Britons plan to sue Thomson for holiday hell
More than 30 British holidaymakers are planning to sue Thomson Holidays after they become ill while staying at a hotel in Tenerife.
They claim they contracted food poisoning while on holiday at the four-star Los Gigantes Hotel on the island, which is only featured by Thomson in the UK.
The guests, one of whom was still in hospital last week suffering from salmonella, claim the hotel had poor standards of hygiene and failed to take adequate steps to prevent the illness from spreading.
Thomson is continuing to take guests to the 225-room hotel and, unfortunately for those who are due to travel to Los Gigantes, it says anyone who wants to cancel a trip will have to pay normal cancellation charges.
Holiday insurance is unlikely to cover anyone who wants to cancel as it has not been officially established that there are any food hygiene issues at the property.
Thomson, which features the hotel in its Gold programme, said in a statement: "In January, an independent hygiene consultant confirmed that the hotel was operating to the highest standards and concluded that a viral agent was the most probable cause of any illness.
"The hotel has adopted procedures set by its own consultants and local government. The hygiene consultant witnessed these and has advised that they appear to follow good practice."
Several negative reviews have been written about the hotel on the holiday review website TripAdvisor.com, mainly from guests who claim to have contracted food poisoning while staying at the property. However, more than 70 per cent of visitors who reviewed the hotel gave it the thumbs up.

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