A massive “attack” on Turkish hotels began with lawsuits from British tourists: more than 140 vacationers who stayed at the five-star Mukarnas Resort & Spa in Turkey said that they suffered a serious illness during their vacation, although the reviews of various travelers published on various independent. Internet sites at the same time when the “victims” were resting signaled only pleasant impressions. The hotel administration suspects the British of massive fraud to extort money from the hotel for pseudo-poisoning.
Dozens of families living in a resort spa hotel in the resort village of Okurcalar, 40 km from Alanya (Antalya province), were disappointed in their vacation in a Turkish hotel because each of them allegedly suffered an upset stomach, Turkish media reported concerning the British Daily Mail.
According to tourists, flies were flying all over the hotel, toilets and pools were dirty, and the organization the buffet was held in unsanitary conditions. As a result, more than 140 people sued because of the stomach upset they had during this period.
Among the victims, for example, were 45-year-old Julie O’Sullivan, her 46-year-old husband Harry Hunt, and their children: a 16-year-old son and a 15-year-old daughter. The background is as follows: the family went on vacation on May 29 through the travel company Jet2holidays. During the first few days of the week-long trip, everyone became ill, complaining of symptoms such as abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhoea. “We were looking forward to going on a long-awaited vacation, but two days after we arrived, Harry and I got sick. It happened suddenly and for the first 24 hours, I had constant vomiting and diarrhea. Then our children also felt uncomfortable. We spent most of our vacation in our room. We couldn’t love day trips. It was awful. The whole vacation was a complete disaster,” the tourist explained her indignation.
The hotel’s answer was categorical: the British took up “the old” and want to rest for free.
A Turkish hotel has responded to claims by British holidaymakers, calling the claims completely baseless and saying it will file counterclaims for damages. According to the owners of the 5-star hotel, none of the guests complained about this, only the British.
As the director of sales and marketing of the Muqarnas Resort Spa Hotel pointed out, most likely these are tricks of British law firms, which convince potential clients to enter into an agreement with them and file a claim for damages. It is probably a fraudulent scheme with poisoning and illness again – in this way, the company wants to make money and ensure an uninterrupted flow of new customers, and the tourists win the case – and get compensation for the imaginary poisoning, which means to reimburse all the money spent on vacation.
This is how one of the managers of the Muqarnas SPA & Resort hotel explained the situation: “Our main priority is to satisfy the needs of our guests. There have been cases when tourists get sick, but it is not our fault. For example, at the beginning of June, oil was found in the waters of Antalya, then tourists from Antalya were diagnosed with malaise, and children and adults were sick with rotavirus in the summer. As oil products moved along the Turkish coast, so did the disease. However, this is not our area of responsibility. Everything is recorded in the doctors’ reports.”
The representative also noted that what the hotel is directly responsible for is carried out: all areas are disinfected, food and drinks offered to guests are stored as they should be, cold and hot, and served according to a certain standard. “All this is periodically checked by independent audit firms and inspectors of the Ministry of Health, and no adverse situations occurred throughout the season. We have all the reports,” he added and informed us that copies of sanitary documents are with tour operators TUI and Jet2, with whom they work. In addition, the manager emphasized that the hotel values its reputation and has the necessary safety certificates and an ISO 22000 food certificate.
“Unfortunately, some of our British guests, whom we consider to be self-serving, have decided to return the money spent on their holiday in such a ‘black’ way. It is as part of this strategy that they spread negative comments on social networks. It is strange that in a hotel with a total capacity of 500 people, only 50 of them were allegedly injured, and the others were not. As a result of the damage caused to our brand, a counterclaim was filed against them for compensation of material and non-pecuniary damage through a law firm with which our company agreed in Great Britain,” summed up the representative of the Turkish hotel.