A British family has won thousands of pounds after they found their Club Med resort in France to be dirty and ‘mouldy’ and the food to be ‘awful’ as they were served stale pastries
A British family has been awarded thousands after discovering stale croissants and mould in their hotel in France.
Damen Bennion, 52, and his wife, Jane, 49, claimed they “went home miserable” from a luxury French hotel after they were served disappointing pastries and a room that smelt. The family has since won thousands of pounds in damages. They spent £6,670 for a week’s all-inclusive holiday with their two sons at a Club Med hotel in July 2023. However, they soon found the food to be “uneatable” and the room mouldy, they claimed.
The couple – who had been looking forward to a “gourmet” experience in a four-star setting at Club Med Opio – claim they had an “awful” dinner on the first night of their stay, and this was followed by “stale breakfast pastries” the following morning. As a result, Damen and Jane decided to keep their family away from the resort during the day and eat evening meal out, only choosing to return to the hotel to sleep, reports The Guardian.
“We told our children on the first night that Daddy would get things sorted, but it wasn’t sorted,” Damen told Central London county court. “At the end of the week, we as a family went home miserable.”
The couple said their sons had been excited about the activities on, and they themselves were looking forward to sitting around the pool. However, once the couple decided the hotel was not clean enough, they chose to spend as little time there as possible.
Judge Justin Althaus ruled that it was the couple’s own choice not to eat evening meals at the resort after the first day, but said Club Med would need to pay the family £3,945 in damages after finding that their room had been dirty and mouldy.
According to Damen, the first room the family was alocated smelt bad, while the second room they were provided was dingy and smelt of mould. Damen said “it wasn’t a happy place to be” and that the food in the restaurant was “awful”.
He continued that it was “nonsense” to “suggest that we could have enjoyed the croissants in the morning”, and that “the food in the restaurant was awful”.
Judge Althaus said the couple could not fairly assess the quality of evening meals based on one dinner, but that he did “accept that the breakfast pastries … were unimpressive for the south of France”. The judge considered photo evidence as part of his judgement and noted that the room appeared “dirty and showed signs of considerable wear”.
Club Med also provided photos, which showed the rooms in a far better state, however they were undated and the court decided that this meant they proved little, the Guardian reported.
A Club Med spokesperson said: “We recognise the recent court ruling in the case concerning a guest complaint about one of our resorts. While we always strive to provide the best possible experience for our guests, we do accept that on this occasion, there were issues that affected the guests’ enjoyment of their stay. That is why we offered a 20 per cent reduction to them.
“It is worth noting that while the judge did identify some areas with issues, the awarded damages were substantially lower than the initial claim (150 per cent of the package value), and much more in line with the initial offer Club Med made of 20 per cent compensation. We remain committed to delivering high-quality holiday experiences and continuously strive to improve our resort standards.”