Tara and Jason Hetchler are seeking compensation from the Holiday Inn hotel chain following an alleged attack while on Mexican vacation. (Courtesy Jason Hetchler)

A Calgary couple who claim to have thwarted a sexual assault by a Mexican hotel worker while they were on vacation are seeking compensation from the Holiday Inn hotel chain.

Tara and Jason Hetchler, both 31, said they were having a wonderful winter getaway in Puerto Vallarta until early on the morning they were to return to Canada.

"It was a good trip, up until the last day," said Jason. But around 4:30 a.m. on Jan. 22, the couple was asleep in their ground-floor room when, they allege, Tara was awakened by a man who had climbed into the couple's bed. The stranger had entered the room via a locked patio door, Jason Hetchler said.

"Something grabbed my leg. It was cold, clammy ... it grabbed my leg, my hip and wouldn't let go," said Tara. Roused from his slumber, her husband chased a man from the room. The couple believes the intruder wrongly thought Tara was alone.

They said they immediately reported the incident to hotel management. They said the hotel management concluded the attacker must have been an employee of the hotel, since the premises were closed to everyone but guests and employees.

The couple said they later recognized the attacker as a kitchen worker after management of the hotel put together a lineup of everyone who was working overnight.

Intercontinental Hotels Group, which owns the Holiday Inn brand, confirmed in a statement that an incident occurred. The hotelier said that management at the independent Mexican resort assisted the couple and encouraged them to file charges with police.

Salvador de Aguinaga, the managing director of the Holiday Inn Puerto Vallarta told CBC News that an employee of the hotel has been suspended without pay and will remain suspended pending the results of a police investigation.

He said the Hetchlers were offered a free stay at their hotel but any other requests for compensation have been forwarded to the hotel's lawyer.

The manager said in his 23 years with the hotel, nothing like this has happened before.

But now safely back home, the Hetchlers are seeking compensation for the trauma: costs of therapy and medication for Tara.

"She hasn't slept since we've been home," said Jason. "She's been having night terrors and she's taken some medication to get some sleep at night. It's been a living hell."

A spokesperson for Intercontinental Hotels Group issued a statement saying the hotel in question is an independently owned hotel. The chain also said the safety, comfort and well-being of guests and employees is a top priority.

"The hotel management worked directly with local authorities at the time of the Jan. 22, 2010, incident and encouraged the guests to file charges, although the guests have not yet done so," the hotel chain said in the statement.

The Hetchlers say they have declined the offer to stay at the hotel again at no cost.