Have you ever left a holiday early?

[LudoBear]

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).

On our first and only UK Holiday, we had such nice ideas of it lovely dog walks, cafes, etc. In reality, it absolutely pissed it down, leaked on me in bed on the first night in the 'romantic cottage' I cried to come home on the first night we lasted until the Tuesday Morning and decided if we were going to have to sit inside for a week to do it at home where it was comfortable instead. When people comment, that we should consider holidaying in the UK brings back awful memories! No thank you!

A couple of times. Once as a student with friends. Staying in a small b&b way more remote than we were led to believe. The event we had planned to attend was cancelled due to the awful weather. We lasted two days and called it quits.

Second time was sadly when a friend of mine lost her husband unexpectedly. She asked me would I help organise the funeral etc.

Only once. We were in the Isle of Wight and staying at a b&b. The couple who ran it had just taken over, and were absolutely lovely, but the room was f*cking awful. Dingy, uncomfortable, manky bathroom, no double glazing so the road noise was horrendous, dodgy sockets etc etc. We did one night and came home. We had already had a week already in a really lovely rental house though so it was fine.

Yes! On a rainy childhood camping holiday (in Ireland) I vividly remember us all sitting in the damp 4 man tent playing Uno and wondering what to have for tea when my DF (and personal hero) said "Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm off to the Royal Hotel".

I will never forget how excellent it felt to sit in the warm dining room looking out at the rain lashed streets of Boyle and being deeply grateful not to be camping anymore. I haven't camped since, and I don't plan to do so ever.

Last Feb half term we'd booked a week in a lovely yurt. The week before there were massive floods between us and the destination, and it was uncertain that we'd make it, but we managed to find a route round. Day 1 was OK, day 2 and 3 it rained horizontally all the time. We'd been prepared for this, and had looked forward to snuggling up in front of the wood stove etc, but dripping in and out to make a cuppa/go to the loo/ take the dogs for a wee was beyond a joke.
We often pack up the last night of a camping trip if the tent is nice and dry and the next day is forecast to be damp so we've had a full day onsite and can pack up in a leisurely manner and then sleep in the next day, but thats just having a nice holiday with no wet tent to dry out after rather than leaving early somehow

A horrible holiday in some soulless bit of Spain. We didn’t technically leave, but we hired a car and went to Granada for the middle part of the trip.

I wish we had left the worlds worst hotel in the shittest area our friend had booked us in Italy, luckily it was only 2 nights and then we spent a week travelling independently.

Also a family trip to CP. would have left it we could, grubby.

We did but not because there was anything wrong with the holiday, after we booked to go to France DD was selected to represent out region at a national competition. It was something she had been working hard towards so we came home 2 days early so we could travel up to Liverpool from our home in East Anglia for her to compete.

Yes.Got spiked in gran Canadian years ago.Came home 2 days early.

Yes, went away with friends and (now ex) husband and his supposed best friend got into an almighty row towards the end. It was horrible so we managed to change our flights and leave early, never again!

@TheYearOfSmallThings

Yes! On a rainy childhood camping holiday (in Ireland) I vividly remember us all sitting in the damp 4 man tent playing Uno and wondering what to have for tea when my DF (and personal hero) said "Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm off to the Royal Hotel".

I will never forget how excellent it felt to sit in the warm dining room looking out at the rain lashed streets of Boyle and being deeply grateful not to be camping anymore. I haven't camped since, and I don't plan to do so ever.

What a beautiful story, like something from a Barbara Pym novel!

@Allthereindeersaregirls

No, but we have been stranded at our holiday destination on multiple occasions - airport strikes, volcanic ash clouds, airline going bust, more airport strikes, illness.

It is not the extended holiday everyone seems to think it is when I tell them. Its an expensive nightmare. And I can confirm that no matter the expense or quality of your holiday insurance, you will not get more than half of you costs back.

Really? We had travel insurance with our bank account and got every penny back- ash cloud and Hurricane Sandy. I think it's a state of mind thing- the kids missed not vital years schooling and I shifted/ toiled work and it was a big adventure.

What a beautiful story, like something from a Barbara Pym novel!

I bet Barbara Pym never made her characters sleep in a sleeping bag.

I just looked up the Royal Hotel (which has been awaiting development) and found a video of "urban explorers" wandering around in it. They show the bow window we were sitting by!

I'm afraid it will be flats soon.

Yes.

We were on holiday in South Africa on 9/11. We cut short our holiday, drove back to Joburg and took the next BA flight back to the U.K.

I've left a hotel early twice on a multi-destination backpacking trip. One was just really grotty and we thought we'd need to stay for two nights, but our activity finished early so we moved on to the next place early. The other was really disappointing - it had amazing reviews and was our 'luxury' holiday at the end of our backpacking honeymoon. There was just a catalogue of disasters in the first 12 hours about which the management were completely unapologetic, so we left at lunchtime having arrived late the evening before. It was very disappointing given the honeymoon situtation, but luckily we got a refund for the nights we didn't stay (luckily had booked via booking.com so had some customer support) and had enough points from previous business travel to stay in a luxury hotel somewhere else.

In the 1970s, my family stayed two nights in a hotel in Scotland between Christmas and New Year where there was only an hour or so of heating each day and the sash window of our family room was open 3 inches to allow the cable for the hotel's festive lights to be plugged in to our room's only socket.
My campbed (yes - family room = double bed, Z-bed and campbed with sleeping bag) was covered in snow and it was FREEZING. Not only that, but it was like being at a funfair - flashing lights all night.

But we were there for a family wedding so had to do two nights, and my patents wrre then too polite or embarrassed to just unplug the lights and slam the window shut. It was a small place and the hotel owners were friends of the wedding party.

We left the morning after the wedding (don't know what excuse was given to extended family) and gave up the luxury of the booked third night...

Yep, a day early from a long weekend in London. It was the hottest weekend of the year and my asthma was not good. I just longed to be back by the sea, so we just got on the train and came home. The hotel were lovely and refunded us the night even though they didn’t have to. We’ve stayed there since.

Really? We had travel insurance with our bank account and got every penny back- ash cloud and Hurricane Sandy. I think it's a state of mind thing- the kids missed not vital years schooling and I shifted/ toiled work and it was a big adventure.

Yes - we had insurance with a big name brand and they weren't even picking the phone up. Just had a recorded message saying "we do not cover acts of God and force majeure" and then a second phone line for anyone with a medical emergency, which was also a recorded message. We got some back off the airline.

We didn't have kids on that occasion thankfully but I was final year med school and this had been a last minute cheapo break between my placements and I ended up missing the start of my next placement, which got me in big trouble at uni (and I knew it would, so had to ring them every day which cost a fortune). We were pretty broke and the overdraft fees made us even more broke, the extra 10 days we stayed cost us more than twice as much as the original holiday as lots of the hotels put their prices up. It was a real financial worry for us.

Always pay with a credit card then you can do a full or partial chargeback if you feel you did not get your moneys worth. Be sure to take photos/video as proof in case they try taking you to court. And always leave truthful reviews.

To those who would rather leave the night before, don't you go somewhere on the journey home, and it's part of the holiday?

Went on holiday with my ex. Realised he was a dick. Lied and said I had to go back early for a work emergency but really went back to London and moved out of our flat. I did tell him when I’d done it so he didn’t come back to me having done a flit.

We were staying in a perfectly lovely cottage. Unfortunately, it was semi-detatched, with paper-thin walls. The first couple of nights were fine, as next door was empty. But on the third day a couple moved in and we were entertained for the next two nights by their spanking adventures. When our eight year old asked what was going on, we decided we'd had enough and went home.

Yes - once. Camping in a tent on the Isle of Wight in July with my then bf. The first day was glorious sunshine and thereafter it chucked it down with rain day after day. Our tent was soaking wet, as was all our stuff, we were cold and fed up. I think we were supposed to be there a week, but we left on day five. I still haven't been back to the Isle of Wight!

Oh and another time I was away with another bf and we broke up. He wanted us to finish the holiday, I said fuck that and rang the airline and got an early flight home.

Yes came back early from Cornwall once when the weather was vile for the whole holiday - had toddlers and it just was too hard

We were also caught in the Icelandic ash cloud but were away much longer in the end as we came back (from skiing in Switzerland) by train via Paris and Brussels the insurance did pay up.

Yes a holiday park, the weather was awful, the noise from the entertainment was blaring away making the caravan shake, and I had morning sickness.
The final straw though was an owners caravan nearby occupied by Neo-Nazis complete with flags. My relatives were killed in the Holocaust and I just couldn’t cope.