Ever been on holiday where you couldn't wait to come home

[GardeningQuestionTime]

OK I'm in the sun and it's February...but I'm stuck on an where nothing to do except snorkel and its too windy.

The hotel needs serious updating, there are cocks crowing all night, the breakfast was minimal. The advertised beach is lovely but literally a beach. My alternative plan of lying on the beach reading are scuppered by no umbrella or lounger.

The hire car is a worryingly battered piece of shit.

I'm being churlish but there's a long 5 days stretching out in front of me.

Honestly some stories of shit holidays would help!

@Dee1224 😱😱

Isle of Wight. Tired apartment, horrible atmosphere, broken shower and a creepy landlord. Didn't enjoy anything much about the whole island. Drunk gang of lads in the ferry cafe ruined the trip home.

Years ago with exDH, DD and his parents to Germany. Both towing caravans. Supposed to be doing our own thing when we got to the campsite (which is why I'd agreed to go!). First day exdfil lost his nerve driving on the other side of the road so that was me and exDH stuck driving us all around wherever exMIL decided we were going, all long distances with exDH falling asleep at the wheel. Rained constantly and cold. Ended up spending a fortune on everything we supposedly needed for the caravan and during the holiday. ExDH parents got a flat tyre on the way back so sat in the services in the early hours watching rats running round the car park. Just nightmare, never been so exhausted from a holiday

It was Athens. I didn't want to say in case I offended anyone but everything was a bit grim and grotty when I was there. Other people who have been have told me they enjoyed it so might just be me.

I think that may have speeded-up the process of me telling my ex! I hope you weren’t doing your ex’s washing 😂🤣

@AnnieSnap yep - I certainly was. I didn't post it on here as one of my crap holidays- but it was definitely up there- there's only so many times you can drive to the hypermarket with a 3 year old and a 6 year old

I’m busy planning a big holiday for next year. This is putting me off ever leaving my house again.

A week in Cyprus in April. Very windy and cold, most stuff shut. Desperately trying to avoid sex with soon-to-be-ex. Two extremely bored children.. it felt like a lifetime. The. Absolute. Worst.

Algarve. Portugal is beautiful, but Algarve is like another country and now ruined by so many tourists. Tried a few different areas, Absolutely horrendous. Couldn't leave soon enough every time.

Two weeks in Greece with a friend who seemed to think I was her personal travel guide and nanny. I had food poisoning before we left England and it persisted for the whole fortnight. Friend got into a routine of getting massively sunburned every four days, staying in until she’d recovered then going out and doing it again. The third time, i left her to it and went off on my own. She insisted on drinking coffee all the time and expected me to locate a loo for her. In Greece. It was nightmarish.

Rented cottage in the Peak District with an unwell toddler. We can home 3 days early. Best decision we could have made.

We spent a week in Penang and loved it. Didn't see any rats. Interesting place.

We weren't that far from the red light district - pure ignorance on our part. But we covered quite a lot of Amsterdam, so not just that area. I think the main problem was it was so cold (just bad luck) which made everyone a bit grumpy and made us not want to stay outside exploring for too long.

Zante as a young person.
No staff to remove suitcases from plane, they were dumped in a heap on the side of the runway. Arrived apartment was really awful. Every other apartment was packed full of revellers.
So called friend met a guy the first night and disappeared.
Woke up literally covered in mosquito bites. Second night the same even with plug ins and spray. It looked like I had measles. Day 3 felt so ill and was admitted to the worst hospital I have ever seen. It was filthy. Like a third world hospital. The mosquitoes had poisoned my blood. I have never been so ill or so scared.
Days 4,5 and 6 went by in a haze.
I don’t know how I flew home to this day, my friend didn’t arrive back, so had to leave her passport on the bed with a note ( pre mobiles) my father took me straight to the dr, they sent me to hospital with suspected malaria. I was quarantined in the hospital immediately.
it was not malaria thankfully.
i am never going back, ever.

New York.

I was there for two months - combination of work and then annual leave tacked on at the end.

I cancelled the leave after the first month of being there. Absolute shit hole. Everything overpriced and rubbish quality. Restaurants had poor service. Tourist attractions were just ‘bleugh’. Just a concrete jungle. Smelt funny. Tourists were everywhere, breathing and being irritating (worse than the ones we get in London). Souless. Central Park was full of litter and homeless men making disgusting comments.

I grew up in Croydon. So I don’t have high expectations…so when I think it’s bad it takes a LOT.

I was there right before Christmas when it’s meant to be ‘magical.’ The only magical thing was the plane ride home.

I should have been there three months altogether :|

@Devilshands

New York

We were supposed to stay for a week there, but cut it short and left after two nights

I’ve had 10 days of torrential rain, on an island, so damp that the TV exploded in the room. Awful weather in a location where there is literally nothing to do before the days of smart phones was pretty dire. If the sun is out and you have wifi you can hopefully get through 5 days?

Zanzibar- We had heard great things but the poverty levels were the worst we'd ever seen ..we stayed in a beautiful resort but it was right next to the poorest village I had ever seen and I'd like to think we are pretty well travelled... I saw a boy with shorts completely ripped just having a poo on the beach shared by the village and the resort .. I felt guilty the entire time at the wealth discrepancy..., afraid of the food as a few people had gotten sickness bugs .. you couldn't leave the resort as you got hounded by children and adults begging.. some of the local men just sneer at you.. I honestly couldn't wait to leave..

Wish I could have done that!!!

A horrible, horrible hotel in Side, Turkey. We had paid extra for a sea view room but when we got there we were given a completely windowless room. Just a dingy room, no tv, two small beds and a bathroom so tiny you could barely turn round in it. When we spoke to reception they said we would have to pay an extortionate amount for a new room or wait until one became available later in the week. No way were we paying more money so we stuck it out. We came back one day and were sure someone had gone through our things, everything was dishevelled and a bag had been kicked far under the bed. When we spoke to reception about it they stared straight through us as if they couldn't see us. It was creepy.
The staff were vile and seemed to vehemently dislike British guests. We were all inclusive but staff kept insisting we had to pay for our drinks, then got nasty if you pointed out your wristband. One chased me and threatened me saying I had to pay for my drink and only left me alone because another guest came to my assistance. They were childish and did stupid impressions of us. They called us degrading names, then turned vitriolic when I told them I could understand so they should be more professional. The whole hotel was covered in flies. I got a stomach bug on the fourth day and felt awful. The only good thing was we bonded with other British guests who had been treated the same and stuck together. I wouldn't go back if you paid me, although I heard the hotel got closed down not long after.

Dh and I went to Kenya. Booked a safari for 3/4 days everything was supposed to be included. This was 20 years ago. We took some light change and some Pringles. A few diet cokes, jungle spray and other practical items and set off in a flurry of excitement with six other tourists we didn’t know!

It was so bouncy and we kept hitting huge craters for six hours driving there that dh could barely walk. His back went into spasm. We saw one giraffe in the very long distance all day. Arrived for dinner. The dinner buffet was laid out in a semi open restaurant and was actually moving. I thought it was my eye sight at first but no it was moving. There were flies and insects crawling all over it - thousands of them. It was revolting.

I just couldn’t eat it. Gave up without a bite abd dh gave it a good shot, he has a cast iron stomach apparently.

Hungry, hot and dusty I turned on the shower, a pretty outdoor shower to cool off, the water ran as I stood under and thousands of spiders ran up the shower waste and all over my legs - huge things heading for my unprotected lady parts. I am not scared of spiders, but I was screaming like hell! Dh ran to ‘save’ me batting them all off me with a towel. I still have flashbacks. So does he. It was like a horror film.

Too terrified to sleep as men were walking around our huts with rifles. Random screaming all night. Next day we lost one passenger to D&V and so each day dropped off as each person was struck down by the shits. Dh was the last. I still refused to eat the food and had been surviving on Pringles and Diet Coke, now all gone. Dh was so ill, sweating with food poisoning after joking that flies were a good source of protein anyway 😂

I was hunting down crisps with our left over money - found a little town, the poorest I have ever seen. And was accosted by hundreds of people trying to sell me Masai warrior items. I was in full survival mode by now. Totally starving, I had lost weight and was exhausted and unwashed.
I was the last and only person on the expedition, everyone else was too sick.
saw absolutely no wildlife whatsoever. Stopped evening looking or caring.

It was a VERY long and tough journey back for the pale and poorly sick passengers. No one said a word.. Six hours of us having to stop constantly so one or the other could go behind the bushes. There was no dignity left for anyone by the time us stragglers arrived back at the hotel. Never, ever again. Later that evening terrorist fired at planes with rocket launchers by the side of the airport. People were killed. All flights were cancelled and the airport was closed! I never thought we would get out of there!! 😭

When we were finally departing I was praying to god continuously that we wouldn’t be blown out of the sky, when I looked around so was everyone else. It was terrifying. Felt so vulnerable as we taxied. Haven’t been back since.

Cape Verde wind always blowing 5star hotel alright though but not lying on a beach The locals of places don’t want the Brits to visit too overcrowded in the summer So is Cornwall and years ago when we were camping there found a new campsite The woman owner was so rude as she said you only come for 2weeks a year obviously didn’t want our custom do no we didn’t stay there

@aandrelax and this was a package? Did you get compensation? Money back?

Remembered another one- Turkey again!!
5 month pregnant and wanted a cheap week with DH. Hotel was basic but fine. Accept all the young men would be trying to get you to go out partying every night and then we’d see them at the poolside hungover and alseep. When they woke up at 11/12 they would play happy hardcore music. I did complain about that. The icing on the cake is when one of them pushed me into the pool for a laugh. I was livid.

Turkey is beautiful but the tourist resorts are horrible.

@Newchapterbeckons wow, I keep reading stories and thinking this one tops them all then another comes along. I think the risk of being shot at by terrorists would top it.