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This family got the shock of their life at their 'dream' holiday resort

A family was reduced to tears when they arrived at their hotel in Malta to find all three outdoor swimming pools had no water in them.

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The Pindars, mother Claire, father Mark, and children eight-year-old Louis and six-year-old Sid, had booked an eight-day all-inclusive stay at the four-star Seabanks Resort and Spa.

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The Northampton family were looking forward to sun and relaxation around the pool after booking through holiday specialists On The Beach.

However to their shock, they discovered all the outdoor pools were out of service, and all that was available was a heavily restricted indoor area.

Claire Pindar, the mother, said: "When we go away, the pool facilities are often the dealbreaker; but when we booked this hotel we were excited at the opportunities it would offer.

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The picture on the booking form showed the hotel and pool areas looking lovely at night; however the reality was totally different."

Mrs Pindar describes how when they arrived in the early afternoon on May 28, they were told their room was not quite ready. While they decided to check out the facilities, it was then that the grim discovery was made.

"The children ran off, excited to go and check everything out.

But not long after they both returned in floods of tears to say that the pools didn't have any water in them. We thought they were joking at first, but to our horror it was true.

We were absolutely devastated."

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The family were told by reception that the work had been going on since February and that the hotel had informed online travel agency On The Beach.

However Mrs Pindar claims she has been told by the the holiday booking company that they were unaware of the work being carried out on the pools.

'We asked to change hotels as they have a sister hotel, San Antonia, but there pools had no chemicals in it so couldn’t be used either,' added Mrs Pindar.

The rules for the indoor pool meant the Pindar family couldn't take full advantage of their all-inclusive Easter break

Despite requesting to move to another hotel with suitable pool facilities, the family claim they were told that this was not possible by an On The Beach representative, and they were forced to spend eight days using the indoor pool.

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Mrs Pindar added: 'It was very small and obviously very, very busy, you were not allowed to drink by it so what was the point in going  fully inclusive; so much for us relaxing by the pool watching the children swim with a nice cocktail.

'The children were not allowed any toys or inflatables in the indoor pool and were kicked out of it everyday for Aqua Aerobics.'

Children Louis and Sid had saved for months, and spent all their pocket money on inflatables they weren't allowed to use.

The family, who saved for two years to go on the £2,000 holiday, say they were not contacted again by a holiday representative for the duration of their stay and that they were only offered £140 by the hotel initially by way of compensation.

However, after MailOnline Travel contacted On The Beach for a response, the family were refunded £1,061 - the cost of the hotel.

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'It was more than I expected,' Mrs Pindar said. 'But we feel the hotel was not fit for purpose. It's like buying a dream car, having it delivered, to find no engine in it,' said Mrs Pindar.

'I can’t emphasise enough the sweat, blood and tears that have gone into saving up for our holiday over the last two years. For us, we made the most of it for the children but really we spent the week thoroughly disappointed and upset.

'We could have stayed at home and used the local leisure centre pool for a fraction of the cost and the same restrictions as Seabanks with no drinks and inflatables rules and no tan.'

In a statement to MailOnline Travel, On The Beach explained: 'On The Beach take customer complaints very seriously and we have conducted a full investigation into this matter.

'We are very sorry to hear our customers arrived at their hotel only to find the hotel pools were not in operation and we fully understand this would have had a negative impact on their overall holiday experience.

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'On these rare occasions, our hotel partners should confirm to us of any changes.

'However on this occasion, this process failed which meant the customer was not made aware of the pool closures before they departed the UK.

'We are now reviewing our processes to ensure this does not happen again.

'On The Beach takes full responsibility for this error and have offered the customer a full refund. The customer has now accepted this offer.

'Once again, we would like to take this opportunity to apologise to Mr and Mrs Pindar.'

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