Luxury Cancun resort holds family hostage to try and stop them reporting serious issue with their stay
A luxury Cancun resort is being slammed by two Canadian families who claim they were sickened by its food then held hostage to try and stop them leaving.
Jesslyn Schigol and her husband and two sons visited the Royalton Splash Riviera Cancun in Mexico for Christmas vacation, but said her husband fell violently ill on Christmas morning.
At the same resort, Allison Field, her husband Andy Yackulic and their four-year-old son also fell severely ill on their Christmas vacation, saying they were left 'vomiting and shaking' from an apparent food poisoning.
Schigol said the severity of her husband's condition on Christmas Day led her to seek help from the resort's front desk, but said she was stunned by their reaction.
'The front desk presented me with this NDA (non-disclosure agreement) and said, 'You must sign this. This is a must or else we're not sending the doctor to come see your husband,' she told CBC.
'I said, 'There's no way I'm signing this as it pretty much says you can't say anything, you can't come after the hotel,'' she continued. 'They said they will not send the doctor unless I sign this.'
Schigol took a picture of the NDA, and said it stated that by accepting medical help from the resort's doctor they could not hold the resort responsible or speak about their experience publicly.
Non-disclosure agreements are generally used by employers to stop workers disclosing potentially sensitive information about their jobs or bosses.
Field her husband and son fell ill again three days later, leading her to decide to check out of the resort over 'fears for my family's safety' - only for the hotel staff to allegedly pressure her to sign an NDA before allowing them to leave for the hospital.
Jesslyn Schigol and her husband and two sons visited the Royalton Splash Riviera Cancun in Mexico for Christmas vacation, but said after her husband fell violently ill on Christmas morning the resort pressured her to sign an NDA in exchange for urgent medical help
Allison Field, her husband Andy Yackulic and their four-year-old son also fell severely ill on their Christmas vacation, saying they were left 'vomiting and shaking' from an apparent food poisoning
Field said her efforts to leave the resort were quickly blocked by staff, refusing to help her move her bags or book her family a taxi while pestering them to sign an NDA.
'My son was vomiting and vomiting and shaking and they wouldn't let us leave, and [staff] just kept trying to get me to sign the NDA,' she told CBC.
'So yeah, I was incredibly upset.… It was flagrantly clear that they really didn't care about us or our health.'
She said her family's bout of sickness appeared to come from fish they had eaten that 'we didn't think was properly cooked', which left her 'violently ill for over seven hours, vomiting every 20 minutes.'
After they initially got better, on day five of their vacation Field's husband and four-year-old son fell 'violently ill' once again.
Staff at the Royalton Splash Riviera Cancun (pictured) allegedly told the families to sign an NDA 'or else we're not sending the doctor'
Field said her son was hospitalized for 16 hours due to dehydration, and doctors suspected her family was struck down by a case of E. Coli
The second round of sickness struck fear into Field as she said her family no longer felt safe eating or sleeping at the resort, adding that 'a lot of other people at the resort were also having the same symptoms.'
A hotel doctor told them they should immediately go to the hospital, only for hotel staff to allegedly try and prevent them from leaving.
'The manager didn't want us to leave because they wanted us to sign an NDA, so we wouldn't post on social media about it or talk to anyone' she continued.
Field said the resort went on to offer her $500 and 'kept putting the amount up' in exchange for the NDA, which she refused and said 'no way, we're leaving now.'
Hotel staff then kept them in the resort for over 90 minutes, she claimed, as they 'wouldn't send anyone up to get our bags' while knowing their family was too sick to carry them all themselves.
'They were stopping us from receiving care, they were putting my family's lives in danger, really,' Field added. 'I felt held hostage.'
Once in hospital, Field said tests showed her family was struck down by food-born bacteria that doctors 'suspected was E. Coli.'
She said her son was hospitalized for 16 hours due to dehydration, and although they have travel insurance that will likely compensate them, her family were forced to pay out of pocket at the hospital for their care.
Field and Schigol said although they refused to sign the NDA, they became aware that other guests at the resort did sign the document.
Field slammed the resort for 'stopping us from receiving care, they were putting my family's lives in danger... I felt held hostage'
Royalton Splash Riviera Cancun is owned by Blue Diamond Resorts, and reportedly uses the Marriott branding and rewards programs under its 'Autograph Collection.'
In a statement to CBC from Blue Diamond Resorts, the company said it has launched an investigation into the claims, operates under 'strict standards that either meet or exceed local public health regulations.'
'We are currently conducting an internal investigation into the reports, and while we cannot comment further at this time, please know we are committed to addressing this matter with the utmost care and attention,' the statement read.
