Avenida Estados Unidos,
Punta Cana,
23302
La Altagracia,
Dominican Republic
Dates of travel: June 2 to June 5, 2019. We recently stayed at the RIU Palace Macao in Punta Cana.
Once we checked in on the afternoon of June 2, 2019,we were told to enjoy lunch as our room was not ready at the time. We had lunch and then checked back with the front desk staff who told us our room was ready.We went to the room with excitement but discovered the room was hot and had a chemical smell. Our first room was on the garden side. Immediately noticed a chemical smell, almost like the smell of ammonia. The floor appeared a little damp with moister. I assumed it had just been cleaned thus the smell and the floor appearing a little wet. We opened the patio door a bit to allow the room to air out for a bit. We saw housekeeping nearby and asked them to check our room to ensure we were operating the thermostat correctly.They checked and suggested we call the front desk as it was not working properly. The front desk said they would send maintenance. After about an hour maintenance arrived and they stated they repaired it and to allow about 20 min for it to cool off and to shut the sliding glass door to allow it to cool. We did and the chemical smell still lingered and the room never seemed to cool. We now walked back to the front desk to express our concern and they immediately offered us another room on the other side of the property. This room was much better, no chemical smell. Dampness did occur the last two days of stay in this room...
We did note the mini bar had 3 out of 4 bottles that were empty. We left the front desk staff know 3 out of 4 bottles were empty in the mini bar. They said staff would get the mini bar filled.
Around the second half of day two (June 3) I felt ill with symptoms of stomach cramping with a slight headache. This continued a bit the next day as well as our day of departure June 5, 2019. My husband also experienced headaches on June 4 and 5. Once we returned to Florida we both experienced stomach issues to include diarrhea for a few weeks as well as headaches for about a week. I experienced stomach/abdominal cramping for a few weeks. We both drank from the mini bar as well as property bars and restaurants.
Sharing this due to recent developments and finding this site. Concerned for others and confused not just by how many are getting ill possible due to the food and or drinks.mini bar/pool bars, but also how some are also sharing about the mystery chemical smell. Hope we can all get to bottom of mystery and resolution and no more deaths. | Symptoms: Fever, Nausea, Vomiting, Cramps, Headache, Diarrhea
