A woman from Bristol saw her holiday of a lifetime turn into a nightmare after a mix-up by the tour operator left her 1,300 miles away from her intended destination.

Samantha Lazzaris had booked a three week trip to Costa Rica in Central America but instead ended up on the island of Puerto Rico.

The 33 year old did not realise the mistake until after she had landed and got in a taxi to take her to her hotel. Miss Lazzaris told the Bristol Evening Post “I asked the taxi driver to take me to this hotel I’d pre-booked, he looked in amazement, speechless then laughed and said, ‘this is not Costa Rica. It’s Puerto Rico’”.

It has since transpired that travel agent Thomas Cook had mixed up the booking codes between San Jose Costa Rica and San Juan Puerto Rico. Miss Lazzaris lost four days of her holiday and had to pay an extra £800 for flights to her planned destination.

Miss Lazzaris added “I have never been treated so appallingly in my entire life”.

A Thomas Cook spokesperson said they would fully investigate the complaint as soon as possible.