Holiday Village Hotel, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

Large numbers of British holidaymakers returning from the Holiday Village hotel in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt are complaining of an outbreak of serious illness at the hotel.

Travel law specialists Irwin Mitchell have reported a high level of enquiries from guests at the hotel who want to take legal action following illness contracted during stays there.

Kim (33) and Kelvin (36) Hickmore from Bognor Regis were staying at resort between the 16th of June and the 1st of July 2008 with daughter Caitlin (3) and eleven month old son Logan when all four of them fell ill with symptoms including soaring temperatures, diarrhoea and abdominal pains. Logan was so ill he was admitted to hospital.

Mrs Hickmore described the experience saying: “It was awful! The abdominal pains were so severe I would compare them to labour pains. I was clenching my fists waiting for them to pass.”

After three days of visits to the hotel doctor, Logan was still unable to keep any food or fluids down and was rushed to hospital amid fears of dehydration. “It was such a worrying time”, Mrs Logan said, “and a dreadful thing to have to watch my child go through.

"By the time we arrived at the hospital Logan was so ill that his eyes were rolling back.  He was just limp and lifeless. I honestly think the doctor at the hospital saved his life; I dread to think what could have happened.

"We have never experienced anything like this. And we weren’t the only people at the hotel that were ill. It seemed to affect every member of every family. Even now we are suffering with symptoms and have been forced to take more trips to see a doctor."

The Hickmore family like many others have now instructed travel law specialists Irwin Mitchell to pursue legal action against tour operators First Choice.

Clive Garner, Head of Travel Law at Irwin Mitchell said: “We are very concerned about the scale of the reported problems at the Holiday Village hotel. We have had dozens of guests contacting us and complaining of severe illness following stays at the hotel in June and July 2008. In addition we are already representing several other British families who contracted similar illnesses during stays at the Holiday Village in June and July 2007.

"We sometimes see this pattern of illnesses in other hotels where substandard health and hygiene conditions are in place. We are very concerned that the health and welfare of British tourists has been put at risk and we will be pursuing claims for substantial damages on behalf of our clients.  We would like to speak to anyone who has had a similar experience to the Hickmore family while staying at the Holiday Village hotel."