As we all know, the accommodation at Pontins was not very good.
Emma has written to Pontins demanding an explanation (and hopefully some financial compensation) and I have written to R&T Tours, the organisers of the tournament.
This is what I told them:
I took Broughton Ravers U10 girls to Pontins, Southport over the late May Bank Holiday to play in your tournament.
First the good points: the football was well organised, the other teams were good fun to play against and the presentations were excellent. All the girls really enjoyed themselves.
You did your part well but the overall experience was spoilt by the accommodation.
Most of my group stayed in the better class of chalets but they were disappointed to find mould in the bathrooms, filthy carpets and dirty bedding.
The standard of cleanliness was very poor all round. Kitchen surfaces seemed clean but underneath they were sticky and obviously had not been cleaned properly.
Then there was the smell. Three chalets smelled of cat urine and there was a musty smell in the others. When we complained the cleaning staff simply sprayed air freshener everywhere which made the smell even worse!
Some of my parents even bought disinfectant/bleach and spent a lot of time cleaning their chalets.
As you can imagine, I felt very embarrassed.
We didn’t expect 5* accommodation but we did expect it to be clean and serviceable.
I suggest you think carefully about booking Pontins at Southport for a tournament next year.
best wishes
Steve Watson
Chairman, Broughton Ravers JFC
This is their reply:
Dear Mr Watson,
Thank you for your email and for your feedback concerning your recent football tour to Pontins Southport.
We were very pleased to hear that you and your girls team enjoyed the North West Trophy, and the celebrity presentation evening with Paul Merson.
We were sorry however to read that the accommodation at Pontins was not up to standard. Although the accommodation at Pontins is not on a par with some of our other holiday centres such as Haven, we do expect the accommodation to be comfortable and clean. We are meeting with Pontins head office shortly to address the problems with accommodation, so thank you for your detailed feedback as it will enable us to improve the standards we offer our guests.
Please accept our apologies if the accommodation at Southport caused you embarrassment with the rest of your group, and we have taken your comments on board.
We hope you shall have the pleasure of arranging future tours for Broughton Ravers FC.
Kind regards,
Pauline Earnshaw
Office Manager
R & T Tours
Not exactly what I wanted to hear (I would have preferred ‘we’re sending you a cheque’) but at least they appear to be taking the complaint seriously.
I’ll ask them to keep me updated regarding their discussions with Pontins and I’ll let you know what happens.
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