British holidaymaker wins compensation because his hotel was full of Germans

Compensation: David Barnish took Thomson to the small claims court because his hotel was full of Germans

When businessman David Barnish treated his family to a holiday at a luxury resort, he was soon dismayed to find their hotel dominated by Germans.



But it wasn't an abundance of beach towels on the sunbeds by breakfast time which was to spoil the family's fun - rather that the sports activities and entertainment were only offered in German.



Yesterday Mr Barnish told of his delight after a judge awarded him £750 compensation from tour operator Thomson after agreeing that the firm's brochure had mislead him by failing to make clear that the hotel on the Greek island of Kos catered for a mainly German clientele.

The self-employed finance broker had paid almost £4,000 to take wife Karen, 36, and daughters Molly, aged 12, Gemma, 19, and 21-year-old Kim, on a week-long holiday to the Grecotel Park Royal in Marmari last August.



But he took Thomson to Stoke-on-Trent county court claiming the all-inclusive holiday was spoilt because the family could not understand German and were unable to join in events.



Mr Barnish, 47, told the Daily Mail: 'My youngest daughter wanted to take part in activities with the kids club, but its timetable was only published in German.



'There was a treasure hunt which she liked the look off, but again, the clues were only given in German and she couldn't understand it.



'We tried to join a windsurfing lesson and yoga classes but all the instructions were in German so we gave up.



"Even the advertised satellite TV was all in German except for one channel - the BBC World News.



'I feel we were cheated by Thomson because at no stage did they warn us that this hotel was geared up to catering for Germans, not English people.



'I am not a racist, but when I pay so much money for a holiday, I expect to be able to make use of the facilities and activities we are paying for.'



Mr Barnish said that when he complained to the holiday firm half-way through the break, he was advised to take his family to the cinema in Kos because it screened English films.



Mr Barnish, from Madeley, Stoke-on-Trent, said that the only entertainment that was not tailored to the Germans was the evening cabaret, which he said consisted mainly of Greek dancing.



Grecotel Park Royal: The 700-bedroom hotel - which had just 25 Brits - catered for a mainly German clientele

After a small claims hearing, Deputy District Judge Naish awarded the family £750 - or 20 per cent of the week-long holiday's cost - in damages from Thomson to compensate for problems created by the language barrier.



Judge Naish said: 'The customer travelling abroad in these circumstances, going to a hotel which features in an English brochure, doesn't expect to have to press the hotel and providers of activities to be accessible by them in their own language - so I do take the view that the brochure is significantly misleading in failing to make that clear.'

Mr Barnish, who represented himself at the hearing, claimed he wouldn't have chosen the hotel - part of the firm's upmarket Beach Club range - if he had known it catered for a mainly German clientele.



Out of 700 holidaymakers only 25 were English.



He added: 'I have no problem with the hotel itself - the food, service, location and facilities were all excellent. It is the fact that we could not make the most of it because everything was in German that I am angry about.'



Nathan Smith, the barrister acting for Thomson, told the court the brochure did not 'specifically promise' all the TV channels or the activities would be in English and said the Barnish's did not tell hotel staff that they were English and needed help with the language.



A Thomson spokesman said: 'We are sorry that Mr Barnish did not feel the entertainment on his holiday was what he expected.'



On its website, Thomson describes the Royal Park as a 'superb hotel with a first-class service, all the comforts of home and an international atmosphere.'