Caravan holidays are awful unless it's your own caravan

102 replies

landhill · 07/07/2024 21:26

Not long home from a weekend stay in a caravan owned by an individual but let out as a holiday rental, this is not the first time we've booked one but it will be the last. It was dirty, smelly and gave me the ick just knowing others had stayed in it. Does anyone else struggle staying in places that are well used? I took my own bedding and towels but it still felt yuck.

I didn't feel clean after showering and was sure to have sliders on and not walk on the carpets but honestly it was not enjoyable. The reviews and photos were all positive yet it was old and not that well cleaned. Have we just had bad luck?

We've stayed in cottages too and I've found them just as bad. I do not like staying away from home so maybe it's me that's the issue but I miss my clean home, I miss having all my stuff and just need sleep as well or feel that relaxed when staying elsewhere.

I'm trying to give my children experiences and make memories and they really enjoy it but I just spend the whole time wanting to be back home. Am I a rubbish traveler? Am I doing it wrong?

OP posts:

babasaclover · 19/10/2025 11:29

landhill · 07/07/2024 21:58

I do agree that staying in a caravan is not for me, unfortunately we can't really afford much else. I use air B&Bs and check the reviews and photos and go with the best I can find but everyone we've ever stayed in had been iffy at best and horrid at worst.

I am very clean and know my standards are high. I do like to be at home but also want to be able to travel.

I find hotels quite a challenge too. It's the thought of others having slept in the bed and shred the pillows. In my teenage years, I was a chambermaid and the cleaning was substandard. Like washing the crockery in the basin in the room, no soap etc.

I don't much like using buses or trainers either nor public loos. It's definitely me that's the issue. I guess I need to try and find ways to manage better or earn more money to enable a higher standard of holidays.

Go on a cruise. I saw the cleaning trolley and they used one cloth per cabin, then fresh for the next. All glasses came from a kitchen dishwashers. Spotless.

I share your ick because I know hotels normally use the same cloth to clean bathroom surfaces and then wash the drinking glasses / mugs with so I never drink out of them. That’s why I was so impressed with the cruise.

sideline though I always book air B&B for family ones and they’ve always been spotless. I do however run all cutlery plates glasses through dishwasher when I get there before using cause I do not trust who ever stayed there before to hand wash it 🤮🤮🤮

TheGoddessAthena · 19/10/2025 11:57

GlastoNinja · 19/10/2025 11:28

I prefer caravans to hotels, at least you can take your own stuff and no one comes in poking about during your stay (by which I mean cleaning).

Never heard of a self-catering apartment/cottage?

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