Beaches too sandy, fish scare the kids: it's a Fawlty Towers world for some tourists

Damn those wide sandy beaches and oceans full of fish. And let's not get started on the consistency of gravy.
Honestly, it's enough to ruin a perfectly pleasant holiday, according to a list of recent complaints by not‐sointrepid
British tourists.
Consider this "it's all your fault" rant by a woman who returned to Britain with an unexpected holiday
souvenir: "My fiancé and I booked a twin‐bedded room, but we were placed in a double‐bedded room. We
now hold you responsible for the fact that I find myself pregnant."
Her complaint and scores like it, compiled by the Association of British Travel Agents and Thomas Cook, have
done nothing to dispel the whingeing Pom cliché.
In one case, a British guest at a Novotel hotel in Australia made a fuss about his soup being too thick and
strong. He had been supping from the gravy boat.
Another culinary challenged traveller grumbled that "on my holiday to Goa in India, I was disgusted to find that
almost every restaurant served curry. I don't like spicy food at all."
Other British tourists found their holidays were spoiled because "the beach was too sandy" and "no one told
us there would be fish in the sea; the children were startled".
One disgruntled wife declared that topless sunbathing should be banned because her "holiday was ruined as
my husband spent all day looking at other women".
A selection of complaints from travellers from the UK
* We bought Ray‐Ban sunglasses for five euros ($9) from a street trader, only to find out they were fake.
* The brochure stated: "No hairdressers at the accommodation." We're trainee hairdressers — will we be OK
staying here?
* There are too many Spanish people. The receptionist speaks Spanish. The food is Spanish. Too many
foreigners.
* We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as yellow but it was
white.
* We had to queue outside with no air‐conditioning.
* I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local store does not sell proper biscuits like custard
creams or ginger nuts.
* It's lazy of the local shopkeepers to close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things during "siesta" time
— this should be banned.
* I was bitten by a mosquito — no one said they could bite.
* We booked an excursion to a water park but no one told us we had to bring our swimming costumes and
towels.