Holidaymakers report suffering gastric illness symptoms at the Colina Mar Apartments in Gran Canaria

Reports have emerged of guests suffering from the symptoms of a gastric illness at the Colina Mar Apartments in Gran Canaria, bringing into question the food safety standards at the Canary Islands hotel.

The all-inclusive Colina Mar Apartments in Gran Canaria

The Colina Mar Apartments are located in the popular Puerto Rico region of Gran Canaria, one of the Canary Islands, and is offered on an all-inclusive basis by Jet2 Holidays. Advertised as being “recently refurbished” and “popular with families and couples alike“, however, reviews made by previous guests who say that they have suffered a holiday illness at the Colina Mar may be alluding to potentially unaddressed problems.

Reports of gastric illness and problems with the hotel buffet

Reviews of the Colina Mar Apartments on sites such as TripAdvisor are generally quite positive, with many reviewers recognising that the all-inclusive hotel is positioned as a value choice for families and couples who want to get away to Gran Canaria. Unfortunately, a possible lack of safe food practices may be causing guests to become unwell:

Doncaster holidaymaker ‘oly120’ was a guest at the Colina Mar in November, and points towards a potential cause of guests suffering holiday illness at the Grand Canaria hotel by saying that the “food is palatable, but usually cold, as the servery is outside and there are no proper heater lamps on it“.

‘Rob M’ stayed at the Colina Mar on an all-inclusive basis in September and while he had a few positive comments about the resort, he says that “the food is terrible” as “it is warm and left out far too long uncovered, which resulted in [his] wife contracting food poising leading to severe gastroenteritis four day’s into [their] holiday.” He adds that upon returning home his wife “had to have a week off work whilst still being treated“.

In her review, that was simply titled “Rubbish“, ‘Rebecca N’, who stayed at the Colina Mar in August says that while the hotel appears to be quite clean, there was “undercooked fish” and “undercooked pork” being served in the hotel restaurant, adding that her “wife [was] ill for 24-48 hours“. To add insult to injury; after recovering from the initial bout of symptoms she appears to have discovered a caterpillar in her meal at the hotel.

Potential food safety errors may be to blame

One of the most dangerous errors that can occur in an all-inclusive hotel kitchen is undercooking high-risk produce such as fish and pork. While raw fish is generally considered to be safe to eat owing to the increased popularity of sushi, undercooked fish can still be a cause for concern. Like other types of meat, it can be home to harmful bacteria such as Salmonella, which can cause symptoms such as diarrhoea, vomiting, a fever, bloody stools, lethargy, headaches and a rash. These symptoms typically last for between 4 and 7 days, meaning that you could miss out on a large chunk of your break abroad.

Pork also has a mixed reputation as to whether or not it’s safe to eat undercooked or not, although when facing the risk of contracting the Trichinella Spiralis parasite that can take up residence in your intestines and cause symptoms of diarrhoea, vomiting, nausea and sweating, it’s probably not worth running the risk.

Once a meal has been cooked and served at a hotel buffet, the temperature that it has been served at should be maintained. This is done to prevent the risk of bacteria taking hold and causing you to become unwell and can be achieved through a variety of ways. While heat lamps are not ideal, they can help to ensure that food is kept at a safe temperature.

Another effective way to maintain temperature is to keep food covered with lids as much as possible. This has the added benefit of acting as a physical barrier for not just bacteria, but flies and other wildlife that could land on your meal and contaminate it.

How to start a claim for holiday illness compensation

If you lost out on days of your package holiday due to food poisoning that you believe was caused by errors at your all-inclusive hotel restaurant, such as the ones mentioned here, then under The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018, you might be entitled to claim compensation from your tour operator.

Our travel law specialists can provide you with a free no-obligation consultation that only takes a few minutes to complete, during which we can advise if we can represent you on a ‘no win no fee‘ basis, as well as the amount of compensation that you could be entitled to.