The Ministry of Defence spent £230 million on accommodation and travel over the past three years as top brass enjoyed five-star hotels, documents reveal.
Meanwhile, soldiers and their families endure appalling conditions in military homes.
The taxpayer-funded outlay includes hundreds of senior officers and officials staying in luxury hotels in exotic locations, documents obtained in a Freedom of Information (FoI) request reveal.
These include the Kimpton Seafire Resort and Spa in Grand Cayman, set on the Caribbean island’s Seven Mile Beach, where rooms cost up to £500 a night.
Two members of staff ran up a £3,000 bill during a three-night stay at the resort.
The Mail on Sunday reported how hundreds of families suffered without heating or hot water in freezing conditions before Christmas, as they awaited repairs (pictured: Single Living Accommodation in North Yorkshire)
A senior officer staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel, Honolulu, spent more than £2,700 during a five-night stay at the resort.
The revelations come amid a continuing scandal over Army housing.
The Mail on Sunday reported how hundreds of families suffered without heating or hot water in freezing conditions before Christmas, as they awaited repairs.
Former military intelligence officer Colonel Philip Ingram described the spending on five-star hotels as ‘gross double standards’, adding that the disclosure would undermine morale in the Armed Forces.
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Issy Bowman, 55, from Dorset, has had bats living in the water tank of her service home since August.
Mrs Bowman, who has been married to an officer for 34 years, has since been drinking bottled water.
Pinnacle, the company that handles complaints in military homes, told her to contact bat conservationists.
She said: ‘It’s horrific… The thought [of the bats] makes me feel sick.’
Last week a woman with a three-week-old newborn complained she had severe mould in her ‘refurbished’ military home.
Their plight follows a series of MoS reports which led Ministers to demand daily updates on military housing.
These updates are yet to be released to the public, despite figures showing that one naval base, HMS Sultan, had 357 incidents involving loss of heating or hot water last year.
An MoD spokesman said: ‘Expenses are subject to strict controls and staff must prove their stay is needed and value for money.’
A Pinnacle spokeswoman said: ‘We are very sorry to hear about the experience of this family’, adding: ‘Pinnacle does not carry out property repairs.’
