Their dream holiday landed the family in hospital (Picture: PA Real Life) A mother of three has told of a £3,700 trip to Turkey which left her family ‘traumatised’ and her children ‘never wanting to go on holiday again’ after suspected food poisoning left them all bedbound. Holly Parkin, 27, from Dagenham, east London, went to Turkey in September 2023 with her partner, Matthew Morris, 25, and their children Kaidan, four, and Mireya-Grace, one, and Holly’s child from another relationship, eight-year-old Amelia. Their all-inclusive eight-day holiday, which cost a total of £3,777.21, took a turn for the worse after Holly said her partner and her children fell ill with suspected food poisoning on their second full day at the five-star Granada Luxury Belek Hotel. Everyone except for Holly were left bedbound by diarrhoea and vomiting for around five days – leaving Amelia and Kaidan, who both have autism, struggling to cope. Returning to the UK a day earlier than planned, Holly said her partner started to recover but her children were unwell for another 15 days and had to be taken to hospital via an ambulance – where her baby was put on an IV drip. The trip was booked through Loveholidays, which said it was ‘very sorry’ to the family for their experience, and it has contacted Holly to request medical documentation to support her claim for compensation. She said her children were miserable (Picture: PA Real Life) Holly said she cannot provide medical documentation because although doctors told her the condition was likely food poisoning, blood and stool tests taken by the children were inconclusive so they could not confirm. She said: ‘It was horrible and heartbreaking, they were crying and, even now, they are sort of traumatised from the experience in the sense they never want to go on holiday again. ‘It was something that we have saved up money for and it was like a once-in-a-lifetime holiday.’ Holly said the hotel initially seemed ‘great’ and the staff prepared some food for the family when they first arrived as the dining was closing for the night. She said: ‘We sat down, had some food, they got us some drinks and then after, we checked in and everything seemed great that night. The whole next day was great and we got to experience the pool, the entertainment in the evening.’ The family’s first holiday all together ended in chaos (Picture: PA Real Life) But the next morning, marking their second full day at the hotel, Holly said her partner and three children were suddenly ‘bedbound’. She added: ‘It was diarrhoea, it was vomiting, it was a lot. I felt a bit queasy but I did not really get ill myself, it mainly affected my partner and my three kids. ‘It was all over the beds, I had to keep changing the beds myself.’ Her eldest daughter Amelia assumed they had picked up a travel bug, telling her family they should isolate in their room so as not to pass it on to other guests. Holly said similar food was served each day in a buffet, saying her family members ate some of the food prior to falling ill. The youngest baby developed a rash (Picture: PA Real Life) She explained: ‘They had some of the cakes, the desserts, chips, mashed potatoes, pastas, things like that. We did not touch any of the salads and we did not eat any of the other meat, it was only chicken.’ Returning to the UK, Holly said she booked a GP appointment where she was given some sample bottles to test her children’s stool. However Holly said after her baby, Mireya-Grace, started to develop a rash which was not disappearing, she phoned for an ambulance and her children were taken to the Queen’s Hospital in Romford, where her youngest child was put on an IV drip to replenish her fluids. She said: ‘The ambulance came straight out and they were taken straight to hospital, my youngest, the baby, was put on to a drip to hydrate her and they did some blood tests. I was trying to find solid evidence of what was causing it. At the end of it, all we got was that it was food poisoning.’ Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected]. For more stories like this, check our news page. She said she contacted Loveholidays after the trip, with the company telling her it would need confirmation as to what the illness was before looking further into the matter. ‘They said they would contact the hotel and get the hotel’s reply back and they said they wouldn’t be able to look into it unless we had the medical reports to find out what it was – and we didn’t get them,’ she said. Holly said she has also contacted the hotel directly but had not heard anything from them. A Loveholidays spokesperson said: ‘We are very sorry to hear of Ms Parkin and her family’s experience at their hotel. As we were not made aware of their concerns while they were on holiday, we were unable to investigate or provide them with support during their stay. ‘As soon as we were made aware of Ms Parkin’s complaint on her arrival home, we immediately raised an investigation with the hotel and requested documentation from Ms Parkin to support her claim for compensation. ‘This was not supplied and, as a result, Ms Parkin’s claim was later closed. We have been back in touch with Ms Parkin to request the required documentation and will remain in touch with her throughout this process.’ Granada Luxury Belek Hotel has been contacted by Metro.co.uk for comment. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected]. For more stories like this, check our news page.
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