Holiday pair win £4,000 over 'smelly room and stale bread'

A COUPLE who complained stale croissants and a smelly room ruined their luxury family holiday in France have won nearly £4,000 damages.

- By Nev Ayling

Lawyer Damen Bennion, 52, and his accountant wife Jane, 49, spent £6,670 on the all-inclusive week-long break with their two sons at the Club Med Opio in Provence in 2023.

Mr Bennion said the family were expecting a "gourmet" experience in the four-star setting.

But after an "awful" dinner on their first night and "stale breakfast pastries" the next morning, they avoided the resort in the daytime and did not eat another evening meal there.

Mrs Bennion said: "It's not hard to get pastries right in France, but they got them wrong."

Mr Bennion, the boss of London-based Bennion Law, which specialises in deals involving some of the world's most expensive collectible cars, told Central London County Court: "Our two boys were excited about all the activities on offer.

"But the reality was that the resort was so poor in terms of cleanliness that we took the decision that they would be happier with us each day away from the resort.