Holiday accommodation from hell! AIBU?

[Weekendfromhellll]

NC for this.

My partner, myself and our toddler have gone on a weekend away five hours from home. We picked a lovely lodge with a hot tub. Well, we’ve arrived and it’s awful. It’s not a lodge, it’s a cottage which is also fine but not as advertised. But that isn’t the issue - the hot tub is around the side of the building with the jets not working, the cot they’ve put in the bedroom is broken, there is dust absolutely everywhere and the bathroom is filthy (last persons toilet stains still there), no plug for the bath, there’s an upstairs bit with flimsy railing so I don’t want my toddler upstairs, the oven is broken, there is a random freezer in the living room and the Wifi doesn’t work. I might seem to be overreacting here (and please tell me if I am) but £400 for this, and that’s a lot of money to us. We wanted a relaxing weekend away with local things to do for our toddler - which there thankfully is - but I just want to go home. I’ve contacted the owner who is rejecting my calls and has ignored my message, I’ve contacted the third party we booked through who are telling me to get in touch with the owner, and it’s too late to travel back home now. AIBU to leave tomorrow and ask for a full refund, or shall I just suck it up and get on with the weekend?

Hope you get it sorted op! I had a similar experience last autumn via Hoseasons, not horrific but wildly misrepresented on their site as a country park but in reality was in the middle of a housing estate! It was so disappointing. Strangely also my very candid review afterwards never appeared yet lots of glowing ones did... I won't fall for it again, will make sure to scrutinise the location and reviews on other sites!

@Tiddlesthecat

I'm going to now have to have a shower and a good scrub with a bar of Dove soap after reading this thread! But first, I have an upside down pineapple to upend!

Err. Just turn it the other way up?

I mean, I have heard of a pineapple upside down pudding but I thought it was the pudding that got inverted of the pineapple

You haven't read the thread she has.

No idea about the accommodation just hoping someone posts a link to the pineapple thread

If you're sure, but it's quite a long thread... www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/a4508378-AMA-Swingers-clubs?

Tldr, an upside down pineapple is now the sign of a swingers abode, along with a hot tub and/or the traditional pampas grass.

We booked a luxury wooden chalet next to Loch Lomond years ago, similar dump.
Rickety wooden cot, no lock on bathroom, quite lacking in any luxury.
Oh and a horrible cottage in Wales once. Had to wash the cushions and sofa cover on arrival, as they were covered in dog hair.
No TV reception, and Mother with us a TV fiend.
The bathroom, grim tiles dirty smelly floor tiles, which I covered with their tiles and kept disinfecting, and a horrible toilet seat.
I spent everyday looking for somewhere to buy a replacement, on our trips out and about.
Bought flowers to make the place nicer, fresh and dried.
Grim place.

I covered the floor tiles in the bathroom, with their towels, they were so horrible and grimy

@Hoppinggreen this isn’t not cheap for a weekend away with 2 adults and a baby at all.

Urghhh we need pictures!

Absolutely take compare and contrast photos and share them on the website review page of the company you booked the place through along with comments about how you were the unwilling volley between the owner and the rental company in a game of accountability tennis. And the loser so far is you.

Did yous leave OP?
It sounds like the place wasn't cleaned afte the last party.

Also, is there anything worth "ransoming"? Lol

We use cottages.com for cottage/self catering rentals. Only book ones with excellent reviews and lots of photos. Get on Google maps and see exactly where the holiday home is. It's the only way.

@blondiepigtails where is your place? Any chance of a link pls by PM - looking for a nice place to book over summer
Thanks

Good luck

[quote Avocadoseed]@Hoppinggreen this isn’t not cheap for a weekend away with 2 adults and a baby at all.[/quote]
Point taken and apologies for any offence caused
I have 2 teens who won’t share a room so it’s a very long time since I was able to book a small 1 bed cottage and by comparison the ones I have been booking recently are well over £800 for a weekend.
It should have occurred to me that OP would only need a much smaller property
In any case it should be clean and I hope OP gets her money back

Holiday houses should be clean, oven should work etc

But, if you assumed it would be quiet, and in fact it's on a main road, that's on you. Agents are very good at not mentioning info which might out you off. You need to look for info that's important to you

We once stayed in a house on a pretty harbour. But had no view, as all windows faced the back. Unfortunate, bit what we expected, but we couldn't complain

Like a PP, I once booked a hostel bed, pre internet. It turned out to be homeless hostel. It was grim. We stayed out late, slept in our clothes and left before anyone else was awake

Your message isn’t being delivered? You mean they blocked you.

I hope you find somewhere else to stay and take this up with hoseasons.

If you booked with Hoseasons then that is who your contract is with. It is up to them to contact the owner.
it is Hoseasons that you take to the Small Claims Court.
It is a nuisance when these happen. We booked a house in France, nice photograph but we only got part of the house shown. Stayed on for location, accepted 50% refund.

Oh I know the road noise is on me, I totally should have checked. Haven’t complained to Hoseasons about that. We left this morning after awaiting to hear back from the owners as advised by Hoseasons who said they had only taken over the properties in December and were aware the walls were bad but hadn’t had the opportunity to decorate yet. They said they’d cleaned before we arrived but upon fixing the cot (which my toddler didn’t sleep in and which still isn’t fixed) found more cobwebs in there. They didn’t realise the jets weren’t working. We’ve been waiting on a call back from Hoseasons who have informed us the park have told them we ‘refused a reclean’ and ‘refused to show them where the dirt is’ (none of which is true) and therefore will not offer any form of refund. Hoseasons have said they are not liable and it is to the discretion of the park - they have asked however that we write in once we arrive home with all images attached (I have already done this but they said they now need to treat it as a post-holiday complaint) and wait up to 28 days for a response from the owner. Ultimately we’re £400 out of pocket and a nice break has turned into 10 hours of driving, being accused as liars and a sour taste left. Want to cry.

Contact the local trading standards office and report them especially if they are refusing to engage with your complaint. Trading standards can give v helpful advice in these types of situations.

oh that's awful! I run a cottage, and try to make sure everything is as advertised. I check everything is in working order, run myself ragged before each booking making it lovely, and clean obsessively - as 99% of hosts do. Definitely document everything, photos especially - and get in contact with the company you booked with regarding a refund /partial refund. Leave an honest and factual review too.

Small claims court. You can do it yourself, it costs about £60 to submit the paperwork online and you get that back if you win the case.

Don't just claim for the cost of the cottage but for any other associated expenses i.e. if you had to eat out because the kitchen was too filthy to use or any cleaning stuff etc.

Name and shame?

Send an email and attach photos. State the dates. Do it now OP someone may check the email tomorrow. Can you asked to be moved?