Mom says Dominican resort should ‘shut down’ after family falls violently ill
A Virginia mom who says her family got violently ill at a Dominican Republic resort the same night as a group of Oklahoma teens on a senior trip is now demanding that the beachfront spot be shuttered.
“In my opinion, they should shut down that hotel and figure out what’s going down,” Amy Burbach Jensen, 51, told The Post.
The Fairfax mom said she had the “worst vacation” last week at the Hard Rock Hotel and Resort in Punta Cana, adding to a growing list of horror stories emerging out of the island nation.
Her family checked into the luxe resort on June 9 to celebrate her 18-year-old son Ben’s graduation before he leaves next month to attend the US Military Academy at West Point.
“We thought it would be nice to have a little vacation because he’ll be in the military and we don’t know when we’ll have opportunities,” Jensen said.
But their trip derailed on their third night when five of the eight family members fell ill — including her and Ben, who was hit the worst by the mystery bug.
Jensen believes the group’s stomach issues stemmed from a steakhouse named Toro inside the all-inclusive resort.
Within hours of the reservation, they began suffering from stomach aches and diarrhea. Her son was essentially incapacitated in their hotel room, where he was dizzy, vomiting and had the chills, she said.
“He was so sick that he was curling on the floor and just laid on the shower. He was afraid to move,” Jensen said.
She said they called the front desk requesting to see the hotel doctor and were asked to pay $250 before they complained.
“We said, ‘We are seeing the doctor and you will be paying for it because it’s your fault that you got sick,’” she said.
Besides waiving the cost of the doctor, Jensen said the resort didn’t do anything to make amends for their ruined vacation.
“The hotel never contacted us. You would think with customer service they would say how is he feeling or send a gift basket,” Jensen told The Post.
When they tried to leave a day early, the resort attempted to charge them a cancellation fee, according to Jensen, who refused, but ended up still on the hook for the final night they would’ve stayed there.
While checking out, Jensen said, she encountered the group of Oklahoma teens who landed in the hospital after getting sick at a different restaurant on the same night.
“I don’t get the feeling that Hard Rock is taking it seriously,” Jensen told The Post.
Jensen said she was aware of recent fatalities in the country before the trip but believed they were “isolated incidents.”
Recent reports include the death of California resident Robert Wallace, who died at the same hotel in April. His family said the 67-year-old became unwell after drinking a glass of scotch from the minibar in his room.
Jensen said she now plans to suggest that the travel agency that booked her trip take it off its recommendation list.
“This is the worst hotel I’ve ever been to in the Caribbean,” Jensen claimed.
A rep for the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Punta Cana didn’t immediately respond to request for comment.
The resort previously told The Post that the “property utilizes internationally recognized methods of identifying and managing food safety-related risk, including hazard analysis critical control points.”
They said the hotel “strives to provide the highest level of service and standards, and is committed to ensuring these are met.”
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