A COUPLE had to sleep in jackets and tracksuits to keep warm on their honeymoon, a judge heard.
Miranda Molloy told Judge Jacqueline Linnane in the Circuit Civil Court yesterday that she and her husband, Paul Dowling, had been devastated by their €5,700 three-week trip to South Africa.
She said the tent they had been given on a safari had been a luxury compared to the dark, dirty, damp chalet rooms provided on what had been booked and paid for as a dream experience.
Barrister Dáithí MacCárthaigh told the court Ms Molloy, a former bank official and Mr Dowling, a plumber, of Riverside Road, Clonshaugh, Dublin, had stipulated five-star accommodation everywhere they would visit on their June 2009 honeymoon. He said their experience had been very different from what they had expected.
Ms Molloy said the taxi booked to meet them at Cape Town airport failed to turn up; when they found one it took him about two hours to find the Blue Views Penthouse apartment where they were to spend their first four nights. Then they were charged double deposits when the wrong car hire company delivered the wrong car to them.
She said there was no catering at the Blue Views Penthouse and she had to shop and cook. The apartment had no heating and was freezing. On the second night they had no electricity. They slept in track suits and day clothing.
Ms Molloy said they had told the staff at Panther Associates Ltd, which trades as Tour America in Middle Abbey Street, Dublin, that no expense was to be spared on what was to be a luxury holiday.
Panther Associates denied they had breached their contract with the couple or had been negligent in their arrangements. They said the trip had clashed with the 2009 Rugby World Cup and practically every hotel in and around Cape Town had been booked out.
Following an adjournment, the couple’s damages claim was settled for an undisclosed sum.