A Swansea family allegedly had their holiday to a five-star foreign hotel ruined after contracting a gastric infection. Hayley and Steven Price, from Morriston, travelled to the Jaz Aquaviva resort in Hurghada, Egypt, in May last year with their two children, Lestyn and Catrin.
Their holiday was booked through tour operator TUI UK Ltd to celebrate civil engineer Steven’s birthday in June. But, within days of arriving, they claim 47-year-old Steven fell ill with diarrhoea, stomach cramps and abdominal pain.
The following day, self-employed driving instructor Hayley, 44, also allegedly became unwell with similar symptoms, along with vomiting. 10-year-old son Lestyn and seven-year-old daughter Catrin were also claimed to have been struck down hours later. You can get more Swansea news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
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"We’d all been really excited about going on holiday, but within a few days we were all really unwell," claimed Hayley. "The rest of the trip was written off as we couldn’t do anything and Steven wasn’t able to celebrate his birthday."
She claimed that, during their stay - which lasted from May 30 to June 13, 2022 - there had been other holidaymakers at the resort who'd also complained of feeling ill. She claimed she remembered that a lot of the barbecued food there looked undercooked to her, with what appeared to her to be blood coming out of the chicken drumsticks at one point.
She claimed: "The food also looked to me like it had been sitting out a while." She claimed that Steven visited a pharmacy whilst out in Egypt and was given medication. But when the couple returned home they claimed a GP diagnosed them as having aeromonas hydrophila, a bacterial infection transmitted through eating or drinking contaminated water or food. The pair claimed they were subsequently prescribed antibiotics but that they had still not fully recovered from their ordeal.
“Since coming home, both Steven and I still aren’t fully better," claimed Hayley. "Our exercise routines are affected as well - we both enjoy running but can't do it as much as we used to. It was a huge shock when I was diagnosed with a bacterial infection as it’s not something you expect to come back from holiday with. I ended up having to miss quite a bit of work too as a result."
She added that the family had instructed lawyers, Irwin Mitchell LLP, to investigate what happened to them during their stay at Jaz Aquaviva, the website of which promises guests "a vacation of a lifetime." The resort hit the headlines several years ago when The Sun reported how 26 holidaymakers had their dream breaks cut short by gastroenteritis and other serious stomach upsets.
"I know there’s nothing we can do to change what we’ve been through, but we deserve some answers as to how this happened as our holiday was completely ruined," claimed Hayley.
A spokesspeson for TUI said: "We’re very sorry to hear about the experience Mr & Mrs Price had on their holiday. As this is now a legal matter, we are unable to comment on the specifics on this enquiry. We'd like to reassure all customers that we regularly audit all of our hotels in respect to health and safety, including hygiene."
WalesOnline has also contacted the Jaz Hotel Group - owners of the Jaz Aquaviva - for comment.
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