The win that almost wasn’t…

Peter Kellas-Kelly tells Simply Prizes about the dream holiday that almost turned into a nightmare...

Dear Simply Prizes,

Way back in May 2007, I entered the Garnier/Superdrug ‘Take Care’ Thailand holiday competition. Imagine my delight when my partner Andrea received a phone call to sya that we’d won first prize! We were going to spend seven nights at the Deluxe Evason Hua Hin Spa Resort in Thailand! We couldn’t believe it until we received our LWE from the Thomas Cook team, confirming the details.

Winning this competition was truly a chance of a lifetime for us, so we worked with the Thomas Cook team to expand our break to three weeks, giving us time to take in the sights of Bangkok, visit the Golden Triansk area of Chang Mai and Chang Rai and then go on to spend four days in Cambodia, exploring the fabulous temples at Ankor Wat.

We could take our holiday any time up until the end of December 2008. As the weather is drier and less humid in December, we decided that was the best time. The promotions team were excellent, helping us to book every aspect of this fabulous trip.

Then, in late 2008, we began hearing reports about student protests in Bangkok. They started in the city and then eventually spread out to the airport. There had also been some trouble on the Thailand/Cambodia border. We were due to fly out on 30 November, 2008 but we received a call on 28 November from Thomas Cook, saying that we were permitted to cancel the holiday due to the political unrest.

The Thomas Cook prize team excelled themselves – refunding every penny we had paid for the additional activities. We didn’t lose a penny! We used the money to enjoy two weeks in La Palma last winter.

After having to cancel our prize holiday, Thomas Cook then offered us a spa holiday of an equivalent price anywhere in the world! We were gobsmacked! 

We eventually settled on a two-week break at a luxurious spa hotel in Sicily. What was amazing was that we initially won a seven-night room only break but ended up spending two weeks half board in luxury, and even managed to swap the flights to our local airport, saving us a lengthy trip to London.

We arrived in sun-drenched Sicily at the Spa Hotel Alphio Garden in the peaceful fishing village of Gaidini Naxos. The hotel was blissful – there were beautiful indoor and outdoor pulls, Jacuzzi, saunas, steam rooms and aa gym, even a private beach! From our hotel room, we enjoyed stunning views over Mount Etna and the mountain town of Taormina.

We immersed ourselves sin the local culture, exploring the historical theatres of Siracusa and heading to the magical island of Ortygia, where we discovered the legend of Arethusias fountain. Another memorable trip was an off road excursion around Mount Etna. We head 6,200 ft up Europe’s most active volcano and enjoyed a hearty meal of local produce in a very old farmhouse. The landscape was surreal yet amazing; we saw lava flows from the volcano on our first few nights – very memorable!

Overall, it was a superb holiday – and well worth the 24p investment for a second class stamp! And we’re very thankful to Thomas Cook, who were so cooperative in helping us sort out everything.