Local British newspaper the Birmingham Post is reporting that a British family was struck down with severe food poisoning within days of arriving at the four-star all-inclusive Riu Helios Bay Hotel in the Bulgarian resort of Obzor Beach.
Anita Riley, 42, was reportedly diagnosed as suffering from - potentially deadly - salmonella food poisoning on her return. Anita and her husband John, 44, and their two children Megan, 16, and Jack, 13, apparently visited the resort in July for a one-week all-inclusive holiday with UK tour operator, Portland Holidays Direct.
The newspaper quotes Anita Riley: "The first 24 hours were fine and at first glance both the hotel and the food looked lovely, but then things rapidly went downhill. During our stay we noticed that the food, which was often left uncovered, appeared to have been reheated and was under-cooked. On one occasion we found the chicken that was served was still pink in the middle. One by one John, Jack and I fell ill. Only Megan managed to escape illness and she couldn’t go anywhere or enjoy her holiday because the rest of us were all confined to our room with stomach cramps and diarrhoea."
The Birmingham Post reports that it is not the first time that illness has affected the hotel's clients. "Problems were first reported at the hotel back in 2006 and law firm Irwin Mitchell is still pursuing a group legal action on behalf of its clients. But once again this summer dozens of British holidaymakers are being struck down by serious gastric illness – including four confirmed cases of salmonella – three years after problems were first reported. The law firm is now calling for hygiene improvements to be made at the Bulgarian hotel."
A spokeswoman for Portland Holidays Direct, which is part of the Thomson group, is quoted in the article: "At Thomson, the health and safety of our customers is our primary focus. We closely monitor all the hotels to which we operate to ensure that the strictest health, safety, hygiene and comfort levels our customers expect are maintained. The RIU Helios Bay is a very popular hotel with Thomson customers and continues to score highly in our customer satisfaction questionnaires."
Uncles comment: That is why I never go all inclusive, they serve you second rate food and drink !.
17 of us have just returned from a hotel next to this one and 12 of us also suffered severe symptons but the hotel denied it was the food and since returning 5 of us now still have terrible diarrhoea and flu symptons on of the party is in hospital. It was the worst holiday ever and we saved for 2 years for it
ReplyDeleteOh heavens, that sounds terrible, perhaps you should engage the law firm mentioned in the article.
ReplyDeleteAt least if you just go B&B you can eat in a restaurant and the food is cooked to order.The buffet style all inclusive stuff is a Health Inspectors nightmare !.Food hygene in Bulgaria is a joke.