A top lawyer who expected a week of luxurious, delicious food with his family in an idyllic French hotel has been awarded compensation after discovering that even the croissants were inedible.
Damen Bennion was looking forward to a 'gastronomic' experience after spending £6,670 on a stay at Club Med Opio in Provence with his high-flying accountant wife Jane and their two young sons.
The hotel's website promises that 'fragrant lavender, the song of cicadas and the taste of tapenade will transport you to the heart of Provence'.
But the couple found themselves in a 'smelly' room on the first night before being served a 'terrible' dinner, followed by stale croissants for breakfast the next morning.
“It's not hard to get pastries right in France, but they've got it wrong,” Ms Bennion, 49, told Central London County Court.
When the couple requested another room, they were moved to a dirty and dingy suite where there was mold on the walls.
“We told our kids the first night that Dad would take care of things, but that didn't happen,” Bennion told Judge Justin Althaus.
'At the end of the week we as a family went home feeling miserable.'
Damen and Jane Bennion took Club Med to court after spending £6,670 on a luxury holiday in Provence, where they found moldy rooms and stale croissants
The resort, just north of Cannes on the Cote D'Azur, promises that 'fragrant lavender, the song of cicadas and the taste of tapenade will transport you to the heart of Provence'
Mr Bennion, 52, runs his own law firm which specializes in deals involving some of the world's most expensive collector cars.
His children were “excited about all the activities on offer” when they arrived for their stay in July 2023, while he and his wife planned to “sit around the pool and enjoy.”
But as soon as they arrived they were surprised when they were confronted with a question about parking fees at the 'all-inclusive' resort.
And after their disastrous dining experience, they decided to take their boys elsewhere, only to return at night to sleep in their moldy room.
“The reality was that the resort was so poor in terms of cleanliness that we decided they would be happier with us every day if we weren't at the resort,” Mr Bennion said.
“That wasn't what we planned, we wanted to be there for seven days and sit around the pool and enjoy ourselves.”
Mr Bennion told the court that at the time he was 'dealing with the purchase of a car that was the most expensive car ever sold' but did not even have a desk to work on in his 'luxury' room.
“It wasn't a nice place to be,” he explained.
The four-star resort charges up to £2,600 a night for rooms, but the couple discovered their first was 'smelly' and their second riddled with mold
They said they were promised a 'gourmet' dining experience but claimed the food was 'terrible' and they were served stale breakfast pastries the next morning
Mr Bennon told the court they wanted to 'sit around the pool and enjoy' but decided to leave the resort during the day because 'the resort was so poor in terms of hygiene'.
'The food in the restaurant was terrible. To suggest that we could have enjoyed the croissants in the morning was nonsense; they were stale.”
Club Med presented the court with photos of the couple's room that looked attractive and presentable.
But the photos were not dated and Judge Althaus awarded the couple £3,945 in damages after seeing photographs they took which showed the rooms were 'dirty and showed signs of significant wear and tear'.
“You can see the condition of the property, there is mold in the rooms,” he added.
But he refused to compensate the couple for their dining experience, insisting they could not make a fair assessment based on two meals.
“I accept that the breakfast pastries were not impressive for the south of France,” he noted.
'But that doesn't prove that the food in general was unacceptable.
'As for the food, that was ultimately a matter for the claimants themselves.
'They could have gone back for a second dinner, but they decided to eat all their food and meals out, which I can understand.
“Our two boys were enthusiastic about all the activities on offer,” Mr Bennion told the court
Mr Bennion, who set up his own law firm specializing in classic cars, said he was at the time “dealing with the purchase of a car that became the most expensive car ever sold”.
“But that doesn't seem to me to be evidence that the quality of food at the resort overall was the same as they said it was the night they got there.”
Charging the family for hotel parking was also “contrary to the idea that they would enjoy an all-inclusive experience,” he ruled,
But he refused to compensate Mr Bennion for providing inadequate work facilities, saying that claim was not supported by the evidence.
“I am satisfied that there was a misrepresentation as to the quality of the resort, which entitles the plaintiffs to general damages,” he added.
