A hygiene investigation is under way at a Caribbean hotel that British tourists have described as “hell on earth” after a stomach bug outbreak.

Some guests at the Bahia Principe San Juan hotel in the Dominican Republic have required hospital treatment because of the severity of their vomiting and diarrhoea, prompting tour operators to send clients elsewhere.

Lawyers said yesterday that the illnesses should have been avoided, as problems with the hotel “go back at least ten years”. Suki Chhokar, a travel law expert at Irwin Mitchell who is representing holidaymakers from the hotel, said: “This appears to be yet another major outbreak of illness at this hotel. This latest incident is a matter of considerable concern, in that lessons do not seem to have been learnt.

“We have received reports from our clients who travelled earlier this year that people from the hotel were so ill on their return flight home that they were lying in the aisles vomiting into sickbags. We understand that this became such a problem that on arrival at Gatwick, a doctor boarded the plane to help anyone who needed medical assistance before disembarking.”

Most of the big British holiday companies use the hotel, which opened in July 1995 and is set on a mile of private beach sheltered by a coral reef.

Dave Grimshaw, 48, from Swindon, Wiltshire, who is staying at the hotel and has been taken ill, said: “It’s been hell on earth. Every day we see a child run to the toilet to be sick, often not making it. Hotel bosses seem unwilling to cooperate and won’t answer questions.”

Irwin Mitchell has dealt with claims for guests of the hotel who became ill after stays in 2004, 2005, last year, June this year and last month. Salmonella, giardia and shigella bacteria have previously been identified after tests of guests at the hotel.

Clive Garner, head of travel law at Irwin Mitchell, said: “Reports of the ongoing outbreak of illness at the hotel affecting dozens of holidaymakers are very disturbing.

“Sadly this latest outbreak of illness sounds very similar to what happened at the Bahia Principe ten years ago, when over 100 guests contracted serious gastric illness. Those clients, some of whom are still suffering from these illnesses today, went on to successfully bring claims against the Thomas Cook group and other tour operators.”

Thomas Cook said that it would send clients to other hotels in future. A company spokeswoman said: “The safety and wellbeing of our customers is our primary concern and we’re working with other leading UK tour operators and the Federation of Tour Operators (FTO) to understand the cause of the problems.”

The federation has sent an independent hygiene consultant to the hotel to conduct tests. An FTO spokesman said: “Tour operators are not sending anyone to this particular hotel for the time being.” The hotel management did not return The Times’s call.

Holiday reading

July 2005 British tourists say that they will sue tour operators after falling ill in a string of five star hotels in the Dominican Republic

July 2006 More than 100 British tourists fall sick at the Hotel Riu Bachata in the Dominican Republic because of a stomach bug

July 2002 Tourists complain that conditions at the Hotel Soviva in Port el Kantoui, Tunisia, and the Barcelo Pueblo Caribe on the Venezuelan island of Margarita, led to illness. Guests at the Pueblo Caribe complained of cockroaches, dirty bathrooms and insects in food. Hotel Soviva guests complained of food covered with flies and human excrement in the pool

1997 An outbreak in the Dominican Republic affected 500 holidaymakers staying at 35 hotels

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