Essex woman 'traumatised by holiday from hell' after gunmen stormed Mexico beach
It wasn't the luxurious hotel the mother and daughter were expecting
Milo Boyd
Mel KingReporter
Police were patrolling the beach (Image: Daily Mirror)
An Essex woman claims that a surprise trip away intended to help her grieve the loss of her daughter turned into a "traumatic holiday from hell" that left her "too scared" to go on the beach.
Before the holiday, Jade from Hastingwood in Epping Forest, Essex had been suffering intense anxiety and panic attacks having lost her daughter, Lucia, late in her pregnancy.
In order to help her through the devastating loss, Jade's mum decided to surprise her with a seven-night stay at the Azul beach hotel in Mexico with TUI holidays.
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As soon as the pair arrived at Cancun airport, they say things started to go wrong.
"We were left sitting on the coach for over two hours for other flight arrivals after we had collected our luggage and went through security," clothes shop owner Jade told The Mirror.
"We arrived at our hotel four hours later at 7.30pm, which is only a 30-minute drive from the airport."
Once at the hotel, which boasts being 15 minutes from the airport and having access to "one of the most captivating beaches in the world", Jade learned all was not well in what they thought would be paradise.
"We were made aware, from guests telling us their traumatic horror stories, of a cartel shooting on the beach four days previously which resulted in two men dying and a guest being wounded during the shoot out," Jade said.
(Image: Daily Mirror)
"Obviously we were completely taken back and concerned for our safety.
"We should have been made aware of the incident before our arrival and given the option to stay at an alternative hotel as we most certainly would not have gone there."
ABC News reported that during the terrifying incident, "10 to 11 cartel members shot two suspected drug dealers on the beach."
The hotel had reportedly been hosting a week-long Day of the Dead party for LGBTQ+ travellers when the gunmen stormed the beach.
After the shooting, which left two dead and four American citizens hurt, armed police officers could be seen patrolling the beach during Jade's stay.
She continued: "I was too scared to go on to the beach.
"This holiday was meant to be a chilled and relaxed one, yet I was too frightened to leave the balcony of my room during the day.
"I was told by other guests that there were guards on the beach patrolling with guns. That's not going to stop the cartel from doing that again.
"Also, it's very scary to be sitting there sunbathing with men carrying ak47s on the beach."
Jade went to the hotel's reception after learning the news and asked to be moved to another resort. She claims she was told to wait for an update the following day.
The next morning she received an alert on the TUI app - which her mum had used to book the holiday - explaining that a transfer would cost £718 more.
After much wrangling and several other offers of expensive transfers, Jade and her mum decided to make the most of the Azus, but she claims they soon wished that they hadn't.
"The hotel beds are riddled with bed bugs," she claimed.
"I have over 30 bites on one leg alone. I went to reception and told them on the fourth day of our holiday and we were advised somebody would come down to fumigate the room.
"This never happened."
Jade alleged that other guests had also been suffering the mal effects of nighttime creepy crawlies, including an 81-year-old man whose legs had been ravaged "from top to bottom".
"Every night I was waking up with more and more," the 34-year-old said of her bites.
"I had 30 on one leg. They were really painful and itchy."
The mum and daughter went to the doctors to have the bites checked, only to return to their room to find something missing, they claim.
"I had £180 in the side zip pocket of my handbag that was gone," she said.
"My mum also checked her handbag and £15 had been stolen from hers also."
Jade and her mum flew home to Essex last week, but they say they have not fully escaped the nightmare holiday.
"My mum keeps finding more and more bites," she continued.
"We're traumatised by it. We're worried the bugs will be in our home. We've isolated all our clothes in air tight bags. I'll need to treat my mattress.
"It was a holiday from hell."
A TUI spokesperson said: " We were sorry to hear that Ms Fisher was unhappy with her holiday and understand how disappointing this must've been.
"We are investigating her concerns and will be addressing them directly to resolve them with her.
"We'd like to reassure customers that we regularly audit all of the hotels we feature in respect of health and safety, including hygiene."
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