AIBU to expect a decent mattress (holiday-rental related) ?

[albertcamus]

Drove 160 miles, & arrived to holiday accomm yesterday, described in its own brochure as as 'Offering holiday accommodation to people who expect and appreciate high levels of comfort'. 'Bedroom' is 10ins wider than a standard double bed. Mattress (covered by grubby blanket under ill-fitting mattress protector & sheet) is knackered (probably literally): springs broken, 3 ins lower on DH side, as per picture. Tried to make the best of it, but spent the night balancing on my side due to sliding downwards onto DH. Both exhausted & awake aching all over @ 4am. Took mattress off bed & tried to sleep on divan, even worse. Figured that a week of this would leave us both tired and in pain & not be a holiday. Have stayed in vastly more comfortable youth hostels etc. than this. Packed up, wrote letter to (absent on holiday abroad) owners requesting refund. Took key back to housekeeper in next village & requested refund of my (cash only) £265 balance payment & got it without argument. Drove 160 miles back home, disappointed & wondering whether we're entitled to request our £135 deposit back ?

Name and shame.

yes, name and shame , how awful.

I daren't name, but it's in Swaledale. Really disappointing as DS has booked a week's leave & we haven't seen him for a year :(
Plus DH really needed a holiday.

I'm on my mobile so maybe it's just that the picture is too small.
But I can't see anything wrong with that mattress?

Sorry you've had to end your holiday early

I'm so sorry op, that must be disappointing. Nothing worse than an uncomfortable bed.

I know this doesn't help you now, but who did you book it with, were there reviews and lots of pictures? Having been stung a couple of times over the years we have a list of things to look out for. There have to be reviews and lots of pictures that we can scrutinise in fine detail. We haven't had a bad experience in years.

I did have to buy myself a pillow a couple of years ago when renting a lovely cottage and I would have bought a duvet too if I could have justified it. The ones supplied were obviously very expensive, but the pillows were like marshmallows and the duvet far too thick for August. I loathed them and slept badly the entire week, but you can't really complain that something was too luxurious, can you?

£400 seems cheap for a week in August.

I don't understand what you mean by sleeping on the divan? That's a bedstead not a divan... Or do you mean there was another bed?

The mattress does look awful though so I'd have a go at getting my deposit back if I could.

fireside I agree, this place did not feature on TripAdvisor, which I think is a great website. Will not get stung again & will always go by reviews in future

*NoArmani' the place is seriously tiny so I assumed that influenced the price

Fuzzy it was a weird arrangement of a divan, wooden frame around it & crummy old mattress, all seemingly unrelated to each other

Why did you drive all the way back? You could have found somewhere else. A B&B or something.

Came home because we were tired, disappointed & sick of being ripped off, plus don't know whether we'll get deposit back or not.

Did your DS go home with you, OP?

No, he lives in Yorkshire, so we were going to see him this week

I don't blame you for leaving immediately, we have had some really grim holiday rentals with grotty beds - including a National Trust one for New Year week which cost a fortune. .

I would never do this to anyone Rag, I think it's really cynical of the owners. Surprised at the NT property, that's a shame.

So you went back in spite of not seeing your DS for a year? really?

Yes. He's coming to us now.

I'd find somewhere else and go back even if just for a couple of days. You can use the money you did get back to stay for a four nights in a premier inn type place. If they give you back the deposit great but do go back and spend some time with your son regardless. Stewing in it at home will only make you more upset and I'm sure a few days with your son if you haven't seen him for so long will make you feel miles better.

X-posts

MrsD that's exactly how I feel now. Ripped off & cynical. At least a chain hotel has to conform to minimum standards.

Agreed, Fuzzy. I will pay for him to come to visit us with the refund.

It doesn't look very comfortable but TBH it doesn't look bad enough for me to have left.

You can't really tell how comfortable a bed is just by looking at a picture, we stayed in a very expensive hotel recently, the bed looked comfortable, if a bit small, but it was horrible to sleep on. Sagged completely in the middle so DH and I kept rolling into each other which is not my idea of a good night's sleep .

I think the conclusion here is that, whatever you pay, you can't be sure you'll get basic decent conditions.

Camping / caravanning gets a mixed press on here, but I can see the advantages of the relative freedom after this experience. At least you know what to expect.

My future strategy is chain hotel, checked on TripAdvisor.

Thanks to all for your thoughts.