British Columbians were among hundreds of Canadians whose dream vacation in Mexico turned into a nightmare.
Okanagan resident Alyssa Stothart and her extended family, 15 in total, planned a trip to Sandos Playacar, about 75 km south of Cancun, to celebrate her mom’s 60th birthday.
She told Global News that everyone was healthy when they arrived, but after two or three days, people started falling ill.
“Everyone started dropping like flies,” Stothart said. “It was pretty alarming. My niece actually saw the doctor on site.”
She said the doctor told them he had never seen anything like this and instructed the group not to drink anything that did not come from a bottle or a can and to avoid any foods that could have come into contact with water during preparation.
Stothart said they have not received any information from the resort about what happened.
Global News did not receive a response from the resort but a representative has been providing comments online in response to reviews.
“Regarding the situation you mention about guests who felt unwell, we can assure you that we have strict hygiene and food safety protocols, including audits and certifications such as the Distintivo H, which guarantee the quality and proper handling of food,” Ilse Jordan with Sandos Hotels & Resorts said.
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“Regarding medical care, we have medical service available at the hotel for any guest who requires it, although this service is provided by an external company and is not part of the all-inclusive plan.
“Likewise, we offer hydrating drink options and our guest service staff is available to assist with any special needs.”
Stothart said they are waiting for more information but they heard that many guests at the resort fell ill.
Many people reported having diarrhea and vomiting and Stothart said that in total, 14 out of 15 people in her group became sick.
She is not sure if they have contracted a parasite so they are all getting tested just to be safe.
“We had been recommended to this resort from a few people,” she said.
More than 700 people have now joined a Facebook group to post about their recent experience falling ill at the resort.
In a statement to Global News, Air Canada Vacations, which has been offering travel packages to Sandos Playacar Beach Resort, Playa del Carmen since 2014, said the hotel has assured them that they have requested local health authorities to visit the resort and conduct thorough inspections of water, food, and food & beverage outlets and no issues were found.
They said they cleaned and sanitized water cisterns and all food and beverage outlets.
They enhanced cleaning protocols in guest rooms, public areas and pools and restricted access to certain areas as a precaution.
The airline stated that anyone with a travel package booked to the resort, Air Canada Vacations is allowing changes for departures up to and including March 2 but any change in cost will be absorbed by the customer.
Maple Ridge resident Sheena Robinson travelled to Sandos Playacar on Feb. 17 with her family of five.
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She said they went down with a group of 32 people to celebrate a wedding and it had been years in the making.
“We arrived on Monday night, we ate in the buffet the first night, we had a pretty good day Tuesday, swimming, pool, food, drinks and woke up early Wednesday morning with nothing short of intense nausea, vomiting, everything you could imagine that was coming out both ends unfortunately,” she told Global News.
Robinson said it was clear, after her children started getting sick, that there was a big problem.
Thirty out of the 32-member group fell sick and some had to be hospitalized, she added.
Robinson said the support from the hotel was “horrendous” and their calls for extra towels, linens, and room services went unanswered.
“It was off-putting initially when we got there. There was definitely a really strong smell of sewage in the air, and even in our hotel rooms we had issues right away that we reported when we checked in,” she added.
“The sewage smell when we turned on the showers, or sinks, or flushed the toilet was very, very strong,”
Robinson said they tried to make the best of it but looking back, those were red flags that something was wrong.
“I do not want anyone to go through what we went through,” she said.