Disappointing hotel rooms or holiday apartments
By Porcospino
@Porcospino (31366)
Denmark
June 24, 2012 11:50am CST
Have you ever been disappointed in a hotel room or a holiday apartment? Why didn't the place live up to your expectations?
Many years ago my parents had rented an apartment in the north of Denmark and my parents, my two grandmothers and my brother and I were going to spend one week there. We were 6 people so my father had rented a house with 3 bedrooms. When we arrived the owner showed us the house. He only showed us two bedrooms and my father asked him: "Where the last bedroom?" and the owner answered: "Oh, that room is locked, I use it as a storage room, so you can't sleep there"
Technically the owner didn't lie in the ad, there WERE 3 bedrooms in the house, he had just "forgotten" to tell us that we would only be able to use two of the rooms. We were 6 people, but we had rented a house with 4 beds! One of my grandmothers and I had to sleep on the floor.
My father was furious at the owner, but we had to accept the house if we wanted a place to spend the night. There were a lot of tourists in the north of Denmark at that time and it wouldn't have been possible to find another place.
1 person likes this
8 responses
@Suebee (2013)
• Canada
26 Jun 12
I try to research the places where I stay, read the reviews etc but sometimes you just get a sh!tty place to stay no matter what. For the most part though I have been very satisfied with the places we have chosen to stay and would go back again to all but two of them.
I try to go with middle of the road pricing when I travel. I don't go for the cheapest place as I find that when I try to save money it just does not turn out well. Sometimes that little extra bit that you pay goes a long way.
The places that I would not go back to, well, one of them was just too dirty...stains on the carpets, paint peeling off the walls, dirty shower that I didn't even want to put my bare feet into.
The other place was ok, clean enough but the TV didn't work, the lights didn't work (we had to call the front desk and they sent a repairman for the lights). They offered continental breakfast but there was nothing there but coffee and a couple of stale doughnuts, the room was very small with a very small closet-sized bathroom but we were on vacation and the location of the hotel was great.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
29 Jun 12
I also try to find some hotels somewhere in the middle. I have stayed in some really cheap hotels, but they were in bad neighbourhoods and the rooms were quite bad. I never stay in the really expensive hotels, but I have learned to avoid the very, very cheap hotels. The breakfast that you mentioned reminds me of the one of the places where I stayed in the past. We were happy when we found out that breakfast was included, there were nothing but coffee and old sandwiches. We decided to buy breakfast in town 
@maximax8 (31053)
• United Kingdom
25 Jun 12
In Australia I had stayed in backpacker hostels and they had been of a high standard. I was in for a shock when I visited a hotel in Sumatra. I was shown a room with two single beds and a stable type door. I thought okay at least it is cheap. I sat down on the bed and saw a message on the wall. It said not to sleep there due to the bed bugs and flees and mentioned to check out now. It was too late in the evening to check out and I was tired after a scary and long journey. I told the manager my problem with the room and he gave me a triple room. It had a double bed and a single bed. I was exhausted so didn't unpack. To find my nightdress I had undone my backpack and left the clothing plastic bags on the floor. I slept in the middle of the double bed. I heard something running over my plastic bags. I felt scared and imagined mice or rats. In the morning I packed up all my stuff and checked out. I asked other travelers and found a much better place to stay. It was awful that one of the rooms was locked and you had to sleep on the floor.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
29 Jun 12
The unwanted "visitors" (the animals) in hotel in Sumatra sound terrible. I would have done the same thing as you and checked out as soon as possible. I have never experienced mice or rats on the floor, but I have lived in a cheap hotel where the mice lived in the closet! I didn't use the closets and all and just kept everything in my bag. I didn't stay there very long It is good to hear that you asked other travelers and found a better place to stay. How did you find the other hotel (the bad one) was it mentioned in a guidebook or was it a place that you found by coincidence?
It is good to hear that you asked other travelers and found a better place to stay. How did you find the other hotel (the bad one) was it mentioned in a guidebook or was it a place that you found by coincidence?
@bunnybon7 (50973)
• Holiday, Florida
24 Jun 12
when my daughter got married a few yrs. ago, we went to a room in Las Vegas. I had been to las vegas many times but never to this one casino she'd rented rooms at. having been a housekeeper for many hotels and motels in my years, its a natural habit of mine even in vegas, where i had never found but the cleanest rooms, to check the room for cleanliness. ive had lazy cleaners under my supervision before. so i pull back the covers to see if the sheets are clean and 
there is blood all over the sheets. i was so mad! this is beyond NOT CLEAN! no excuse for that maid/housekeeper .of course they moved us right away to another room and said we wouldnt be charged for one day, but still if my daughter hadnt been staying there, id have moved to another casino. 
there is blood all over the sheets. i was so mad! this is beyond NOT CLEAN! no excuse for that maid/housekeeper .of course they moved us right away to another room and said we wouldnt be charged for one day, but still if my daughter hadnt been staying there, id have moved to another casino. @Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
25 Jun 12
That is so gross 
There is no excuse for that, I would also have been so mad to find a room like that. I think that I have been pretty lucky so far. I have had jobs where I cleaned other people's houses and I always notice how clean the rooms are, but I haven't had any really bad surprices so far. I had one room where the bathroom had been turned into a storage room/trash room. We were completely unable to use that bathroom, so we had to use a bathroom in the corridor, but we got a discount and the aside from the bathroom the room was clean and tidy.
There is no excuse for that, I would also have been so mad to find a room like that. I think that I have been pretty lucky so far. I have had jobs where I cleaned other people's houses and I always notice how clean the rooms are, but I haven't had any really bad surprices so far. I had one room where the bathroom had been turned into a storage room/trash room. We were completely unable to use that bathroom, so we had to use a bathroom in the corridor, but we got a discount and the aside from the bathroom the room was clean and tidy.
@GemmaR (8517)
•
24 Jun 12
I remember when I went on holiday once as a child and we had booked a room for four people. When we got there, there was one double bed and then two sofa beds which had clearly just been brought through into a double room, so it was way too small for us and it kind of spoiled the holiday because it was that cramped. But sometimes you just have to try to forget about things that you can't change, as there's no point in spoiling your holiday because you'd been looking forward to it for a long time so you may as well like it now you're there.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
25 Jun 12
That is true, if we can't change the situation we might a well try to look at it from a positive point of view and make the most of the vacation anyway. Your description of the room that your family rented reminds me of an experience that my family once had. We had rented a room on a island called Bornholm, but it was a scam. There was no room! We managed to get the money back, but we discovered the scam just before our vacation and we had already bought our ferry tickets and we we had nowhere to stay. My father finally found another room for us. It was a tiny room with bunkbeds and we had to share the bathroom with 30 other people, but we had to take what we could get, and we had a nice vacation anyway.
@fannitia (2167)
• Bulgaria
24 Jun 12
What a disappointing story! I wonder was it possible to report this case to the agency that had offered the house? Or the owner had promoted his house alone? Maybe I've been lucky but I don't remember a similar incident. But your story reminds me of a beautiful travel in France years ago. I was with my husband and French friends and they had rented a house in a village on the seaside near the Spanish border. Everything was perfect and we liked this place.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
25 Jun 12
Unfortunately we rented the houses from a private owner, so we weren't able to complain to the agency. It can be risky to use a private owner, and we learned that the hard way. After that time we usually rented our houses through an agency. We had other bad experiences, but in those cases we were able to complain to the agency. Your trip to France sounds really nice. I also have happy memories from my trips to France. I don't know the area near the Spanish border very well, but I had a nice time in the north of France.
@whatrow (792)
• United States
24 Jun 12
Yes. I went to Erie, PA. There was only one hotel in the town at that time so I booked a room. The online description seemed OK. I arrived after 1am. The hotel had changed hands since my reservation. I am sorry, but I have to say it. There is no point in denying it. The new owners were Arabs. They gave me a room and the toilet was broken. I couldn't even used a bathroom. They moved me and I got some sleep. In the morning I discovered that there was no restaurant. I was there for three nights and ran into one major problem after another. They did have a laundramat however. It was on the second floor. The elevator was broken. When I finally dragged my laundry upstairs, the machine didn't work.
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@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
26 Jun 12
That sounds terrible. It is very annoying to stay in a place where things don't work and where you run into one problem after another 
It reminds of one of the places that I stayed in eastern Europe. I had made a reservation and paid a deposit but I almost wanted to turn around and find a different place when I saw the house. I dragged my bags all the way to fourth floor (no elevator) and when I finally got to my room the toilet didn't work, and the room was not that great either, but I didn't have the time to look for a new place so I decided to stay anyway.
It reminds of one of the places that I stayed in eastern Europe. I had made a reservation and paid a deposit but I almost wanted to turn around and find a different place when I saw the house. I dragged my bags all the way to fourth floor (no elevator) and when I finally got to my room the toilet didn't work, and the room was not that great either, but I didn't have the time to look for a new place so I decided to stay anyway.
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
8 Nov 12
I would imagine that most people have been disappointed at some time with either the room or facilities. I always take my laptop with me and therefore prefer to have wifi at whatever hotel I visit. I used to constantly check if the hotel offered wifi prior to booking a room, but several times I have been totally misled.
It is very annoying to book a room on the understanding that a certain facility exists, only to discover that this is not the case. I know that wifi is not essential and if the hotel does not have it I can go to a local bar of café for the service, but I still feel cheated.
I must admit that I have never experienced a problem of the magnitude that you did.
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
24 Jun 12
In which way did you get disappointed? My parents have rented a couple of bad holiday apartments in the past. In addition to the house that I mentioned when I started the discussion there have been houses where one the toilet didn't work, where the kitchen cupboards were full of mould, where the heating didn't work, where there were no lamps in the bedrooms etc. Those places weren't even especially cheap, and we expected something better.
