A Dublin woman has been awarded nearly €21,000 in damages after a nightmare experience during a Greek holiday left her with physical and emotional trauma. Emma Doyle, 26, from Drimnagh, told the Circuit Civil Court that she woke up in her hotel room to find her hair and bed infested with ants, causing clumps of her hair to fall out and leaving her with lasting psychological distress.
A Holiday Turned Nightmare
Ms. Doyle’s ordeal occurred in August 2018 while staying at the Mika Apartments in Crete, Greece, booked through Cassidy Travel and TUI UK and Ireland. She described waking up on the third day of her holiday to discover a “large volume of ants” in her hair and bed. The infestation was so severe that a clump of her hair fell out, and ants were found crawling on the bed linen and floor.
Her screams alerted friends at the hotel pool, who rushed to help. Ms. Doyle and one of her friends were forced to sleep on sun loungers by the pool for two nights before being moved to another hotel. Despite the change in accommodation, the traumatic experience left her with alopecia, nightmares, insomnia, panic attacks, and palpitations.
Court Ruling
Judge Geoffrey Shannon, presiding over the case, awarded Ms. Doyle €20,936 in damages, finding the defendants liable for the improper performance of the holiday contract. He described Ms. Doyle as an “honest and credible witness” and criticized the hotel’s lack of a coordinated response to the ant infestation.
The judge noted that while the hotel’s pest control efforts primarily targeted mosquitoes, the presence of ants, snakes, and mice was a known issue due to the hotel’s countryside location. However, he found that the hotel had failed to adequately address the infestation, clean the room, or provide fresh bed linen during the first three days of Ms. Doyle’s stay.
“The minimum expectation that a consumer should have is that a hotel room should be clean. This is an international as well as a domestic standard and was not met in this case,” Judge Shannon said. He added that the harm caused to Ms. Doyle was foreseeable and that the defendants had failed to exercise reasonable care and skill in addressing the issue.
A Lasting Impact
Ms. Doyle’s barrister, Deirdre Byrne, highlighted the physical and emotional toll the incident had taken on her client. The court heard that Ms. Doyle suffered from induced alopecia and continued to experience flashbacks, insomnia, and panic attacks long after returning home.
The ruling serves as a reminder of the importance of maintaining basic hygiene and pest control standards in the hospitality industry. For Ms. Doyle, the compensation provides some measure of justice, but the scars of her ordeal—both physical and emotional—will likely remain for years to come.
A Warning for Travelers
This case underscores the need for travelers to research accommodations thoroughly and for travel companies to ensure that their partners meet basic standards of cleanliness and safety. For Ms. Doyle, what was meant to be a relaxing holiday turned into a traumatic experience, but her courage in pursuing justice has set an important precedent for consumer rights in the travel industry.
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