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Original poster

Have you ever left a holiday early?

323 replies

LudoBear · 04/05/2021 12:02

We were booked into a caravan in Cornwall for 7 nights but came home after 3 nights as the caravan was dreadful at the site owners (independent place, not a company like Parkdean) wouldn't move us as they disagreed anything was wrong. The mattresses were about 1 inch thick and you could feel the frame underneath, the window in the lounge didn't shut properly and let the cold air in (it was October), the shower didn't get hot and at best was tepid, toilet didn't flush properly, the carpets were absolutely filthy.

Came home on day 5 of a 2 week holiday in Orlando due to my uncle being in a serious car accident and we didn't think he'd survive (he did).

OP posts:
Nybble · 04/05/2021 13:02

Yes, the first and only holiday XH ever booked. We arrived at a resort in Portugal that we promptly dubbed "Cell Block H" and after gingerly stepping through the broken glass and past the murky pool to our room (cockroaches, exposed lights etc) decided enough was enough. Rep did nothing (there were a lot of us) so we booked the next available flights out. XH was never allowed to book a holiday again and we didn't get our money back either.

Youdontknowwhatyoureonabout · 04/05/2021 13:05

All the time.

Caravan park we have left a couple of days early -filthy, cold, no WiFi despite paying extra for it-and our last 3 U.K. 7 night breaks I have made DH bring us home a day or two early. He says we aren’t having a holiday ever again 😂
Suits me. I like my own bed & my own level of clean.

tigerbread20 · 04/05/2021 13:05

Yep, came down with norovirus on the drive to our caravan holiday in Wales. Stayed 1 night but which time DH, SIL and all the kids were puking too.
Makes me shudder just thinking about it

kittycrackles · 04/05/2021 13:05

God yes from quite a few when my dc were little. Usual all due to crap weather abs accommodation. The worst was a teepee holiday in Cornwall in August. It pissed stair rods the entire week. I had 4 dc 6 and under with me and was 5 months of with number 5. I got an awful root canal infection and couldn’t even drink to drown my sorrows.
The camp site was horrible. Because it was raining so hard we had to sit in the damp teepee, surrounded by damp clothes and 4 fractious children- no cooking on an open fire- trying to cook frozen pizzas in a crappy camping oven. Towards the end the trip the top of of the teepee blew open in the night and it rained all over us. We went home the next morning. Many other happy campers decided to do the same.
It was blooming expensive as well.

Jaxhog · 04/05/2021 13:06

Yes - our last one! We were touring the UK and just got homesick, coming home 1 day early. Almost wish we hadn't now!

SpaceRaiders · 04/05/2021 13:07

Another center parks one, this Easter just gone. It was very very quiet for obvious reasons, but also reduced staff means a lack of availability in activities, swimming pool was closed due to covid, as were the majority of restaurants which left little else to do but ride bikes which dc could easily do at home. After 5 days we were done.

Foxyloxy1plus1 · 04/05/2021 13:11

A self catering cottage that was a last minute thing. We had to bring bedding and towels, which wasn’t a problem, but it was so damp, the sheets were damp most of the time. There was a tiny black and white TV, everything was tired and worn and old. There were steps at the back that led to the garden, that were covered in moss and lethal in the wet. It rained and rained and rained.

Funnyface1 · 04/05/2021 13:13

I'm currently on a mid week cabin break and the weather is horrendous. Wondering when I can convince everyone to give it up. Was booked for last year when the weather was ace.

muddyford · 04/05/2021 13:14

Twice. Once in a cottage in Cornwall where the double bed was jammed under a low, sloping ceiling and against a wall. The access was very steep and slippery with moss and the hosts were very weird about parking. DH got toothache on the Wednesday and we left the following day rather than stay till Saturday. And once in a 'garden flat' which was ankle-deep in dead flies and the gas cooker was screened from the bed-sitting room by a curtain right next to the hob. I think we had booked for a week but left after the first night. We complained to the tourist board but didn't get any money back.

Sallycinnamum · 04/05/2021 13:15

Yep Centerparcs for us.

I got a horrible tummy bug after a few days there and couldn't wait to get home so we left at 9pm on day 3.

We went half a dozen times when the DC were small and each time one of us ended up ill. Never been back since!

Reinventinganna · 04/05/2021 13:15

A couple of camping holidays where the tent nearly blew away.

A holiday park in Dorset where the owners were massively racist.

MySerpentine45 · 04/05/2021 13:15

Yep, stayed in a villa in France and the owner didn't tell us there was no running water the week we were staying there or that their son was staying in one of the bedrooms. Ended up staying in a hotel for the rest of the week in London.

hedgehogger1 · 04/05/2021 13:18

When my DD got a vomiting bug. We had to wait 24 hours though as she was too ill to move. Was not nice

Ihopeyourcakeisshit · 04/05/2021 13:22

Went to the Bahamas many years ago, the hotel was dire so we left a week early and flew to Florida.

99victoria · 04/05/2021 13:23

We had to return early from Costa Rica last March when the country went into lockdown. We were supposed to be there for 14 days but ended up coming home after 9 days as the FCO changed their guidance and the holiday company said they couldn't transport us to the 2 remaining locations we were supposed to be visiting as it would invalidate our insurance.

It was quite sad as the virus hadn't hit CR at that stage and we could easily and safely have completed our holiday. Instead we spent the best part of day 10 trying to get through to BA to arrange an earlier flight home. We succeeded after 2 days (although our original flight did go ahead 4 days later :( )

BikeRunSki · 04/05/2021 13:26

Yep, day 4 of torrential rain in N Wales, with no break forecast. Beautiful isolated cottage with no TV, www or mobile reception. Bored 2 year old, dh twitchy about work and I was 7 months pg and just happy to have a bed and a toilet.

edwinbear · 04/05/2021 13:28

My dad packed us up early from a holiday in France when I was 16/17, after he realised I'd been snogging one of the on site reps Blush

rookiemere · 04/05/2021 13:29

We foolishly booked a 3 night break in a motorhome at Easter in Scotland a few years ago. Weather was abysmal and we hadn't realised how hard it was to park up with a big motorhome. Couldn't dull the pain by getting drunk as our bed was up top and involved a rickety ladder so didn't fancy negotiating the toilet in the night.

Final straw was the gas running out on the second night so no hot water bottles or cooked breakfast.

We returned one day early and then the icing on the cake was that we had rented from a well known bunch of charlatans and spent the next six months fighting to get our £1200 damage deposit back.

EveningOverRooftops · 04/05/2021 13:30

Went away with mother for 5 days. I saved £1k for spending money. first holiday in a long time and inc food, activities and transport. All U.K. based.

Mother ran out of money on day 3 and insisted we leave. I refused and said I’d paid for the holiday for 5 days and will be staying unless she would like to reimburse me 40% of the money I paid.
She agreed to stay until the end then kicked up a big fuss on the morning of day 4. Had checked us out giving me and DC no option but to go hone with her.

I was fully prepared to stay and pay for a train home.

I wish I had stayed and booked a hotel locally or negotiated with the park we were staying in for another caravan just to spite her.

In the end we got home and me and DC had a fabulous week doing lots of random stuff with left over holiday money and I made damn sure she could see exactly what we did when we got home and I was making up for a crap holiday we were forced to come home early from through no fault of our own.

Mother blamed DCs behaviour for the reason we came home early.

It was her lack of funds. We are of course NC.

Dowser19 · 04/05/2021 13:33

@SpaceRaiders

Another center parks one, this Easter just gone. It was very very quiet for obvious reasons, but also reduced staff means a lack of availability in activities, swimming pool was closed due to covid, as were the majority of restaurants which left little else to do but ride bikes which dc could easily do at home. After 5 days we were done.
We were at whinfell April 19 Great weather and just loved it No one seemed to miss the swimming either

There’s been plenty of holidays we maybe should’ve left early but as they’ve all been warm and clean
None have been tenting holidays so that makes a big difference
Yesterday 8 hours of pelting down rain in our static caravan was very cosy with the central heating going full tilt was far preferable to sitting it out in a tent

The cockroach infested apartment in spain was something else though
Eventhough it was very clean, waking up each morning to see half a dozen dead on the floor or in their last throes was very disturbing

AhaShakeHeartbreak12 · 04/05/2021 13:34

No but I've been desperate to but never ended up doing it

Dowser19 · 04/05/2021 13:34

@EveningOverRooftops

Went away with mother for 5 days. I saved £1k for spending money. first holiday in a long time and inc food, activities and transport. All U.K. based.

Mother ran out of money on day 3 and insisted we leave. I refused and said I’d paid for the holiday for 5 days and will be staying unless she would like to reimburse me 40% of the money I paid.
She agreed to stay until the end then kicked up a big fuss on the morning of day 4. Had checked us out giving me and DC no option but to go hone with her.

I was fully prepared to stay and pay for a train home.

I wish I had stayed and booked a hotel locally or negotiated with the park we were staying in for another caravan just to spite her.

In the end we got home and me and DC had a fabulous week doing lots of random stuff with left over holiday money and I made damn sure she could see exactly what we did when we got home and I was making up for a crap holiday we were forced to come home early from through no fault of our own.

Mother blamed DCs behaviour for the reason we came home early.

It was her lack of funds. We are of course NC.

Have you written about this before? It rings a bell So sorry and I don’t blame you for the NC
EveningOverRooftops · 04/05/2021 13:36

@Dowser19 yes. Most likely and possibly under other names. I NC regularly because I do have family that use this too. Confused

Wotrewelookinat · 04/05/2021 13:38

Yes, rainy, cold, muddy camping holidays in the U.K. And a weekend we’d booked at Butlins....got into the apartment which was miserable, filthy, sticky carpet, dirty saucepans with 3 very young children. Stayed for 10 mins then turned round and came home.

Dowser19 · 04/05/2021 13:39

@99victoria

We had to return early from Costa Rica last March when the country went into lockdown. We were supposed to be there for 14 days but ended up coming home after 9 days as the FCO changed their guidance and the holiday company said they couldn't transport us to the 2 remaining locations we were supposed to be visiting as it would invalidate our insurance.

It was quite sad as the virus hadn't hit CR at that stage and we could easily and safely have completed our holiday. Instead we spent the best part of day 10 trying to get through to BA to arrange an earlier flight home. We succeeded after 2 days (although our original flight did go ahead 4 days later :( )

Oh gosh yes Got evacuated from Tenerife after two weeks instead of three because of covid last March Spain went into lockdown on March 16 and we were flown back on 18 th There were only 5 cases on the island

I think Spain wanted the tourists out rather the canarian government
Spain brought in very harsh restrictions after we were booted out

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