First Choice - Sickness at the Holiday Village Turkey

Once again, we (watchdog) seem to think that we rule the world! Yes its unfortunate that people get sick when they go abroad ,but thats what you should partly expect from these lesser societies.
Before you go preaching at others you should get your own house in order, ie. E-coli at petting farms.

We stayed in the Holiday Village this summer with no problems, however whilst we were there about 100 fell ill due to "food poisoning". Everyone is quick to point the finger at the hotel and the holiday company, however, whilst the British decide not to replace the food covers after helping ourselves and whilst we insist on not washing our hands after going to the bathroom then helping ourselves to the food, there will always be food poisoning.
The outbreaks of food related instances can be directly attributed to guess what – us. After a week I became concerned about letting my family eat in the restaurant.
The restaurant even places handwash (the alcohol gel stuff) at the entrance(s) to the restaurant, which practically everyone walks past and doesn’t bother to use.
When you cannot grasp the basic fundamentals of hygiene then don’t blame the hotel
Also, there are a number of people who let their children defecate in the pools. No doubt this contributes to people illnesses.
Once again we're always quick to blame everyone else except ourselves.

we went in may this year and had a fantastic time. none of us (husband, me and 2 year old son) got ill. we ate a variety of foods in the restaurants and used the pool areas, drank loads of soft drinks from the bars etc. we saw lots of food testing being done, the staff were amazing, the main pool was closed on afternoon as a kid had pooped in it and it needed to be cleaned. our room was spotless. highchairs were cleaned constantly and covered in clingfilm to keep them clean etc. we did see other guests who were lacking in personal hygene - leaving dirty nappies round the pool, leaving plates with food round the pool and just being dirty. I knew when i booked our holiday about the problems in previous years as i checked out some review websites but we chose to book regardless and happy we did. I don't think it is First Choice responsibility and was angry at the way Anne treated the guy from First Choice on the programme tonight too. People need to take responsibility for their own hygene too - hand washing kills the germs and they had hand gel at the restaurant entrance. Would still recommend the hotel to friends and go back next year.

I'm starting to worry - I've already booked this resort for next year and wondering if I'll lose my deposit if I want to change it - quite scary and thefact that First Choice don't seem to be overly concerned is a real worry! I really feel for those poor people who suffered while they were there.

We went to Sarigerme this August (Family of four, two adualts and two children, aged 9 and 12).

The hotel was immaculate. The food was fantastic. The gardens were amazing.

My youngest son had an ear infection. Myself and my partner had stomach upsets; my girlfriend has since been diagnosed with Salmonella.

However, my only complaint is with the Brist going on holiday there - not the staff. Although you cant see the kitchens - the food on display and that was cooked in fornt of you was always very clean.

I wouldnt be surprised that most of the bugs are from the lazy Brits that cant be bothered to wash their hands and have no idea about manmers when it comes to choosing food from a buffet !

Watchdog should monitor the holiday makers as much as the hotel staff before they pass judgement !

Oh and by the way - I'm almost 100% sure you'll find out it's the grubby holidaymakers pooing in the pool not the staff ;-)

We are going to this hotel on monday with our two young children and have been put off by the comments on tv tonight. Where do we stand now?

I took my 2 children to Holiday Village Turkey in August this year for 2 weeks. All 3 of us were ill with terrible stomach pains and diahrrea which lasted a few days. Many others we spoke to while we were there had the same symptoms and worse, 1 child being on a drip.
There are 2 main pools at this village and 1 of them had to be shut 4 times. This lasted each time between 24 and 48 hours.
Its not a cheap holiday so you would expect the standards to be high, not expect to be ill.

I am going to The Holiday Village in three weeks not sure what to do!!!

To Sesntim - Don't worry, you will have a fantastic time! It is a brilliant hotel :-)

Oh, and apologies for all my typing errors in my previous post. I typed too quickly in my anger after Anne Robinson was so one sided on the TV.

My family and I are due to go next week I have two small children and am in early stages of pregnancy so am really worried and wondering what to do????

we went to this hotel in sept 08 just after the wedding story in the sun newspaper we had been to the same hotel in sept 07 and couldnt believe what we read having seen the cleanliness of the hotel the first time there were 9 in our party and no one was sick nor did we see anyone else being ill there was hand sanitiser in the restaurant which we used every time but others didnt we were careful and were fine i think anne was very harsh they can only do so much the rest lies with the holidaymakers and their own hygene i cant fault the hotel whatsoever i wouldnot be put off going this year in the slightest

we travelled to the holiday village in Turkey in June this year 2009, there were 4 adults and 4 children,
we had a fantastic time, the food was fantastic
everywhere was spotless.
the staff cleaning the tables used anti-bac spray all the time.
not one of us got any illness whatsoever.
i would recommend the holiday village to anyone.

Hi All

We lost 4 days of our £3500 holiday due to illness at the holiday village Sarigerme Turkey, Our 5yr old son had to have a anti illness jab in his thigh as he was vomiting time and time again for 24 hours, I was also ill and so was my girlfriend, continuous vomiting and upset stomach. When we returned to the UK we wrote to First Choice and we recieved a letter back offering NO COMPENSATION,not even offering to pay for the injection and medicine(£60) that we had to pay for but, saying thanks for letting us know and we will try and resolve the problem, we do not have this letter anymore and heard nothing further from First Choice.

Thx Daniel Butler

Myself and my family returned from the holiday village last week after a two week stay, it was our second visit in two years and let me tell you what a fabulous holiday, the first time was fantastic which is why we went again the hotel was spotlessly clean the maids were still cleaning rooms at five in the afternoon, the staff worked tirelessly keeping the outside areas clean and tidy, as for the food, we ate in the main resturant up to three times a day, and found the variety and quality of the food to be very satisfactory,my son had a bit of heat stroke and a ear infection but these were due to the heat and humidity nothing to do with dirty pools or anything eles, dehydration makes people sick, and melting ear wax from the heat gives you ear infections nothing eles, i would definatly still use first choice as a holiday comnpany and would definatly recommed the holiday village i would also consider going back next year...

I'm no supporter of first choice or any particular tour company for that matter. I'm sure they are a very responsible company and would never knowingly send tourists to a any dodgy hotel..........there is simply just too much for them to lose. Why is it always assumed its the hotel's fault? And why did Ms Robinson or the reporter not ask the medical expert on the show of the possiblity that these problems could be symptomatic of poor hygiene of some of the guest themselves, and by that I mean cross contamination, touching/sneezing on or near food etc. My comments are not aimed at the particular families highlighted on the show, but they could easily have become a victim of other guests with poor hyigene. A bit of balance please!

As per previous comments, it is more to do with the tourists rather than the hotel itself. The pool was closed because of children pooping in there and stayed closed at least 24hours each time. Inconvenient for the other holiday makers, but staff cant be blamed. Kids were always helping themselves in the restaurants and hygene isnt paramount with them. Its just strange that if it is the tourists then why isnt it as bad at every hotel we stay at?

Has anyone considered checking if there is any form of ground water seepage (leakages) from the Hotels' sewage systems into the swimming pools and possibly the beach?

If people have been ill in the last couple of years at this location, there is every chance that their excreta contained those deadly viruses Salmonella and Campylobacter which would easily proliferate in the sewage system and eventually find their way into the pools if there is any form of underground connectivity.

It would also be useful to check that there are no sewage discharges into the nearby beaches under the cover of the dark!

Just seen on your programme about holiday village Turkey. My family and I went there in July this year and we were all ill. When we returned home I was still ill and was diagnosed with chriptospiridium. We knew a lot of people were ill but did not know how common it was. Could you let us know how to put in a claim. Another angry first choice customer Maureen O'Hare.

We too took a trip to the Holiday Village in Sarigerme in May this year. My husband had severe sickness and diarrhoea whilst we were there and my youngest son (aged 5) became ill on our return journey to the UK. His diarrhoea was so severe that he had to have stool tests which came back testing positive for campylobacter. Environmental health got in touch and told us there was no question that it had come from the hotel and would be carrying out an investigation. However, we have never heard anything further until this evening when we discovered you had featured this huge problem in your programme. Needless to say we will not be making any further visits to the holiday village, which is a great shame as we had a really fantastic time. We will probably also think twice before booking another first choice holiday village any where else either.
Sue and Mark Baird, Hull

My Fiancee, and 2 children went to this holiday village in June this year for a week, Very competativly priced.
We read about the sickness from the year befores reviews, questioned it on booking. I was reasured it was delt with!!
We enjoyed our stay, NO SICKNESS, but the drinks were very limited, so we stayed with the water, beer and wine. Maybe the alcohol kept the adults well! Basically we researched the holiday prior to booking, was well awear of the sickness, We were all ok, and enjoyed the stay. I cant complain about the clenleness, food quality, or the staff.
I can only assume personall hygene is to blame for the sickness. But then, if you live on a diest of beer, burgers, and chips, maybe its not a surprise if you are un well!

we are meant to be going to the holiday village on monday morning!! the comments have unsettled us and we re not sure what to do? we are taking our 3 yr old son with us and this is also meant to be our honeymoon!! not sure what to do about the holiday now, dont really wana spend time being ill!!!

Really worried, have booked to go next september don't know where we will stand as paid low deposit and due to pay the reminder Nov.

me and my partner are going to this hotel on mon 28/09/09 with a 7 month old baby and i am now considering cancelling and losing my deposit what to do can i demand First Choice find us alternative accomadation please help me someone.

All the information is on trip advisor about the Holiday Village in Sarigermeon just how bad it still is.
ok there are still lots of people Who had a great time but in my option it is still unacceptable for people to still be getting sickness and diarrhoea one person falling ill is one to many.
First Choice just seem More concerned in making money at the expense of the people still getting sick at the Holiday Village

We have just returned from a week at the Holiday Village in Sarigerme. I am not normally the sort of person that writes on blogs however I was really shocked by what I was hearing on Watchdog tonight and feel that I have to share my experience. Our family of 5 (Myself, husband and 3 teenage children) had a brilliant holiday. The resort and the staff are excellent. The cleanliness of the hotel is probably the best I have ever experienced. We could not fault it at all however having said that I do feel for the families that have been affected by illness since or during their visit, but I agree with other comments posted here, some people just do not have any manners at all, the staff were continually clearing up after others and to be fair they have put measures in place, hand wash outside restaurant, covers on food (although many people didnt bother covering it up again afterwards, again the staff were walking around doing this) The swimming pool was checked regularly with water checks. All I would say to others who have booked, go, enjoy but be sensible, i.e. wash hands etc etc. and hopefully like us you will return having had a wonderful time. Again the staff could not do enough for us and all the First Choice reps and local Turkish staff were wonderful. I would definately recommend !! It looks like First Choice are taking the matter seriously which is what we would expect but why penalise them when it appears they are doing everything they can to sort out these isolated incidents. Happy Holidays!!

We went to this hotel in August this year. Both of our children became very ill with diarrhoia, as did our friends children.
We were charged £52 each time to see the hotel Doctor plus the money for the drugs he prescribed. (My daughter, husband and our friend all had ear infections too)
Our children were so ill that as soon as we returned home we saw our doctor. Both of our children (aged 3 and 6) and our friends children (aged 11months and 3 years) were all confirmed with Salmenella and Cryptosporidium.
My 3 year old daughter became so ill, that she ended up in HOSPITAL for a WEEK on drips for dehydration and for her antibiotics. She was not only confirmed with Salmonella and Cryptosporidium in her stools, but also Salmonella Typus in her blood (resulting in a horrendous rash all over body)
The hotel doctor took stool samples from both my children (at vast expense of course) so they MUST've known there was a problem in the resort.
[Line removed as it broke house rules]Frist Choice deserve everything I hope they're going to get!

We are also due to visit this holiday village in 10 days time. We are now extremely concerned as we have a six year old and 8 month old baby. What do others think? Where do we stand with First Choice? Any advice appreciated.

does anyone know if we can cancel without losing money going in two weeks, surely first choice should offer an alternative seems unfair we will lose nearly two grand if we cancel, we were in our local first choice office last week and they brought up the fact that we should ignore the reviews and that it was down to bad food hygiene on the tourists part, i hadnt even mentioned it at that point, tonights programme explains a bit.Very Worried

The Holiday Vilage Turkey, has fantastic grounds, pools, and people, Stay with the bookings, and just use comon sense when your abroad with strange foods, if your unsure what it is or if you may not like it. DONT EAT IT! Keep the holiday bookings, You will enjoy it. I Did, and my family did.

I stayed at this holiday village September last year with my family and suffered this dreadful illness and i still have ongoing problems a year on!I was off work 6 weeks due to my illness and was so dissapointed that such a beautifully maintained hotel could cause this many problems for at least 3 years running.First choice need to sort this hotel out before it takes a tragedy for them to do something about it and stop using the coperate line "airborne infection" bought in from the uk if this was such the problem you think they would stop flying holidaymakers out!Sarigerme is such a lovely resort shame first choice does not look after customers as well as it maintains the grounds!

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Further to our comment above.....yes the place was spotless and the staff working tirelessly was evident throughout our stay. I dare say that a lot of people don't take hygiene particularly seriously, however we as a family do! One of the pools was closed several times during our stay due to small children 'pooing' in it, this I have no doubt will add to the problems. The restaurants were spotless, tables were cleaned within minutes of people leaving, food was constantly being tested by staff members. So the question is why were so many people falling ill????

We went to the holiday village on 24th august for 7 nights, 8 people in our party, 4 adults and 4 children, aged 7,8,12,14 and absolulty loved it. That much that we are booking to go again next year. This place is amazing, couldnt fault it in any way. The kids loved it, from 10am till 11pm there where things going on for the kids and the swimming pools where second to none.
The food was buffet style but what do you expect when lazy brits who are too sozzled from drinking all the free beer dont put lids back on the food trays. The cleaners where fantastic and so polite, the gardnes and surrounding areas where immaculate.
Yes we had stomach ache on return but the turkey trots as my mum called it, but damm worth the wait. We paid over £4000 for our party and think it was worth every penny and would reccommend this hotel to anyone with kids. FANTASTIC, AMAZING FOR KIDS.....LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF THE HOLIDAY AND WOULD GO BACK IN A FLASH.

My 3 yr old son was hospitalised through the illness while at holiday village sarigerme. Had the sickness which caused internal bleeding. He was given various medication via the medical centre, who eventually admitted they couldn't help him further and sent him to hospital in Marmaris. He was ill for the last 7 days on our holiday and for a considerable time after we arrived home! My 6 year old son and husband also feel ill with sickness, but not as bad.

The holiday village does appear clean and cleaners were always around, but while were SO many people ill while we were staying there, and why so many people in the past??

We are a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 kids aged 10 and 13) we are going on 15th October this year and I dont at the moment intend of changing my booking. I have been in in customer service for over 13 years and as anyone will tell you - the complainers are generally the ones who get heard. How many travellers who became ill hadnt had the advisory injections before travelling to turkey??????? how many brushed there teeth with the water????? It doesnt matter where you go illness is possible, I know someone who went to a lovely place in the canaries and ended up on a drip in hospital.. You have to just be sensible and careful and if you are ill - dont be silly and carry on as normal - bottled water and the usual medication and you'll be fine - i've been and stocked up on the usual sachets and tablets just in case. Anyone else going on the 15th Oct see you there ....... So if you have been and was poorly come on be honest had you had your injections????????? Did you wash your hands????????

Firstly I think that Anne Robinson was incredibly rude to the man from First Choice. But then she is a horrible, rude woman. And yes I'm welsh!! Secondly I have stayed at this hotel on two seperate occasions and like other people have commented the problem is not with the hotel but with the guests. On four different occasions the pools were closed because people were allowing their children to use the pool as a toilet. Disgusting!! Also, plates of food where being left in the sun then eaten later, hence upset stomachs. One the final day of our holiday a small child was unwell with what his mother thought was prickly heat but is was apparent he had an upset stomach yet she still fed him all sorts and let him in the pool without a nappy when he had terrible dirrohea. Again disgusting. So i would say it is obvious that the hotel and staff at First Choice are not to blame but people who don't understand basic hygiene.

Well we have already expressed our concern about this village back at the beginning of this month after we saw This Morning and the illnesses. First Choice said they were doing everything to sort this out...clearly it hasnt worked as now we hear they are still getting ill.

We are going as an extended family, 8 adults and 3 children (3, 1 and 5 months old) in just 16 days time and now have hit a state of frustration that First Choice are making no attempt to help or give advice to those going soon, its shocking .....Russ

We visited the Turkish holiday village in June this year. My boyfriend suffered with servere diarrhea for 5 days. As with some of the other reports, the reps blamed the oily food. On our last day of the holiday my boyfriend's 3 year old boy also fell ill with diarrhea which lasted for over a week on our return. Whilst at the holiday village we met a number of couples who had suffered varying degrees of sickness.

Within one week our our return I wrote a letter of complaint about this and a number of other issues [Removed as it breaks the house rules]. We received a letter to acknowledge our complaint but WE ARE STILL WAITING FOR A FORMAL RESPONSE.

Hi there we are going to this hotel on the 19th october and I am glad its been highlighted on watchdog. I have already been in contact with first choice about changing hotels. I was fuming, as when i saw bad reviews over 3 weeks ago,I rung about problems at the hotel and guess what I was told we cant change unless we incurr a £750 charge!!!!! What annoyed me the most was I asked about a complaint I had seen from last year before I booked and was assured that this was sorted and could feel confident in booking this year.

When I complained in writing last week their reply was the same as their representative on watchdog tonight, that they are satisfied with the hygene at the hotel. I contacted a company called HOLIDAY TRAVEL WATCH, who were really helpful and said we had no choice but to go and watch what we eat and drink and avoid the pools!!! Not much of a holiday. They will be in contact with us on the holiday and we can feedback on how things are. To cover youself, we were advised to write to first choice confirming that we will take legal action if any of my young family or I become ill.

I felt really sorry for the people that had young children that were ill, as they are your main worry and concern and i feel guilty for going out there but we are not in a financial postition to change hotels and should not have to find the money to change.

I think by being on watchdog, maybe First Choice will take peoples complaints more seriously and get this sorted out for new travellers.

I hope they do empathise and let this health expert woman go out and check out the hotel. I also hope any of the genuine claims are upheld. I went to Los Zocos last year through first choice which was great, and I think if they act now and sort this out then they may keep my custom in the future. If you look at trip advisor, recent reviews have been better, so maybe first choice have been already working on this, or these are not all genuine reviews who knows?

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We are going on our 1st holiday abroad (first choice holiday village Turkey) with 4 children on Monday and am quite shocked at the extent of this food poisoning problem! Also all the comments about the swimming pools with poo in are disgusting. I can honestly say that I have never and would never leave dirty nappies around anywhere nevermind around a pool and also defacating in the pools is vile, Where do these people come from?

We have all been looking forward to this holiday for months and I now feel like I want to cancel or swap to some to other destination.

we are meant to be going on 3rd october really worried about these results where do we stand have u got any answers please

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Just came back from the Holiday Village a couple of weeks ago. I have to say that the place was SPOTLESS. Everywhere I turned there was a cleaner or a gardener. The grounds were immaculate and the staff were friendly and helpful.

During my time there I stuck to the rule I use with ALL holiday destinations. Dont have ice in my drink and stay clear of any food that would be washed in local water such as Salad. I did not become ill and I ate a variety of different foods including meat, fish and egg. I think somebody else mentioned it previously but they even have alcohol gel to use to make sure your hands are clean before you enter the restaurant and I too saw people just stroll past the dispenser.

Although I did not become ill I did however hear of three children who were sick or had an upset tummy during my stay. My friend had a growling stomach for a couple of days but nothing that stopped her from carrying on as usual.

If you are traveling there I would not worry yourself sick, just be cautious. Especially if you have children. Make sure you find a spot with an PARASOL. We went at the end of the season and it was REALLY hot. If you are out and about in the sun during peak season you are bound to feel ill. Make sure your kids have breaks from the sun and don't let them swim straight after eating. I know that sounds obvious but one child complained he felt sick but I had just seen him munch through a huge ice cream then straight after he was going nuts jumping in and out of the pool. No wonder he felt sick!

I like many others would definitely book another holiday there. I feel for the families who became ill. It must have been awful seeing your family suffer but to those of you headed there, I wouldn't let their experiences change your mind and your booking. Now its been on Watchdog there's probably even less reason to worry as they will be even more pushed to keep the resort clean and the food well cooked!

Hope this information helps :-)

Like some others we too have booked to go to this Holiday Village next October and I am now a bit worried to say the least. We had similar problems at the [details removed by moderator] in August 2008. The whole family went for a family wedding and my husband had a 4 night stay in the local hospital and ended up missing the wedding. Similar symptoms to those mentioned and I don't want to go through that again. Does anyone know where we stand with the booking??

I went to the holiday village 3 years ago and i am still suffering so badly from stomach problems that started when i was out there. I have under gone loads of tests and lost almost 3 stone as a result. It has had an huge impact about how i have to live my life now. It is a beautiful placeout there and yes it does look spotless but believe me if you have booked cancel! Its only money and really not worth the risk of having these sort of problems that i have.

Jus tIn First Choiuces Defense As I Am a Travel Advisor At First Choice we do Not Realise What Happens In Resort We Have Staff Members Who visit This Resort And Come Back after a Great Holidday It Is Unfoprtunate That People Have Been Ill And Have Had A Spoiled Holiday and I Am Sure If We All Knew This When Booking Our Customers Holidays We Would Let Them Know We Do Not Want Our Customers To Have A Bad Holiday We Work In The Company We Do becasue Were Her To Help And Want Our customers To Have The Best Holiday Possible....Anne Robinson Was Disgusting The Way She Trewated The First Choice Worker I Would Not Have Stood For That Myself I Have Sent Customers There And They Have Come Back After AGreat Holiday With Pictures And Thanks... We do Not In Any Way Set out To Harm Customers Or Even Send Them Somewhere If We Knew They Would Become Ill...This Is The Puyre Reason We Try To Ensure Every Customer That Travels With Us Takes Out Insurance....And to Blame Us For This Unfortunate Happenings Is Stupid First choice As A Company Cannot Control The Millions Of Hotels That we have a Contract With....There Are Also Other Companys Travel agents And Operators That Sell This Particular Holiday Not Just First Choice....We Value Our Customers They Are What We Work For And To Slate A company All oiver The Tv Isnt Right in That Case Other Operators Are Involveds Tooo As They Sell It Aswel.....Also On This Matter To Go To a More Unfortunate Country Is Bound To Call Illness your in Different Surroundings Your Not Going To Expect The Same As Over Here....Turkey is A More Unfortunate Country And Isnt Going To Be Perfect We All Know This but This Is a Risk you Take.....The Holiday Village Turkey Has Its ups And Downs And I Agree When People Say Maybe Before Slating The company think About Your Personal hygiene.....Its Not Just Surroundings That Can Cause Illness....ABSOLUTE RIDICULOUS STORY....

I went to the holiday village in July this year with my husband, 12 yr old daughter and 5 yr old son. Not one of us had any ill health whatsoever. As other people have stated, any illness that occured at the holiday village I think is down to some very unhygenic people. When we were there, on 2 occasions people pooped in the main pool. I think that is damn right selfish and disgusting. Parents with young children who are still in nappies should ensure they wear swim nappies (if it was a young child)!

Brits can really let the country down, the only other instance was a young girl of about 3 was sick in the restaurant at breakfast, obviously it was not her fault, but less than an hour later, the mother let her swim in the small childrens pool, i was fuming as you can imagine as my child and many others were in the pool, so I went to find a rep who said she would come down and deal with it, but unfortunately didnt!!!!.

Apart from that, the hotel is spotless and yes, if people are not clean in themselves, then germs will spread.

I have booked again for next year, and no doubt I will have another brilliant holiday. I do not blame the hotel in anyway, they are forever cleaning and doing pool checks,I blame the dirty people have no respect for others (hate to see what there homes are like).

My family and I went to the Holiday Village in Turkey in August. My two youngest daughters fell ill on the second week, my six year old was quite poorly. Although the place looked clean on numerous occasions I couldn't eat the meat as it wasn't cooked properly and the fruit and sweet section was never covered up. We noticed many people with ear infections and yes children had accidents in the water because they couldn't help themselves NOT because their parents let them!! I thought that we had been unfortunate and just 'caught a bug' but when we got home and my daughter was still running to the toilet we sent stool samples in. We were informed that she had cryptosporidium and salmonella. Needless to say we have been in touch with Irwin Mitchell and they are dealing with it as First Choice have never bothered to get back to us and they were contacted weeks ago.

I would like to mention that i was v careful about all the obvious hygiene issues e.g washing hands, only drinking bottled water, no ice and brushing teeth with bottled water, only eating food that had been freshly brought out and still v v ill!

Me and the family is going there on saturday (children 3.5y and 15 month)..... My wife however but me on the spot 2day after reading on the wep about this place... and said how much is it worth going there and being sick?????
I didnt know anything about anything about this place before 2day and now im thinking maybe its better not 2 go but on the other hand we wont get any money back if we cancel.... It whould be helpfull with some adwise..... after all, having a holiday is all about having a good time with your family and now its down to my deside what to do......luckely my wife was putting the littel one to bed when this program was on.....

i went to the holiday village in august of this year after previously going before as we had such a lovely time. this year towards the end of our holiday my daughter fell ill which we thought was just a bug and now we realise from tonight that perhaps it wasnt, as she had severe diarohhea for two days and was not right for a week after we had come home. i felt this year the standards of food quality was poor with no choice for young kids except chips! i made sure i ate bread, cheese and fresh foods rather than processed as i have had salmomella before. food in my opinion is not checked frequently enough and topped up rather than replaced. all i can say if you stick to the basic fresh foods you should be ok, dont eat the burgers/hot dogs or any meat and you should be fine. everything else is fine with the resort. but wont be returning again as i thought that overall quality was down on previous years.

I think Anne was fair with the First Choice rep, and I am sure the people who have been so badly affected by these illnesses are not complaining about her direct and tough approach. Whether First Choice claim that is only 1% of customers or not, the re-active measures don't appear to be getting to the core of, or solving, the problem. Re the earlier comment that it may be due to holiday makers poor hygiene, that is true anywhere, and I don't believe that is the sole issue as the pattern of horrendous illness is undeniable, especially in children. Watchdog's "call to action" is a response to appalling cases of illness, I dont believe they think they "rule the world" - they are exercising a duty of care - highlighting poor customer service, providing information and giving everyone the opportunity to make their own mind up.

Went a year ago and could not wait to come home!!!
On the coach going back to the airport the rep announced to us that we were going back home every one cheered with joy!
First choice do inform you that there is an outbreak of something when you get on the coach to the resort in a letter.
If you do fall ill with the symptoms its £50 for a consultation with the doctor.
Just make sure you take a trip to the pharmacy before you go pepto bismo, immodium, rehydration sachets just to help with the symptoms there is a shop there but i think its the most expensive shop in the world!
One of the pools was evacuated at 4pm every afternoon when we were there because some one kept on having a 4pm poopy in there!
The lift and room did smell of sewage for two days, maybe first choice should be looking at that as well to get to the bottom of the problem!!

I am due to go to the holiday village on saturday that i have been looking forward to for 10 mths i am very worried now about what i have seen on the bbc tonight and not sure what to do!!!!!!!!!
I am going with my 2 children 7 and 5 years old and my husband!!!!! what would u do????????

We wanted a holiday for adults and kids of all ages so left it to first choice to choose our destination,as we couldnt decide where to go.We told them what we wanted and where we wanted to fly from and left the rest to them.They recommended this holiday village to us all and never once mentioned any of this.....going next july,really worried and unsure of what to do or where i stand with regards to what has already been paid towards holiday....HELP!!!!!

I resent others on here stating that "it is down to some Brits and poor hygiene"!

I took my wife and children (5 and 8) to the holiday village last August(2008). My daughter and I both fell ill with stomach upsets and sickness. We spent over £300 in the resort doctors/hospital - I was given two litres of fluid (including drugs) via a drip and spent nearly a whole day in the hospital. Both my daughter and I were given medication to take for the rest of our holidays (over 8 days!!!) and this ruined our holiday. My wife and son were constantly worried they were going to fall ill and my daughter was still ill for a number of weeks on our return (this included several trips to our doctors checks and stool sampling).

I like many on here am truly annoyed that this has been going on for many years ... the resort doctors even had the cheek to say it must be because I was dehydrated due to too much sun exposure and my body couldn't cope with the heat ... what a load of tosh ... I spent my time in the shade as I am no sun worshipper!!! I didn't get ill this year after spending time in the same heat in Portugal!!!

First Choice need to get this sorted and fast!!!

No one has said they had the innoculations before going yet???? And at the end of the day you can get if from ya local chippy or infections from your local swimming pool? I have a friend who has been to the holiday village in the dominican and a friend who has been to the turkey village twice both loved them . I will make my own opinion when i get there - just gotta be careful and hope all will be well.

We first went to The Holiday Village in Sept 07 when our daughter was only 16 months old, we had such a great time we went again in Sept 08 taking our friends with us who also had a young daughter. Although I had a 'dodgy' stomach for most of the holiday and for two weeks after I returned I have to say it did not ruin our holiday at all. Our girls were fine and so was my husband. Our friends got slightly ill but it did not last long. Although we seem to very lucky in regards to what other people have gone through I do strongly believe that this problem is not down to the staff or the food there but the brits who have no respect for cleanliness or hygiene what so ever. Hand sanitizer was provided but I saw so many people who didnt use it, food was left uncovered (by the holidaymakers ) people let their kids pick food out with their fingers and then put it back again..no wonder theres problems..

hi i have returned from turkey two weeks ago my twins of 2and a half are still ill they have caught salomella and crypto - sporidium from the resort [details removed by Moderator], it just needs to get sorted as this is a bug all round turkey, i dont think people take this seriously its very serious and those people who have not caught it do nt have a clue, its very upsetting watching your babies go through so much pain. There has to be a reason this is happening around turkey.

my family were ill and we knew there was lots of it about but the food and restaurant, bedrooms seemed immaculate. However, the kids club rooms were dirty and smelly and I wondered if they got cleaned very often. Watchdog, please make sure when your hygiene doctor visits , these rooms are tested.

Also since the restaurant appeared so clean we felt the problem was with the pools, in particular the childrens/baby pools whereby the water was not that clear. My daughter fell ill after spending an afternoon in that kind of pool.
I hope they get to the bottom of this because as others have said this could be a great holiday place and other than that we really enjoyed ourselves. I would say to those who have booked and are going for the rest of the season just make sure hands are washed and pool water is not swallowed! Dont use the baby pools.

My husband and i have booked to go to the holiday in turkey september 2010. I have rang first choice and been into discuss our worries with them and each time they have denyed there is a problem there. They are all liars and dont care as long as they get the money. They have told us we can transfer to another holiday but we have to pay £35 per person admin fee a total of £105. I dont care what i loose i am cancelling but i will be taking it further the least they can do is waiver the admin fee. They should never have carried on selling these holidays. With response to comments about unhygenic people, yes i agree the brits can behave like pigs sometimes but its not just at that hotel they behave like that some people are like that wherever they go yet they dont infect every hotel with salmonella.

hi i dont usally do this sort of thing but having just watched anne robbinson go on about the [brand removed] holiday village in turkey i felt i had to give my views on this subject my partner my sister and brother in law and myself have just returned from the holday village in turkey less than 1 week ago were we had a fabulous time the hotel was spottless cleaners were working around the clock the resterants were excelant there were kitchen staff doing temp checks on the food throughout the meal time on the walls outside the resterants were antibacterial sprays just like you would find in hospitals so any one who entered could wash there hands at night time we saw staff cleaning the pool area and pools the staff couldnt work any harder if they tried we did not here of any cases of food poisoning whilst we were there so any one who as booked up for this holiday i would say dont worry you will have a great time we had also heard these horror stories but found them to be untrue as ive said we had a great holiday

Well Can't believe what i have watched today as we fly out to this hotel on Saturday !!!! So will report back after our week and let you know what information we are given from First Choice as I will be asking the question when we arrive about this all being on a nationally Television program !!! Will makesure our hygiene is kept on top of at all times... Going to celebrate my birthday so hears hoping I have a great time !!!!

A message to all those who have booked - Go on holiday and enjoy yourself! This place is very clean and the staff are extremely friendly. The service is excellent, the food well presented and general experience is superb.

A message to all who think First Choice are at fault - Get a grip! My stepson inhaled chlorine fumes when a pipe burst in the main Palace pool. (this was an unforseen and unforunate occurance and could not have been pervented). The bar staff, medical team and first choice reps were fantastic and did everything they could to not only help my stepson, but make sure the rest of the family were looked after. My wife was ill for the last couple of days of our holiday (suspected food poisoning but most likely caused from a bar in Sarigerme) and the reps couldnt of helped us any more with insurance details, getting us home and making sure we were sorted out. The hotel was extremely clean, staff were very friendly and our whole holiday was fantastic!

I agree with the pervious comments that us Brits are disgusting when it comes to hygiene. I saw toddlers swimming naked, adults spitting the pool water, nappies dumped in the plantations and people not washing their hands after using the toilet or before they entered the restaurant - despite the signs to remind people. I was told by one rep that a group of teenagers were evicted from the resort in summer because they purposly excreted in the pool 'for a laugh'. As a policy to protect its clientelle, First Choice and the Hotel put the pools into quanertine for 24 hours. Now tell me they dont look after their guests!!!

Furthermore, i heard a few people saying they were going to sue First Choice because people had slipped and hurt themselves... If they used commen sense and didnt run around the poolside, or atcually took notice of the abundence of 'slippery floor' signs, they they wouldnt have fallen in the first place!

My only problem with First Choice is their prices... The same holiday was nearly £800 cheaper flying from London Gatwick than had we flown from Glasgow. Even paying our for hotels, food and train tickets to Gatwick, we saved around £600 and had a brilliant time!

Happy holidaying!!

We recently booked to go here and are due to leave in october. We arent going to go now due to watchdog raising these issues and just hope that we can change our destination! How can you take your 2 year old daughter on her first holiday and not let her go in the pool and constantly worry about the food/drink hygine! Its discusting that First Choice have been letting people book a family holiday to this place! I am sure that they wouldnt take their family there!!! Awful!

Further to my previous post, whilst out there I became friends with a turkish tour guide from the local village who told me that the illness was only happening at the holiday village and none of the other couple of hotels in the area and that it was common knowledge there was a problem there. I hope First Choice do eradicate the cause as it is a lovely hotel and area. I always use First Choice as my travel provider and have been to Mexico twice and Dominican republic once with them, both poorer countries as well as plenty of other places but never had a problem. I don't think Anne was harsh on the First Choice guy as they were questions we were asking of the reps when we were there. They were so out of their depth with complaints rep managers were brought in (one from as far as greece) to try and sort customers. First Choice need to sort it out but to say how ill I was it won't put me off First Choice and yes I would go back there!!!

My partner and i stayed at the H/V this september and had an amazing time we were very impressed with the cleanliness of the place,and we noticed regular checks of the food,which was cooked infront of you. I wonder if people have checked at the airport???? As this kinda thing has happened to hotels before and it has resulted to being a bug picked up from there and not the hotel itself.We have actually booked our wedding for next year,i would be lying if i said i wasnt worried,but often when these outbreaks occur the place ends up being the best one to go too as they have had to step up their game,that said i didnt think they needed too .We couldnt fault it.

i posted earlier group of 9 visited sept 07&08 we all had injections before going but were told you didnt have to so i expect many didnt we were all fine not a single upset tummy if you have booked to go i would still go just be carefull 2 weeks before we went there was stories in the papers and on the news so we were worried i gave the kids vitamins before we went took loads of hand sanitisers but didnt need them as there were bottles all over for you to use and had plenty of medicines from the chemist which werent used just go and enjoy yourself and you will see how clean it is and how fantastic the pools are just go armed with mozzy spray that was the only thing i could find to comlain about

We have booked for two weeks next year where do we stand if we cancel, do we lose our deposit???

We are due to go to the holiday village on 24th October this year. This will be our Honeymoon, although we are taking our 3 children with us and our youngest will be 2years old. My wife is also recovering from a recent major operation. Whether it's the hotels fault or not, there is clearly a higher risk of 1 or all of us getting salmonella. I cannot spent the duration of our holiday worrying about this. We have paid in full now and were about to pick up our tickets. Please someone tell us where do we stand? In light of Watchdogs report surely it is in First choices best interest to move us to different accommodation without charge.

Myself and my family are going on the 12th of october my daughter is 2 if we cancel would we loose our deposit

Myself & family (yes, we are 'Brits', who actually do wash out hands before we eat- Do not sterotype!) went to Holiday village, Turkey this summer for 2 weeks (23.7-6.08) I have to say it was awful,I just wanted to go home in the end, which is very unlike me, as I love my summer holidays. we usually go to holiday village in Lanzarote, have done for the past 3 years, but wanted to try a different 'village' wish we didn't.
I came down with food poisioning, I was so ill for 2 days, I was in the bathroom for most of 24 hours, due to very bad diarreah (sp) Lucky I took some imodiums with me, as I always do on holiday, as you never know... I took about 10 tablets to actually slow it down, not get rid of it totally. I barely ate for the rest of the time I was there. I noticed in the resturant (yes, it was clean) but they cooks never rotated food, they just 'chucked' a new lot over the top of what was already there.. there were so many flies on the 'cheeses' and salad, as there was no covers over them.
Around the kids pool near the kids club, there were so many wasps, yes, I know you get them everywhere, but there was so many plates and cups of drinks, food on the floor that hadn't been cleaned up, the wasps were having a feast, my husband actually got stung.
My eldest daughter (6) she was sick whilst there too.
I would never ever go back there, it was a waste of our money, which cost over 3 thousand pounds.
I will stick to lanzarote holday village, it is fantastic, was never sick there and it is heaven. ( although first choice will no longer have suntropical in lanzarote in their brouchure, after april 2010) such a shame, who ever takes over lanzarote from 1st choice, I will book with them.

We visited the holiday village this August (4 adults and 4 children (aged betwee 5 and 9). Whilst we heard of a few people with stomach upsets we never saw or heard of anything so severe as per this evenings tv clip. None of our party were ill and neither were the other 2 family's we met out there during the same period (total of 20 people). We ate in every restaurant in the hotel and the steakhouse - no illness at all. Unfortunately, whilst it's not what people want to hear, or believe, personal hygiene is a factor, not washing hands after using the toilets (seen on numerous occasions), not using the bacteria hand-wash supplied at the entrances of the restaurants (again, very few people bothered), people allowing their children to pick food up with their fingers and then put it back again not to mention letting their children poo in the pool - and you wonder why bugs go round?!

There is also a lot to be said for the change of food/diet, eating three big meals a day, all inclusive drinking all day, heat, de-hydration...

The hotel is clean, the rooms are clean, the grounds are lovely, it doesn't smell of sewage and in the 2 weeks we were there we did not witness anyone being or taken ill!

Whilst the stories in question of people being ill are sad to hear, given the amount of people falling ill, compared to the some 4500 people there every fortnight, it kind of puts things into perspective.

People shouldn't be put off by this, it's a brilliant hotel and the whole family will absolutely love it...

well totally gutted spoke to first choice they seem to think no one had anything like that for 4 weeks now. im due too go out next thurs im totally bricking it.
an basically peeps we cant cancel cos if we do we cant get money back an we cnt change cos we have to pay for where ever we change too.....am i happy no, im petrified. im scared for my 4 yr old little boy.
i jus keep askin myself do i wanna lose the holiday money......or risk possibly losing my little boy cos some of these things seem pretty bad an all peoples bodys are sensitive in different ways...

my only other suggestion maybe for people to ring there travel insurance people an see what they say!!!

I stayed at Sarigerme Holiday Village in October 2007 with my husband and 2 sons when I was 6 months pregnant. The surroundings were lovely but I did not feel that the hotel could cope with the high volumes of people there, there were frequently long queues for food and as a result the chefs were rushing to cook the food. One week into our stay I bit into a chicken wing(from the buffet restaurant) and found there was blood pouring out of it on to my plate. I immediately took the piece of chicken to a rep who looked horrified at what I had just eaten given the fact I was 6 months pregnant. Luckily I only suffered mild symptoms (upset tummy) but the incident ruined our holiday as I was so worried I would be really ill and go into premature labour. I did not eat any meat for the rest of the holiday. First Choice sent me a £200 compensation voucher but I would never return there !

My family and I went to this resort May 2008, we had a fantastic holiday. We found the resort immaculate, the cleaners were constantly clearing away and cleaning. The grounds were beautiful and clean and so was our room. We found all staff very friendly and the food was exceptional. We did not fall ill and didn't meet anyone who had been ill, but I do agree with the other comments of the lazy, drunk holiday makers that unfortunately put the brits to shame. We took all the usual precautions and used bottled water to brush our teeth etc, we were also at the start of the season and maybe this is why we managed to remain healthy.

We had such a great time we have booked to go back again next May 2010.

It seems perfectly clear to me that the majority of illnesses are being caused by the people and their own actions at the Holiday Village.

Did they not say that there were 38,000 people at the holidy village and yet only 300 possible illnesses - surely this is to be expected... And it is surely the solicitors that benefit ??!!

It seems a witch hunt against first choice and the illinformed comments on this website are ruining future holidays for the majority of people who will have a fantastic time.

I regularly holiday with First Choice and will continue to do so, and I highly recommend the Holiday Village.

I have been with my family and friends to the Holiday Village - once in 2007 and then again in 2008.

This is one of the cleanest resorts that i have ever been too. The food has always been fresh and the restaurants are spotless. I agree with a comment that someone else mentioned about how some holiday makers leave the covers of the food - which leaves it open for flies and mosquitos to land on it.

both times when i have been there i heard of no severe cases of people being ill.

what you have to remember is that this is a very large resort that overall i beelive can hold over 4000 people. the amount of people that become ill there is probably no higher than any other hotel in turkey or infact other places in the world.

i would not let this report put you off going there. this reosrt is perfect for families, the kids clubs, entertainment, rooms, cleanliness of hotel and facilities is great. the only downfalls are the mosquitos, but as there is so much greenary you have to expect that. the beach is also a turtle beach so dont expect to build sandcastles there and the nearest town is a short bus ride away and doesnt really have much there (1 nightclub and a few bars and shops.

overall the hotel food and drink were fine, the staff were great and it is fantastic value for money.

take some alcohol gel, use it after you have handled the money and wash hands after going to the toilet. You should be fine. If you have kids, make sure they do this as well.

i would definately go back to this resort.

Jane

my family and i visited this resort in june 2009, and fortunatley were all ok, but on returning home heard some stories about sickness relating to this resort. my husband did a little research and found a website regarding where the resort was built and what it was built on, it turns out it was built on some old marsh land and that locals had used as some sort of dumping ground. may-be worth looking into as we noticed a lot of bad smells whilst out-side in the day when it was at its hottest. may-be this could be a link to the sickness,s

I take offence to certain people casting the blame on our own personal hygeine habits being the cause of illness. My daughter was diagnosed with cryptosporidium at the end of August, of which i might add has nothing to do with washing of hands, handling of food etc. If anyone would kindly like to google it, you will indeed find out that it is a parasitic illness which is usually water borne. It is contracted after swimming in water containing faeces or sometimes eating uncooked food can be a factor. My daughter was extremely poorly for 2 wks on our return, lost a great deal of weight (infact she is 5yrs old and now having to wear aged 3 clothes!!!!) We were extremely careful about what we ate, our handling of food even down to taking our own anti-bac hand gel of which we used religously. We doubled up on my baby daughters swim nappies, and i'll also add that we only used the kids pool on the palace side, and not once did i see a baby or toddler without a nappy and for the whole duration the pool remained open.
I'm genuinely pleased for those of you who had a great holiday, but it could have been very different, and before any of you that are quick to blame the unfortunate people who have suffered, take a moment to think what it could have been like if it was a member of your family.

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Hi,We are flying on monday 28 sept,of course we are worried re the watchdog programe/plus reading other reveiws who would,nt be,i think if people adhere to the rules regarding food and personel hygene perhaps there might be less of a problem, we will be making our own judgement whilst there and will most deffinately write a reveiw on our return for all other worried travellers, for anybody who is going next week see you there.

My family and I went to Serigerme Holiday village this year in August for 2 weeks. I agree with various of the comments above. on the one hand I agree that the food appears very well presented and some of the holiday makers hygene may be questionable, however my belief is that food is left out too long and the temperature is not monitored or maintained sufficiently.
I could go on for ages about average service, dirty table cloths at second sitting, food that was supposed to be hot but often luke warm at best and could elaborate on the fact that three of our party of four had stomach cramps and an upset stomach (including myself and I never have an upset stomach anywhere) at some point during the holiday which went on for 10 days or so after our return. However my main comment is to concur with the BBC and regards the fact that First Choice are doing nothing to advise holiday makers of the possibilty of falling ill. 3 weeks before we left I saw an article on the Web about the amount of people falling ill and went to our First Choice agent to discuss what I had seen. I was told I could not change my holiday without spending thousands extra and that in any event they had not heard of lots of people falling ill there. First Choice have failed in their Duty of Care to their customers, this was our most expensive holiday ever and sadly also the worst. I could not recommend the Holiday and will certainly not be returning.

I went to the holiday village turkey for 2 weeks in june, with my partner and 5 year old son. I was very impressed about the cleasiness of the hotel, room and grounds. The staff were extremly friendly, the weather great. My son enjoyed the kids club, and the swimming pools. On several occassions young children were "pooing" in the pools, and like many of the other holidaymakers, We too were extremly annoyed with the holiday makers who were not putting approprate swim nappy's on there children, but again impressed with the hotel for shutting down the affected pool to clean it.
HOWEVER, I became ill on the second to last day, I was feeling very giddy, shivery,neausea,and was sensitive to light. All i wanted to do was sleep. My temperature that night, kept spiking up to 40degreeC, and I was having rigos, with only paracetomol to take, with litle effect. My whole body began to ache, and I had no energy. The following morning we were due to check out of our room at 11.00, but I could not raise my head off the pillow. My partner payed extra to keep the room on, as we were not being picked up by the coach to the airport till 6pm. All day, again I had the above symptoms, and slept! when I was in reception, on the bus and at the airport i really did not know how I was going to make the journey home! I slept all way on the plane. I crawled into my bed, late that night, and the following morning had horrendous cramps and diarreha. I had 11 days of diarreha andcramps. Various g>p visits and stools samples, and i was diagnosed with samonella. I had to have 3 weeks off work, and 2 lots of antibotics. I too would like to know, how to make claim, could you please inform me how to do this???
And for all those people, who have commeted about holiday makers hygiene standards ie not washing hands etc,SAMONELLA comes from cointaiminated chicken/poutry/eggs, which has also not been cooked to a high enough temperature to kill the bacteria!!!!!!!

Having re read some of the reviews i would also like to say both my children used the main pools and the kids clubs all the time. on both my visits which were 2 weeks each time and neither fell ill.

My husband and I have just come back from the Holiday Village Turkey. We were amazed by the standards of cleanliness we observed there, although of course we did not view the kitchens. The staff were extremely diligent. The accommodation was spotless, and public toilets and all ares were regularly checked and cleaned. The pools were regularly monitored and on the occasions that we were there that somebody (possibly young children) had pooed in pools they were shut immediately, announcements were made, and the pools were shut for 24 hours after the incidents had taken place. We did not have any injections before we went (we booked last minute, and were not aware of any that we should have had). With regard to the hand sanitisers around the restaurant, unfortunately these were not mentioned by the reps or hotel staff, and we did not spot them until near the end of our holiday. Having said that, we always washed our hands just before entering the restaurant and used the tongs provided for dishing up food. The staff wore gloves when dishing up food and were very careful to change these and wash their hands between dealing with raw and cooked foods. All drinks made with water were made with bottled water (which was done in front of holidaymakers), and the staff gave out bottled water freely throughout the holiday. We did not have ice in our drinks. We sat in shade during the day, and drank lots of water to keep hydrated. Many people sat out for hours in full sun and quite a few let their young children play in the shallow pools in full sun too (even over the lunchtime period). A lot of people did not move from the pool areas at all during the day and seemed to eat burgers, chips and pizza from the pool bars virtually every day of the week. I had absolutely no problems at all at the start of the holiday. We ate only in the restaurant for most of the holiday. However, on one occasion near the end of the holiday we ate at one of the pool bars at lunchtime. I did not see the man making pizzas that day wash his hands, and he was squatting down behind something making calls on a mobile phone between making them (we assumed that he was not supposed to be using it, so that was the reason he was ducking down out of site with it). That area did not look all that clean, so possibly I was stupid to even try the pizza. We also had a pancake made by a lady that sat on a grassy area on the way to the beach. She did not wear gloves and I remember that she put her hands in the sugar and then sprinkled it on my pancake. These were the only obvious lack of hygiene signs that I saw whilst at the Holiday Village. Just after that I experienced an upset stomach, which involved me having to take Imodium (never travel abroad without it), which brought the problem under control, although it continued until after I had returned home. We decided after I became ill that we would not eat at the pool bar or pancake lady again in case the problem had been caused by either of these areas. My husband had no problems at all whilst in Turkey but has had stomach problems in the week since we have been back, and has had to take time off work. That may or may not be as a result of our holiday. Just before I started having problems we had been on a coach trip with a lady that was violently sick, and during the trip we had been given a drink at a Gold Centre (we don't know if that was made with bottled water or not). Unfortunately I believe that both of us forgot a couple of times at the beginning of our stay to use bottled water to brush our teeth, and I certainly at least once swallowed some swimming pool water (not on purpose obviously). I do think that possibly some of our lapses may have contributed to the problems we have had. I do agree that some other holidaymaker's standards were not brilliant - allowing children to put their hands in food, and some adults did have quite dirty looking hands so obviously had not washed them before going into the eating areas. There were a lot of cats around the complex, and some people were encouraging them in the restaurant areas onto their laps, stroking them, and then going up to the buffet areas and collecting food without washing their hands.

Having said all that we had a brilliant holiday. The Holiday Village itself is beautiful and has lovely gardens and loads of pools. The hotel staff were extremely pleasant. Some of the reps were a bit offhand at times, and could have been a bit more helpful and informative. Their information was sometimes a bit inaccurate. We were shocked to see the item on Watchdog, as we had no idea of any major problem having occurred at the resort. We both agreed when we left that it was a place that we would like to go to again, and would recommend to other people. I can understand why people that have already booked are concerned. I personally would not take very young children abroad to a hot country anyway, but do realise that it is up to individual choice. However, it needs to be said that there is a doctor in the hotel complex, but we were warned that the fees to see him/her are quite high. For low risk holidaymakers (ie not the very young or very elderly) I think it should be an enjoyable holiday and it is probably just best to be very careful with regard to the water, and if there are any concerns about any of the food not to eat it. The hotel does put on a wonderful spread of delicious food in the restaurant though, and there is plenty of choice.

hi my family and i are booked for the holiday village in july next year and i am vvv concerned! have to say though when i called first choice to voice my concerns they were excellent! always book with first choice and now unsure what to do?? rest of deposit to be paid nov............

After watching this programme I am surprised to learn of the problems yet again at this hotel!
Myself and my family and friends all booked into this hotel last sept and had a thoroughly good time and withy not 1 illness reported during our time there! The resturaunts were immaculate with the antibacterial had gel given to every person ebtering or leaving!!!
The rooms were cleaned to the highest standards and with no stones unturned. The poolside was clean too, albeit for a few discarded wasp filled plates. A holiday that was thoroughly enjoyed by us all. We had no complaints (apart from the two nights of thunder storms, which i suppose will be blamed on First Choice too!!!!)
In fact we enjoyed it so much that 13 of us have booked up to return in june 2010! If holidaymakers do not take all precautions for themselves then they are the ones to blame. Poor hygene, water that is provided not used, eating out of the hotel (which we all do at least once) are all contributing factors towards such illness'.

Would i consider changing my holiday plans??? No. was the best holiday we have had and would recommend it to any hygenic self respecting holiday maker.

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I have stayed at this resort in July and two of my family members were ill, my wife and my son. As a result 9 days of the 10 were lost to us being stuck in the room caring for them. Extremely dissapointing- especially as I now learn that this has been going on for years. This cannot be simply explained away by dirty holiday makers and nor is it just the responsibility of the Brits, this hotel is not exclusive to british holidaymakers. Secondly we did all we can to minimise any cross- infection by washing our hands, but all of the hand sanitisers on entering the restaurants were always empty.

Any signs advising holidaymakers to clean their hands or use hygiene products were only in English, where were any of the ther languages. I think they recognised that an area where infection was accurring were the water coolers, at where people were filling up bottles. A great area for contamination- especially as the water was never cool, always lukewarm. These were replaced halfway through my stay by fridges with bottles in them. I cannot deny the hotel and the staff did appear to do everything in their power to keep the highest standards of cleanliness, however if their efforts are in vain perhaps the hotel is just not fit for purpose. It angers me that if this is the case they have at best, ruined my holiday and at worst put my young sons health and wellbeing at risk.

Rest assured if you are shortly going to visit the Holiday Village in Sarigerme you really need be no more than 'cautious in a foreign country'.
The hotel is spotless, the staff are friendly and the only thing that could possibly spoil your holiday is poor hygiene and filthy habits of other holiday makers.
Yes, Brits Abroad should be suitably ashamed.
We went to the Holiday Village from 31 August to 7 September and had a lovely Holiday. The food was plentiful, well prepared, delightful to look at and hot. The only advice would be AVOID THE A LA CARTE RESTAURANTS, they are disappointing to say the least.
Our 3 year old son spent his days in the pool and always found something pleasant to eat.
The baby pools are a liability because people don't put their little ones in swim nappies and I'd bet a pound to a penny that the bacteria causing the problems are as a result of poo in the pools. Despite the staff clearing the pools and cleaning them as quickly and efficiently as they can.
As with all things, it's a numbers game and 'spanish tum' works just the same in Turkey with so many holiday makers there will be a percentage of people getting ill.
I took Imodium, Diarrolyte and Cayoline & Morphine (apologies for the spelling). I didn't need any of it although met someone who did - she'd had a fried egg that she realised hadn't been cooked properly.
It's easy to be sensible, have scrambled eggs or an omelette or why not hard boiled eggs. You can make your own toast and there are plenty of other options.
Have a great holiday - it really is a lovely place!

We have just come backfrom side in turkey. There were alot of people ill in our hotel can resort but u know the brits r very disgusting no wonder they get ill. I know that kid pee in the water u hear the mums telling to do so. And the gel is in the hotel and the brits will walk round the other door to avoid using it why?? I carry it everywhere with me. I been to spain lots of time and people have been ill as well so why pick on turkey.!!!!!!!!!!

We holidayed at this resort from 10th to the 24th August, 5 year old daughter became quite ill with S&D which at first we put down to the heat etc. We took all sensible precautions, no ice in drinks, always used bottled water, stayed in shade, made sure hands were washed after toilet visits (as always) and the alcohol gel was used prior to going in to the restaurant but the symptoms persisted throughout the second week. When the symtoms carried on on our return home we got our daughter tested and she had salmanella & cryptosporidium and was ill for another 3 weeks. I don't think that the lids being left open in the restaurant had a lot to do with it as we always ate as soon as it opened as it was unbearable once busy but even then I would never describe the food as hot.
Putting that aside I do think the holiday village would be a great place if they could sort this issue out, there is loads for the kids to do, my daughter wants to go back next year despite being ill! If you are due to go there soon I wouldn't worry as I think the main problem is the hotel cannot cope in the summer peak period but should be much better out of season, however if you have booked to go during next years summer holidays I would think again.

We stayed at the holiday village in 2009 and 5 out of the 7 of us travelling were ill. My son was put on an iv drip and was confirmed with salmonella when we returned home. We are a very clean family & wash our hands regularly! Unless you have someone suffer in the way my son did you will never understand how much it ruins your holiday. The rest of us had improved by the time we returned so never had samples taken so therefore we all could have suffered from some bacterial infection but unaware. How many more of the "happy" 38,500 people who visited this hotel had similar problems but never reported it when they got home.

My daughter is currently out in the resort in turkey and guess what she is very ill with sickness and diarrhoea. she has been very distressed on the phone to us. (She is in turkey with her grandmother)
I know that they have been very careful with hygiene etc. I am very upset with the holiday company for not informing us of the problems with this resort.

As a family of 4 we returned from Side in Turkey a month a ago. I have been ill with diarreah and so has my wife. She was a lot worse than me and went to see our GP. Having had a stool sample tested she is confirmed as having cryptosporidiosis. GP is sure that I have too but Iv'e not been tested. Worst of all, because of all the trips to the toilet my wife's anti epilectic drugs failed and she has been in hospital after a grand mal seizure. The holiday was fantastic, the hotel -[details removed by Moderator]- was spotless with the staff working endlessly to keep it so but all the indications are that we contracted this parasite there. Anyone else had problems in other areas of Turkey or are we just unlucky?

After much discussion last night my partner and I decided not to take our family to this resort in 10 days time. Our family has one diabetic and one baby who we considered at risk of illness, a chance we were not willing to take. First Choice were extremely understanding and helpful and allowed us to change our booking to the Cyprus Village at a minimal charge which we went to last year and we loved. All is not lost to those who want to change. I hope this is helpful to those worried with young babies.