Holidaymakers demand answers as illness outbreak sweeps through Hotel Los Gigantes
09/06/2010
A group of angry British tourists are demanding to know why a UK tour operator failed to warn them over a salmonella outbreak at a Tenerife hotel.
UK tour operator Thomson has come under fire after more than fifty British tourists approached holiday illness solicitors at Irwin Mitchell to complain about poor hygiene standards at the Los Gigantes hotel, which left guest needing hospital treatment even after returning to the UK.
Complaints about the Los Gigantes Hotel include food being served that was past its sell-by date, hot food being tipped into food that had gone cold and serving utensils being swapped between dishes. Guests also reported dirty tablecloths and crockery as well as a strong smell of sewage.
The group, who reported falling ill at the hotel between late 2009 and early 2010, are now demanding to know why Thomson failed to inform them about the problems at the hotel before they left the UK.
“It’s bad enough to have had our holiday ruined by illness while we were there but it’s outrageous to know that Thomson knew there had been problems for a while and never bothered to tell us,” said Neville Fisher from Cardiff.
Juliette Eden, a holiday illness lawyer at Irwin Mitchell said: “We are very concerned about the illness outbreak at this hotel and equally concerned that our clients claim they were not told of the risks before travelling.
“We’ve heard reports of Thomson staff giving misleading information to prospective guests about the hotel and other guests not being given any information about the illness problems.
“Thomson should have known about the illness outbreaks but they still sent holidaymakers to the hotel with no warning. We think that is unacceptable.
“The diagnosis of salmonella for at least one of our clients, combined with what we’re hearing about health and hygiene standards mean it is possible that other guests also suffered from the salmonella. Salmonella can cause significant long term health problems for those unfortunate enough to be infected.
“Alarm bells should be ringing at Thomson HQ. Tour operators must ensure that the hotels they send guests to are safe and meet all hygiene standards.
“We are already helping more than 50 former Los Gigantes guests and we expect that number to grow. On the basis of current forecasts there could be dozens of other British holidaymakers joining this group claim.”
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