Brides left 'frustrated' and 'in the dark' after shut down of hotel wedding venue booked through TUI

Brides-to-be from Wales are among a group of more than 40 across the UK who are worried that the future of their weddings is at risk after the sudden closure of their venue.

They all booked through travel company TUI and are due to get married between May and October next year at the Holiday Village Atlantica Kos - on the Greek island of Kos.

Amid wedding preparations and trying to book rooms for family and friends, the brides-to-be discovered that the hotel's website and social media pages had all but disappeared.

According to the brides, the hotel is under new ownership, under a new name and are taking bookings directly - with some being told that their booking is now "void".

Two of those brides are from Wales and they claim they have received "no clarification" from TUI for weeks, which has left them feeling "frustrated" and "left in the dark".

They said they have "all been told different things" by TUI as they try and find out if their wedding can still take place on the same date and where the location will be.In response, a spokesperson for TUI has apologised for the delay in communication and said they will be in touch with the brides. They also reassured that the weddings will take place, but at a different venue.

27-year-old nursery manager Danielle Connor from Caerphilly is due to get married in May of next year to her partner, Rhydian. Between 50 and 60 guests are set to join them on their big day, with the vast majority already booked to go.

According to Ms Connor, the couple have already spent £5,000 on their wedding at the hotel.

Ms Connor has been with her partner for more than a decade and the couple are planning on tying the knot in Kos on their eleventh anniversary.

"We've known for a while we wanted our wedding to be abroad," she told WalesOnline.

"We booked the wedding with TUI back in November of last year, it was so exciting. We were supposed to have a virtual meeting with the wedding organising team in November of this year."But we had no correspondence from them at all. At that point, we kind of knew that something was not right.

"We noticed on Google that the hotel said it was permanently closed.

"I contacted the TUI store and they reassured me that it was due to the winter period that they were closed. But it wasn't even allowing any other of my guests to log on and book at the hotel.

"That's when I started to get really concerned."

Mum-of-two Emily Dabinett from Welshpool had also booked at the Holiday Village Atlantica Kos hotel. Her wedding with her partner of eight years, Oli, is set to take place in October of next year.

She said: "As a couple, we are so laid-back and chilled. One day, we just thought, 'what’s the most chilled wedding you can get?' And we thought, a beach wedding..

"When we went with TUI, we realised that everything was in a package and we didn’t have to faff around and do something separately, we wanted something that could just do it.

"We started the planning of the wedding in July of this year and then within a month, we had been in our local TUI store twice, and then in the end of August it was all booked."Once we booked that package, we were excited.

"All our family were coming as well - we have elderly relatives who are coming and have all paid. They had to get expensive insurance because of their age and health problems. All for the purpose of coming to our wedding, they wouldn’t go abroad otherwise."

But just like Ms Connor, last month Ms Dabinett realised something might be wrong with her planned wedding venue. She went to book a room for one of her friends and could not find the hotel's website.

"We then found the hotelier on Facebook and asked if they could help us," she explained.

"They basically said that their contracts with TUI had ended and all the bookings were void.

"We called the store that we booked it with and they said that it was incorrect and they were just negotiating contracts. So I emailed the wedding planner and they said they would come back to us at the end of November, but we’ve heard nothing back from them."We’ve had to call them again, they said it would be at the end of December - it was supposed to be on the 15th but that didn’t happen either. They’ve pushed it back to December 20, but other brides have been told it is now on January 5."

Both Ms Connor and Ms Dabinett found each other online, alongside more than 40 other brides, who found themselves in a similar situation.

According to the Welsh brides, they have "all been told different things" by TUI as they try and seek clarification on the future of their bookings - like where the location will be and if it will be on the same date as they had initially planned.

But according to the brides, there has been "no communications, meetings or clarification" from the travel company.

As a result, Ms Connor said that she has been left "frustrated" and "in the dark" about her future wedding.

She said: "We are worried now with where our money is going, obviously with Christmas and cost of living crisis, it is a huge concern.

"We have around 50-60 guests that have already booked on and other guests that want to book on. They’ve paid a big chunk of theirs as well and they’re asking me, what’s going on?"It’s so stressful. I’m currently doing my Masters and trying to run a nursery, all I can think about is what’s going on with my wedding?

"It’s four months away and I’ve had to have extensions on my assignment because it’s all been just crazy."

She added that she and her partner have considered calling off the wedding altogether because of the stress.

She said: "I just want some information, I want to know where I’m getting married. I feel in the dark with everything and it’s just frustrating.

"My fiancé is very frustrated, we’ve considered cancelling the wedding full stop because we initially booked the wedding abroad as we thought it would be easy and stress-free, it has been everything but."

Ms Dabinett is also desperate for answers and said the situation has dampened her excitement for the special day.

She said: "At the moment, I’ve gone past the point of caring. A part of me just doesn’t want to get married anymore, I just want to know what’s happening and get my money back.

"It’s put a downer on things. Another part of me thinks, I have waited for eight years for this and I want to do now. It’s a sad situation."I just want some answers and clarification. If they need to move hotels, that’s fine - we'd be okay with that. But the only issue is dates - we have a lot of guests that are teachers so we are working around them.

"We are open to anything as long as we have that date. We just want to know because this has been going for over a month and we just don’t know what is happening."

In response, a spokesperson for TUI has said the company knows there are being questions asked about the weddings due to take place at the Holiday Village Atlantica Kos and it is prioritising those bookings.

They added that all those that have booked weddings through TUI with the previous venue will go ahead at a different venue.

However following this development, Danielle has said that she is considering cancelling her wedding for fears a new location will mean additional costs for her and her guests.

In a statement, a spokesperson for TUI said: "We’re aware of customer speculation over summer 2023 weddings to Holiday Village Atlantica Kos.

"It’s correct that the hotel is currently off sale, however we can now confirm that we will be launching a new Holiday Village in Kos.

"We know how important weddings are to our customers and we want to reassure all those who have booked weddings through TUI to the Holiday Village Atlantica that both the holiday and wedding will go ahead on the dates booked in our new Holiday Village.

"Our teams can assure customers they will have a fantastic Holiday Village experience with all the great Holiday Village facilities and entertainment we are famous for delivering.

"Our customer services teams will be in touch directly with those who have bookings to discuss all options, prioritising our wedding bookings who will be contacted within the next seven days.

"We’d like to apologise for the delay in communicating this change to our customers whilst we were working through the finer details and legalities with our partner Atlantica."