A BOLTON mum has spoken of her desperation over fears her summer holiday would be grounded because the hotel she was booked to stay in was closed.

Alison Regan, 47, should have been getting ready to jet off to Menorca for a week alongside four generations of her family – but a closed hotel, and lack of communication from travel agent TUI, put her plans in peril.

The group of seven were booked in to the Victoria Playa Hotel in Santa Tomàs from August 12, but at the start of this month Mrs Regan discovered their hotel wouldn’t open this season.

She said: “We booked it in December to originally go out on July 4. Obviously we couldn’t go due to covid, but we rebooked it for July 31, then we got another email saying it had been cancelled. So I rebooked it again for August 12.

“Everything was fine, I’d emailed the hotel and I wasn’t getting anything back from them, and there was no covid information on their website, so I thought that’s a bit strange.

“After some digging I found out all the staff were on furlough and the hotel wasn’t opening this season, so then I had to try and contact TUI which was just a nightmare.”

Mrs Regan spent over 10 hours trying to contact the travel firm, queueing at the Middlebrook store for two hours before staff told her they were unable to help as her booking had been made online.

The uncertainty was an extra blow for the group as they expected it to be the last time four generations of their family were able to travel together.

David Bowden, Mrs Regan’s dad, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Dementia last November, and his condition could soon make it impossible to travel.

The family were offered another refund, but advised the process could take until a few days before the trip.

The family found another holiday, but it was due to depart a few days before their current booking, meaning they were even more eager to get the situation sorted.

Mrs Regan added: “I know that in the grand scheme of things it’s just a holiday, and it’s not anything too fancy, only to Menorca, but we might not ever get this opportunity again.

“We don’t think he’ll be able to go on holiday next year, and my mum can’t go without us because she has macular degeneration, which leaves her visually impaired.

“I know that I’ll get my money back or the chance to rebook eventually but it’s not like it’s just any old holiday, I don’t want to go next year I want to go on this one. They’re still selling this holiday too.”

When The Bolton News contacted TUI, they rearranged Mrs Regan's trip to a different hotel.

A spokeswoman for the firm also confirmed that the holiday had now been removed from sale on the website, and they would be contacting other customers who had purchased the trip.