A couple have described how their honeymoon retreat turned into the ‘holiday from hell’ in less than 24 hours.

Bobby Mayamey and his partner Stephanie Day had been looking forward to their stay at the Aphrodite in Bowness but ended up checking out with nowhere to go after less than a day.

The couple complained to the hotel after finding their garden suite resembled a building site, dirt in their hot tub, workmen walking past their bathroom window and waking to the strong smell of oil in their room.

The weekend was supposed to be for their honeymoon, but due to the pandemic and delays to their wedding day they decided to use the holiday for some time away.

The hotel offered a full refund and said all issues had been investigated ‘straight away’.

“There was a building site directly opposite the garden room,” said Mr Mayamey.

“There were power tools drilling, it was really noisy.

COUPLE: Bobby Mayamey and Stephanie Day

COUPLE: Bobby Mayamey and Stephanie Day

“When I went into the garden, they had put up felt so people working on the site wouldn’t see you in the hot tub.

“It looked shocking; it was so tacky.”

The civil servant rang reception and was offered a 20 per cent refund.

“They were really apologetic,” he said.

“I was still angry, but I didn’t want to argue anymore because it was ruining our trip.”

DIRT: The couple found dirt in the hot tub

DIRT: The couple found dirt in the hot tub

Things got worse and on Friday morning the couple woke up with ‘pounding headaches’ and the smell of oil.

“This was supposed to be a luxury tranquil retreat, but there is nothing luxury about waking up with a headache to the smell of oil, and nothing tranquil about having a building site metres from your room,” said Mr Mayamey, 37.

“The hotel left us high and dry.”

SCREENS: Black screens along the gardens fence

SCREENS: Black screens along the garden's fence

Mr Mayamey once again contacted reception and was eventually offered a full refund.

He also reported the oil smell to South Lakeland District Council.

Unable to be moved to a new room at Aphrodite the couple – who have previously loved their stays in the area – were left to look for alternative accommodation themselves or face the long drive home to London.

“There’s an influx of people coming to the Lake District because they can’t go abroad,” said Mr Mayamey.

“They’re paying through the roof for good quality accommodation; it’s giving the Lake District a bad name.

“It genuinely has been a holiday from hell.”

Ryan Parker, front of house manager at Aphrodite Group, said: “That isn’t our normal standard of service that we provide as a company to our guests, we want people to enjoy their stay.”

Mr Parker said the smell of oil was not due to a leak or spill.

He added: “It wasn’t a spill; our boilers had just been filled up, that’s where the smell possibly came from.”

A spokesman for South Lakeland District Council said: "An SLDC officer visited the premises to investigate on the day the complaint about a smell of oil was made and found no evidence of any statutory nuisance or any danger to public health."