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'."
Goldtrail Holidays
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'."
Goldtrail Holidays