At least 50 British families among 800 people struck down by violent vomiting bug at five-star hotel in Rhodes

  •  Outbreak has lasted ten days but staff are still letting people check in
  •  One family of three spent £3,000 on their holiday through Jet2
  •  Another guest said: 'The entire holiday experience was ruined'

By Leon Watson

Published: | Updated:

At least 50 British families have had their holidays ruined after being struck down with violent vomiting and diarrhoea at a five-star hotel. 

The outbreak of the bug happened at the £200-per night Lindos Imperial on the Greek island Rhodes.

So far it has lasted ten days but staff are reportedly still letting people check in, insisting it is not serious.

The hotel where 50 British families have been struck down by a vomiting bug is on the Greek island of Rhodes (file picture of Lindos)

The hotel where 50 British families have been struck down by a vomiting bug is on the Greek island of Rhodes (file picture of Lindos)

First aid desks have been erected to assess guests before allowing them to enter restaurants and public areas.

One family of three, of Northallerton, North Yorkshire, spent £3,000 on their holiday through Jet2.

They fell ill almost immediately and spent almost a week in their room before shelling out to fly home.

The manager claimed no more that 100 people had been affected and insisted the outbreak is not due to poor hygiene at his hotel. 

But one guest posted on TripAdvisor: 'Unfortunately the entire holiday experience was ruined by an outbreak of what I suspect, as a doctor myself, to be a viral gastroenteritis, possibly Norovirus.

'I became ill with violent vomiting and profuse watery diarrhoea on the Monday evening, my older son on Tuesday morning, husband on Tuesday evening and younger son Tuesday night.

'An outbreak such as this can happen in an environment such as this quite easily. That is not so much the issue. The issue lies with the appalling manner in which it was handled by the hotel.

The bug struck all of us in the early hours of Tuesday. I thought it was just us until I went to reception to see the chaos 

'The private doctor did not lay a hand on a patient, was of little help with advice on rehydration and management of personal hygiene and couldn't wait to get away fast enough!' 

Another said: 'The bug struck all of us in the early hours of Tuesday. I thought it was just us until I went to reception to see the chaos.

'I called for a doctor, who was already on site because he had seen so many already.' 

In response, the manager said: 'We have experienced a sickness bug that affected some guest’s; the symptoms they experienced were high temperature, vomiting and diarrhea.

'The guests who stayed in their rooms were feeling better within 24 – 48 hours with the aid of simple medication.' 

Jet2 is 'facilitating requests for an early return' and offering alternative trips to people heading to the venue. 

Earlier this month it was revealed at least 70 British holidaymakers were struck down by a vomiting bug that ruined breaks at two resorts in Spain.

At least 50 fell ill at Club Mac Alcudia, on the Balearic island of Mallorca, and 20 at Stil Victoria Playa, on the neighbouring island of Menorca.

A sickness bug also left at least 100 British tourists ill, with several on drips after it swept through an Egyptian holiday resort.

Holidaymakers at the Coral Sea Waterworld complex were affected by the bug, thought to be Shigella, which causes diarrhoea, stomach cramps and fever.

People staying at the four-star resort in Sharm el Sheikh said some tourists were confined to their rooms during the majority of their stay at the hotel, with some on intravenous drips.

Many of those affected blamed the outbreak on poor hygiene and dirty utensils and buffet containers.

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