Illness At Casa Marina Reef Hotel

Law firm Irwin Mitchell have been instructed after British holiday makers returned from the Casa Marina Reef Hotel in the Dominican Republic suffering with severe gastric illness.

Ms Sykes and her partner Damien Hopkins had only been on holiday for a few days when Mr Hopkins fell ill with symptoms including severe diarrhoea, a high temperature and stomach pains.

Several days later Miss Sykes fell severely ill with similar symptoms. She told the representative from their tour operator, Thomas Cook, who simply informed Miss Sykes that she should drink Gatorade to overcome her illness. Fortunately, Miss Sykes realised that it was much more serious than this and consulted the GP on resort. She was transferred to the Centro Medical Bournigal Hospital in Puerto Plata, where she was medicated and kept on a drip overnight.

The young couple have described what a traumatic experience this was for them. Miss Sykes said, "I was so scared. I was far from home and knew that I was seriously ill. I really didn't know what was going to happen. It was a very frightening time for us both."

The couple added, "We went away for a relaxing, luxury holiday that we had looked forward to for a long time. We just could not believe what was happening to us. It was all a nightmare. We couldn't wait to get home."

"We were also told that other guests in the hotel had had to be hospitalised at a similar time to me, which was really worrying."

The couple had noticed a few things that concerned them at the hotel. "I did comment that the chicken in the restaurant looked very pink. There were also constantly lots of flies and birds around the restaurant which was not at all pleasant when we were eating." Miss Sykes said.

The couple have now returned home and are continuing to suffer from their symptoms, for which they have had to receive further medical treatment. They have now instructed travel law specialists Irwin Mitchell to pursue legal action against tour operator Thomas Cook.

Lindsay Evans, a member of the Travel Law Team at Irwin Mitchell said, "It is terrible to hear stories like these of British holidaymakers being suffering severe illness so far away from home."

"It seems that this illness may be affecting holidaymakers staying at this hotel on a significant scale. We have previously acted for clients who travelled to the Casa Marina Reef Hotel in the Dominican Republic in both 2004 and 2007 and were affected by severe illness."

"We are very concerned about the threat that these incidents indicate to the health and welfare of British tourists. Incidents such as these indicate that there may be substandard health and hygiene conditions in place at the hotel and this is something that needs to be investigated. We urge people to come forward who have had a similar experience to Miss Sykes and her partner at this, or any other hotel."