Virgin Atlantic Holidays Avis 

I booked my fortnight's holiday to Mexico with Virgin's Cardiff store yesterday afternoon and was blown away by the demonstrable efficiency and effectiveness experienced.

After all, it was just before 4.00pm on a Sunday, the phone was answered promptly and my requirements were noted, discussed and implemented well ahead of close of business. Impressive!

I was particularly taken by Stephanie Martin's diligence, engaging manner, and desire to please - which she did!

I’m extremely disappointed with my recent Virgin Holidays villa stay, especially after planning this trip for so long. The villa we were given was nowhere near the standard Virgin advertises.

The condition of the property was unacceptable. There were multiple issues throughout the villa, including damage and marks in several rooms that were far beyond what anyone would consider normal wear and tear. When I raised this with Virgin, I was told this was “normal wear and tear”, which felt dismissive and completely untrue given the state of the place.

Before travelling, I specifically asked Virgin to ensure the villa had a proper swimming pool. I was reassured that it would. When we arrived, it was immediately clear that this was not the case. The pool was nothing like what had been described or shown in the photos, and it was a major reason we booked this type of holiday in the first place.

We spent the first week trying to get these issues addressed, only to be told repeatedly that everything was acceptable. It absolutely wasn’t. The combination of the villa’s poor condition, the misleading information about the pool, and the lack of meaningful support from Virgin has genuinely ruined what should have been a special and long‑awaited holiday.

For a company that promotes premium service and quality accommodation, this experience fell far below expectations. I hope Virgin takes this seriously, because this is not the standard anyone should receive.
Happy to attach a few pics that shared and you can judge them for yourself.

Update have spoke with customer care and they said thanks for feedback and agreed regarding the standards have offered 3% of holiday for poor accommodation. Allow you to think if you think this is fair reflection of 2 weeks of poor standard accommodation?

Such an excellent service and Heidi was amazing

Poor customer service just fob you off call centre must be abroad as reply’s at 5am old planes falling apart and lots of excuses stay clear

The actual holiday was amazing, but the airline haven’t been good at all. We had a cancelled flight so we was told that virgin would get us hotels, but for some reason they couldn’t and told us to book our own and we would be reimbursed in full as long as we keep all receipts for all the expenses that we incurred. We went on Booking.com and found the cheapest one we could find it wasn’t the best hotel but it was only one night, we put receipts in for the hotel the Ubers and the extra night parking at Heathrow. We then had an email telling us that there was a limit on the hotels, no one told us on the day and we weren’t gonna get reimbursed for the parking that was an expense no fault of our own, we put no food or drink through and didn’t put loss of earnings either and an airline like virgin couldn’t even give all their passengers the full price of the hotel I think this is pretty disgusting

Nicola from the Trafford Centre was exceptional in helping us to book our trip to Vegas, New York and Bahamas.

I visited Leeds white rose shopping centre, and the service was terrible, left standing at the door without any sort of greeting, whilst the staff talked between them selfs looking over but no acknowledgement, staff didn’t seem to want to speak to us, certainly didn’t show care in wanting to look after us, or help, if my query wasn’t changing and already booked holiday with Virgin, I’d have got up walked out and booked else where with the poor customer service given, there was no smile, just attitude like they could not be bothered, at no point was we offered a drink or snack like all previous visits to other stores, this is the second time visiting this store and had a similarly terrible experience, this is our closest store, but from now on will travel out further than the already hour it takes.

Great experience staff more than helpful nothing has been to much and Stephanie was amazing and got it all sorted for us.

I gave a 2 star review on 15 May. They asked me to send in my details to an email address and they would investigate. Response should have been 14 working days and I have heard nothing. I guess it was just an automated response to getting a 2 star to look good. Avoid this company as the customer service is shocking

I spoke to Zoe about a big trip to Orlando for 2027. She was amazing. The whole trip got sorted in 30 minutes, Zoe made it easy to book and get everything sorted and was delightful to speak to. Couldn’t recommend this whole process more highly. :)

We had a fantastic experience today booking with Stephanie in the Cardiff store. She really listened to what we wanted from the holiday and found us the best price that we just couldn’t say no! Stephanie was very friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. We are so grateful to her and now have the best Xmas surprise for our girls without breaking the bank. Thank you Stephanie 😄

Always a great experience.

The aircrafts are well kept, clean and tidy & the staff are friendly and helpful with any queries.

We always have a great experience, either travelling solo or as a family.

Amber was very knowledgeable on all aspects of the call. She as provided a date and number to get back in touch when certain aspects of the holiday will de available.

Amy at the Meadowhall branch couldn’t have been more helpful! Any queries were promptly answered and the support she offered was second to none!!!! 10/10

Just returned from a fantastic west coast of America trip. Would highly recommend Holly W from Chelmsford branch for putting together our bespoke package. She kept in touch, answered all my questions promptly and offered lots of hints and tips leading up to our trip. Really impressed, thank you!

Even though the Virgin space was busy I didn’t have to wait as the team are super and efficient.
Callum Lewis greeted me with a big friendly smile and sat me down to sort my couple of queries.
Lovely man, great customer service, got everything sorted for me and my girls holiday to Orlando, I will definitely come direct to a Virgin holiday associate in the future. Callum is a complete star, well done Virgin

Carly has helped us to book our tailored holiday combining a cruise and land stays either side .. she’s gone above and beyond to make changes and help us get the best deal. She assisted us to use our virgin points and change the flights, upgrading in the process! No pressure , just knowledgeable and helpful with the benefit of obvious experience !!

Beware when booking with Virgin Holidays to the USA to find out how much incidental hold the Hotel will demand on top of what you already paid -

The Virgin Hotel in Las Vegas demand $100 per night -so in a week that’s $700 of dead money that could take 30 days to get back if and when it’s released if all is well.

Response to Virgin Holidays -

I already complained directly to you before I posted on here but sadly did not receive a satisfactory response, you actually defended The Virgin Hotel Las Vegas.

I actually heard from Virgin Holidays USA local representative who made matters worse was just rude and objectionable.

The Hotel need to make sure that everything in the room works before they dare to ask for $100 hold per night.

The hold and how I was treated definitely spoilt my holiday.

Virgin Holidays need to liaise with The Virgin Hotel Las Vegas and sort out the $100 per night hold.

As if staying 14 days ($1400) or this hotel is impossible to really stay at and the manager on duty told me if I didn’t pay thr $100 per night which they actually charge to Credit/Debit Card and need to refund on check out -THAT I couldn’t stay at the hotel which of course was very distressing.

Had time to reflect on the holiday and can now be very clear part of the holiday were excellent but sadly the villa we were allocated was nothing short of a hovel. The first 4 days of the holiday were ruined as we had only one working toilet out of 3 and neither the front or rear door would lock. This meant for first four days we had to carry our valuables with us. Tropical escapes who were the agents were useless and for three days ignored our calls for help . When we turned to Virgin they visited the property and agreed we should not have been allocated a villa in this condition. The following day they managed to move us. When we asked for compensation we could not agree an amount at which point the level of service dropped through the floor. It took six requests to receive their complaints process and how to escalate the complaint.
I have sent the details to ABTA and will keep you up to date . If you are offered a six bedroom villa on paradise palms be very careful as virgin will not confirm they have stopped renting this hovel.

I was in the USA on a virgin holiday when I suffered a medical emergency and ended up in hospital, as I was travelling the next day I called Virgin who said they would not allow me to travel and forced me to pay £812 to fly the next day. Even after paying they made me keep messaging them and would not give me flight clearance, even though I told them I was ill, needed rest and then needed to return for my young daughter. After hours on the phone I decided to go to the airport and chance it, a check in attendant asked me a couple of questions and was fine so all this stress, when ill, for nothing. The biggest gripe is not just the time but forcing me to pay £812 in the fear of not being able to return home. I message Virgin a week ago and have been chasing them and they haven’t even acknowledged my email. All I’m asking for is a reply and resolution. Absolutely shocking service.

Just as an update… 04/06/2026, only an automated response saying I’ve contacted the wrong team. Can someone just deal with this?!?!