We've gone on holiday by mistake

[couchparsnip]

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.
We're chalking it up to experience and reporting to the company we booked through.

Anyone had worse. Make me feel better!

Just go to a local cafe and demand the finest wines known to humanity

* And every person hoping to make a quick buck is shoving their crappy accomodation on AirBnB.*

So you avoid the ones with no reviews
Or you read the reviews!
If overwhelmingly positive - then unlikely to be shite

I don’t ever pick an air bnb with a score of less than 4.5 and I need a good number of reviews, which I read so that if people say things like “lovely house and location but could do with a deeper clean” - then I avoid even if an average score of my min of 4.5

Holidays are precious. I don’t risk it. I lie walking in with the children and we all go “wow this is wonderful!”

Not everyone can afford to only stay in 4.5 star accomodation.

But this does not make any sense @Anti as air B and B are generally not more expensive because they have better reviews. I’ve stayed in some really great and reasonable ones that have five star reviews, it’s not the same as the hotel rating.

Our worst was a one night last minute booking everywhere decent booked it was basically an old people’s home complete with saggy beds and smell of wee. Our dc actually cried at having to stay there. Owner was a nutter over sharer. It was like a horror film. Dh used it as a good learning opportunity work hard at school so you don’t have to holiday somewhere like this. We got up first thing and drove home to avoid their bathroom and breakfast

We went to pontins in Brean a few weeks ago. Never again

We went to Pontins, Brean Sands, in 1999. Our chalet was filthy! There were fag ends in the ash try, the ceiling was covered in mould, there were spaces around the windows so the wind howled in, the furniture was stained and grubby, the floor was covered in crumbs and other debris. There was a greasy film over the kitchen units. I went to reception to tell them our chalet hadn’t been cleaned. They insisted it had been cleaned. We left. The kids were gutted. We called in Haven, Somerset, on the way home on the chance they may have something. They did. A gold star chalet for £30 for the week - last minute booking.

We had a lovely week at Haven. We have never gone back to Pontins. I see it hasn’t changed then 🤮

@AntiSocialDistancer

Not everyone can afford to only stay in 4.5 star accomodation.

Yes And the review will be from people who can’t either So their reviews will be based on their experience within their budget

Whatever happens with your refund, please tell the local authority about that illegal electrical installation. Either the farmer did it himself or one of his farmworkers did it. It's really dangerous and if he's forced to put it right, or stop letting it, he won't be putting another family in danger.

Farmers are business owners. He can't play innocent about things like gas and electrical safety and building regulations. As a business the local authority can inspect his premises and it's likely they'd stop him letting it.

I detest these greedy bastards cashing in on people's desperation for a holiday. If they don't give their customers what they've paid for, they don't deserve the money.

@onelittlefrog

I thought online reviews pretty much prevented this from happening to people nowadays! Did you not check reviews before you went?

Online reviews only help to an extent.

This year, with accommodation being a bit ,ore scarce in popular areas, it's a bit trickier. Also people are making quicker, more last minute decisions to go away, especially if holidays further afield have been cancelled at short notice,

Also not all reviews are real reviews and/or can be very biased.

If you have a resort with multiple 3 star reviews on booking sites, it stands to reason if they want to fill their accommodation over 5 star places it needs to - 1 have cheaper prices or 2 - be the only site available so people book with no other choice.

No need to be smug about circumstances which mean you can book early, or pay more.

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

One possible reason: new owners selling rooms using the previous one's listing

It happened to me in Paignton, with a gorgeous place I'd stayed at several times before using Booking.com - got there to find it now run by a family doing everything on the cheap and with lounge, garden and mealtimes all stripped away "because we've got the dogs" (who barked, whined and ran around the whole place incessantly)

TBF the site have suspended bookings now, presumably until they've sorted their own listing, but even those of us who check can get caught out sometimes

Ours was our own fault family were staying in the area and we fancied staying a night rather than driving back it was late notice high season popular tourist town so our expectations were low but wow it was bad!

Not everyone can afford to only stay in 4.5 star accomodation
Yes
And the review will be from people who can’t either
So their reviews will be based on their experience within their budget

An insightful comment and so very true

Even among the very worst of the Pontins reviews there's the odd one who gives it 4 or 5 stars, and frankly you have to wonder what their experiences - and their own homes, come to that - are like

Love all the Withnail references. When go away and have unpacked, or put the tent up, and are having our first brew of the holiday, one of us always says, "I am sitting down to enjoy my holiday" with a deadpan face.

Worst holiday I had was a caravan on a farm on Arran when I was 7. Much had been made of this holiday as it was a new location to us, grandparents were coming, and it involved ferries. The ferry was diverted from Ardrossan due to bad weather so we had to drive up to Greenock, it didn't leave till after dark, the crossing was interesting due to rough seas, we couldn't find the farm for ages and when we got there, the caravan made Father Ted's van look chic. I got put to bed then the adults started shrieking about something and my grandad started banging things in my cupboard bedroom. My grandma said they'd found a black butterfly and she slept in with me for the night. I thought they were being a bit dramatic but years later I found out the black butterfly was actually a huge, fat rat and it kept popping up throughout the week. My dad and grandad stoppered up every hole they could find and still it got in. The farmer couldn't give a shit but he had a lovely red collie called Glenn who I wanted to take home soooooo much.

@couchparsnip

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!

Glad to have cheered you up!

Just to make you feel even better, "the deliverance holiday" was actually our honeymoon!!!!!

@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!

I spend hours looking at reviews too. However, the last place I booked (v expensive self catering in Somerset) had brilliant reviews but I would have given it 2/5.

When I myself went to post a truthful review and accompanying photographs (leaky toilet, hose attachment as a shower, filth, greying sheets) it directed me from Tripadvisor straight to the holiday company’s website where only good reviews could be left. I even emailed Tripadvisor and complained that I couldn’t leave a review and they said they would ‘look into it’.

@GrrRightBackAtYou

That’s odd
Clearly trip advisor permits bad reviews. Very very bad reviews. As evidenced by… well, the website

Some places are absolutely slated

It reminds me of camping holidays where the wind howls, around you and the sky is permanently dark.

Or Easter holiday cottage holidays in Scotland in the 1980s when the facilities were unbelievably basic and heating "off for the season".

Give them a one-star write-up on Google and anywhere else they advertise and report them. Unsafe wiring is a death-hazard!

You are not alone! We spent 6k for 2 weeks in a large holiday rental and it's a nightmare. We arrived to find the private parking full - it turns out the owner runs a car rental business from the premises. He also lives here in one of the bedrooms - he has made a private entrance but it's like he is in the house - we can hear what he's watching on tv and every conversation.

The private hot tub is in the garden where the owners dog runs free, and my daughter is terrified of dogs so we can't use it. It's by the car park so has a constant stream of people collecting and dropping off cars so unusable anyway.

More scary is the brand new ring camera in the lounge - my husband has removed it, and the fire doors propped open. The main fire escape from the bedrooms has a large padlock on it so I've been round to plan our escape routes.

The holiday company are not interested so we are stuck.

@susan123

You are not alone! We spent 6k for 2 weeks in a large holiday rental and it's a nightmare. We arrived to find the private parking full - it turns out the owner runs a car rental business from the premises. He also lives here in one of the bedrooms - he has made a private entrance but it's like he is in the house - we can hear what he's watching on tv and every conversation.

The private hot tub is in the garden where the owners dog runs free, and my daughter is terrified of dogs so we can't use it. It's by the car park so has a constant stream of people collecting and dropping off cars so unusable anyway.

More scary is the brand new ring camera in the lounge - my husband has removed it, and the fire doors propped open. The main fire escape from the bedrooms has a large padlock on it so I've been round to plan our escape routes.

The holiday company are not interested so we are stuck.

Did not even one review mention any of this?

Oh my goodness the amount of times we have quoted that line when on holiday is untrue its one of our favourite sayings. Such as classic film!

We arrived in Barcelona to find our hotel was less than a backpackers hostel with three single metal framed beds in our room, the front desk staff agreed it was a hostel not a hotel.
We couldn't stay because it was so poor and dirty so I asked a member of staff to ring round and find us a proper hotel. They made a few calls but claimed every hotel in town was fully booked.
While we had a thunderstorm we sat in the bar area which was quite nice and I found a hotel on trip advisor which had a room, I put it on my credit card and moved swiftly once the storm passed.
The new hotel was fabulous and a good time was eventually had by all.
Once home we made a formal complaint and sent photos, we received a complete refund

Just back from a shocker. Only outside space accessed through kids room. All wardrobes in kids room. Outside space was balcony with broken glass (soon to be in my foot). Bath not plumbed in so first bath caused a flood into downstairs room. Neighbours hostile and woke us up every morning at 6am letting their dogs out under our bedroom window…that’s if the dawn didn’t wake us at 4 am first because the cheap window blinds didn’t fit. Had to wait in for plumber who said she’d known about the bath for months.

Last straw was no dustpan. That’s what tipped me over the edge. Comedy owner said not to worry as that was what the cleaners were for. Comedy owner then had the cheek to text me about how dirty we were and how she would have to fix damage before next people. Wasn’t she lucky we left early and she would have plenty of time to do it….honestly the casual racism we experienced from a local bar and the fish and chip shop (pretending not to understand our accents) was nothing compared to her. Never going to an amateur landlord again.

@PennineWayinSlingbacks

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!

OMG! That's scary!!