DOZENS of people from around the region have been left disappointed after their trip to a hotel was double-booked.

Gardiners Coaches, of Spennymoor, County Durham, arranged the Adelphi Experience trip to Liverpool in April.

Two coaches were booked to take people from the North-East to stay at the hotel, made famous when its staff were featured in the BBC docu-soap, The Hotel.

As well as the hotel stay, the party was booked to see the West-End musical Beauty and the Beast on Saturday, December 1.

But yesterday, just two weeks before the coaches were scheduled to leave, members of the party received letters from Gardiners saying the trip had been cancelled because the hotel had double-booked.

One upset grandfather, who had booked to take his wife and four grandchildren on the trip, said: "We are absolutely devastated.

"We booked it in April and have really been looking forward to it.

"This was meant to be a Christmas treat for the children and now, with just a few days to go, it has been cancelled."

John Gardiner, of the coach company, which has refunded all customers' money, said that the Adelphi management had offered him alternative accommodation when they rang late last week to cancel his booking.

The hotel refused to comment on the mix-up.

However, Mr Gardiner said he had been told the hotel had taken another booking for 100 people for December 3, not realising it would mean 100 rooms would be needed.