Illness Outbreak

Leading travel law specialists, Irwin Mitchell Solicitors, have called on tour operators to ensure that hotels put health and hygiene standards in place amid reports of an outbreak of illness at the Estoril Hotel in Porto Colom, Majorca.

Irwin Mitchell has received enquiries from 12 guests who were struck down with gastric illness during their holidays and it is suspected that there may be many more people who have fallen ill as a result of staying at the Estoril Hotel.

Adam Riley, 27, and his girlfriend Jenny Smith, 24, both from Warrington, experienced their very own 'holiday from hell', when their holiday turned into a complete nightmare due to illness.

Adam and Jenny travelled with tour operator Sun4U for a week's holiday in early August. However, within days of arriving at the hotel the couple fell ill with diarrhoea, severe stomach cramps and sickness which lasted for the rest of their holiday. In fact, they are both still not recovered from their ordeal.

Mr Riley said they were horrified at the conditions in the hotel, and had never experienced anything like it. "I was served chicken that was still pink in the middle and I saw flies and cockroaches in the dining area."

The couple were concerned for their health as they had booked to eat all meals exclusively at the hotel.

Miss Smith also noticed that many of the bins around the hotel were overflowing and on one occasion she saw blood on the floor of the showers. She said: "We reported all this to the staff at the hotel, but they did nothing to clean it up."

Mr Riley said: "On the very last day of our holiday, there was no running water in the hotel for a total of nine hours, which just added to the dreadful situation."

Mr Riley and Miss Smith could not believe that the tour operator sent them to such a place, and they are now making a strong complaint about their holiday.

Rajbir Somel of the Travel Law Team at Irwin Mitchell Solicitors said:

"When people book their holidays through a tour operator they should feel confident that basic health and hygiene practices are being followed. The conditions which Mr Riley and Miss Smith experienced were far from that which should be expected from a holiday."

She continued: "Mr Riley and Miss Smith say they are just two of the guests who stayed at the Estoril Hotel over the summer and suffered terrible illness. I have had enquiries from 10 other holidaymakers who endured similar problems and I urge anyone who has travelled to this hotel and been subjected to the same experience to come forward."