'I chose to lose £1,200 rather than go on holiday after reading hotel reviews'

A man has opted to lose £1,200 rather than heading to a particular hotel after reading a string of alarming reviews. Kieran Ockenden and his family were all looking forward to a luxurious week in the TUI Blue Manar hotel in Tunisia . They decided to splash out on the trip, forking out £6,636 for a week in the five star hotel.

A short while after he booked, Kieran received an email from TUI explaining that the hotel had been downgraded. Then he noticed the bad reviews trickling in. "Initially we had no concerns, but once the hotel reopened four weeks later, people were posting on the hotel pin board on the TUI BLUE app that they had severe sickness and diarrhoea.

Again we weren’t concerned as it can happen, but as the months went on, more and more people were claiming to be ill," Kieran said. Have you had a holiday go wrong? Email webtravel@reachplc.com TUI has said there have been no cases of illness among customers at the TUI Blue Manar since August 4.

Among those who did fall ill before that were husband and wife Bunty and Panna Shah , aged 50 and 46, who had travelled to the TUI Blue Manar for a two week holiday in July. The family, alongside their daughter Jasmine, 12, and son Dylan, 19, all fell sick either on their trip that cost them more than £5k or afterwards. Bunty - who has the lifelong digestive condition Crohn's disease - and Panna continue to suffer with symptoms including diarrhoea more than two weeks after returning home from their holiday, they claimed.

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