Glenis Ludlow was awarded £13,500 in compensation after she fell violently ill on a family holiday in Egypt . A pensioner who fell seriously ill along with her granddaughter on a 'nightmare' holiday to Egypt has told how she would never return to the country again. Glenis Ludlow, 71, stayed at the four-star Tropicana Splash Resort, which has now changed its name to the Sea Beach Resort & Aqua Park, in Sharm El-Sheikh, along with her granddaughter Natasha for a summer holiday. However, only three days in the pensioner fell seriously ill with gastric illness that saw her bed-ridden for the majority of the two-week break. The grandmother was one of 73 guests who fell ill at the four-star hotel and have been given a pay-out of £350,000 by tour operator First Choice Holidays and Flights Limited. Ms Ludlow told MailOnline Travel: 'Every year I have my granddaughter who flies in from Spain, and we book a holiday together, often to places with a waterpark,' she said. 'I'm disabled, and so I made sure to ask the operator if they are disabled friendly, which they said the resort was. 'But around the pool for example, there were broken tiles and totally inadequate handrails, not to mention the water was absolutely filthy.' Three days into the holiday, taken at the end of July, 2012, Ms Ludlow became sick, suffering from vomiting and diarrhoea. She explained: 'As soon as we got there I wanted a shower, but when I went in and turned on the water, the smell was horrific, it smelt like a cesspit in there. 'That continued for the whole holiday; the staff poured disinfectant down, but all that did was make the smell in the whole room unbearable. 'There were flies all around the restaurant, birds flying around and leaving droppings, and the toilets in the hotel were absolutely filthy, full of mould and dirt. 'I just think the people who worked there were not properly trained.' Ms Ludlow was awarded £13,500 in compensation, while her granddaughter secured £2,500. Birds were frequently in the restaurant at the Tropicana Splash Resort in Sharm El-Sheikh . Of the 73 holidaymakers affected, a judge at Birmingham County Court approved settlements for 32 children, with some receiving damages of up to £20,000 each. Dozens of people needed medical treatment and some guests contracted serious infections such as Salmonella poisoning and Cryptosporidium. Jatinder Paul, a solicitor and international personal injury lawyer at Irwin Mitchell who represented  the holidaymakers, said: 'We received dozens of complaints from holidaymakers who stayed at the Tropicana Sea Beach Splash Resort during 2012 and in seeking to secure them justice for their illnesses and ruined holidays we were able to obtain expert evidence which was supportive to their claims, despite the refusal by First Choice to neither admit or deny liability. 'There were guests that were diagnosed with Salmonella food poisoning and Cryptosporidium, and a number of the guests that suffered illness suffered from symptoms including stomach cramps, diarrhoea, vomiting and lethargy; these illnesses have had a debilitating long term impact on the health of some of our clients. The Tropicana Splash Resort, which has now changed its name to the Sea Beach Resort & Aqua Park, in Sharm El-Sheikh, where 32 children fell ill back in 2012 . 'We understand that First Choice no longer advertises this resort on their website but our clients were unfortunate enough to go there and have terrible experiences as a result. 'Many guests had to seek medical assistance whilst abroad and upon returning home, and they are now understandably relieved to have received compensation for the pain and suffering that they have gone through, re-imbursement of their financial losses and expenses and damages for their ruined holidays. 'Despite First Choice's initial unwillingness to engage constructively with us to resolve these claims, we are delighted that our clients continued to instruct us to fight for them and that we have been able to negotiate a fair financial settlement for them.' Bathroom facilities were not up to scratch during Ms Ludlow's 2012 stay at the Tropicana Splash Resort in Sharm El-Sheikh . Louise Baldwin, 31, from Llanharan, in Mid Glamorgan, also booked a two week holiday at the resort with her husband Darryn and their son Callum to celebrate Louise's 30th birthday and Darryn's 40th. During their stay at the hotel the family were struck with stomach cramps, sickness, diarrhoea and a fever which left them largely confined to their hotel rooms. Catering manager Louise said: 'We booked this holiday to celebrate our milestone birthdays in style but were bitterly disappointed when all three of us suffered from illness during our stay at the hotel. 'We were horrified at the conditions at what was supposed to be a 'luxury' hotel; we were bitterly disappointed as this was meant to be a special holiday for us all and it was completely ruined. 'We had actually pre booked another holiday the following year to the resort, but as a result of our experience there we wanted to change the destination with First Choice and to add insult to injury we were told by the tour operator that we would be charged for this, but we took matters into our own hands and contacted the TV programme X-Ray (the Welsh version of Watchdog) and First Choice eventually waived the charges. 'We are pleased and relieved that with the help of our legal team at Irwin Mitchell that we have now received a settlement and justice for our holiday which was ruined whilst staying at the Tropicana Sea Splash Resort. We can now move forward from this and put the ordeal behind us.' MailOnline Travel have contacted Thomson, who have said they do not comment on settlements.
Glenis Ludlow, 71, stayed at the four-star Tropicana Splash Resort in Sharm El-Sheikh . Only three days into holiday, she fell ill with severe vomiting and diarrhoea . Grandmother awarded £13,500, and granddaughter given £2,500 . Describes how 'shower smelt like a cesspit' and 'food covered in flies'