Los Gigantes Hotel Tenerife;Vomiting Virus at Hotel

Magic_Moments

We have just returned from a holiday at Los Gigantes Hotel in Tenerife. On arrival we were handed a letter informing us what to do it we went down with the vomitaing and diahorea virus.We took every precaution but 24 hours later I went down with severe vomiting and my wife followed 36 hours later. We have not fully recovered by the time we returned home. A large number of other guests went down with the same virus. It was the talk of the hotel and this virus (Norovirus) had apparantly being in existence for some time. We consider Thomson holidays should have advised us of the virus before departure giving us the opportunity to cancel and obtain a refund and were negligent under the Health and Safety rules in not doing so.We have written to thomson holidays requesting a refund but expect them to try and dodge the issue.We have never been given such a letter before on a package holiday so they must have been aware of this issue and it must be quite serious for them to do so. Has anyone else had the same experience. Any ideas how I can proceed with my claim.:mad:

buyitall

This is not the first time - my mother went to this hotel last year (having been there several times before) and many people in the hotel then were suffering with a vomiting and diahorrea virus. One of my mum's party went down with it and my mum was ill on the last day and for a week when she got back. Google brings up lots of threads about it, here's one of them:
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g187479-i153-k3304849-Bug_raging_in_Los_Gigantes-Tenerife_Canary_Islands.html

They received no compensation from Thomson (having said that, they did not try to get any either, think they were just glad to get home!).

Alan_Bowen

Thomson Holidays may be liable if through the fault of the hotel you became ill, I am not saying there was fault as I have no idea of the circumstances but it does sound as though the hotel was aware of a problem before you arrived. Under Regulation 15 of the Package Travel Regulations you can make a claim for compensation to the operator for illness if you can show fault. For fear of large scale claims, most operators are likely to deny liability but if a lot of people were seriously ill, it might be worth taking legal advice from a firm of solicitors that specialise in holiday claims. Many recent cases taken by Irwin Mitchell appear to have been successful, although I suppose they don't publicise those that aren't, and they may be able to investigate at no cost but as they say, other solicitors are available!

Broadway_2

It looks like this is now getting serious attention in the press. Reviews on Tripadvisor and Package Holiday Reviews are full of people reporting problems with this hotel.

The Daily Telegraph has once again published a story about the virus at the hotel.