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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:

TolpuddleFarter · 04/05/2021 23:36

A couple of years back we stayed at a holiday park in Silloth, Cumbria. The accommodation was rough - really outdated, dirty and uncomfortable. We booked it for the hot tub, which stank so only went in it once. And when we ventured out and about, there only appeared to be a co-op, and a couple of takeaways that didn't appear to be open when you might actually want to eat.

We packed up and came home early - we were supposed to go to Blackpool from Silloth for an extra couple of days, but it was so bad we drove home and then drove back to Blackpool as scheduled.

Miljea · 04/05/2021 23:37

I just read some Pontins, Camber Sands reviews.

😳😳😳 😂😂😂

Peasbewithyou · 04/05/2021 23:39

Some
Of these stories are making me nervous for the UK self catering caravan park holiday we have booked for the summer...

Never properly left a holiday early, only the night before to get a head start on the packing up / organising / driving with small kids asleep instead of whinging.

But there have definitely been a couple of holidays I have seriously considered bailing on - most recently an apartment in Spain that was on the 6th floor with no window or balcony locks of any kind and 3 children aged 1, 3 & 6. We spent 1 night there in which I did not sleep a wink but kept waking up to check the children hadn’t got out of bed and wandered out to the balcony. In the end they moved us to a ground floor apartment but the customer service rep was clearly baffled by my concerns. He said that Spanish mothers do not worry about such things....

Gingernaut · 04/05/2021 23:42

When I was about 9 or 10, our family went to the seaside for two weeks. Probably Margate.

It lashed down with rain the entire first week with the sort of howling wind off the sea that you only see depicted in disaster movies.

We had no warm clothes, as it was the middle of summer.

We went home a week early.

FizzyPink · 04/05/2021 23:46

Now feeling slightly concerned about the holiday to the Isle of Wight I’ve just booked after reading these

omgwhy · 05/05/2021 00:11

Yep 2 days into a 5 days cottage in wales, it was damp, smelly, cold, uncomfortably and just nasty, nothing like the photos.. so I booked us in to a nice hotel about an hour away and had a fantastic 3 nights.

To their credit the cottage refunded us when I showed them the mold and stains on the bedding, they had no argument.

FinallyFluid · 05/05/2021 00:14

@AdobeWanKenobi

As an aside, I remember going to Devon as a kid in this amazing bungalow that was perched on a cliff with a balcony that overhung. It was amazing. It also pissed it down all week and my Mother refused to give in. We spent all week walking around a department store in Plymouth which I think was called Dingles. All my memories of Devon are of the inside of that place.

I have just had an image of Father Ted and the lingerie department.

TheFormidableMrsC · 05/05/2021 00:19

When I was a child we went on a two week holiday to Spain. My Dad couldn't settle and after about 4 days decided we were going home. He said something was wrong and he couldn't relax. We were so disappointed and it was weird because his very high pressure job meant it was the only two weeks of the year he could really recharge.

When we got home our house had been ransacked and vandalised. Dad just said whatever it was he knew we had to get back. Really odd.

Another year we DROVE from Hertfordshire to St Tropez. The "villa" parents had booked turned out to be a caravan and it was hideous, filthy and the pool was empty and full of rubbish. We drove home after a couple of days 😬

MrsMiddleMother · 05/05/2021 00:34

Yes, Pontins Camber sands. Had no idea beforehand and didn't read any reviews. We lasted 30 minutes before I started crying because there was no way I could let my baby stay in a place like that. Thankfully there was a lovely Park Dean down the round and 2 weeks later we received a full refund from Pontins as we hadn't stayed there at all.

wigwoo · 05/05/2021 00:40

One last year just before Covid. Short trip to Spain cut even shorter due to the storms. Lucky to get the last flight home as flight were being cancelled left right centre.

One as a kid - I used to go to kids camp every summer for 3 weeks abroad! I loved it! One year I got hurt in a game and had a damaged sleep. I ended up being air lifted home (overreaction if you ask me!) and missed the last week or two, was gutted!

dotdotdotdash · 05/05/2021 00:43

Well done to whoever attempted the drunken Irish dance off with the girls next door - really getting into the spirit of things.

I came home from a skiing trip early to attend a job interview (which I didn’t get). I was glad to leave as the evenings were so booze-fuelled I couldn’t enjoy the skiing and the solo train trip home was delightful.

And the obligatory camping wash out in Devon so we gave up!

FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop · 05/05/2021 00:51

Yes, last year. I actually left after some excellent advice on MN! It was under a different username but I went to a holiday let with a friend and her 2 DC, the eldest who was the same age as my DD. Her eldest's behaviours was so bratty, demanding and over the top (and my friend pandered to her no end and wouldn't discipline her) that it was ruining the holiday for us all. It was like walking on eggshells and we had to do everything she wanted to do at the exact time we wanted to do it otherwise Merry hell broke loose. After 3 days DD asked if we could leave. MN helped me realise that I didn't want her memories of holidays to be about the time I made her stay on a trip where she was miserable and getting bullied, so we left 3 days early and went on a last minute Yorkshire cottage break just me her and DS.

wigwoo · 05/05/2021 01:13

@wigwoo

One last year just before Covid. Short trip to Spain cut even shorter due to the storms. Lucky to get the last flight home as flight were being cancelled left right centre.

Spleen not sleep!

Juo · 05/05/2021 01:29

Yes, we quite often jettison the last night in a self catering cottage, especially if the weather forecast is poor the next day, as I prefer to drive in the evening/night with the kids and being out by 9am is a pain
With covid rules self catering check in is now often 5pm. So we have dumped the first night as well, arriving first thing on day 2.

Notthatmuchroyalist · 05/05/2021 02:38

We came home early from a family holiday on the Isle of Wight because we ran out of money and DF needed to go back to work. That was my understanding. It might also have been quite dull but I don't remember it that way as I had discovered slot machines (not connected to the running out of money!).

mermaidsariel · 05/05/2021 03:07

Only done this once when we had a row with in laws and just left several days early. There have been a few places that we should have left early, that’s for sure.

nolongersurprised · 05/05/2021 05:37

We have 4 DC with a 4 year age gap between number 2 and number 4, the older two are teenagers and usually need some space on holiday to do moody teen things.

We went on holiday to a very popular area around an hour away, there was cabin-type accommodation with all 4 kids in together with 2 sets of bunks in a room.

They were surprisingly cheery about it all but then the 3rd child had mild gastro quickly followed by the youngest looking distinctly seedy. He was too little to count on reliably making it to the bathroom overnight.

The thought of tripping over suitcases and clothes and souvenirs and books and swimming gear and everyone waking up while we tried to carry a vomiting 6 year old to the toilet in the middle of the night was too much. We only live an hour away so drove home, as it turned out he had a fever that night, didn’t vomit and was fine the next day

CosmicComfort · 05/05/2021 06:05

Yes, left Lake Garda after 2 nights of a 7 night break due to awful accommodation and horrendous heat. Never been so glad to get back to the cool of the south coast of England. A static caravan in almost 40c heat was a terrible idea!

Also left a night early from Yorkshire, lovely holiday but several issues with the property and then ds2 got stung by a horsefly which was just the icing on the cake and we decided to cut our losses and come home.

itsgettingwierd · 05/05/2021 06:07

Once!

Not really early as such but 4 night stay in campsite Mon-fri holiday.

We'd had a really good week apart from night 1 where it pissed it down!

However as Thursday was going on we kept hearing reports of bad weather coming through Thursday night/Friday am. So we decided at about 5pm Thursday to pack up tent and go to pub for meal and head home - we had to vacate by 10am Friday anyway and it seemed daft doing it in bad weather and having to come home and dry it all at some point!

And the storm that did come through - we definitely made the right decision

PrimeraVez · 05/05/2021 06:11

@Egghead81

Never I spend a ridiculous amour researching holidays And a small fortune Never book less than 5 star Never take a risk

It’s pricey but does mean that our holidays have been, without exception, absolutely wonderful

It's not always about that though, is it.

We had a beautiful villa in Spain a few years back, but came home early because baby DS ended up very ill. We stayed in hospital in Spain for 2 nights and then once discharged, decided we would prefer to be back home.

itsgettingwierd · 05/05/2021 06:11

@Luckingfovely

Yup, left a 'winter sun' break in the Canaries as the weather was terrible and freezing cold (hadn't packed for that, foolish possibly). Nothing to do and nowhere to go (unless you wanted to join the hordes of tourists paralytic by 11am in all the bars)

Don't suppose that was 2002 (think it was that year may have been 2003?).

I loved in the canaries for years and 1 winter was particularly memorable for heavy rains and winds and didn't get above 8°c for a couple of weeks.

itsgettingwierd · 05/05/2021 06:15

@edwinbear

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

This is my absolute favourite

Anne1958 · 05/05/2021 06:21

Yes. Went on a two week vegan/cleansing retreat in Thailand a few years back. I arrived on the Monday and I left two days later because it was obvious the American couple running it were very much in need of some kind of intervention themselves.

It’s amazing how gullible some people can be and how others don’t want to listen to their instincts in case they’re thought to be the odd ones out in a group. It doesn’t bother me at all.

Anyway, I booked a taxi and off I went and when I boarded my flight back home it was the same aircraft I’d arrived on. The crew laughed when I said just take me home.

There was one really nice thing about the trip though and that was going from one part of Thailand back to Bangkok upstairs in a Boing 747. The trip was worth it for that alone as it was an aircraft I’d always wanted to fly in.

the80sweregreat · 05/05/2021 06:22

Yes, Cornwall when my 11 year old got food poisoning and it rained every single day in August. Made dh pack up the car a day early.
I often get fed up a few days before we are due to go home and just want to get home , harder if your abroad of course and many is the time I wished I could go home after a few days.

Egghead81 · 05/05/2021 06:25

@PrimeraVez

Didn’t think I meant to clarify that I didn’t mean sickness and death when I was referring to holiday research and 5 star etc

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