WHAT was meant to be a trip of a lifetime for a group of Stourbridge dancers quickly turned into a nightmare when they were left stranded at their New York hotel.

Youngsters, parents and teachers from Stourbridge Dance Academy were in the big apple to take part in a festival of dance at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square.

But when they arrived in the city after a long day of travelling, they found out their Virgin Holidays booking at Roosevelt Hotel had been unknowingly cancelled months before.

The group, which included 16 young girls aged 13 to 17, had to plead with hotel staff to let them stay in a conference room and a corridor – where they had to avoid cockroaches and broken glass.

Annie Ingamells, one of the parents who was left devastated in New York, told the News: “It was a nightmare. We had all scrimped and saved to go.”

The group spent the first night of their four-day, £850-per-head stay unable to sleep, with Beverley Rabone, head of the academy, even spending £200 on calling Virgin’s emergency number in the UK throughout the night.

Katie Hadley-Scott, a teacher at the academy, told A Spokesman Said: “It was a total nightmare.

“None of us got any sleep and we were already exhausted after travelling by coach from Birmingham to Heathrow and then the long flight to New York.

“The hotel were marvellous, it must be said. They did their best and even gave us a free breakfast.”

The hotel told the group that they did not have enough room for the girls when they were first contacted by Virgin about the booking, which was then cancelled by the giant holiday firm without the group being told.

Katie said: “The whole night was spent with the hotel blaming Virgin and Virgin blaming the hotel.

“Basically, we had a terrible time on that first night and the next day was ruined and so was the following evening as we were all so tired and stressed.

“We all missed our trip to the Empire State building and in the evening we were booked to see Aladdin at the theatre, but we all fell asleep during that.”

After being contacted by the News, a Virgin Holidays spokeswoman said: “We never want to disappoint our customers and were sorry to hear about the experience of the Stourbridge Dance Academy.

“We are investigating the situation to understand how this happened and, as a gesture of goodwill, we are offering compensation to the group including 50 per cent of their total accommodation cost, all breakfasts, and will reimburse the cost of their phone-bill.

“The overall experience of our customers is our priority and we hope that the group managed to have a successful trip to New York after the situation was rectified.”