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Original poster

We've gone on holiday by mistake

316 replies

couchparsnip · 08/08/2021 08:51

I feel like Withnail and I..
It's pouring with rain and we're staying on a farm in a really shoddy barn conversion. The bedroom door doesn't fit the frame so it doesn't shut.
There's no lock on the bathroom door.
The bathroom is accessed through a kid's bedroom so we have to creep through to go in the night and then wake up a grumpy teen to shower in the morning.
Shower goes intermittently cold.
Oven doesn't work and we like to cook.
The double bed was pushed against the wall so we moved it to get access both sides - and the skirting board fell off!
The TV is a wall mounted one but it's not mounted, just resting against the wall.
No bedside table, nowhere to hang clothes and nowhere to eat except on trays(which we had to buy) or an outside patio (see previous grumble about the weather).
There are several electrical violations we can spot - not least the outdoor patio light is powered by an ordinary plug set up outside and getting wetter by the second!
When I mentioned some of this to the owner he said the bathroom door lock was off because someone's kid was 'acoustic' and they had to come off.Grin
We're chalking it up to experience and reporting to the company we booked through.

Anyone had worse. Make me feel better!

OP posts:
Thread gallery
8
Marriedtothesilverfox · 08/08/2021 18:26

Juat to home after taking photos andcomplain

SoundBar · 08/08/2021 18:30

Thank you OP, I feel vindicated for how fussy I am spending literally days trawling through cottage after cottage, agonizing over which one to book Grin

NewModelArmyMayhem18 · 08/08/2021 19:12

All the places we've stayed in in recent years have been quite deluxe, although one made out it was on the sea front (and was possibly the most expensive one we've ever stayed in) but was at least a ten-minute walk away.

A lot of the experiences of tatty places detailed on here remind me of the very mixed bag of holiday lets we stayed in as children. Often very musty and damp (as if only rented out very intermittently throughout the year). One was a chalet style one (in a downmarket seaside resort/estate which DM really turned her nose up at (not helped by being on a direct shortcut to the path down to the beach, so passing pedestrian 'traffic' throughout daylight hours).

Original poster
couchparsnip · 08/08/2021 21:33

The Deliverance holiday made me laugh! Thanks so much everyone for helping me have a sense of humour about this. We're now looking at hotels and are going to check every review carefully!
My friend has confirmed the property she stayed at was more established and quite nice. I suspect it was converted by a previous owner and this current one thought he could do it just as well! What a terrible cnut!
I was tempted to shout that as we left but will stick to the terrible review. Once we have our refund of course!

OP posts:
Original poster
couchparsnip · 08/08/2021 21:34

@newnortherner111

I demand for to have some booze!

(should have been said by the OP)

I did! And I have a can of cider with a big bar of Galaxy as a chaser. Grin
OP posts:
Original poster
couchparsnip · 08/08/2021 21:39

@GiveMeNovocain

One of the places we went to as kids was infested by fleas. My mum has to shower us all in dog shampoo when we got home and were still being bitten. She still swears she could see the bathroom mat move 🤢

It's probably the holiday we remember most! 😂

That sounds horrendous! Did you go home? I feel like we're not as stoic as people in the past who soldiered through adversity on holidays!
OP posts:
GiveMeNovocain · 08/08/2021 21:44

@couchparsnip we stayed! It was the 80s so no inline reviews. We stayed in some amazing places like the houses in portmeirion and some leaking damp cottages but giving up wasn't an option. My mum always claimed to think the rain made the cliffs look better. Good brooding scenery and soggy sandwiches! Booze seemed to help 😂

LizzieSiddal · 08/08/2021 21:46

Oh those photos are so funny but sorry you've had to come home.
At least you’ve been “making memories” Grin

Original poster
couchparsnip · 08/08/2021 21:51

@Suzy39

We stayed in an Air B & B last week that had a 'shower' which actually was an attachment over a bath under a sloped roof and was fixed at about 2.5m. Perfect for hobbits or toddlers. I had to flush the dead flies and woodlice down the plug before we stepped in and the tub was covered in a film of dirt. The garden was also covered in dog shit and at the bottom was someone's rubbish (old footspa, car parts, usual junk).

I went back to the reviews and only one comment remotely mentioned the 'attention to detail' the property was in need of. I can only assume the others had either really low standards or had stayed and been paid for a review.

The price was double what we would usually have paid too.

You weren't in Southport were you? We had a similar shower with an unreadable note. No idea what it said!
We've gone on holiday by mistake
OP posts:
Original poster
couchparsnip · 08/08/2021 21:52

One more photo and the last straw was when the radiator did this

We've gone on holiday by mistake
OP posts:
mrshonda · 08/08/2021 22:12

We stayed in a holiday cottage next to a farm. No soap, no towels, water was always lukewarm, and the bedding had not been changed between bookings - there was mascara and long hairs on my pillow! Good job I looked before getting into bed.

Gingernaut · 08/08/2021 22:20

I went to stay in a B&B in Rhyl for a Rhod Gilbert gig.

It was advertised as en-suite.

I got the room closest to the communal bathroom, that was just big enough for the door to swing open, a small sink and a blackened, mouldy shower.

The place was being used by builders, working on the regeneration of Rhyl.

It was a musty shithole. So was Rhyl.

PutTheBathOnPlease · 08/08/2021 22:54

See this is the trouble with AirBnB….we stayed at a similarly crap place last week - arrived 8.30pm after 8 hours drive ready to cook some food, but gas hob and NO WAY TO LIGHT IT. I text the owner and in the meantime got it alight by holding a piece of card in the toaster to produce a flame. Not ideal, but when I mentioned that on the text some lighters were dropped off pretty rapidly 😂. That was far from the only issue….

Debetswell · 09/08/2021 00:01

@brittleheadgirl thank you. I'll definitely watch it now.

PickAChew · 09/08/2021 00:04

I think you're holidaying in our house like it was when we moved in :o

JockTamsonsBairns · 09/08/2021 00:57

You need to buy that place and have it knocked down!

ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba · 09/08/2021 01:04

not worse but when I first came to England my English was piss poor.

So when a friend of a friend organised to go out I totally misunderstood him and so I went on a date with him by mistake! I only realised that after about an hour as nobody else had turned up.🤣
I liked him so I didn't mind.
We've been married for 21 years

BlackeyedSusan · 09/08/2021 02:02

One had no batteries in the smoke alarm, leaking roof which they denied, microwave that did not have a turntable, boiler fumes blew back into the kitchen if the wind was in the wrong direction, needed a clean on arrival, wooden patio furniture that was rotten and rickety, towels and bedding smelled of cigarettes...

HerRoyalNotness · 09/08/2021 02:14

We went away for a week with friends who generously paid for the accommodation. It was a massive place with a huge party room. It had a broken window that they’d put plastic over, and indoor pool that was part emptied and green with algae, no locks on the outside doors, and pretty basic kitchen ware - paper plates, and basic all over. Our friend was embarrassed and kept mentioning he picked the wrong place. We just got on with it as we were grateful for the break. I had a look on the website later and it was something crazy like $900 a night!! It was obviously used as a party place that you could split between 10+ people. I’d be pissed if I’d spent that for what we got too.

Marmitemarinaded · 09/08/2021 07:46

All the people that have had bad experiences

How come?? In the world of reviews now and google - you can research so much before you arrive.

I spend hours and literally every air bnb and hotel I have walked in to…. Has been lovely because I have pored over reviews and research!

HarebrightCedarmoon · 09/08/2021 08:03

I've never had a problem with an AirBnB place, and have used them for five or more holidays now. I usually go for superhosts or avoid places which do not have lots of reviews.

AntiSocialDistancer · 09/08/2021 08:03

Stayed in a hotel once for a wedding that was onsite, our bedroom door didnt have a lock Shock I couldn't sleep all night. Hotel was absolutely full so I couldn't move rooms. The staff couldn't understand why I would be concerned as most (maybe all?) guests were from the wedding.

I didn't pay for one big sleepover at my Aunts house did I?

HarebrightCedarmoon · 09/08/2021 08:04

@Marmitemarinaded Yes quite, I always look on other sites for reviews too. Some places are on several sites.

AntiSocialDistancer · 09/08/2021 08:06

@Marmitemarinaded

All the people that have had bad experiences

How come?? In the world of reviews now and google - you can research so much before you arrive.

I spend hours and literally every air bnb and hotel I have walked in to…. Has been lovely because I have pored over reviews and research!

Well, the OPs place did have positive reviews. And this year, every man and his dog is booking accomodation in the UK. And every person hoping to make a quick buck is shoving their crappy accomodation on AirBnB.

It's a pandemic, beggars can't be choosers.

PennineWayinSlingbacks · 09/08/2021 08:09

Last year we went to Skye. The cottage was nice enough but after a 14 hr drive we put a pie in the oven and had a little kip on the sofa, to be rudely awakened by the fire alarm. The oven was fully ablaze.
My DH managed to put it out and we called the fire brigade. It was in a remote location and it took them over half an hour to get there. They said had we not managed to extinguish it, the whole place would have burned down. They took the oven out and left it outside - the state of the wiring at the back was dreadful.
We phoned the owner and by the sound of it, he was in the pub, so left us to deal with the whole situation on our own.
Still, the Scottish firemen were lovely (2 tenders!) and we ate the pie afterwards. We got a full refund, grudgingly and it's a good story to retell!