Mexico resort claims argument led to woman’s balcony fall

CALGARY – The Mexican resort at the centre of a firestorm of controversy has responded after a Calgary woman was seriously injured at the hotel.

READ MORE: Mexican resort denies responsibility for Canadian woman’s balcony collapse

On Sunday, Katarina Pacileo and her fiancé Dustin Holizki were celebrating their recent engagement at the Grand Sirenis resort in Riviera Maya. Pacileo was on their third-floor room’s balcony, when the railing suddenly gave way and she fell about six metres to the ground below.

She had to be rushed to hospital, suffered a broken collar bone and needed two dozen stitches in her back. The couple flew back home on Tuesday—but not before the hotel demanded they pay $500 for the damaged balcony.

“If we didn’t pay the money, we likely wouldn’t be able to leave,” Holizki complained to Global News.

Officials with the resort claim that there was a domestic dispute inside the couple’s room shortly before the balcony collapsed—which Holizki vehemently denies.

“That’s absolutely absurd,” he said. “I don’t know how there could be any conflict, we were only there for one day. We thought we were in paradise, there weren’t any issues at all.”

He thinks the hotel just doesn’t want to take responsibility.

“She’s 105 pounds, there’s no way that should have ever broken. That railing should never have broken…that should have never happened.”

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Those who frequent the hotel say the incident is concerning.

“Why would someone have a patio collapse on them?” wonders Trent Lissa, a premium resort member. “Someone gets very terribly injured and a 5-star resort wants compensation? Something is missing here.”

He said he phoned hotel management upon learning about the case, and received the following answer.

“Part of the story that came up was there was a conflict, that there was a breaking of the glass.”

He says for now, his family will continue to visit the Grand Sirenis.

“We’ve been to that resort, our kids had a fantastic experience. Things happen, but things happen wherever you travel,” Lissa said. “I find it frustrating that there’s a push right now to put negativity to travel to Mexico.”

A spokesperson for the Grand Sirenis refuses to elaborate on the situation until a police report is completed. Those findings are expected in the next couple of days.