A mum-of-two claims their £4,900 holiday was ruined after they allegedly found bedbugs in the hotel room.
Natalie Slater and husband Steven, both 45, jetted off with their two children Alfie, 13, and Amelia, seven, to Cape Verde.
Beauty business owner Natalie claims that she and Steven woke up on the second day of the trip covered in itchy sores.
READ MORE: Brit holidaymaker has mobility scooter towed away by cops
The couple assumed they’d been bitten by mosquitos until their children also allegedly found bites five days later.
The family-of-four said they slept on a sofa in a five star hotel during their two-week break.
The couple said they checked underneath the mattresses and were horrified to allegedly discover bloody patches and bed bug shells.
Natalie claims she reported the insects to staff and they promised to send someone to investigate.
But she said they never came, leaving the family forced to share a couch, they claimed.
TUI maintains a third party contractor assessed the room on the same day Natalie made the report and that there was no evidence of bed bugs, just mosquitos.
They claim they moved the family to a new room and offered to wash their clothes.
TUI maintains there was no evidence of bed bugs in the room.
“I could feel biting at night time,” Natalie, from Rotherham, South Yorks, claimed to Luxury Travel Daily.
“I sprayed mosquito spray on the bed and had plug ins.”
She claimed: “Amelia started getting bitten on her face then my son got bitten.
“My husband said I looked like a pepperoni pizza because I was covered in that many bites.
“They were shockingly painful, itchy and had pus in them.
“There were more and more every day so we looked under the mattress and behind the bed.”
She alleged: “The mattresses were covered in brown blood stains and there were bed bug shells on the floor.
“I was absolutely horrified.
“I stormed to see the rep who was amazing and couldn’t do enough to help.
“She told the hotel to do an investigation but they never came so me, my husband and two children sat up all night on the settee.”
Natalie alleged: “Amelia was crying, sat up on the settee. She had 25 bites on her face.
“I didn’t know what to do.
“I got my torch out in the pitch black and took photos of the bugs on the bed at 2am.
“If they weren’t bedbugs, why did they offer to wash our clothes?”
Natalie claims that the hotel moved them to a different room the next day but said their holiday which they’d saved all year for was already ruined.
She said: “We couldn’t settle but we had two children and had to try and make the most of it.
“I cried every day. I wanted to go home but it would have been £400 each and we didn’t have that money.”
Natalie says she decided to leave £800 worth of clothes behind because she claimed they could have bedbugs on them.
She did bring home £2,000 worth of designer gear that she says she’ll have to replace.
Natalie said: “We had thousands of pounds of designer clothes that are in a suitcase in the garage.
“There were Casablanca shirts that are £350 a pop, pairs of crocs for £40, sandals, FCUK tops, Stone Island clothes, Amelia had a Burberry dress and £25 rucksacks.
“We can’t afford to replace all that.”
Natalie says she reached out to TUI when she landed in the UK on 1 June.
She claims they said they’re investigating whether the family should receive any compensation for injury but Natalie is also demanding payment for the clothes.
Natalie alleged: “TUI take the mick and they can sod off.
“They’re deciding if we can make a claim for injury and investigating whether they are actually bed bug bites.
“I want a full refund for my holiday being ruined and what about my clothes?
“They said I need to claim on my own insurance for that.
“Amelia still can’t sleep properly and I’m covered in scars.
“It’s awful.
“I don’t want it to happen again.
“We saved all year and go to work.
“I’m fed up and I don’t want other people to go through it.”
TUI declined to comment.
Melia Tortuga Beach has been approached for comment.
READ MORE: Giant snake chases tourists through water at holiday hotspot
