‘There could be a war going on outside and you’d barely notice – bliss!’: Pranksters post hilarious TripAdvisor reviews for five-star Crete hotel where Dominic Raab lapped up sun while Taliban conquered Afghanistan
- Luxury Amirandes Hotel in Crete hit by wave of fake TripAdvisor reviews
- Dominic Raab went on holiday there while the Taliban conquered Afghanistan
- Foreign Secretary has faced calls to resign for his handling of the crisis
The luxury Greek hotel where Dominic Raab went on holiday during the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has been deluged by a wave of fake TripAdvisor reviews mocking the under-fire Foreign Secretary.
Mr Raab has faced calls to resign after allegedly defying orders from Downing Street to cut his holiday on the Mediterranean island short by two days before returning to London while Kabul fell into the hands of Islamists.
Instead, Mr Raab was accused of topping up his tan at the Amirandes Hotel in Crete, a five-star resort which boasts its own private beach, fine dining and ‘one of the biggest pools you’ll ever see,’ according to its website.
But the boutique hotel has now been hit by a slew of spoof TripAdvisor reviews – since deleted – after the British Foreign Secretary got into hot water at home over his handling of the international crisis.
One troll, who gave their name as Dom R, gave the hotel a five-star rating, adding: ‘I hadn’t quite understood the full extent of getting away from it all until now.
‘Quite honestly, there could be a war going on outside, and you’d barely notice it. Bliss! P.S Terrible mobile signal on the beach but suited me just fine.’
Dominic Raab, leaving Downing Street, following a meeting, as he rejected calls to quit as Foreign Secretary after failing to make a call to help translators flee Afghanistan
Mr Raab was accused of topping up his tan at the Amirandes Hotel in Crete, a boutique resort which boasts its own private beach, fine dining and ‘one of the biggest pools you’ll ever see,’ according to its website
The luxury Greek hotel where Dominic Raab went on holiday during the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has been deluged by a wave of fake TripAdvisor reviews mocking the under-fire Foreign Secretary
It styles itself as a ‘sparkling boutique resort for the privileged and perceptive’.
But after Dominic Raab admitted being ‘caught off-guard’ by the Taliban rampage, the luxury Crete hotel where he apparently stayed last week may wish to rethink the final word of its boast.
Mr Raab was spotted at the five-star Amirandes Hotel
Mr Raab was spotted at the five-star Amirandes Hotel, just before he jetted back into Britain to help deal with what has been described as the biggest foreign policy disaster since Suez.
The Amirandes, which is situated on its own private beach, says it has ‘a first-class dining scene and one of the biggest pools you’ll ever see’ – and is said to be ‘inspired by the palaces of Minoan kings’.
The Amirandes, which is situated on its own private beach, says it has ‘a first-class dining scene’
Hilariously, the hotel’s general manager Vassilis Minadakis appears to have been duped by the bogus review.
He replied: ‘Dear Dom, Thank you very much for taking the time to write us a review about your recent stay on TripAdvisor. We are very happy to read that you enjoyed your time with us in order for you to relax and escape from everyday life.
‘We hope to welcome you again soon in our resort and wish you a nice remaining summer.’
Another troll, Lan, gave the hotel just three stars, quipping: ‘Too busy working to relax’.
They added: ‘As a very important minister of a very important island nation off the coast of north Europe I obviously have to conceal my identity by writing under a pseudonym.
‘Far from being able to relax and enjoy the amenities of this excellent hotel I was stuck in my room on the phone 24/7 coordinating evacuation efforts required by a major unfolding international crisis.
‘Some uncharitable people have been saying I was lounging on the beach as the situation rapidly deteriorated.
‘Nothing could be further from the truth. The fact is I suddenly remembered I had left my water wings on the beach after my regular 6am swim before starting work and merely rushed down to retrieve them.
‘My friend Boris will back me up on this.’
In another three star review, entitled ‘for a friend’, Nicholas stated: ‘My pal Dom came here recently.
‘He is a busy foreign secretary of an independent island nation with a great history and, according to him, a great future.
‘He was planning to relax and take things easy but got completely overwhelmed by the NATO evacuations from Afghanistan which he was completely taken by surprise despite being the foreign secretary of a NATO member.
‘Nevertheless, Dom’s stay was excellent. He was rarely distracted or disturbed and he had time to completely download from work.
‘He relaxed so much that he overlooked the abject failure of U.K. foreign policy that had occured during his stay – 100 per cent relax, 100 per cent foreign policy failure.’
Mr Raab has faced a torrent of criticism for staying on holiday as the Afghan capital was seized by the Taliban, and for omitting to call the Afghan foreign minister to seek help for trapped interpreters stranded in the country.
The claim is strongly denied by his friends, who insist that he was assured by Prime Minister Boris Johnson that he could stay with his family until the end of the weekend.
The saga has led to sniping at the Cabinet Minister from within his own party and calls from Labour for him to resign, though Mr Johnson has said that he ‘absolutely’ has full confidence in his Foreign Secretary.
It has, however, undoubtedly strained relations between Downing Street and the Foreign Office.
A source told the Mail on Sunday: ‘There is no doubt that Raab was told to come back on that Friday.
There was then a significant amount of surprise when he appeared on the Cobra on the Sunday down the line from Crete. He must have nobbled Boris and asked for permission to finish his holiday’.
Mr Raab told the MoS that he had enjoyed a ‘wave of support’, and denied that there was pressure from within his party to resign.
He added: ‘I’ve not heard any of my Conservative colleagues call for me to resign, but I have had a wave of support.
The hotel claims it has ‘a first-class dining scene and one of the biggest pools you’ll ever see’
The Amirandes Hotel in Crete, Greece. Senior officials in the Foreign Secretary’s department advised last Friday that he should make immediate contact with Afghan foreign minister Hanif Atmar as the Taliban advanced on Kabul
The Amirandes, which is situated on its own private beach, says it has ‘a first-class dining scene and one of the biggest pools you’ll ever see’ – and is said to be ‘inspired by the palaces of Minoan kings’
‘There is no doubt that, like all countries, there is a measure of surprise at the rapidity of the Taliban takeover.
‘But as the Foreign Secretary travelling around the world, whether I am on leave or I’m travelling for work purposes, I am always set up to be able to grip things’.
A close ally of Mr Raab insisted that No10 had not ‘ordered’ him to return on the Friday. The ally said: ‘The suggestion was that he should make plans to come back.
‘They said that if things get worse then he needed to be ready to come back at a moment’s notice. He then talked it through with the PM and it was agreed that he would came back on Sunday’.
The ally strongly denied reports that Mr Raab had spent most of last Sunday on the beach: ‘That is just not true. He based his family on the beach in a gazebo precisely so that he could go back and work at the hotel, while checking in on them every now and again’.
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