A FRUSTRATED skier arrived for his holiday... only to discover he had accidentally booked a hotel 3,200 miles away in Colchester.

Jesse Paul thought he had been booking a stay at the Holiday Inn in Colchester, Vermont.

But when he turned up for his break he found he had booked a hotel across the Atlantic Ocean in Essex.

The construction worker had planned to meet friends, driving three hours from his home in Montreal to the Boston Valley resort.

He booked his hotel four hours in advance, using a search engine to hunt for a Holiday Inn Express.

But his holiday got off to a rocky start when he arrived to find the hotel had no knowledge of his booking.

He realised he had inadvertently booked a stay in a town he had never heard of.

“The website said by signing up as a member I could unlock member rates which were posted at $55 and $70 per night,” he said.

“I signed up and it unlocked a Colchester hotel for way less money, but ultimately it took me to a reservation page for the United Kingdom Holiday Inn Express.

“There is no way I should be re-directed to a booking page for an international hotel 15 hours away and not get a prompt to confirm.”

Jesse made his reservation through InterContinental Hotels Group, which owns Holiday Inn.

But Jesse has been left out of pocket after the firm said any decision to refund the cost would be made “at the discretion” of the UK branch.

Jesse ended up forking out around 216 Canadian dollars for a walk-in reservation at another hotel.

He said: “It was such an obvious mistake that could have been turned around in two minutes if the management made any effort at all.

"There were multiple rooms still available for the night.

"It’s not as if me occupying a reservation took any business from them.

“Also, I made the reservation on the afternoon of the 14th in Canada.

“The UK time is 5 hours ahead, it would have been impossible for me to get there in time.”

The Gazette approached InterContinental Hotels Group for comment, but did not receive a response.

Jesse added: “I have never been to the UK or heard of Colchester. I would love to go, but I definitely know where not to stay if I do.”