Africa-Press – Mauritius. My wife and I booked a ten-day break to Mauritius through British Airways Holidays (BA) that cost about £5,600, arriving at the LUX Belle Mare resort on the morning of July 1 last year. At about 11.30am the next day a fire started on the roof of the reception building, and soon the whole hotel was ablaze.
Once we had been moved to a holding hotel we spoke to BA, who offered an alternative hotel for the remainder of the stay, but we arranged to be on the next flight home, the following evening. We were then moved to alternative accommodation, which that was very basic.
We paid a large amount of money for this holiday as it was our last significant one before having a child, but the only compensation we’ve been offered is a refund from the hotel for six nights of our stay.
BA says it’s not liable to pay compensation, our insurance claim has been rejected, and we’ve had no response from our credit card company. Can you help? Andrew Mitchell
It does seem extraordinary that having had your holiday ruined by your hotel burning down you couldn’t get your money back, but travel insurance will only pay out if specific scenarios are included in a policy (a hotel fire wasn’t in yours), while BA said that you were offered an alternative hotel of a similar standard and decided to return home early instead, so you weren’t automatically entitled to a refund.
The great news is that following my intervention BA has now given you a full refund “as a gesture of goodwill”. My wife and I are planning a holiday in October or November and are considering a four or five-day safari followed by a beach stay of six to seven days.
We’d ideally like an all-inclusive trip with yoga during the second part. Our budget would be a maximum of £15,000. What can you suggest? John Aveyard
The weather in South Africa is more reliable than in east Africa in October and November, so try the excellent Garonga Safari Camp in the western part of the Kruger National Park, where you can expect top-notch tents and optional extra treats such as bush baths under the stars and aromatherapy and reflexology sessions, as well as yoga.
The park is home to the big five, and there are game drives as well as wilderness walks with guides, and — because there are two watering holes visible from all the tents — you may spot rhinos, elephants, giraffes and impalas while hanging out with a G&T.
Then, after a night in Johannesburg, fly to Mauritius for a six-night stay at Heritage Awali on the south coast. It has one of the best all-inclusive packages on the island and there’s a great spa with yoga classes as part of the fitness programme. An 11-night all-inclusive trip staying at both properties with flights and transfers starts at £5,895pp (rainbowtours. co. uk)
Or how about Sri Lanka? Stay at Uga Chena Huts, among the dunes close to Yala National Park, and you’ll get a palm-thatched “pavilion” with a plunge pool, and a game drive each day with your own ranger in search of leopards, elephants, sloth bears and white-tailed deer.
Follow this with a week at the Fortress Resort and Spa on the beach near Galle, where couples’ yoga can be booked, if you can tear yourselves away from the gorgeous pool.
A 12-night all-inclusive trip with flights and transfers starts at £6,899pp (kuoni. co. uk). ✉ My soon-to-be-18-year-old daughter and I would love to go on a holiday this summer in which we can swim with dolphins.
However, we have no wish to harm or exploit these beautiful, intelligent creatures, so is there a trip that would allow us to see them in the wild in which it would be their choice whether to interact with us? Nimi Bruce
Brush up on your snorkelling for a break on the island of São Miguel in the Azores, in the north Atlantic, where three dolphin swim trips overseen by a marine biologist are part of a week-long holiday.
You can go whale-watching, kayaking, mountain biking and paddleboarding too, and take a dip in geothermal pools. It costs £825pp, including B&B in a four-star hotel and transfers. Return flights are about £400 in July (responsibletravel. com).
✉ I’m looking for a foraging course with an overnight stay for my daughter and I — preferably in a yurt or shepherd’s hut, and ideally in Northumberland or Cumbria — but I am struggling to find courses and accommodation in a similar area.
Can you help? Dorothy Nelson Woodland dining is on the menu on Full Circle Holidays’ Forage and Feast course in Rydal, in the Lake District. It costs £80pp for four hours and ends with cooking your finds at a campfire meal.
Book one of its beautifully furnished Mongolian yurts, which start at £130 a night from April, with a 10 per cent discount if you arrive by public transport; if you drive there’s a £20 parking fee (fullcircleexperiences.
uk). Alternatively, stay at Hesleyside Huts, in the Capability Brown-designed gardens of Hesleyside Hall in Northumberland.
There are two shepherd’s huts sleeping two that start at £125 a night, as well as Raven Tower, a four-storey Scandi-inspired hideaway with a bathtub below a retracting star-gazing roof that costs £225 (canopyandstars.
co. uk). It’s a great base for an excursion with Northern Wilds, which runs four-hour foraging courses in the Northumberland National Park from April onwards for £65pp (northernwilds.
co. uk). ✉ Our train from Disneyland Paris to St Pancras in December was changed from an 18.00 departure to 16.45 because of the strikes in London. As requested we arrived 90 minutes beforehand.
However, there was an extremely long queue and boarding started late, and as we neared the front of the queue, station staff put up a barrier and refused to let anyone else through.
Panic set in and after a few minutes they allowed a few more people to enter, including us; it looked as though about 200 passengers were left behind.
We were in premier class, but no food was available. We have had no apology from Eurostar. Why didn’t they arrange to get us boarded earlier? Ann Judge
Eurostar said that it was sorry for the “issues” encountered by you and your family, but the train had to leave before the scheduled departure time owing to the closure of the high-speed line after a certain time on strike days.
This, combined with an earlier train fault, left it with very little time to board passengers and unable to load its usual catering. It has offered you compensation in the form of an e-voucher worth 15 per cent of the ticket cost — in your case £100 — and explained that the passengers who were left behind stayed overnight in hotels and travelled back the following day.
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