British couple asked to pay £830 for hotel stay after Thomas Cook collapse

A British couple claimed they were asked to pay 942 euro (around £832) for their hotel stay in Spain after travel group Thomas Cook collapsed on Monday.

Liam Archer and his partner Ciara Edwards, both from Gloucestershire, say staff at Arena Beach Hotel in Fuerteventura, Spain, asked for the money to secure their hotel booking which was made with Thomas Cook.

Mr Archer told the PA news agency: “We had a note through our door asking us to go to reception. We were then told we had one hour to pay 942 euro otherwise we would have been kicked out of the hotel.”

The world’s oldest tour operator folded after 178 years of trading on Monday, leaving around 150,000 Britons stranded all over the world.

The couple arrived at the hotel on September 18 and are due to stay until Saturday. Mr Archer told PA that they have been a couple for one year, and this holiday is their first time travelling abroad together.

He said the note was left in the couple’s hotel room on Monday afternoon, and they were then asked for the money.

Mr Archer, who works as a bricklayer, said: “We rang the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) and they told us to pay and keep receipts. Very stressful as we have had to ring around to find the money.

“We now have to wait and see if we have transfers to the airport, otherwise we could be paying £80 for a taxi there.”

Mr Archer said: “It was a very stressful part of our holiday. We were scared we would be on the streets and thinking of where we would stay.”

The Arena Beach Hotel did not immediately respond for comment regarding the incident.

Thomas Cook ceased trading in the early hours of Monday after failing to secure a last-ditch rescue deal.

An estimated 150,000 people are being brought back to the UK by the CAA in a flight programme costing £100 million.