Palmanova - Legionnaires Disease

SueDerbyshire

leylandsunaddict wrote: »

What would you expect your travel insurers to do?

Just thought I should cover all options.

vixy

Hi. I was at the hotel for a week and heard about the legionnaires
I spoke to the manager (English lady called Liz) who explained that the legionnaires was not in the hotel but was found in another hotel in the resort and therefore all tour operators were no longer checking in guests anywhere in Palmanova
When I got home I heard about the hotel closing early and head office told me via Twitter that this was not due to legionnaires and just due to it being the end of the season and low numbers. If they had found legionnaires they would have had to close immediately and not give a few days notice.

If you do have symptoms to legionnaires you need to get tested immediately. As liz assured me the hotel had been fully tested and was clear
Vix

SueDerbyshire

Hi Vix,

Thank you for that information and sorry for the late reply but I have been really rough.

One of our tests have been sent of to a disease control centre which can take a while to get a response, in the meantime we are on antibiotics as our doctor is sure it's Legionnaires Disease, I am still hoping they are wrong but all our symptoms look like it is the disease, although some members of our family have recovered now.

We should have been warned about the issues in the resort when we checked in and Liz (Elizabeth) should have told us about the disease when I mentioned to her about my husband being ill. I am glad they moved us out of the resort to be on the safe side but they should have never let us check in to our room in the first place, like you say, they were warned of the problem weeks before we stayed there and therefore put my family at risk.

Upto now My family have loved this hotel and have stayed here several times but the way they treated us during our last visit was not good enough and has left more than a bad taste. Travel agents did not wish to put their customers at risk but the Sol/Melia group were and that is just not acceptable.

Sue

NoodleDoodleMan

The immediate priority is to diagnose the cause of the illness of the 5 people in the party and to have correct treatment.

Thankfully, Legionnaires Disease is neither infectious nor contagious, however it is a notifable disease so the doctor(s) involved will want to know one way or another without delay.

Of course it may not be LD, which then opens up another scenario.

Once the medical issues are concluded you can investigate compensation, however, be aware that the tourist industry has become very sensitive in recent times about such claims due to a spate of allegedly fraudulent cases which have received coverage in the UK media.

Not suggesting that in any size, shape or form in this case.

The downside of DIY package holidays is you don't have a Thomas Cook, Jet 2 or Thomas Cook etc. responsible for any major problems.

I hope it all works out well.

SueDerbyshire

Hi Noodle, thank you for your reply.

All 5 of us went to the doctor with the same symptoms, which the doctor was sure was Legionnaires Disease. The doctor put us on antibiotics straight away, which they don't do unless they are sure it's needed, we have had to take them for a month. We was told that the disease is difficult to identify but had different samples taken, including blood. The samples have all come back clear, which has baffled us all, including the doctors and so have been told to carry on taking the antibiotics and return if we get worse. Only one member of our group is still suffering with the illness but hasn't got worse.

I received a reply from the hotel basically palming us off. They said the hotel had not had the disease because nothing had been reported and they had tests done. They said they moved us out of the hotel and in to a new hotel in the next resort because there was not enough people in the hotel and would therefore have to reduce the food options and the entertainment etc. They said we was never put at risk of the disease.

The other problems have been passed to the relevant departments to deal with.

That was it, no real apology, just wording like "we are sorry you feel that way" etc. So what should we do now, leave it and just not book with Sol/Melia hotels again because of how they have dealt with this or reply saying I am going to take this further. I am not exaggerating when I say it did spoil our holiday, especially my husband whom was ill from day 3 of being there. The hotel we stayed at would never had been my choice because the reviews on the food there was not great and being all inclusive, the food is important, it is also in a different resort which we wouldn't choose to stay in. We obviously had to pack and travel to the new hotel and check in again, then unpack which honestly took over half a day to do.

I know people might think at least we are safe and they are right, that is priority and the hotel did the right thing in moving us eventually, my point is, the hotel knew there was problems in the resort weeks before we got there, a chef from the hotel said they was thinking about closing the hotel a lot sooner because of their concerns, other travel agents decided to pull their customers out of the resort before they departed from Spain and yet Sol was happy for us to arrive, check in, stay for 3 nights and still never mentioned the disease to us even though I told the manager my husband was ill. So am I right in taking this further or should I just drop it?

Thank you for anymore advice you can put my/our way.

Sue

IAmWales

You have no evidence that you contracted legionnaires, in fact medical tests would go against your claim. On what grounds would you take it further?

My advice would be to let it go.

lea2012

It's often the case that by October half term hotels are shutting up shop. In the case of sol hotels they obviously have more than one hotel so it's perfect business sense to move everyone into one hotel. Sol do this almost every year in Majorca. We booked for Sol Beach Club a few years ago, they called us before we travelled to say the hotel was shutting early so they would move us for our final night to another property. We declined and found our own hotel for the last night and got the one night refunded but it wasn't a big deal.
You weren't at risk of LD from the hotel and have been cleared of having it now so whatever illness you had could have come from anywhere, maybe something you caught from the plane or before you even arrived.
I don't think you can take this any further really. You could get legal advise but I think they will tell you that you don't have a case and they certainly won't offer to represent you on a no win no fee basis so it would likely cost you more for legal fees than it did for the holiday.

NoodleDoodleMan

If the nature and source of the sickness can't be formally identified, and the hotel has been officially cleared of culpability - then the illness claim can go no further for obvious reasons.

I doubt the other issues are worth pursuing beyond writing a letter of complaint.