A £350 swimming pool fee ruined our easyJet holiday

My partner and I paid £2,150 for a week’s all-inclusive break in Marrakech with easyJet Holidays and chose the Jaal Riad Resort Hotel because of its pool and spa. When we arrived, we were told use of the heated pool cost £24 a person an hour, the Jacuzzi £24 for 20 minutes, and the hammam was £16 for 20 minutes.

Nowhere were these extra fees listed when booking. EasyJet Holidays rejected my complaint and referred me to a line buried at the bottom of the list of facilities that said charges may apply. The company makes a big deal of the pool — it’s a prominent photo on the webpage for the hotel — and no asterisk pointed out that a couple wishing to use the pool once a day during a week’s stay would have to pay almost £350 extra.

The small-print paragraph appears only after warnings about height and weight restrictions, seasonal availability, opening times, and age and dress codes, and then says the facilities “may” attract additional charges; the charges themselves are not listed.

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