British holidaymakers book Thomson hotel in Croatia that's still being built

British holidaymakers book hotel that 'hasn't been built yet'

A host of British tourists have been left furious after booking a Thomson holiday at a hotel that has not even been built yet.

The Adriatic Beach Hotel by Karisma in Makarska, Croatia, was advertised on Thomson's website as opening on 1 May 2015. Pictures of the stunning new hotel show it as it is supposed to look when it's finished.

A number of holidaymakers booked the hotel for May and June - only to find out construction at the site has not actually been completed.

One concerned holidaymaker, Anne Hanscomb, contacted This Is Money about the situation after seeing pictures of the unfinished building posted on TripAvisor.

Along with the pictures, the TripAdvisor user wrote a warning to other holidaymakers that the hotel will not be open until July, instead of May as previously stated.

He wrote: "I have just got back from Makarska, Croatia where I stayed in the village of Igrane where two new Sensimar hotels were due to open for the 2015 Season.

"The Adriatic Beach By Karisma was originally supposed to be open by 1 May 2015 for primarily British occupancy and I was supposed to be staying there. As of the 15 May 2015 the hotel is still not finished it is unlikely to be open until July 2015.

"I drove past the hotel and they have 350 or so persons working on the hotel. The attached photograph shows the cranes and it is some way from being finished. The Chief Executive of Tui recently visited Igrane and he is fully aware of the delays with the hotel."

Anne, who was due to fly out for her wedding anniversary for a £1,500 seven-night all-inclusive stay on 5 June, was forced to contact Thomson. She was offered alternative accommodation, which she said was "unacceptable", and received a full refund, as well as an offer of £30 compensation for the inconvenience, which she refused.

Speaking to This Is Money, a Thomson spokesman said: "Thomson is sorry to confirm that the opening of the Adriatic Beach Hotel in Croatia has been delayed until 3 July.

"We were assured by the hotelier that the hotel would be ready by the dates we advertised, however unexpected construction delays have meant the work cannot be completed within the agreed timescale.

"We understand the frustration that this delay has caused our customers and would like to offer our sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused.

"We are currently contacting affected customers directly to arrange alternative accommodation.

"We would like to reassure customers that situations such as this are extremely rare and we continually monitor all the hotels in our programme to ensure they meet our high standards."

Indeed, not everybody has been unhappy with the alternatives offered. One holidaymaker took to Tripadvisor to say Thomson's service had been "flawless" after she booked a holiday at the Adriatic Beach Hotel for June.

She wrote: "As we were booked for 12 to 26 June, we had been in touch with Thomson local branch where we booked our holidays for the last two weeks making enquiries and politely pressing them for answers.

"After receiving FB message from Thomson on delay of opening till 03/07, we have contacted our Thomson branch and today we made an agreement and accepted alternative destination.

"We have negotiated a platinum hotel in Sorrento, Italy. All inclusive with a room upgrade. We have given up on compensation but insisted on free upgrade. The holiday we have now been offered is worth £700 more than the Croatia ones. We did not have to pay anything. Flying on the same dates. Service was flawless."

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