Couple instruct law firm after complaints about bed bugs and sickness
Lawyers have been asked to investigate a case by a couple who say bed bugs and gastric illness ruined their family holiday with Red Sea Holidays at a five-star hotel.
Rae Claydon and his partner Rachel, from Ingatestone, Essex, spent a week at the Hotel Sunwing Waterworld, in Makadi Bay, Egypt, in December along with Rachel’s daughter Bethany, 5, and Rae’s mother.
But on the first morning of their stay, all four woke up with insect bites, which they told lawyers at Irwin Mitchell they thought were caused by bed bugs.
"Rachel suffered hundreds of bites and was prescribed pain killers, a cortisone injection and antihistamines. She was left with scars from the bites on her legs," said the law firm.
The family were moved to different rooms in the hotel, but by the next morning all four began to suffer with diarrhoea, stomach cramps and sickness and were unable to eat or drink anything for 24 hours.
Rachel lost over half a stone in weight and continued to suffer symptoms after returning to the UK.
They have now instructed specialist lawyers in Irwin Mitchell’s International Personal Injury team to investigate the cause of the bites and illness they suffered.
The family told lawyers a number of rooms they were offered were dirty and that crockery and cutlery used in the restaurant were often dirty.
They also claimed old food was added to freshly cooked food and meals often appeared to have been reheated and served on more than one occasion.
Jennifer Downing, a specialist travel illness lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, said: "We would welcome any feedback from holidaymakers who also stayed at the Hotel Sunwing Waterworld who may be able to assist with our investigations and encourage them to come forward and provide us with their account of events."
Mr Claydon, a company director, said: "It was an awful holiday and the effects of the illness have left us completely shell shocked."
His wife, an accountant, added: "Visiting the resort doctor and my own GP after coming home was really not what I was expecting when we booked the holiday and the scars I have been left with from the bites are a constant reminder of the week we spent at the hotel."
Red Sea Holidays said that due to the legal proceedings it was unable to comment.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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