The moment Durham dad catches hotel cleaner rummaging through belongings and sipping his Sprite – The Northern Echo

Tommy Hudson, from Wellington, says he felt unsafe in his room during his Jet2 holiday at the Elios Hill Hotel in Crete after recording staff snooping on his family’s belongings.

The father-of-one splashed out £4,600 on a holiday at the newly opened hotel with wife Joanne and their two-year-old daughter Elsie at the start of August, hoping for a relaxing break.

“It took what should have been a nice family holiday,” Tommy, 42, told the Echo. “Instead, we talked about it every day and checked the cameras in case anything else happened.”

In one clip, a male cleaner can be seen looking into a WHSmith bag the family had left in the room and rummaging through the shelves.

On the second day of vacation, Tommy caught a cleaning lady going through their belongings. (Image: TOMMY HUDSON) In another video taken later in the holiday, a janitor takes a sip from the family’s Sprite bottle before returning it. He then shows up to get a key card for the room.

There is no suggestion that any item was stolen from the room.

Jet2 said the 275-room hotel had dealt with the staff in question, apologized to Tommy and would provide an “appropriate gesture of goodwill”.

A cleaner drinks from the family’s Sprite bottle before returning it. (Image: TOMMY HUDSON)

But he says the £320 cash compensation offer is not good enough and has now escalated his complaint to ABTA.

“They came back to us offering £320. They didn’t seem to take it very seriously at all,” said former Navy SEAL Tommy.

“On the penultimate day, he was drinking from our water bottle and took our key card. We had to go and change the keys in case he tried to get back into the room. The camera wasn’t even hidden, it was just in the corner of the room.

“We spoke to the hotel manager and they said the staff were relieved of their duties.

“We felt insecure in the room, we had to check her on camera every day.”

The five-star hotel opened its doors only this summer. (Image: TOMMY HUDSON) Tommy took the camera with him after he said he read a review online from a traveler who claimed items were missing from their room.

The hotel offered them a trip to a beach club including transport, food and drinks to apologize plus a late check out on their last day after he complained about the first instance but then he caught the cleaner drinking from their pop bottle on the penultimate day and he turned on Jet2.

“We don’t know if he spit back into the bottle,” the father continued.

“My stomach churns at the thought that my daughter may have drunk it as his saliva may be in and around the rim.

“They told me that since it was our last day at the resort, there was nothing they could do for us.

“The slogan they have on the side of their planes is ‘package holidays you can trust’. When something like this happens, you can no longer trust them.

“This has really put us off booking another holiday through Jet2. I am saddened as our last eight holidays have been with Jet2 and they have all been fantastic.

“I just want people to know this is happening.”

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Hotel breaks remain on sale via the Jet2 website at the time of publication. TUI also offers holidays to the hotel.

A Jet2 spokesman said: “We would like to offer our sincere apologies to Mr Hudson for this experience. We understand that the hotel has fully investigated and taken appropriate action with the staff in question.

“We have contacted Mr Hudson to apologize and provide an appropriate gesture of goodwill.”

The Elios Hill Hotel did not respond to the Echo’s request for comment.