More than 140 British tourists have filed lawsuits after falling sick severely at a five-star luxury resort in Turkey.
Numerous families allege they became sick while vacationing at the Mukarnas Resort and Spa in Antalya, a tourist destination on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, and that the illness wrecked their vacation.
Tourists complained that the hotel’s buffet food was provided at lukewarm temperatures and that there were flies around it, unclean restrooms, a dirty pool, and other unpleasant circumstances.
After experiencing terrible gastrointestinal diseases during what should have been a perfect vacation, a total of 140 persons have now asked attorneys to look into the matter.
Julie O’Sullivan, 45, her spouse Gary Hunt, 46, and their two children Harry, 16, and Hannah, 15, were among those impacted.
They left for the resort on May 29 with the help of the travel agency Jet2holidays, but the family became sick early on in their week-long vacation.
The two kids, Ms. O’Sullivan and Mr. Hunt, both delivery drivers, also started experiencing nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
‘We’d been looking forward to coming abroad for such a long time,’ said Ms. O’Sullivan of Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, ‘but only two days in, Harry and I felt unwell.
The vomiting and diarrhea were persistent for the first 24 hours after it suddenly started. Then Hannah and Gary realized it.
It was terrible since we were unable to do any day excursions and instead spent the most of our vacation in our accommodation.
“The whole vacation was a total fiasco, and thinking about it now makes me sad.”
When I reflect, I realize that there were flies in the dining room and that a lot of the food at the buffet was left exposed, allowing flies access to it.
I also saw that when children were ill outdoors, it was sometimes left there for hours or just swept down the drain or pool, which meant that occasionally, visitors would unintentionally step in it.
The hand sanitizer dispenser at the restaurant’s entrance was often empty as well.
The restrooms were also left in a filthy condition, and despite my repeated complaints, even though people were becoming ill and had diarrhea, I never saw them cleaned throughout the day.
“This is just unacceptable to us for a five-star resort,” they said.
Fortunately, Hannah—who is still enrolled at school—started to feel better by the time the family returned to the UK on June 6. However, the other members of the family continued to have pain, and Ms. O’Sullivan made a doctor’s appointment for them on their behalf.
Harry, who was in his last year of senior school when he returned to the UK, had to sit for his GCSE examinations, which were “very tough” to take because of his persistent gastrointestinal issues.
Many months after their vacation, Ms. O’Sullivan and Harry are still dealing with problems.
Their doctor has recommended medicine to aid with their symptoms, and they are now undergoing a number of tests.
We can’t go back in time and undo what we experienced, but Julie said, “We want some answers and to know that something is being done to help prevent it occurring again in the future.”
Ms. O’Sullivan and her family are among the many vacationers who stayed at this resort and were afflicted by disease, according to Jennifer Hodgson, a global severe injury lawyer at Irwin Mitchell who is representing people impacted.
“While all holiday sickness cases are disturbing, it is especially troubling that so many individuals have reported becoming sick and that the majority of them have reported experiencing the same symptoms.
“Gastric symptoms should never be ignored since they might result in long-term health issues.”
“We now stand in the shoes of more than 140 guests who stayed at the Mukarnas Resort and Spa this summer, and it is clear that they have numerous concerns about how they became sick.
We are now looking into their complaints and are dedicated to provide them the answers they want.
If any problems are found, we implore that they be addressed so that future vacationers won’t become sick.
Couple Lauren Scott, 27, and James Beard, 42, of Wigan, who claimed to have seen feces in the pool, are among the other families who had illnesses at the same resort.
On July 9, the couple traveled to the resort with their children Maddison, 10, Olivia, 6, Georgia, 8, and all of them became unwell.
The family left for the UK on July 24 after learning that they would have to spend roughly a thousand pounds for testing.
After their return, the couple’s stomach problems persisted, and Ms. Scott started having night sweats.
We were all quite eager to go to Turkey, according to Mr. Beard. As a family, it was the first time we had taken a vacation. We had been counting down the minutes.
Sadly, the resort was a major disappointment. We were astounded by the standards and the sheer volume of sick tourists.
The dish was presented lukewarm and was never very hot. The pool was very filthy, and we didn’t see any cleaning throughout our visit.
When there was poop in the hotel pool once, the lifeguards astonished me by attempting to remove it with their hands rather than closing the pool or attempting to clean it.
Mark Clifton, a 38-year-old electrician from Yeovil, Somerset, was another casualty. Between July 15 and July 25, he and his girlfriend went to the same resort with her two kids.
Mark had trouble getting out of bed only three days into their vacation.
He went to the hotel doctor, who wasn’t there, after experiencing stomach pains, diarrhea, sweating, and a fever.
His stomach problems persisted even after he got back home.
‘I was genuinely astonished by the amount of individuals I heard were unwell at the resort,’ Mr. Clifton said in August. Although several staff members attempted to claim heatstroke, I believe there was more going on.
I distinctly recall thinking that the hotel’s cuisine was lukewarm and that I never once saw the pool being inspected or cleaned while I was there.
The good news is that although my symptoms were severe, those of my spouse and her children were luckily not. I have been struggling for more than two weeks, and I’m not sure how much longer this will go.
Even though I can’t go back in time, I simply want to know why this occurred.