Illness At Villa Doradas Hotel

A wedding group from Sunderland have been awarded more than £57,000 after a couple’s dream wedding in the Caribbean turned into a nightmare.

Andrew Bevan and bride Leanne travelled to the Villa Doradas Hotel in Dominican Republic along with ten family members.

When the couple arrived at the hotel they were disappointed by the conditions. “The hotel room we were given appeared dirty and the bathroom was disgusting with a leaking cracked bath which had scum marks on it. There were ants in the restaurant and a strong smell of sewage from behind the eating area” said Mrs Bevan.

“The food was absolutely awful, it was never hot enough and new food would be placed on top of old dishes and left uncovered” she added.

The whole wedding party fell ill within a few days of arrival at the hotel. Their symptoms continued to the wedding day when all members of the group were too frightened to eat anything in case it disrupted the ceremony.

Thankfully the ceremony passed without incident but the food had to be given away as the party were too ill to eat. The bride continued to suffer symptoms throughout her wedding night.

The party made a successful compensation claim against tour operator My Travel. The tour operator accepted liability for the illness and the group were awarded £57,940.

Katie Gowans from Irwin Mitchell Solicitors who represented the family said: "We are very pleased with this result as a wedding is such a special event that when it is ruined by illness, as in this case, it leaves an awful memory for all those involved."