Hundreds feared ill after bug hits hotel on sun isle

Several angry Britons who stayed at the Barcelo Santiago hotel, in Tenerife are posting their woes on the internet and others are consulting solicitors.

Concerns about the 400-room hotel have flooded online message boards, leading travel lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to urge bosses at the resort and tour operators in Britain to resolve the situation. Reports suggest hundreds may have been affected, the law firm claimed.

Among the unhappy guests at the hotel in Puerto de Santiago was Tony Gensler, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

His two-week break with wife Annette was left in tatters, he said, when they were both struck down with gastric illness and had to fly home a week early.

Mrs Gensler, 62, said she needed medical treatment from the doctor in the resort and both were still suffering from symptoms of the illness they contracted while staying at the hotel, including diarrhoea, vomiting and weight loss.

Mr Gensler, 59, claimed standards at the hotel had deteriorated from their previous visit and there was a persistent smell of sewage. "You don't expect to go on holiday for two weeks and come back after just seven days but it was unbelievable," he said.

Richard Smart, from Worcester, also fell ill at the hotel, where he was staying with partner Tracy Bennett.

Mr Smart said he needed treatment from the resort's doctor after suffering from illness and painful stomach cramps and has been to his GP since his return because of continuing illness.

A spokesman for Thomson, one of the operators whose customers visited the resort, said last night: "Outbreaks of the airborne Norovirus are common, particularly within contained environments such as hospitals, nursing homes and schools and an outbreak in a hotel or resort is therefore not indicative of a failing in hygiene standards.

"POSI (prevention of spread of infection) procedures have been implemented since February and an independent hygiene consultant confirmed that the hotel was operating to the highest standards."

In response to a several negative comments currently visible on the Trip Advisor website the hotel posted a statement saying: "The affected tourists are mainly of one nationality and the sickness symptoms apply normally in the first few days of arrival which lead us to think that probably they had got the virus prior to arrival in the most of cases."

Head of Irwin Mitchell's travel law team Clive Garner said: "This hotel's managers and the tour operators with customers staying there now and more due to travel there in the coming weeks have a duty to find out what exactly is going on and get it sorted out. They must know that there's a problem. Why haven't they got to grips with it before now?"

He added: "Clearly, a very large number of people have fallen very ill in a very short space of time, with some requiring treatment in hospital.

"That's appalling and action is needed immediately."

Have you been affected during a recent holiday to Tenerife? Contact the Yorkshire Post newsdesk on 0113 238 8736 or email [email protected]