THE glossy holiday brochure boasted of the "unique" hotel where everything was "thrown in".

Having spent more than £2,000 for just one week in the Soviva Hotel in Port El Kantaoui, Tunisia, a Poole couple can "regretfully" testify to the accuracy of those claims - but not in the way they had dreamed about before going.

"It's unique because it was a hotel from hell and everything was thrown in - especially rubbish, debris from an adjoining building site, marching ants in the bathroom and bedroom, dried blood in changing-rooms, watered down beer and dangerously inedible food," said Michelle Bamber, 30, of Upton.

She and husband John, 31, had chosen the hotel specifically because tour operator First Choice recommended it highly for children.

They have a daughter, Steph-anie, six, and a son, Cameron, 22 months. Michelle's stepdaughter Joanne, nine, also went.

At one stage, 40 couples were queuing to pillory First Choice representatives at the hotel.

When none of the complaints was answered or rectified, Mr Bamber, who is in the home improvements trade, forced his way into the hotel manager's office and demanded to be heard.

"I was there for an hour and a half, " he said.

"That's how long it took me to list everything that was wrong. I was listened to and promises were made, but they weren't kept.

"Nothing changed. We wanted to come home, but we were told there wasn't a flight until the one we were booked on.

"From then on, it was like being confined to a prison camp. Because we'd complained, the staff didn't want to serve us and you could tell they were deliberately going slow and making our stay as unpleasant as possible for us.

"And to think we'd saved up for this all year. They even made us wait 20 minutes at the bar for just one drink."

From the first night it was a nightmare by the minute:

No cot, no highchairs, no playground, filthy restaurant, stained linen, leaking ceilings allowing rain to drip in, building works around the pool with drilling all day and night, raw beef burgers, and cauliflower cheese and rice served for the children's breakfast.

They claim that a cabinet was even lodged across the restaurant door to stop them getting in on one occasion because they had become so unpopular with staff.

"It was one thing after another," said Mrs Bamber. "The pits is the only way to sum it up. All we wanted was a relaxing week to re-charge after the winter.

"We only get the chance of one holiday a year and this has left us heartbroken and feeling ripped-off.

"It was just as miserable for the children as for us."

Pauline Corneille, the First Choice customer service executive dealing with the Bambers' complaints was not available to comment, but in a letter to the family, she wrote: "I am sorry if you were personally disappointed on this occasions."

She said that judgement of food was always "subjective" and she regretted that her company could not "accede to a full refund".

A spokeswoman for First Choice said: "We cannot comment until we've looked into every individual complaint and have had a report back from the hotel and our representatives on site."