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Goldtrail Holidays

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Rob Unsworth - editor | 18:57 UK time, Monday, 16 March 2009

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Two million of us head to Turkey every summer and, because it's outside the Eurozone, it's tipped to knock Spain off the top spot for bargain holidays. Turkey is the destination where East meets West; with stunning scenery and fabulous beaches.

However, if you go with one Goldtrail Holidays it could be a place where your hotel room may have no curtains but perhaps some bare wires. They may give your baby a wet, stained mattress to sleep on and in the bar, they could serve you drinks from a yoghurt pot.

This isn't some fly-by-night little outfit. It's a £35 million business claiming to be the biggest independent tour operator to Turkey. Goldtrail Holidays boasts that it's cheap - which is true, but not in a cheerful way. The people who've contacted us say they're cheap and nasty. Last summer they took 250,000 people to the Southern coast of Turkey. The company say they specialise in good value breaks and promise the perfect holiday - but we've spoken to a group of their customers who disagree.

Rooms were filthy
Chris Chadwick and Paul Lashford say their room was so filthy they immediately asked for another but this turned out to be no better. Chris said that the sun loungers were also filthy because they weren't cleaned and were "caked in people's sweat".

One morning Chris and Paul caught a cat snacking on their breakfast. Chris explains: "The cat was actually on the counter, it had shredded open the cling film, and had been eating the meat off the counter. When I informed the waiter, he just shoed the cat away and went into the back. Never changed the meat, he just left it for people to eat."

Grotty accommodation
All our Goldtrail holidaymakers had similar stories of grotty accommodation and poor service.

Some said they were put in rooms in the hotel's roof space with bathrooms so small it was impossible to stand up. Others said they'd seen lifts with no internal doors, a swimming pool floor covered in green algae and a soaking wet cot mattress.

Not everyone who's had a terrible experience with Goldtrail has been able to get on the plane home and put it all behind them. For some people their holiday ended with a trip to hospital. Last year, Goldtrail paid out £120,000 to nine people who said they'd contracted legionnaires' disease from their hotel's shower. Solicitors Irwin Mitchell has acted for almost 200 holidaymakers in various cases against the company.

Permanent illnesses
Clive Garner of the firm says: "Many of those people have suffered very serious illnesses including legionnaires' disease, salmonella and E.coli. And some of these people have gone onto suffer longer term, sometimes permanent illnesses as a result."

Goldtrail wrote back to some holidaymakers that complained saying that they: "shouldn't have expected too much from a cheap holiday and that Turkey is a third world country with lower standards."

Unsurprisingly that didn't go down well with the Turkish Tourist Board. Irfan Önal, the Director, completely disagrees with this claim: "It is insulting but when you think about the reality of Turkey we can say that it is'nt true. It's just the fault of the Goldtrail, Turkey is implementing European Union regulations to make its standards better and better."

Some of the holidaymakers we have met have had money back from Goldtrail but only around £20 or £30. No wonder a few of them have taken it further, to The Association of British Travel Agents, ABTA. Last year they received hundreds of complaints about Goldtrail. Frances Tuke, of ABTA explains that Goldtrail was fined over £11,000 last year. Despite this she says that Goldtrail would like to remain ABTA members and has said that they want to improve their service.

Goldtrail's response
When Watchdog contacted Goldtrail it said: "Goldtrail has been in operation since 1996 and is fully ATOL and ABTA bonded. Over the last couple of years it's become one of the fastest growing companies in the UK and carried over 250,000 passengers in 2008. Goldtrail offers a wide range of good value for money holidays to over 300 properties abroad. The majority of Goldtrail clients are happy with their holiday.

"Health and safety for all Goldtrail clients is important and top of the company's agenda. Properties are contracted to comply with local regulations and standards. Due to the company's rapid growth, improved procedures and property management teams have been put in place to ensure that standards are maintained and adhered to, throughout the season.

"Health and Safety audits, investigating the complaints and looking at the issues raised including those that relate to public safety and hygiene, have been undertaken. In some cases Goldtrail has stopped working with properties that have chosen not to comply.

"The majority of Goldtrail clients are happy with the good value holidays that the company provides. Goldtrail would like to apologise to those customers that received a holiday, which did not meet with their expectations. It would also like to apologise for any misguided reference to Turkey as a 'third world country'."

Comments

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  • 1. At 7:56pm on 16 Mar 2009, Leemelbourn wrote:

    I booked with Goldtrail two years ago and stayed in an awful hotel with leaking water making the room and bathroom unsafe. The rep did nothing about it. I wrote and complained and had to chase the letter up as they didn't respond. Eventually it was acknowledge with a couldn't care less attitude. I would never book or advise booking with goldtrail.

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  • 2. At 8:06pm on 16 Mar 2009, tomwit wrote:

    i like alot of others it seems had a bad hoilday with GOLDTRAIL HOILDAYS after sending three seperate letters to goldtrail i could not get any joy from them rooms were dirty with mould in showers/cat feces moped around the main pool limted amount of food suposed to have been all inclusive spent 80% in eating in local village and paying for food which should have been free

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  • 3. At 8:06pm on 16 Mar 2009, tresmith wrote:

    I booked with goldtrail a year ago we ended up at [hotel removed] at 4 in the morning. We were shown to our room there were no bed for our son. Whilst my husabnd went to sort this out i lifted the sheets back on my bed and there were ants everywhere, went to the loo and fell off as it wasn't bolted to the floor. We sat by the pool until morning and waited for the manager to change our room. At breakfast there were a resident cat eating of the tables and the food was terrible. We wrote a letter of complaint and got the couldn't care less attitude too! Hence nothing was ever done!

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  • 4. At 8:06pm on 16 Mar 2009, E9Turk wrote:

    Turkey is really nice place they just show the bad side of it come see were i live in Kusadasi Turkey...

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  • 5. At 8:08pm on 16 Mar 2009, waterCJB123 wrote:

    Only 2 weeks ago we went with Goldtrail to Turkey. Went through Manchester airport - one case just under 20kgs the other 18 kgs. Fortunately enough we knew the hotel and its standards. However coming back to Dalaman airport the check in assistant weighed all our luggage including hand luggage and said we were 18 kgs over @ £8 per kgs. Apparently on the e mail ticket (and we have since noticed) is a very small circle with a suitcase on it with the numbers 15. THis cost us £144, and they were stopping everyone - even for 1kg over.
    This seems strange, as the tour operator never said anything to us about this, and we have since weighed our suitcases and empty they weigh 5kgs each.
    If you were going away for a fortnight - we only 1 week, i think you would have difficulty packing few enough clothes - unless you were prepared to wash and iron whilst away.
    I sincerely hope none of your viewers are caught out the same way as we were. Please make them aware to ask what luggage allowance they can have.
    Many thanks

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  • 6. At 8:13pm on 16 Mar 2009, bluehuntress wrote:

    I booked a holiday with Goldtrail in Oct 2007, worst holiday ever. We arrived to discover there is no room for us. We're left to wander around Turkey, while the night porter clears his belongings out of his room. We waited over two hours for tour rep to arrive - No spare rooms, not willing to move us anywhere else, give us telphone no's for other companies to get a flight home. Will never use this company again. Their response was disgraceful, their offer of recompense even worse.

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  • 7. At 8:15pm on 16 Mar 2009, famousJoyous wrote:

    I travelled with Goldtrail 3 years ago with my 13 year old stepdaughter. I had a really bad accident resulting in a stay and operation in a Turkish hospital, the rep never visited and my stepdaugther wasnt checked on ONCE by the rep, she had no money and was alone in Turkey, I had to check out of hosptilat with a full length pot on my leg and following a really heavy op to get back to hotel to see she was okay! The hotel was okay but the cleaner was proved to be a thief - various items of clothing disappeared from our and other patrons rooms. Cheap - yes, reps and hotels - appalling!!

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  • 8. At 8:16pm on 16 Mar 2009, libbymcl wrote:

    This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.

  • 9. At 8:43pm on 16 Mar 2009, megan_w0000 wrote:

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  • 10. At 8:44pm on 16 Mar 2009, ROBSBLOG wrote:

    Having spent a week in Turkey with my family last year I can report that Goldtrail Holidays standard of health and hygiene along with overall service levels is at best grossly inadequate. Their attitude towards my letter of complaint was both unhelpful and non productive and I have therefore concluded that litigation is the only way forward.

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  • 11. At 8:54pm on 16 Mar 2009, boraturkcan wrote:

    Sir,I am a Turkish British Citizen, working as Financial Accountant in London.I was watching a programme on BBC yesterday and Turkey has been advertised as the cheapest but best holiday destination in Europe.I was excited and proud to hear that, however watching Watchdog's episode on BBC1 today about Turkey made me so disssapointed.I understand the concept of the programme and appreciate the issues that Watchdog touch on in terms of enlightening the public and consumers. I do appreciate the aspect of holiday makers and totally understand and agree with their unpleasent experience regarless of considering the country. But I am just wondering why this issue has been brought up "just before" holiday season but not just after holiday season finished last summer? Fragile timing of brodacasting the programme made me think that can it be a politic manipulation that aims to give wrong impression about Turkey and not book a holiday in Turkey.I found this unfair and againts Free Economy Principles to judge the whole country by only one company's behaviour. If we look at the outputs of today's programme it won't be difficult to see that people who never visited Turkey before has already made their mind up about Turkey by not considering Turkey as an option anymore. I am dissapointed with the way Watchdog announced Turkey as "third world country" and added "what else would you expect".Turkey is a dynamic,young,strong economy.Is a safe and enjoyable holiday destination. I suggest to holiday makers to make further research before booking their holiday.There are holiday resorts and holiday agents all over Turkey at or above world standardsands, I believe that these information can be reached easily on the internet upon the completion of a little bit of research.

    [Note from Watchdog: Thank you for your comment. Watchdog did not make this comment. In fact it was a Goldtrail representative who made this comment in response to a complaint. Goldtail would like to apologise for any misguided reference to Turkey. Best wishes, web team]

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  • 12. At 9:03pm on 16 Mar 2009, steve8454 wrote:

    Travelled to Turkey with Goldtrail 3 years ago. Hotel was a joke, rooms were dirty and smelly. Got fed up of complaining. Flew with [airline removed], would not recommend them at all. Holiday was cheap and you get what you pay for. Have been back 3 times since, love Turkey, hate Goldtrail.

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  • 13. At 9:06pm on 16 Mar 2009, GARDENWOLFMAN wrote:

    This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.

  • 14. At 9:13pm on 16 Mar 2009, newkingring wrote:

    Thank you watchdog for your report on Goldtrail holidays. In August 2007 we spent a week in one of their hotels in Turkey, the carpets were stained and dirty, lifts not working and the pool was green, on returning home we wrote to Goldtrail on three different occasions to complain we also copied the correspondance to ABTA. After several months we gave up, we still have the original complaint form filled in and signed by the rep at the hotel. Never again would I book a holiday with this company.

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  • 15. At 9:15pm on 16 Mar 2009, platinumLucylou wrote:

    We went to Turkey with Goldtrail in 2006 and both our accomdation and treatment by hotel staff was appalling.
    The first room we were given had a dirty bathroom so we asked to be moved. Our second room was worse: the front door wouldn't lock so we had to jam a chair against the handle to stop anyone getting in and we felt extremely unsafe. We weren't allowed to move again!
    During our stay, another couple went on an overnight excersion and returned to find other people sleeping in their room. Personal items had been taken, but the hotel staff wouldn't take any responsibilty for the problem.
    The most hideous part of the whole thing happened on our last day: another holiday maker complained about poor service and the hotel manager responded by calling her rascist names. This turned into an argument which resulted in the manageress pushing the women. The most shocking part of this was that the holiday maker was pregnant.
    Add this to the fact that breafast was left uncovered in 40 degree heat,staff slept with their freinds around the pool and the rooms were extremely dirty and you'll get an idea what this hotel was like.
    On returning to England, I immediately sent a letter of complaint to Goldtrail. Their reponse? That the complaint was not reasonable and they would be taking no futher action!

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  • 16. At 9:21pm on 16 Mar 2009, xxlizziexx1990 wrote:

    we went with goldtrails three times and mostly because the people at the hotel were lovely people. but there were problems with the showers they leaked abit and we once had a big damp patch on the ceiling in our room. we also found it very hard to contact goldtrails before all of our flights to make sure the flight was still going, and when we did get through to them they were very rude.

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  • 17. At 9:34pm on 16 Mar 2009, Dillp02 wrote:

    I went to [hotel removed] with them, it was the worst holiday i have EVER had. I sent them a letter of complaint after i cut my foot and had money taken from my room. They sent me a letter saying they have investigated my complaint and didnt what they looked at. They didnt say sorry in the letter and said no further action would be taken. I was so pleased to be back i didnt bother sending another letter in to them but wish i had. I am only 24 and shouldnt have had a holiday from hell!!

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  • 18. At 10:26am on 17 Mar 2009, Butterfly_x wrote:

    We have booked a holiday with goldtrail in May for 2 weeks staying at the [hotel name removed] and we are very worried - we booked the holiday and were very excited we got home looked on tripadvisor and we were horrified at what we saw I joked at the time this is something you see on a programme holidays from hell. We rang Goldtrail the next day as we were not aware that they put people over the road in the staff quaters where wires are hanging and beds are broken it just looks awful, so I rang Goldtrail and they told me we were over the road and that there was nothing they could do for us only requst that we get put in the main building they did not take my name or anything like that so I do not know how they could have even requested it for me they were very unhelpful and could not be bothered, I then rang CO-OP travel and told them we were not advised when booking that we were going to be put over the road they were very helpful and rang goldtrail, they rang us back and told us if we pay a extra £180 then we would be guranteed to be in the main building so we did this but have since read that other people have done the same as us and they still get put into the very very poor rooms. We have not even gone on holiday yet and we are sick of them and not looking forward to our holiday at all and I dont think it should be like it might be cheap but its still alot of money to waste if its bad we work all year and this will be our one holiday this year and we are very worried!!!

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  • 19. At 11:51am on 17 Mar 2009, Robertthebrave1956 wrote:

    Goldtrail carried 250,000 people to the Southern Coast of Turkey......do the CAA know as their records only show an ATOL licence for their own holidaymakers of 133881 pax.......
    Someone's figures are wrong

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  • 20. At 11:55am on 17 Mar 2009, Robertthebrave1956 wrote:

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  • 21. At 6:24pm on 17 Mar 2009, kerry_hopkins2002 wrote:

    we went to marmaris in turkey last summer.me and my boyfriend are in our 20's and booked to go to this hotel on 22nd aug. we paid 530 each well it was definatly not worth it. on arrivel the room was filthy with dirty towels and no toilet paper. when we went to look off balcony the door handle fell off and curtain fell down. this was not fixable. the staff are not approachable we asked which was it was to beach and she must of sent us the longest way. when we booked it they said the beach was 400 m witch it definatly wasnt. they also didnt state that the mosque was less then 100m and had you up at 5am every morning. Our rep didnt turn up to meet us and we couldnt get hold of them . we booked bed and breakfast but when i see that there were dogs in the kitchen and the thick grime on the curtains i refused to eat there, we also discovered the fire escape door on 4th floor (where our room was) had no handle on the door. and all the other levels fire escape door was locked.
    Being a 2 star hotel i expected it to be basic but not this bad..
    I have been on alot of holidays and this has been the worst by far. i wish i had never gone there at all.
    Kerry

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  • 22. At 8:38pm on 17 Mar 2009, Cathiem wrote:

    we travelled to Gumbet with Goldtrail in May 2008 and our hotel was clean but basic Room had a carpet which we found attracted lots of mossies in the room. We were not the only ones in the hotel with infected bites. The food was ok nothing special Our only complaint was the Goldtrail rep She was uninterested and could not get away quick enough. She did not even give us the hard sell for trips. As the Turkish Bath was not open in the hotel she said Goldtrail would pay for us to go elsewhere her choice. We booked but no one came for us at the time she told us and she was unavailable on the phone at a time she should have been. She was not in the least apologetic and we thought at the time Hope we don't have a major problem cos she would be no help Our complaint is nothing compared to what everyone else has suffered we seem to have been lucky

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  • 23. At 9:28pm on 17 Mar 2009, onthebeachholidays wrote:

    In response to Roberthe Brave1956, we just want to clarify that On the Beach is not part of goldtrail. It is neither owned by or owns goldtrail. On the Beach is one of the largest online travel agents in the UK (ABTA no K0813). The connection between the two businesses is that we offer our customers access to their flight programmes.

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  • 24. At 00:32am on 18 Mar 2009, legendaryramases wrote:

    We were horrified to hear about goldtrail holidays and have every sympathy with the poor people who have suffered at their hands - however the item did leave us with the impression that Turkish holidays are all 'third world' and comparatively poor quality.

    We have been 4 times to Hotel Sun Zeynep at Belek near Antalya - last time about 6 years ago - and were seriously impressed with the hygiene, cleanliness and attitude of the management and staff. As ex-hoteliers of quite a few years' standing we feel qualified in making comment.

    The kitchens were extremely well thought-out and consisted of seperate hygiene 'cells' were the various components of each dish were prepared. Only when it was time to be served were the parts assembled. There were always chefs dressed in crisp, clean whites passing unobtrusively around the hot and cold buffets checking dishes against clipboards, testing core temperatures with thermometers etc. Apparently perfectly good dishes were regularly condemned and removed from display to be replaced immediately with the next one.

    The public toilets were very clean and hi-tech. These were the very first ones I had ever visited where each stall and each cubicle had a sensor which activated the flush, each soap dispenser had a sensor which dispensed automatically when your hands were placed underneath, and even the paper hand-towels automatically dispensed themselves when you put your hand close.

    Please note that this was not a giant hotel but more medium sized.

    Please be fair to them and the other hotels who strive to achieve international standards in a country where high temperatures must make food preparation very difficult.

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  • 25. At 3:23pm on 18 Mar 2009, julieetherington wrote:

    We went to Altinkum with Goldtrail in october 2007,the hotel we stopped in was awful.Curtains hanging of the rails,light fittings hanging of the walls dirty linen and not changed or no towels at all for 4 days.The carpets were all thread bare and lager bottles left on the steps to our rooms.And the swimming pool was disgusting it was green ,the rep asked for it to be emptied and cleaned all they did was sweep the sides of the pool and added chemicals.The breakfast was brought from a kitchen round the corner uncovered in the open air.I complained to Goldtrail thay said there was nothing wrong with the hotel and was more or less told that i was lying.Luckily it has not put us of Turkey we have now got our own apartmentin Altinkum .julie

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  • 26. At 7:57pm on 18 Mar 2009, lousie4367 wrote:

    Our family went on a Goldtrail holiday to Turkey in 2005. The reps were worse than useless and on our transfer from the airport to the resort of Marmaris our coach driver was falling asleep. A group of us were extremely worried about this and told the rep who did absolutely nothing. The hotel was awful. The lights didn't work; exposed wires in all rooms including the bathroom; electricity kept tripping out at the most inconvenient of times; room on the 3rd floor at the top of a spiral staircase which was incredibly difficult to carry suitcases up; hotel staff ignored us because we wouldn't eat there; rep turned up an hour late to collect us and another group and said that we were in the wrong, despite providing the written proof of our collection time we still didn't receive an apology.
    We were told that it was a 'Hotel' but it was more like a couple of rooms on top of a restaurant; the pool was smaller than my lounge and was a 'step away' from the main road.
    Awful company, but lovely country.

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  • 27. At 11:15pm on 18 Mar 2009, dottyj123 wrote:

    After watching Mondays program I was amazed that Goldtrail were still as bad as when we travelled with them, back in 2005. !!
    We had been to Turkey before and had had great holidays, until we went with Goldtrail, We arrived to find the accommodation we had booked was overbooked, and we were put in a lower grade hotel, It was dirty, and the pool side was a dumping ground for old fridges etc. Some one working in a bar in Turkey told us ‘Goldtrail’s name is mud here’
    When we arrived home, we complained to Goldtrail, and they basically called us liars, and accused us of profiteering, (their words). We sent our case to ABTA arbitration, and were eventually offered £800 in compensation.

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  • 28. At 1:23pm on 20 Mar 2009, magnificent_you wrote:

    This is a very simple trick that goldtrail calls Turkiye as a third world country. I wonder, They think whole visitors are blind or deaf...

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  • 29. At 08:01am on 27 Mar 2009, demijoebloggs wrote:

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  • 30. At 08:23am on 27 Mar 2009, demijoebloggs wrote:

    Re Goldtrail, some holidays are cheap, yes, and you get what you pay for, but much of what i saw, was not acceptable. Not all Hotels in Turkey are like the ones that are being commented on,i can assure you, having travelled to Turkey for the last 20 odd years, and i never stay in All Inclusive, this takes the money away from the local people, and its cheap to eat out, i say in 2 and 3 stars,but if possible i stay in family pensions, hospitality is fantastic. Compliants i had were of dampness and mould on walls, dirty floors and bathrooms, bare electric wires. To be fair to Goldtrail, they did manage to move some guests to other hotels free, but most times they charge

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  • 31. At 3:04pm on 30 Mar 2009, nicksteadman wrote:

    I went with goldtrail in May 08. Got told on arrival at Dalaman Airport they had overbooked our hotel. We were then told on the bus to the hotel that this was a false alarm we were going to our original hotel. After dropping lots of people off, we wre then told that we were now going back to the alternative hotel on a different bus. We were taken back to Marmaris, though we booked a holiday in Icmeler. When we arrived had to wait for over an hour for the room to be ready, and the rep from goldtrail made a sharp exit upon our arrival. Hotel in Marmaris smelt like a sewer in the room, the Vent in the bathroom came straight up from the sewer. Had to put a plastic bin over it upside down and sleep with all windows open. Next day transfered to Icmeler, where I must say the hotel I stayed in was very good. Complained to Goldtrail but got a very unhelpful reply. Still got the complaint form and letters from goldtrail. I would not recommend them for service.

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  • 32. At 6:33pm on 02 Apr 2009, welshpoolie wrote:

    Been there with Gold trail too. It seems that "its a third world country" and you are lying seems to be par for the course with them. We travelled with them last September to Altincum, Turkey .The only problem was our problem started in England at the airport. We were told to collect our tickets at the airport,2 and 1/2 hrs before the flight but they didn't open the office until about 1 hour before the flight, by which time there were about 100 of us waiting. Reps were invisible both there, Bodrum airport. No signage and 2 reps outside shouting at people to go to this bus or that bus only to be told by very angry drivers that they the reps had got it wrong. TheTurkish drivers eventually sorted us out not the reps. In resort they were uncontactable - the 2 numbers on the notice board in the hotel were unobtainable, and we were told that the office in Altinkum was no longer manned. Ther were no other options so basically we were stuck. But of course Goldtrail said that wasn't true when we got back

    They advertised 1 bedroom appartments which the hotel didn't have. We eventually ended up with a 2 bedroom studio apartment i.e 2 rooms with 4 bed!!!!There were problems with electrics was the same for us too with light fittings falling off the wall, dangling by their wires. The fridge only had 3 legs and rocked. We had to sort out problems with the water supply ourselves.
    Cleanliness and room service were nonexistant; no cleaning of the room or change of bed linnen or towels whlist we were there. We only ate in 2 times the second paying top dollar for a bottle of wine, only to be told later by an english speaking staff member that it has been already open and only 3/4 full. We did what everyone suggests and took photographs. Goldtrail told us to "go away."

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  • 33. At 1:16pm on 07 Apr 2009, robert1960 wrote:

    I have travelled with Goldtrail many many times in the last 5 years, They provide cheap holidays which are good enough for me, Yes the Accomadation is appaling at most hotels they use, But hey I dont go to Turkey to admire the hotel I go to Turkey as it's so friendly towards tourists, I dont think Goldtrail are changing their ways whatsoever as the same hotel I used last year [hotel name removed] is still on their list of hotels they intend useing for this season, This hotel is the filthiest I have ever been to in Turkey, You have no cooking facilities whatsoever no Fridge, No utensils pots and pans etc, Staff are unhelpfull and very rude also, These jokers dont even allow guests to take food into the rooms that they occupy and staff even ask guests when walking through the reception what is in their carrier bags, And point to the sign above them in reception that clearly states no food from outwith the hotel is allowed in the rooms, Also in my room we had mould in the Toilet all over the floor and on the shower curtain inside the shower the tiles were also broken at the corners, Electrical wire was bare in a few places also, Sheets and towels were never changed in the week I was in Marmaris, Thankfully I have friends in Turkey whom washed mine and used my own, So really for Goldtrail to suggest to watchdog that they are going to change their ways and to still have this property available for custumers is appaling. Later that same year I again travelled with Goldtrail to [hotel removed] on an All inclusive basis which is described as 4 suns on the website, Rooms were adequate although no fridge, Food was Ok for those whom like Chicken or salads as these were the main dishes of the day every day of the week, Drinks like Lager were watered down to the extent that when you got one from the bar by the time you walked back to your seat that drink was completely flat, In the hotel which had 2 lifts one of which never worked the other was also non operational for 2 days of the 7, 3 days after our arrival they actually closed the bar in our hotel completely and we were told to use the main hotel situated 100 meters away, So really if anyone fancies travelling with Goldtrail this year do your homework on the many many forums around the internet and look into their hotels goldtrail use for the positive or negative remarks that people make.

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  • 34. At 9:58pm on 08 Apr 2009, tawie121 wrote:

    Hi Nicky And Watchdog crew.
    I booked a holiday with Goldtrail in June 2008. It was supposed to be an all inclusive basis at the [hotel removed] in Hisaronou for one week. The first problem was it is in Ovacik. The first room at the hotel was dirty and stank as if the people had just left. The second room was full of dead cockroaches and moths in the beds and on the floor.It was filthy dirty and stank worse than the first one. On complaining we were told there were no more rooms. The reception area was disgustingly filthy and the staff looked as though they were tramps. The local Goldtrail office did not want to know and suggested we contact their rep (who was on her day off) on the mobile No they gave us. Needless to say there was no answer. We went for some food at the hotel only to find a buffet style load of undescribable stuff on uncovered platters that were fodder to flies,birds and massive flying beetles. There were baskets full of bread which were harder than house bricks. The food was all cold. People who had been there a few days were all complaining about the same food and that it was not edible. They told us that as they were on an all inclusive holiday they had not budgeted for going outside the hotel to eat, and having to pay extra. To cut a long story short...the rep did not want to know either. Me and my guest had food poisoning, and we moved ourselves to another hotel. We were so ill we had no holiday.It was all disgusting from start to finish. We started sending letters to Goldtrail on arrival back in the U.K. and contacted ABTA, who said they are not a regulated service and offered no real help at all apart from supporting Goldtrail. Goldtrail do not think we had a claim. There is no point using them. Today we have started county court proceedings against Goldtrail. We will try to keep you updated.

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  • 35. At 10:05pm on 28 Apr 2009, bigbadal3 wrote:

    we went with goldtrail sept 08 we needed another holiday when we got back ,we stayed at the [hotel name removed] the place was filthy staff didt do anything at all only after 11 o clock when you had to pay for your drinks sent tintrail(dont deserve to be called goldtrail) photos of it all even the cats in the kitchen they say they never received them although we registered them ,finally after 7 months we got a cheque for £50 never ever will we go with this company again it should;t have been x-l that went bust it should have been goldtrail

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