I booked a dream holiday to celebrate my 50th birthday but was left with a night on the streets of Marrakech when the hotel didn’t have my booking… despite having already paid £1,500

A mother-of-two who booked a dream holiday to Marrakech for £1,500 was left devastated after she was sent away to her hotel, despite having already paid for it.

Liza Carmel, from Bushey, north London, celebrated her 50th birthday with her friend Lisa Hawley in October after booking a four-day trip with loveholidays.

After catching an early morning flight to make the most of their weekend getaway, they arrived at their chic Riad Touda hotel in Marrakech around 11am.

But the duo were left in ‘complete shock’ after discovering that despite already paying the bill, they had no confirmed booking.

Ms Carmel explained to MailOnline that she was told by the hotel that despite the initial booking request in March, the hotel told loveholidays two days later that they were fully booked and could not accept the booking.

Ms Carmel joined her friend Lisa Hawley (pictured) to celebrate her 50th birthday in October after booking a four-day trip with loveholidays

After arriving at her hotel Riad Touda in Marrakech (pictured) she was told they had no booking

“We were in disbelief,” she explained. ‘Loveholidays had taken my money in installments with the promise that the holiday would be confirmed as I requested.

‘I received all the confirmation emails for months. I just couldn’t believe it,” Ms. Carmel added.

Ms Carmel claims she then called loveholidays, who ‘promised’ they would get back with a solution.

She said: ‘We were both very upset and quite angry. Bearing in mind we had a very early flight so we could make full use of the day as we were only there for the weekend.’

The duo were then offered three different hotel options, Ms Carmel said.

But she claims none were ‘of the same standard, location or price’ as what they booked.

She added: ‘They also told us that a refund was not guaranteed and only at the hotel’s discretion, which I found incredulous under the circumstances.’

Ms Carmel, who had paid £219 a night for her hotel, was offered three others – one for £108 a night, another for £93 a night and a third for £204 a night.

Ms Carmel was helped by a local resident as they frantically tried to find alternative accommodation, wasting a day of their trip

Ms Carmel’s position when she arrived at the hotel was told there was no booking for her

She claims that loveholidays informed them that if they refused to accept any of these options, there would be no guarantee of a full refund.

Ms. Carmel took the risk and found another hotel herself by 4 p.m., after searching all day.

“I had to put it on my credit and hope we would get the full money back,” she said.

She added: ‘Once I disputed this they seemed to backtrack and then offered us up to 200% of the original value of the hotel booking.

‘The whole thing dampened the weekend for both of us as we arrived excited to start a long-awaited holiday only to have it ruined by this experience.

‘Loveholidays was very unsympathetic and it felt like they were being very matter-of-fact about what they could do to remedy the situation.

‘We actually lost one day of a four-day holiday and I spent my entire data package (to the tune of £54), which to this day they still refuse to acknowledge or refund.’

A spokesperson for loveholidays said: ‘We are very sorry that Mrs Carmel’s holiday did not meet our usual high standards.

‘Unfortunately Ms Carmel’s hotel was overbooked and we were not informed of this before she traveled.

‘In addition to offering similar alternative accommodation options to Ms Carmel, we immediately refunded the cost of her hotel and have since reimbursed a further £246 in compensation.’