To ask for your crappy holiday stories?

[Thisnamechanger]

Oooh MN I've ballsed up big time. Have arrived at AirBnB in Fuertaventura after eighty years of travelling and the place in basically in the middle of nowhere with loads of massive hotel complexes but virtually no other life to be seen. We walked for about an hour and found a pizza place where they're showing some trans-universe football final with locals roaring at the telly. Now full of pizza and chugging beer but I feel like a total git for not choosing the accommodation more carefully. DP is prentending he's having a great time. Help - give me your stories!

We stayed in a old holiday cottage once many years ago. It was also supposedly haunted. There were lots of reports of paranormal activity from previous holidaymakers. Hence why we returned home one day earlier than originally planned.
The cottage was waay out in the sticks. Even the fridge was not working properly during our stay. Needless to say we have never been back. I was twelve years old. It was one of those large countryside places that had a history.

@Tillygetsit. I'm sat laughing so much at your post that my ribs are seriously aching 😂😂😂

Alcudia majorca I need say no more.

We had a canny holiday in the Isle of Man after my granda was made redundant. First time I had stayed in a proper hotel. All lovely.

Got the ferry back and then a bus transfer to Lancaster station. Bus went the wrong way. We arrived to see our train disappearing round the corner.

There were about 40 people all stranded. This was 11am. Next train was at 3. Then it was cancelled. We walked into the town to find something to eat. It was Sunday in the 1985 and everything was shut.

Back to the station and were sent to Platform 13 for a 7pm train. Two minutes to seven and the announcer says it has changed to Platform 1. We leg it up the stairs, get halfway over the bridge and the announcer changes his mind so we leg it back.

We get on and manage to convince the conductor to ring ahead and hold the connecting train or we won't get home. He does, thank god. We reached our house at 10pm.

My Granada's redundancy money that paid for it all was from British Rail...

Romantic post x mas break to Bruges when I was 25 weeks pg with dc1. I came down with an awful cold and fever the morning we left and felt vile due to also being pg, husband got food poisoning the first night and vomited stupendously for 2 days, hotel was tiny cramped and vile and we had tiny single beds that were nailed to the floor. We watched the Asian Tsunami unfold on TV, seeing all the places we'd visited travelling round Sri Lanka the year before being wiped out and general scenes of death and doom. My mum called to say my dgm was on her deathbed and there was a shortage of diamorphine in London. It was also freezing and foggy all 4 days we were there. I have no desire to ever return to Bruges.

Another Greek one.
Went with a pal for an out of season break to a Greek island. We were both poor ex-students.
Apartment/hotel had new sewers being laid outside in time for next high season- they worked all night with huge heavy machinery churning.
So we were moved- to the middle of a field, as the only other accom open at that time of the year. It was quiet but also pitch black. Nearly broke an ankle crossed the rutted muddy fields.
Only one bar/restaurant still open, which was accessed by planks over the sewer ditches.
Never been back to that island.

What is it about holidays and vomiting children?

Mine has only had three vomited episodes in his life (aged 14) and his most spectacular was in a caravan in Norfolk - it was a Haven site and I had taken only a bit of washing up liquid thinking it would be stocked (it wasn’t).... I nursed him all night as he counted the vomits (‘7 and a half Mum as that last one was just a bit of green stuff’ 🤢) and blamed it on a cafe We had been too (it was just a bug) then in the morning I rang the reception of the Haven site for help as I couldn’t leave DS and needed bleach. They whipped up a cleaning pack, fresh sheets and duvets and chocolate for me then delivered it to the caravan and rang me regularly until he was better - star service.

There was also the time we had to go to the nurse at Center Parcs on Christmas Day as DS resembled a strawberry thanks to a rash and I had left the medicine box at home 😳

Oh and it ALWAYS rains when we are on holiday

Athens, the pilot announced as we landed that there had been an earthquake whilst we were in the air. Get to hotel and there is rubble in the streets and people patching up huge cracks in the hotel walls, but hotel was mostly unscathed. Woke up in the night because I thought my then boyfriend had kicked me in his sleep, he hadn't, huge after shock. Spent as much time as we could outside! Still had a decent time.

Egypt a few weeks ago. Ended up on a drip with food poisoning and had my 2 yr old with me. Was crawling from the toilet to the bed at one point and just had to keep her entertained in the room for a day. Poor thing could see all the kids in the pool and I was stuck in bed. Awful clinic that just ripped us off and wanted to do loads of unnecessary things just to make money from the insurance company.

Never ever going to Hurghada or Egypt again!!

@spinabifidamom yes me too at about the same age! I never felt anything or saw anything but the day that my mum walked into the bedroom and started chatting to my stepdad only to realise after a few seconds that a. It wasn't my stepdad and b. He had disappeared.... that was the day we cut the holiday short and came home!

Never had a bad holiday but lots of mishaps backpacking around Mexico as a student including witnessing a stabbing and getting locked in a hotel room

Two weeks in the Algarve with my now-Ex. We picked the worst two weeks weather-wise there had been there in over 20 years - it basically pissed down for the entire fortnight (and there is not much to do in the Algarve without sun!) Oh, and I had a flooding incident (I suffered terrible gyne issues at the time) and ruined the bed - delightful!

A holiday in a 4* hotel in Marrakesh... it looked more like 2 stars, was freezing cold at night and covered in cockroaches at night. On one night alone I removed over 20 from DS cot.

I have traveled a lot and I am very respectful of the local culture but felt very angry at salesmen touching me all the time even when I was carrying a small child and standing by my idiotic now exhusband. Mind you, I come from an affectionate culture but that wasn’t it.

Oh and we hired a guide who turned out to be so protective it ruined the trip for us, fighting with the restaurant employees about prices and quality ( we didn’t see any problem with either) having a go at anyone who got to near to us (he may had had his reasons...) but we ended up leaving him at a crossroad fighting a bunch of taxists when he decided the suggested price for the trip was too much.... we just came out of the taxi, took another one and left him there.

Oh and my sister decided to spend quite a bit of money in a rug for her boyfriend back at the US, whose family had been in the oriental rug business for generations so she really knew what she was buying... until she unpacked it back at home.... they gave her an old piece of carpet instead.

Gran Canaria. Stuck in a complex with a single tiny shop and restaurant, surrounded by identical other complexes with their identical single tiny shop and identical restaurant with exactly the same menu. We walked round and round for the first couple of days to try to find something different, but there were no independent restaurants nor shops within walking distance at all. We later found out the entire area was owned by the same company, hence why there was no variety and no independents were allowed into the area! We spent a fortune and wasted a lot of time travelling around by bus and taxi to the nearby town (an hour's walk away), just to escape it all.

I have another one! Went to a gorgeous resort in Turkey a few years ago, one of those with the aqua resort attached with huge slides etc. It was like 5 star beautiful. Unfortunately it was in the middle of nowhere.
Day 1 - DS got pushed face first down a slide and came staggering out of the water with blood pouring down his chin. Inch long deeeeeep cut like literally you could see the layers of skin and muscle. He was rushed to hospital to have it stitched, I had thrown on a cotton sundress over my bikini totally forgetting I was in a Muslim country and should have covered up more. First had the trauma of them injecting anaesthetic directly into the cut while I had to pin him down screaming in pain. Then had to stand outside waiting for a taxi in said sundress while groups of lads tried to touch me and were jeering and shouting.

Day 3 - travelled to a nearby shopping centre to pick up some gifts. Every time we tried to buy something got comments like "you English, you have lots of money, we down here compared to you" just generally a very bad feeling.

Day 10 - in the evening entertainment. Nipped to the loo, on my way out there was an older Turkish guy sweeping and mopping. He grabbed me, forced me into the cleaning cupboard, hands all over and forced his tongue into my mouth. I kneed him and got away. Went back to the table white as a sheet and shaking and told DH what had happened. He went to managers office and told him and they sacked him on the spot. Probably had him back working as soon as we went home though.

Never EVER going to turkey again.

Outing but I don't care.

I went to Ireland with three other girls. We were staying outside of Dublin so we got the train into the centre for a few drinks.

About two hours after we get to a bar, one of the girls disappeared with the hotel room key. We'd no idea where she'd gone. We spent hours looking for her and trying to ring her. We missed the last train home. She finally answered and all she said was "I'm fine" and then she put the phone done. We got a taxi back to our hotel and she's in our room. She'd gone back with a guy she met in the bar and had sex with him in the only double bed which two of us were sharing. She was on her period and got blood all over the sheets.

There was then a massive argument because none of us wanted a stranger to sleep in our room with us and the girl ended up getting physical.

After that we all just wanted to go home, but then it snowed really heavily, our flight was cancelled, we were stranded in the airport overnight as the Ryanair representatives had buggered off instead of staying to help.

When we finally managed to get back to England over 24 hours later, our car broke down on the motorway.

The friendship did not survive and I've only spoken to her once since.

For your entertainment...
Travelling in Brazil and had stopped booking hostels in advance after ending up in a few really nasty ones that had looked lovely online.
Arrived in a new city off a long distance bus, I had been unwell and didn't have the energy to walk around the city with my 25kg rucksack, so my OH went off to find us a hostel. He comes back all pleased with himself, saying he's found a nice one, and it's really clean, and he's paid for the night already.
We go to the hostel. I am a bit concerned when I see that the 'receptionist' is sitting in a booth behind a glass screen.
We go into our room, and I realised instantly that this is not a hostel. It is a brothel.
The reason it is clean is that ALL surfaces including walls are tiled so they can be bleached and hosed down.
The mattress and pillows are made of thick PVC. The room service menu was condoms, lube and sex toys. The TV channels were all multiple varieties of porn.
I will leave you to imagine the noises from the occupants of the other rooms

Did a 6 week trip across the States, part alone part with a tour group. Had an amazing time except in Texas where we had a night out. Nothing massive, just a few beers in a local bar. One of the group must’ve been spiked as she was fine one minute, only had one drink, and then started dribbling and staring into space and wasn’t responsive. Ended up having to call an ambulance and she was rushed to hospital.
We weren’t all allowed to go with her so went back to the hostel which was grubbier than the rest we’d stayed in. Usually we had 6 bed women only dorms but this was a 20 person mixed one. Couldn’t sleep with worry about our friend but also probably wouldn’t have managed anyway as there were 15 other people all snoring/farting/talking in their sleep. One of the group managed to drop off and woke up to find a man staring and smiling at her from the bed across.
Spiked friend was OK, discharged next morning – she had vomited constantly so they couldn’t find any trace of drugs in her system so couldn’t prove she was spiked but the doctor said her symptoms were similar to someone on ketamine. Obviously hospital stays in the US are ridiculously expensive (especially emergency ambulances!) and her travel insurance tried to get out of paying by saying it was an alcohol related incident (most travel insurers won’t cover if you’ve been drinking) but thankfully she had a record of her zero blood alcohol level from the hospital which showed she was sober (the vomiting helped after all!) and eventually they settled the costs. Just a big mess.

Oh, I have an Egypt and Morocco one.

Nothing too bad, I woudl just never visit wither of those shit-hole countries again.

Egypt - supposedly 5 star all-in hotel - I am 19 and on holiday with another female friend there so we can do a full week of diving.

Every evening when we go back form diving and sat on the hotel beech for a little bit, we had hotel staff coming and sitting on the ends of our loungers, trying to stroke our legs "where is your father? where is your husband? You come party wit me tonight?" FUCK OFF YOU FUCKING CREEP (this is in the hotel, by hotel staff, nasty misogynistic culture) and whenever we tried to leave the hotel e.g. to go to tourist shops we got so badly hassled by men we gave up.

We were not there to party, or drink. We were there to dive.

Oh, and I got bad D&V on the last day.

Morocco - with my mother - we dressed v conservatively and covered out heads - constant hassle including being followed and abused by a group of youth men in Taroudant which was very scary. Honestly that was one of the few times in my life I have felt in genuine 'I'm going to be raped' danger.

Oh, and one of the hotels we stayed in was meant to be a posh eco retreat but there was a giant shit in the toilet when we arrived and the toilet didn't flush (which was a major issue as I was having a dodgy tummy) and the 'non chlorine eco pool' gave us both a god awful rash, and there were lumpy springs and bedbugs.

There were other complaints, but mainly relating to the immense hassle from young men who should know better than to harass a 65 year old woman and her 22 year old daughter.

I have recently been asked to lead a project in Morocco and I have refused. No fucking way am I stepping foot there again. Can't imagine that I would be able to lead a project with our Morocco office effectively either given how second class women are there.

Hard to chose between the one in the south of France where it rained so much we had frogs in the swimming pool - and saw everything 'in the rain' with 2 toddlers

the one day it was sunny we tried to venture out only for the smallest to start projectile vomiting in the car half down the motorway - holding her under the cold tap at a truck stop was a highlight

OR the last big family holiday I could afford and all 3 kids wanted to go on - where I got a bacterial gut bug and spent 6 out of the 10 days with cramp, sweating, puke and other nasty things (lone parent) ending up so weak I couldn't walk up and down the stairs to the apartment!

Hotel built without planning permission, two miles up a dirt track. Taxi drivers refused to go there.

First room stank of damp. Staff were guessing at chlorine levels in the pool so there was a dilute chlorine gas coming off it (you know, the stuff they killed soldiers with in WW1) and I ended up with mild lung issues for years.

Hotel in Thailand. Well it wasn’t a hotel as such, it was a collection of “huts” that’s looked nothing like the website. Our “hut” was a concrete structure ( like a bomb shelter) with a tin roof that didn’t meet the walls properly. The door was rotten wood fastened together with a padlock. Gaps all around it. The air con was an old plastic fan hanging off the wall which slowly turned hot air around the room. The bed was a concentrate block with an old mucky mattress thrown on top. No bedding, no even any sheets. The bathroom was damp and stunk of bleach. The toilet didn’t flush, the shower didn’t work and there was a massive centipede on the wall. I would have felt safer sleeping on the beach.

Went to Murcia in Spain with a bunch of mates. Great villa etc
Walked through a food court in local area, all heads turned and stared at us open mouthed...you could hear the cutlery drop....me and my mates stopped in our tracks and wondered what was going on.

You see i am Indian. And 4 out of 9 of us there were Indian. The 'locals' who were staring at us were British. One shouted 'the fuck you think you're doing here, fuck off back to where you came from'.
Id like to think the UK got rid of these racist twats and booted them to Spain and they all just lived in some exiled village in Murcia. Because in my 32 years of being born and bred in the UK, i have never experienced such brazen racism before.

Not mine, but a friend and her DH - first holiday with their three kids (all under 10) and the first day her DH slipped by the pool, broke his ankle in three places. They had to fly home on day three. It was over Christmas as well.