Family Illness at Resort - Paradisus Playa del Carmen La Esmeralda, Playa del Carmen Quintana Roo

Manzana 569 Calle Quinta Avenida, Playa del Carmen, 77719 Quintana Roo, Mexico

My wife and two daughters, ages 3 and 4, visited from November 23, 2018, through November 28, 2018. We went for my 3-year-old's birthday. She was the first to get sick on November 25, 2018. She got a very bad case of diarrhea and also vomited. Fortunately, she got better over the course of three days. On November 27, 2018, our last day, my wife and I both become extremely ill after consuming food at Naos; one of the restaurants on premises. We both ate the stir fry steak and roast beef and within 2 hours we both began to experience food poisoning symptoms including persistent vomiting and diarrhea. I vomited about 13 times between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m.; I was gagging most of the time. My diarrhea was so bad that I was vomiting and defecating at the same time. My wife was also in equal shape. We had one bathroom. The worst part is that our little girls saw us both in this state. I was sweating profusely; like someone turned on a shower on my body. I also got a fever to top it off. I got so sick, that they had to bring a doctor to my room and he gave me Metoclopramide and told me that if I did not stop vomiting, I would have to go to the hospital; I was losing too many fluids and could not keep any liquids down. I truly believe that an elderly person or someone with a compromised immune system could have easily died from what I went through.
My wife wrote a letter informing the hotel Manager of the fact that out of 4 people in our family 3 of us got food poisoning at the hotel (we never left the hotel or ate elsewhere). The Manager, wrote the following in response:

"We regret that a rather great stay was tarnished by you and your husband’s medical condition, we close monitor every situation reported that could involve health threats to our guests. Therefore, we were concerned with your comments regarding food poisoning. We have cross-checked the situation you are describing with the reports generated during your stay, and fortunately we have found no evidence that would suggest infection outbreaks, neither poor preparation and food handling.



Our hygiene processes on food preparation and food handling comply to strict norms set by national as well as international authorities. Every time a guest reports a stomach condition we conduct a thorough investigation to rule out possible contaminants in our food preparation chain." (END QUOTE.)

Based on this experience, I will never take my family to Mexico ever again. Out of the four people in my nuclear family, three of us got food poisoning. I was the one who got the worst of it. It was by far the worst vacation that I have ever had. I had no intention of telling anybody about what happened in a public forum; however, so many people have been getting sick and even dying at these resorts that I feel I have a moral obligation to warn other Americans about what can happen. Do yourself, your family, and loved ones a favor, do not go to any of the Melia hotels. If you really want to be safe, do not ever go to Mexico. The food will literally kill you.  | Symptoms: Diarrhea, Fever, Nausea, Vomiting, Sweating