A woman who booked a trip to Bulgaria to celebrate her husband’s 50th birthday described it as a ‘holiday from hell’ after she broke her ankle tripping on a faulty hotel step which left her needing a wheelchair.
After she returned from a local hospital with her leg in a cast hotel staff then refused her a ground floor room even though she was unable to climb the stairs to her third-floor accommodation.
The woman was told she could sleep in the reception area, but other British guests, checking out for an early morning flight, offered her their room.
The woman said, “I was in so much pain and I couldn’t get out of the wheelchair, but no one at the hotel asked how I was or how they could help, when all along it was the hotel that was at fault.
“There was nothing from the rep and when we left, I had to crawl up the steps of the coach. It was not only hell, but it was also embarrassing,” she said.
The woman was awarded £25,000 in damages for the holiday accident
The woman booked the two-week sunshine break at the Hotel Magnolia in Albena in 2018.
When she returned home, she went straight to hospital and had metal plates and pins inserted into her ankle. She then spent 18 weeks at home unable to climb the stairs and reliant on her husband and daughter.
Following a successful holiday accident claim, where she was represented by Hudgell Solicitors, the woman was awarded £25,000 in damages in an out of court settlement against the package holiday firm Balkan Holidays Limited.
Travel accident expert and associate solicitor Tracy Stansfield, who represented the client, said: “This was meant to be a holiday to mark a very special occasion in this couple’s life but sadly it was ruined simply because the hotel owners, and or management, failed in their duty to keep their guests safe.
“They failed on so many levels, causing my client to fall and break her ankle which required significant surgery and a long period of recovery.
“It was right that my client was compensated, and I am pleased that the matter has now been finalised.”
‘My foot was facing the wrong way’
The woman said as soon as they arrived at the hotel they asked if they could be moved to another.
“It looked totally different to the brochure. It was dirty and unkept and there was mould in the room, it was unbelievable. But we were told we’d have to pay an extra £500 each and we thought, even if we paid it, we wouldn’t know what we’d be getting, so we stayed.”
Then on the day before they were due to fly back to Manchester Airport the woman and her husband were walking from the hotel’s outside snack bar to their room when she tripped on a broken paving step. When she looked down, she saw her right foot was facing the wrong way.
“I must have screamed because people jumped up and looked. I knew there was serious damage; it was the other way round,” she recalled.
She was taken by ambulance to a nearby clinic and then transferred to a hospital 50 minutes’ drive away.
“I was in excruciating pain. There was no medical person in the back of the ambulance with me and my foot and ankle were not supported at all.”
At the hospital, she was told that she had fractured a bone, given an injection in each side of her ankle and hip and her lower leg was placed in a cast.
She was told she required surgery but as she was due to fly home the next day, she said she would wait. When the couple returned to the hotel they were told there was no ground-floor room available.
“There was no way I could climb two large flights of metal steps, but they weren’t bothered,” she said.
The next day she went to the airport in a wheelchair and flew home and was admitted to hospital on the same day. X-rays confirmed two broken bones and she underwent surgery three days later.
Returning home, she contacted Hudgell Solicitors for advice.
“I have never claimed anything in my life, but it was so straightforward. Tracy has been amazing, and it has all been straightforward,” she said.
Ms Stansfield said as her client had booked a package holiday, she was protected by the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 which allow proceedings to be taken against tour operators in this country.
In the holiday injury claim against the tour operator Balkan Holidays Limited, it was alleged the hotel had failed to ensure that the steps were regularly inspected, well maintained and free from any defects that could cause injury.
No adequate efforts had been made to warn guests of the defective steps by way of signs or notices and no effort had been made to prevent guests from walking ‘in a hazardous area’ by way of cordons, ropes or bollards.
“My leg will never be the same again, I can’t rush around anymore, or lift heavy bags. I have to learn to live with the effects. If it wasn’t for my daughter and husband, I don’t know how I would have managed,” she said.
The woman says her husband is now going to get a proper 50th birthday holiday when they travel to Spain, “We’ve been to the same hotel three times before and everything there is perfect,” she added.
Under The Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992, when you book a package holiday (accommodation, transport and other services that make up a significant component of the holiday) you have certain enhanced consumer protection, which includes compensation for avoidable injury.
If you’ve recognised that you or a member of your family has come to harm as a result of an injury abroad because of the actions of someone else, then you have the right to make an accident on holiday claim.
The first step is to get in touch. You can begin by contacting us via our claim form and selecting Holiday Accident.
Read more: Accidents and Illnesses Abroad
