The apartment complex I stayed at was undergoing renovation. And from 9am till 5pm every day I was there the noise in my apartment was unbearable..So much so that even with the windows  shut I couldn’t spend any time in the apartment during this time.

Now I appreciate this is a bit of a first world issue, and I was out there to cycle, not sit in all day, but it would have been nice to be able to chill out when I returned from my ride in the afternoon, and this was just not possible.

There was a notice in the reception stating the work would be carried out and apologising for the inconvenience, but this was never mentioned at time of booking. If it had been there were plenty other options to choose from. The note said it was beyond their control, but the work was not in an ajacent complex, they were renovating one of the apartments 2 floors down from mine so must have know about it

I messaged the owner to raise the issue but never heard back, and booking.com who I booked it through have said they will investigate but all they have said is that they haven’t heard back from the owner either. There was noone at reception the entire time I was there so couldn’t raise with them either.

So what to do? Can I claim any kind of compensation as it did kind of put a downer on an otherwise nice wee break. And if anyone says ‘man up’, send me your email and i’ll send you a sound recording of what it was like in my apartment every hour of the afternoon….i promise you it was loud!!

Where were you staying?

san agustin

Inside the apartment was fine, as was the area. It was just the noise which was ridiculous

Without wanting to sound snarky, when should repairs/renovations be allowed?

Out of season between 9-5 seems fine to me.

I have no issues with them doing it..I have an issue with not being told they were doing it when I booked 7 days earlier. Then I get the choice as to whether I stay there or not.

is that not reasonable?

Your problem IMO is using booking .com.  I always book direct with hotels and apartments – that way you get to speak to folk who actually know what is going on.  Never use resellers for anything.

Speak to Trading Standards and consider a small claim. For a flights and room only package we were refunded all of our accommodation costs and only paid for the flights; the holiday company had previously refused everything but didn’t contest it in Court. The holiday company refunded the small claims fee as well

I have found Booking. Com very good with refunds when instances such as this have happened to us (very occasionally).  Keep on at them

Out of season

What possible bearing does that have on the OP? They’ve rented the apartment out, same as they would at any time of year.

I’ve actually just heard back…the hotel are offering me a partial refund..of wait for it..40 euros..

I paid 340 pounds to rent the place for 4 nights as I recall.

40 euros seems like a bit of a pisstake if you ask me, but then again it’s better than nothing…

never accept 1st offer

The offer of a refund involved giving the spanish owner my bank details and they would then transfer me the cash. I would have thought the responsibility for the payment would be from booking.com

Someone mentioned small claims court, which whilst not a route I want to go down particularly, can anyone advise who i would be claiming against? Booking.com, or the owner. If the latter then it’s pretty unlikely that I’m going to have any success given they are spanish no?

“…can anyone advise who i would be claiming against?”

That’s where Trading Standards will be a huge help. My claim was against the holiday company, rather than the owner of the accommodation. The bulk of the small claims process is/was simple, and you can cancel and resubmit online applications. The point is to avoid solicitors and complication.

Thanks timba, will give them a call tomorrow

You may find that the disruption was truly outside of their control. Quite often over here there will be a percentage of apartments within a complex which are privately owned. If the owner wants to undertake works then as long as they stick to working hours there’s not much that can be done. They are also not required to give any notice of the work, so it may not have been known about when you booked.

Of course it could be 100% owned by the hotel company, in which case there’s no excuse for not making you aware.

So..almost 3 months after returning and no refund, despite agreeing 90 quid with booking.com, them confirming that they were ready to process payment, me handing over my bank details and reluctantly a screen shot of my bank statement proving how much I’d paid.

Chased them numerous times, finally got a reply today. Can you send us the details of your trip, dates, where and when you stayed etc. Useless clowns.

No idea if they have received the cash from the appartment owner, but they haven’t passed it on to me if they have.

Have you phoned them rather than waiting for responses?

It’s always going to be a problem with hotels and apartment buildings; I must have spent a full week researching hotels in Manhattan but on almost every one there was mention on TA of noisy building works in an adjacent block or in the same building. The owners or management will try never to draw your attention to it. Actually with some of the hotels where I stay in Africa renovation is to be welcomed because there is no maintenance culture and places get pretty dirty and worn out. At one where I stay in Lagos a two year renovation took four years because of the frequent complaints from guests and because greedy Customs officers kept holding all the stuff to ransom at the port.

I haven’t phoned as they are based in Holland and don’t have a number to call as far as I can see.

It’s only 80 quid but on a point of principle im fairly annoyed. Their customer service is appalling.