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Original poster

To call the hotel and let them know we are sick?

171 replies

Blondie1092 · 17/02/2020 10:14

Myself and my husband, along with another couple who we are good friends with went to a hotel on Saturday night for their "valentines deal". We had a 5 course meal shortly after we arrived and hung about the hotel for drinks that evening, nothing too mad, all very civilised. We got up yesterday morning, had breakfast and went home.
One of us became very ill on the way home. I thought it was a hangover and we all laughed because none of us were actually drunk.
Last night I started to fall very ill and didn't sleep much. Then this morning all hell broke loose (I'm talking about my stomach an bowels TMI but hey can't beat around the bush). I'm lying in bed shivering yet sweating 😓
My husband rang me to ask if I'll collect him from work as he is also the same.
He rang the other couple to check on them and they're both off work today because they're sick.
Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm thinking we have ate something that has caused this.
Should I ring the hotel to inform them about this? Or just power through and forget the whole thing every happened? What would you do?

OP posts:
TokyoSushi · 17/02/2020 11:00

I used to be a hotel duty manager, definitely ring them. They'll have a procedure and a company that they'll need to notify to carry out an investigation, they might have to report it to the EHO as well, chances are that you won't be the only ones. Hope you're all better very soon.

sandybanana · 17/02/2020 11:00

Contact environmental health.

They are the ones that ultimately need to know. The hotel will lay the blame at your door and are extremely unlikely to disclose to you if other customers are affected as well.

Ring Environmental health and take it from there.

amusedbush · 17/02/2020 11:01

I would just be very matter of fact. Even if it's noro rather than food poisoning they will need to look into it to stop more guests getting ill.

PitterPatterOfBigFeet · 17/02/2020 11:02

I would ring them. If it was an issue with the hotel food there'll be other people sick. If it's just a tummy bug you've spread between you then it's unlikely anyone else who ate in the hotel will be sick and they won't need to do anything further.

gingersausage · 17/02/2020 11:05

Yes you need to contact the hotel. If it was only on Saturday, they will probably still have some of the food in the fridge or freezer, so they can provide samples for testing. A reputable place should happily provide these in order to comply with food safety practices.

Don’t say anything on social media or name the hotel in case it turns out they have nothing to do it though. It could get you into a whole load of aggro.

BIWI · 17/02/2020 11:06

Yes, that sounds like food poisoning - and highly likely it was the crab.

Glad you're letting the hotel know, as it's important for them to realise/identify the problem as well as do something about it.

I had this from a (very expensive!) meal at the River Cottage - from one cooked oyster. Turned out that a lot of other people were ill too, and we had the full cost of our meal refunded by the restaurant, which was an unexpected outcome.

Pieceofpurplesky · 17/02/2020 11:07

Crab gave me the worst food poisoning I ever had. I still can't eat it to this day (20+ years later it still makes me ill)

Iwantacookie · 17/02/2020 11:07

At some point I'm sure you should contact environmental health.
IF its food poisoning from the restraunt they will investigate.

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 17/02/2020 11:07

Ages ago The Fat Duck had a massive norovirus outbreak linked to shellfish. It affected over 200 people.

listsandbudgets · 17/02/2020 11:07

This happened to me once - sea food salad as a starter in a good London resturant.

I phoned them the next day between vomiting spells and they phoned me back within an hour to say they'd destroyed all seafood on the premises and arranged for Environmental Health to run checks.

They also offered me and dp a return visit for up to £80 on the house. We did go a few weeks later but we both had steak and chips , wine and pudding - steered well clear of seafood Grin

If they care about their customers they'll do what they can to put this right

NomDeDieu · 17/02/2020 11:09

Just tell them the facts.
it coud be the norovirus that youve passed to each other.
It could be an issue with food hygiene in the kitchen (eg one of the staff coming in when they were ill because they would have got a bollocking to be ill on valentimes day...)
I agree that it is doubtful that it is food poisonning (I suspect you would all have been ill more quickly).

It will be interesting to see what their answer is. I would have say the more aggressive and against any possibility its coming from them, the more I would suspect it is....

AlexaAmbidextra · 17/02/2020 11:11

The timing is perfect for food poisoning. I would contact the Environmental Heath office for the area the hotel is in.

LemonScentedStickyBat · 17/02/2020 11:13

It can be days or even weeks before some food poisoning kicks in, according to the NHS

BIWI · 17/02/2020 11:13

Food poisoning doesn't always come on immediately @NomDeDieu. In my case I didn't start to feel ill until Monday morning, after a meal on Saturday night. But it was definitely food poisoning.

Mischance · 17/02/2020 11:19

Yes - ring EH and the hotel. They would rather know, so they can make sure that they have covered every likelihood of source of bug. Food poisoning is the most likely source - and I would be looking at the crab. Shellfish are basically sewage filters.

The real place to avoid is hospital - there was noro in the hospital when my OH was in a year ago - he did not get it - but I did!

mushroom3 · 17/02/2020 11:19

I've had shellfish induced food poisoning. You would become violently ill within a couple of hours of eating it. I think the time delay, except for the first person is too long and therefore it's more likely to be norovirus rather than the food

DontCallMeShitley · 17/02/2020 11:20

Environmental Health will require samples of the food and will want to know how it was stored. My last experience of this led to nothing being done but our Council don't give a shit (even if others can't stop).

Will possibly also require stool samples too. They used to ask for this but not sure if they still do it or if it is only when you end up in hospital.

Original poster
Blondie1092 · 17/02/2020 11:22

Thank everyone.
We were all given an amuse bouche before starters which was pork and all had the same dessert. The only other thing we ate was breakfast at the hotel yesterday morning.
I'm very private and would never post on social media etc and don't want the manager to feel like I'm "attacking" them when they ring me back. I hope they aren't going to put up the defensive when they ring me😬
I'm contemplating taking Imodium but I'm throwing up quite a lot also 😓

OP posts:
LizziesTwin · 17/02/2020 11:23

We got E. coli from a fancy hotel, we went to a ball and about 150 people became ill.

Iamthewombat · 17/02/2020 11:23

Not many types of food poisoning would have the fast onset you describe and the symptoms sound like Norovirus.

Norovirus usually takes more than 24 hours to manifest, so even if you had picked it up from poor hygiene in the hotel kitchen you wouldn’t expect to be ill on Sunday morning from eating on Saturday night. If I were the hotel I’d be asking whether you and your friends could have picked up Norovirus before you arrived: the person who fell ill first could have passed it to the rest of you in the days before you travelled, or you might have caught it independently.

Original poster
Blondie1092 · 17/02/2020 11:26

Also might be worth noting that I was very dizzy last night before anything "hit". I couldn't walk in a straight line etc but put it all down to AF being here.

OP posts:
Oakmaiden · 17/02/2020 11:27

Staphylococcal food poisoning can show symptoms after as little as 30 minutes.

chesterfuckingdrorrs · 17/02/2020 11:31

Don't take Imodium. It's best to let everything out, to put it politely. Keep sipping water, really tiny sips to try and keep hydrated.
Just try to rest up and let it runs it course

Ijustwanttoretire · 17/02/2020 11:31

Contact your council/FSA as the hotel has to keep samples of all foods prepared - well they did when I worked in kitchens, precisely for this reason. The council/FSA will contact them.

WiseUpJanetWeiss · 17/02/2020 11:34

I'm contemplating taking Imodium but I'm throwing up quite a lot also

Don’t take Imodium yet. This is a case of better out than in! Could you sip Dioralyte?

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