Gastric Illness at the Barcelo Lanzarote Hotel

A British holidaymaker, who claims appalling hotel standards at an all-inclusive resort in Lanzarote led to her contracting a serious gastric illness, is to take legal action against UK tour operator, First Choice.

Pearl Moriarty (62) became ill within days of arriving at the four star all-inclusive Barcelo Lanzarote Hotel in Costa Teguise in Lanzarote.

The ten day holiday in February this year, taken with her sister, Ruby Byrne, should have been a relaxing getaway. However, the sisters were both struck down with severe sickness and diarrhoea.

Mrs Moriarty, from Launceston in Cornwall, said:  "This was my first holiday abroad in three years and my sister and I had both saved hard. We wanted to get away from the British winter and have a relaxing time in the sun, but we came back feeling totally exhausted. I continued to suffer symptoms off and on for several weeks after my return. The holiday was a complete nightmare from start to finish.

"The food was disgusting and most of the time was served either luke-warm or cold. When I complained I was told to warm it up myself in the microwave oven they'd provided in the dining room."

Mrs Moriarty also claims the hotel was in a very poor state of repair with crumbling plaster and a leaky ceiling in the hotel dining room.

"There were puddles of water everywhere but the staff just put towels down on the floor to mop up the flood. We had water dripping onto our heads as we were trying to eat our meals and after a few days the place began to stink.

Mrs Moriarty added: "I have previously stayed at hotels both in Fuerteventura and Spain that are owned by the same chain and they were superb. However, this hotel in Costa Teguise seemed very run down. The pool area was filthy, the toilets stank of sewage and the surly staff gave the impression that they didn't care.

"I'm not the sort of person who would normally complain about things but when I returned from holiday and found, on a travel website, that lots of other holidaymakers had experienced similar problems at this hotel, I felt I had to speak out."

Amandeep Dhillon, a travel litigation specialist with national law firm, Irwin Mitchell, is investigating Mrs Moriarty's claim for compensation.  He said: "We frequently hear from people who have become severely ill whilst staying at resorts which have fallen way below the standards of acceptability and I am sorry to say that Mrs Moriarty's experience is not an isolated one.

"Tour operators have a responsibility to ensure their clients are staying in a safe environment and that the brochures give an accurate picture of the holiday they are spending their hard earned money on.  We hope that First Choice will now work with us to provide swift and fair compensation for our clients."