Our dream Mexico holiday was ruined by GUNFIGHT in hotel swimming pool – we barely made it out alive

The Sun

11-05-2025

A FAMILY hid in terror behind sun loungers as they watched a man gunned down and killed at the poolside.
Colin Nulty, his wife, and 14-year-old daughter were looking forward to their dream holiday in Costa Mujeres, Mexico, last month.
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They forked out nearly £8,000 for the two week TUI package but disaster struck shortly after arriving at the Riu Palace hotel.
Across the first couple of days, Colin noticed some "sketchy" characters roaming the complex, offering illegal drugs and vapes.
Colin told The Sun: "It's a relatively new complex, it's supposed to be one of the best ones you can go to in Mexico with TUI.
"It was a nice first few days but there were some sketchy characters offering people drugs and vapes, which are illegal in Mexico, but they didn't have hotel wristbands on so we were cautious of them.
"They were interacting with my daughter which I didn't like, and demanding services from the staff like free drinks and food.
"But the staff were friendly with them it was as if they knew them."
Despite being suspicious of some dodgy activity, the family tried their best to make the most of the trip.
One morning Colin and his wife were relaxing by the poolside, while their daughter chilled up in the room.
Within seconds the tranquil atmosphere was shattered by the horrifying sounds of gunshots.
Colin recalled their terror as a shoot out began just metres away from their sun loungers.
Missing student found dead after trying to save pal from riptide on vacation
"Shooting just erupted, I heard the gunshots first and everybody just dived down straight away," he said.
"We didn't know what was happening, we were hiding behind the sunbeds, my wife was crying, she was very scared, I messaged my daughter straight away and told her to lock the door and don't come out, go hide.
"I was thinking it could be a terrorist attack.
"After the shooting died down, I thought I might be able to help somebody.
"I've been in the fire service for 25 years I've got training in trauma care."
Colin continued: "I ran to where it was, just a few metres away. There was a guy on the floor, he was very obviously dead with a gunshot to the head.
"He was in full view of us, but then a guy came out of a toilet about a metre away with a gun in his hand.
"He was screaming at me to go away, I ran back, I got my wife and we went down a grassy embankment where more people were and we took cover.
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"10 minutes later the hotel staff told us to clear the area, and to do that we had to walk past this guys dead body.
"I recognised he was one of the sketchy characters. We were all locked down in our room, and told there were two gunmen still on the loose.
"When we got to the room our daughter was absolutely terrified, white as a ghost, shaking, she could hear the shots and thought it was a room to room terrorist thing.
"The police helicopter was circling above the hotel and officers did room to room searches."
The next day the family learned it had been part of an undercover police sting.
"The hotel didn't even tell us, we found out about it in the papers," fumed Colin.
'ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED'
The dad-of-one praised TUI for sending reps out to the hotel so quickly.
But he slammed Riu Palace for their "blasé" attitude and claimed staff said "these things happen".
After the horror the family were offered to stay at another Riu hotel, which they understandably refused.
They were told they could be transferred to different accommodation called The Princess Hotel.
However, in an unimaginable turn of events - disaster struck again.
"Before we even got there, we stopped at a shop and saw on the news there was an ongoing incident there," explained Colin.
"Someone was kidnapped, it was another undercover operation, and there was a shoot out between gang members and police.
"The man who was being kidnapped was shot dead and this is at the entrance of our new 'safe hotel'.
"We went back to the original hotel, the TUI rep couldn't believe it."
NIGHTMARE TRIP
The traumatised family decided to stay put and get on with things at their original hotel.
Yet again, they were faced with another nightmare - in the form of an inappropriate waiter.
"We went down to the restaurant for a meal. We were leaving and then noticed our daughter was being cornered by a waiter," explained the furious father.
"He was thrusting his phone into her hand and she looked really scared, she told me he was asking for her Instagram, Facebook, but she said she couldn't get away so she gave him her TikTok.
"While I was talking to her he was messaging her, I went mental at him in the restaurant, he said 'I live in Mexico what's the worst that can happen'."
The hotel manager sacked the employee on the spot and gave the family a free room upgrade, as well as some complimentary massages.
We didn't feel safe, we've seen someone shot dead and now there's a waiter accosting our 14-year-old daughter."
Colin Nutley
But it wasn't enough to convince the Nultys to stay.
They decided to pack their bags and fly home the next day.
"We didn't feel safe, we've seen someone shot dead and now there's a waiter accosting our 14-year-old daughter," said Colin.
"After the waiter was suspended, during the night I was denied service by the staff. They wouldn't deliver any food.
"Someone came outside our room at 2am and turned off our AC. It was a holiday from hell."
After landing back in the UK, the family sought a refund and compensation.
While the TUI team accepted things had gone very wrong, they company told the family the events had been out with their control.
They refunded Colin for the eight days missed of their holiday, as well as offered compensation for the incident involving their daughter.
The total refund came to roughly £3,000, but Colin expected more.
"I thought the refund would be a given. But they said if we don't take their offer now we wouldn't get anything," he added.
The dad-of-one told how they had also shelled out a lot of money for private kennels which was ultimately wasted.
TUI was contacted for comment.
By Annabel Bate, Foreign News Reporter
FROM brutal beheadings to violent kidnappings, the cartel wars of Mexico's Caribbean coast have unleashed horror just yards away from luxury resorts.
Violent drug gangs are waging a bloody war in the tourist haven of Quintana Roo - visited by thousands of Brit holidaymakers each year seeking paradise.
Half a million UK tourists visit each year to areas like Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum.
But the stretch of paradise is blighted by cartels battling for power and territory.
In recent years, Brit holiday hotspots in the country have been plagued with grisly murders by gang members.
The murderous gangsters have been creeping out of the Mexican barrios, or neighbourhoods, and closer to the tourist enclaves.
But all have become brutal warzones as the cartels attempt to gain power and territory - putting tourists in the crossfire.
Tourists have bared witness to assassins executing their rivals and even gunning down holidaymakers.
The state where popular holiday destinations are located, dubbed Quintana Roo, has seen an unbelievable 633 murders last year.
This unbelievable figure is a 6.4 per cent increase to 2022 and more than in the whole of the UK.
The Foreign Office warns that several tourists have been affected by gang-relating shooting since 2021.
Just last week a group of assassins gunned down a man in a horror attack on a packed Cancun beach before fleeing on jet skis.
The 30-year-old victim was shot dead by four armed thugs in front of terrified tourists at the five-star Hotel Riu on Wednesday morning.
Two of the gunmen fled the scene on jet skis while the other two left on foot.
Shocked holidaymakers ran for cover as the killers attacked the man who has been identified as a Mexican national, according to local media.
Shortly after the attack, the hotel released a statement to clarify the victim was not a hotel guest or an employee.
The man was reportedly in charge of the jet skis, Turquesa news reports.
Among those killed by Mexican cartels have also been Brits, including estate agent Chris Cleave, who was shot dead in front of his 14-year-old daughter.
Chris, from Cornwall, had just driven out of his gated community in Playa del Carmen when he was killed and had received death threats before he was assassinated.
He is thought to have been targeting for standing up to extortion attempts by a cartel.
Two arrests were made over Mr Cleave's death, a 30-year-old and 18-year-old.
A few months ago 12-year-old boy was shot dead by gunmen who also fled on jet skis in Cancun.
The child, only named as Santiago, was sitting with his family at Caracol Beach when he was struck by multiple stray bullets.
He was treated at the scene and rushed to hospital, where he later died, with the Quintana Roo State Attorney General's Office saying the assailants were targeting rivals over drug sales.
In March last year, two Americans were murdered in the crossfire of two gangs, with two others in the group taken as hostages.
The group of four had travelled through a region labelled as dangerous by the US government when they were ambushed.
In an odd turn of events, cartel gunmen left a letter accusing those who killed the Americans of breaking cartel rules.
It's thought the Americans were killed by members of the Scorpions Group.
Three women are still missing after travelling from Texas into Mexico two weeks ago to sell clothes.
Sisters Maritza Trinidad Perez Rios and Marina Perez Rios have disappeared with their friend Dora Alicia Cervantes Saenz.
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