A disgusted holidaymaker claims he was forced to sleep in a chair after finding bedbugs on his mattress and sheets.
Only two days into the all-inclusive break at the five-star Ocean Coral and Turquessa by H10 Hotel in Cancun, Mexico, Matthew Quinn says he was covered in bites and couldn't stop itching.
And, because Matthew suffers from complex regional pain syndrome, he says he feels pain more than others and scratched so much he bled.
Now, he is demanding answers from tour operator First Choice holidays after instructing specialist lawyers to investigate his “nightmare”.
"I could see the pinpricks of blood on the sheets and my underclothes. They bite you and draw little bits of blood," said Matthew, 52, of Gateshead.
"I wondered what was biting me until someone in the hotel suggested bedbugs.
"When I pulled the sheets back you could see them on the mattress and on the sheets. They are so small, like tiny lice, and they bite."
Engineer Matthew went on to seek medical advice when he got back from holiday. Even now he says he continues to experience abdominal cramps and days when he goes to the toilet more often with his doctor diagnosing him with gastroenteritis.
Matthew’s week-long holiday with his son Robert, 23, and his nephew Anthony, 26, began on October 1 last year.
Dad-of-three Matthew said: "I suffer from complex regional pain syndrome which affects my central nervous system and I feel pain more than others.
"The bites were horrific for me, I was scratching myself to bits. They were on my arms, legs, back and stomach.
"They came and fumigated the room but we went to buy beach chairs to sleep in. We couldn't change rooms so I slept sitting in the chair with my clothes on. It was awful."
Grandad Matthew added: “We had all been really looking forward to the break, so it was hugely disappointing when I suffered bedbug bites. It was the last thing we expected.
“Falling ill just made matters much worse and I really struggled to get much enjoyment out of the holiday as a whole."
Matthew also claims he had to ask for food to be taken back to the kitchen after being served undercooked.
"Some of the food was not very warm when it was served to me and I also saw the same utensils being used for both raw and cooked food. I also saw dirty cutlery and plates," he said.
“The holiday was just a nightmare and I want to know whether all of this could have been avoided. I feel I deserve some answers as I wouldn’t want this to happen to anyone else.”
Jatinder Paul, the legal specialist at Irwin Mitchell representing Matthew, said: “The details that Matthew has provided are very concerning and we have commenced our investigations into what he faced.
“Through our work, we have seen time and time again how illness problems of this nature can have a lasting impact on victims – affecting not only their precious time abroad but also their lives back at home.
“With this in mind, we are determined to help Matthew understand what went wrong on his holiday and ensure that, where possible, lessons can be learned so any issues are not repeated in the future.
“As part of our investigations, we are keen to hear from anyone who may have information about conditions at Ocean Coral and Turquessa by H10 Hotel.”
A spokesperson for TUI UK, which owns First Choice, said: "We were very sorry to hear that Mr Quinn was unwell while on holiday.
"While we have no record of Mr Quinn or any other quests reporting illness during his stay, we will investigate his claim as soon as we receive it.
"We'd like to reassure customers that we regularly audit all of our hotels we feature in respect of health and safety, including hygiene."
Miguel Roman Flores, Privilege and Customer Services Manager for the hotel, said they had no record of a complaint.
He said: “The most important thing to clarify is the bedbugs allegation, which we are in a position to assure that due to all the preventative measures and works we do, mainly by our housekeeping staff, it is guaranteed that our room facilities are free of any of those.
“We do work with an external company called Orange, which is a company leader in this field. They are in charge to give a scheduled treatment all year around to all the mattresses and furniture of the rooms, and also the entire property, to avoid the possibility of a situation like this being created.”
