A family-of-five claim they were left stranded on an "horrendous" holiday after arriving to find their hotel resembled the one from the Inbetweeners movie.

Newly-weds Debbie and Christopher George were hoping to jet off to the Spanish coast to enjoy a relaxing "family moon" with three of their young children.

The couple, who live in Knights Croft, New Ash Green, had booked seven nights all-inclusive at the Festival Village apartments in Salou.

They stumped up nearly £2,000 with Hays Travel at Bluewater shopping centre after being promised an "all singing, all dancing" package complete with lots of activities for sons Archie, Harvey, both 12, and Stanley, nine, to enjoy.

But after a two-hour flight with budget airline easyJet, they say they arrived to find the apartment looked nothing like the images in the brochure.

Debbie, 44, said: "This was a whole new level of horrendous, it was shocking. The only way you can describe it was like the hotel from The Inbetweeners movie. I was expecting them to bring a dead dog out of the well."

The movie's plot revolves around a group of friends who end up holidaying in a shabby hotel.

On arrival, Debbie and Chris say they found the derelict complex was boarded up with parts of the lobby area blocked off.

The large swimming pool was visibly damaged and was taped off to guests, they claim, due to safety concerns.

Bar and restaurant facilities were also declared out of bounds, much to to the disappointment of the family who had sought assurances as police officer Chris is currently suffering from a slipped disc and eldest son Archie has special needs.

The mum-of-three said: "I don't know what the inside was like but the whole lobby area was taped off.

"The pool looked as though it was sinking into the ground; I don't think it was safe. The bar was boarded up, all the restaurant was boarded up."

To add to their shock, they say the man who greeted them behind the front desk told the holidaymakers there was no booking in their name and the hotel had shut two years prior and he was renting the rooms out.

Debbie, who works as a crisis support manager, said the local surroundings were not much better and described it as a "ghost town".

She added: "There was nothing around the hotel, everything was shut down.

"We lost a whole day of our holiday waiting around with our luggage on the street. The kids were exhausted, it was a complete disaster."

While they tried to resolve the situation, the mum says they were given a storage cupboard to put their stuff in so they could find a supermarket to get the children some food.

They were eventually told by their travel agent there was no alternative accommodation available and they would need to speak to easyJet, who were listed as the "suppliers" of the holiday package.

The family were offered £500 to stay at the hotel half-board but Debbie argued this was unacceptable given the inconvenience caused and the money offered would not cover them for the week.

In the end the couple forked out £1,600 for suitable accommodation elsewhere and arranged their own transfers.

They were reimbursed £1,100 by the airline but Debbie says they have still been left out of pocket and has submitted a formal complaint to both the airline and the travel agents.

She said: "easyJet are the suppliers but we didn't book with easyJet, we booked with Hays Travel.

"If the place is not up to scratch they should have been saying to easyJet 'this is not acceptable we need to get them the right accommodation like for like'."

But the couple, who had put a deposit down with the same travel agents on another holiday next year, says it is not just about recouping their losses.

Debbie said: "We are doing this because it is shocking. I would never want a family to go through what we had to.

"I would never want a family to go through what we had to..."

"They are still advertising it on their website."

A spokesman for Hays Travel said: “As the travel agent, as soon as we were aware of the issue we contacted our partner holiday operator on our customer’s behalf.

“They offered the family a number of options including flights home with a full refund, staying at the hotel on a self-catering basis, with a part refund of £650, or moving to a different hotel with a further refund reimbursing the difference between half board and all inclusive.

“They chose to stay in other accommodation and were refunded £1,205. On return, they contacted us with a further request and we are looking into the matter with our partner holiday operator as a priority.”

An easyJet holidays spokesman said: “We pride ourselves on giving our customers great holiday experiences, so we were really disappointed to hear about Mrs George and her family’s recent trip to Salou.

“As soon as the family got in touch with us we offered alternatives, including reimbursing them..."

“We apologised to the family for their experience, which unfortunately came as a result of their hotel not informing us that all-inclusive was unavailable and that not all facilities were accessible at this time.

“As soon as the family got in touch with us we offered alternatives, including reimbursing them for the difference between a self-catering holiday and all inclusive, moving them to another hotel, and flights home with a full refund.

“The family chose to make their own arrangements and we are currently in touch with them to resolve this issue as soon as possible."

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