Man And Wife Left With No Option But To Take Legal Action

A 93-year-old man who was taken violently ill on a birthday holiday is taking legal action against the tour operator, his lawyers confirmed today.

Pensioners Edward Hollman, 93, and his wife Margaret, 84, had saved hard to afford their seven day break to the Bay Royal Hotel in Weymouth but instead of the luxury experience promised in the brochure both found themselves struck with illness.

The couple experienced severe gastric symptoms including diarrhoea, vomiting and stomach cramps. At one point, Mr Hollman’s sickness became so bad that that hotel staff threatened to leave him stranded at the roadside during an excursion, if he did not stop being sick .

The couple were shocked to encounter dozens of others suffering illness and found their selves confronted with cold and recycled food on a daily basis.

Now the couple from Watford, who are still suffering even now, six months after their visit to the hotel in August, have instructed travel law experts at Irwin Mitchell to force tour operator Shearings Holidays  to ‘sit up and listen’ to their concerns.

Posters on the Trip Advisor website also claim to have been taken ill at the hotel during August 2011. One even said a customer was rushed to hospital in an ambulance, he was so unwell and others claim the tour operator refused to let them cancel their break, despite concerns about the reported illness outbreak.

Concerns about the hygiene standards at this hotel raised by Mr Hollman and his wife are not the first In February 2009 the hotel made headlines after an outbreak of the norovirus. The Hollmans say they do not want more people to suffer like they did and are calling for a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding their illness.

Mr Hollman described how, during an excursion to Charmouth Market, he was struck with stomach pain, sickness and diarrhoea and unsympathetic staff refused to allow him back on to the coach unless he stopped being sick. Luckily Mr Hollman started to feel well enough to be transported back to the hotel, but the experience left him shaken and let down.

Jennifer Downing, a travel law specialist at Irwin Mitchell Solicitors, who is representing the couple, said: “The Hollmans’ horrendous experience on this holiday is a serious cause for concern.

“Not only did they suffer terribly, we have also seen reports online from other holidaymakers also complaining about hygiene standards at the hotel.

“We care passionately for our clients and will fight to ensure Shearings carry out a full investigation into the matter.

“While we are determined to secure full and fair recompense for Mr and Mrs Hollman, this is about more than money. It is about providing them with answers about what went wrong and why. It is also about seeking to ensure that none of Shearings other customers are forced to endure experiences like this in the future.”

Mrs Hollman said: “I am totally disgusted by the experience that we have had. We are pensioners and we had to save really hard for the holiday. We had been really looking forward to our holiday but instead suffered such horrific symptoms that I even had to visit our GP when I got home.

“We were not the only guests who were ill and we were appalled by the attitude of staff in the hotel and on the excursion. I only hope that by taking legal action Shearings sit up and listen to our concerns, and that a full and thorough investigation into the causes of such misery so that others will not be affected and we get the answers we deserve.”