcolm wanted to surprise her husband Ronnie with a nice five-day break in Sicily for his 60th birthday.

But the couple instead flew home after just two nights after being “disgusted” at the state of their hotel.

“It was a nightmare,” said Jessie-Anne. “When we arrived we thought the place had closed down because of all the graffiti sprayed around the main sign outside.

“Inside, the corridors were filthy and dilapidated and the carpets were threadbare and stained.

“The room we were given was just as bad and it was littered with dead flies.”

The couple, from Denny, near Falkirk, were staying at their holiday flat in Malta last month when Jessie-Anne booked the trip to the Italian island through accommodation giant Booking.com.

“Ronnie had always fancied seeing Sicily so I got us the holiday for his 60th and we flew there from Malta,” said Jessie-Anne, a long-time NHS worker.

She booked a four-night stay at the Hotel Agathae in Catania, costing €280 – mainly because it was supposed to have a working lift, which was important to Jessie-Anne as she suffers from arthritis.

“At reception we asked where the lift was that was advertised on their website and on the Booking.com site, and we also asked where the advertised bar, and TV lounge was within the hotel, thinking we may socialise there and meet other guests,” said Jessie-Anne.

“We were furious when told they did not actually have any of these facilities.

“I had to climb three flights of stairs to our room, which was painful because of my arthritis.”

Jessie-Anne said the couple were further shocked when they turned on the electric air conditioning system in their room.

“A frightening amount of black insects fell out and landed on top of the wardrobe,” she said. “Ronnie climbed up on a chair to investigate and to his disgust discovered the entire top of the wardrobe was covered in dead flies.

“We tried to accept that this was just our rotten luck and went out exploring the area, but each time we returned to the hotel it was depressing. Ronnie will now remember his 60th birthday for all the wrong reasons.” The couple said they eventually could take no more and curtailed their stay.

“We found the night porter sleeping in a room adjacent to the reception and we told him we were cutting our holiday short and handed him back the key,” said Jessie-Anne.

The couple paid a further €138 for two early-morning flights back to Malta and complained to Booking.com about their experience. “I contacted their customer service department and wrote them a long email and attached photographs backing up my complaint, as well as screenshots from their website where they clearly state there is a lift, TV lounge area and a bar,” said Jessie-Anne.

“Booking.com got back to me and said that they were not responsible for these discrepancies and also that they were not responsible for refunding me the €280 for the hotel plus the extra €138.78 for the flights back to Malta.”

Jessie-Anne was further stymied when she went to share her experience online.

“I wrote a review on their website documenting our experience but they only printed one sentence.”

In frustration, the couple wrote to Raw Deal and we asked Booking.com to investigate.

As a result, the Malcolms have now received a refund of €210 for their troubles and an apology.

Booking.com said: “If a customer ever shows up to a property and it does not meet their expectations, our customer service team are on hand 24/7 to investigate and advocate on their behalf. In this case, to apologise for any inconvenience, we have offered a partial refund as a gesture of goodwill.”