john it was horrendous but if me mentioning it on here saves another family going through what happened to us its worth it.

also i forgot to mention, it hasnt put us off going to turkey, its a lovely country, and ive been visiting for over 26 yrs up to 6 times a yr and this is the first time ive come across what i can only class as a pervert, they're in every country, just a shame we came across 1 in turgutreis

Mine definitely Gran Canaria 1999 for the millennium with First Choice (spit).

Dumped at the apartment which was horrendous. Wires hanging out of walls, blood up the walls, graffiti written all over the bedside cabinets....you name it we had it. I was furious. Hubby works away and so he'd worked hard for this holiday. The manager of the complex poo poohed the rep. Eventually we got moved, but we had to move twice due to it being the millennium. Our friends were at the bottom of the resort and we ended up at the top.

When I came home I was so incensed that I wouldn't let FC get away with their 'offer' of £50 we ended up getting £750 and I then found HT due to my 'rebellion'.

So FC it's your fault I'm here

hi glynis your holiday in gran-canaria sounds a nightmare.We stayed at a hotel in spain that was similar,but not so bad .The lifts smelt of urin and sick,and our room just smelt of damp and other bad smells,talking to other residants they said their rooms smelt the same.What we do now is when we go away ,is buy a bottle of lemon grass oil,and vaporise it with hot water,the smell is nice and it clears your head,and makes the room smell nice.well done for getting your £750 comp,your deserved it,and thanks for running a great and very helpful website regards john.

Thanks John. Must admit we've been lucky since then but we obviously do a lot more research nowadays.

Without doubt the worst was Salou in 1995 , my toddler son was taken ill with an asthma attack and hospitalised for 2 nights of a 7 night holiday , the clinic had virtually no one who spoke english apart from during a short spell of the mornings and to be honest I am still convinced that he stayed in that long because they were making money from the insurance ( his condition stabilised very quickly ) We had a 5 year old as well and had to have one of us at the hotel and the other in the clinic with the little one .
I went in the clinic in the early hours of the morning and had had nothing to eat all that day so I did ask my husband to bring me something to eat and he dutifully turned up with a bl**dy mars bar - oh god I'm having nightmares just thinking about it .
Never ever had any health problems with him since thank goodness

Probably then the next worst holiday was 2 weeks in Paphos in 2006 - we just didn't like the place at all and it cost an absolute fortune (I think that was the worst part of it )After that debacle I have done a lot more DIY and also resolved never to listen to my husband again as it was him that said we should try Paphos

blackcat

I am the same with cyprus, couldn't stand the place.

Our worst holiday was in majorca to puerto pollensa, the pollensa park hotel. Storms 5 days out of 7 and there was marble steps/stairs everywhere and my 18 month old daughter was obsessed with climbing them so we had to follow her ever step. After being stuck in the hotel long we going stir crazy. Strangest dinner was curry and crisps, yep the crisps you get in the packet. I vowed never to visit majorca in june or september.

Hi
The worst holiday was to Maderia. We got a late deal about 15 years ago, so we were placed at a hotel someway out of Funchal, that was not a worry as there was a good bus service from outside the Hotel.
The problem was the weather, it stormed so badly the roads collapsed,the rain was like a river down the road,The Hotel could not cope with the downpour, the bar/restaurant area roof was leaking and then there were problems with the electrics. In Funchal centre, the storm was so severe ( the worst in 25yrs) the beaches were full of wood and various other things, cranes were brought in to move the vast amounts of rubbish. I never thought I would even consider going to Maderia again, but reccently I thought it might be worth giving it another chance.....but not in November
M

Our worst holiday ever was a couple of years ago to Gumbet,Turkey.We booked the Siesta Beach apts,3*plus,then,our studio was nothing like the pictures on their website!!we were below the turkish bath,and the room smelt awful when we walked in,a tin plate tray was rivited to the ceiling,probably to take the overflow!!,we asked to be moved,but was told they were full,next day we opened the bread bin and their was a loaf of bread so black with mould,then the cutlery had blue mould on it,lots of other things as well!!It was the pits,so was the resort,whenever I read reviews and people say how great the place is,I only wish they had our room!!how they could put people in it is beyond me,there again some people are easily pleased!!.

hi crispy that holiday you had at the siesta-beach -apts does sound bad,and i agree with you some people are easily pleased,i think the problem is you go away for a break,and the last thing you want is a big row with the rep or the hotel manager.still you live and learn.regards john

We have stayed at Siesta beach in Gumbet a couple of times and had a great time. The first time we went we had a studion, which was a bit like a cave but nowhere near as bad as your room Crispy, the second time we had a lovely apartment at the back of the complex. I think you must have had a really dodgy room as most people seem to love it there. The apartments are definitely better than the studios, I would make sure we had an apartment if we went there again and if I had your room Crispy I would be having a row with the Manager (or rather my husband would!)

As for saying Gumbet is the pits - that is just a matter of opinion really. I love it there

ooh EllieMeg, a colleague at work is going to that hotel and it will be her first visit to Turkey. Ouch. I'm not going to say anything to her............

hi sand.c that is a big problem,regarding your work colleague,who is going to stay at that hotel ?as she got young children if she has,it may be prudent to have a word with her.I think i would have to,just to be on the safe side,i think she would probably appriciate your advice, i know i would best of luck john

s and c you are in a tricky position, but if she has kids please warn her, this perv is local, we wanders around the beach and came into our hotel grounds, another couple came up to security whilst my hubby was telling them, to say this man had tried to get photos of their kids too. he doesnt have a camera so it isnt so obvious what hes up to ,hes using his mobile phone. but he actually removed my daughters friends ice cream and grabbed her she got away and then he grabbed my daughters hand,she was only 8, as far as im concerned anyone doing this to kids is a potential paedophile, and doesnt seem to think theres any wrong in it nor did the hotel security or manager, he had the nerve to chase my daughter who ran to us and ask us for her photo, couldnt believe the cheek of him, she was terrified. its the first time i had let her wander around without us as she had 2 older girls with her and i thought in an all inc we would be safe

the hotel manager is a very nasty man and i had a row with him over various problems and he was so nasty and told me if we didnt like his hotel to move , hubby then went and made him apologise but he didnt back down easy and started arguing with my hubby too,until reception manager came over to calm him down, i reported him to thomsons and the rep was so shocked by his behaviour she came over and apologised herself and said she couldnt believe the way he talked to us. ive done a hotel management and catering course and told him exactly what i thought of his management skills grrr

i hope for your friends sake the hotel has improved and especially the food, it was awful whilst we were there,no kids food, some days cereals for desserts. turkey every night,i know i went to turkey be didnt expect to eat it every night lol,1000 ways to eat turkey !!!

Hi, it's Sand C as in Sandra, sorry for the confusion with my user name.

She doesn't have children, she is going with her partner and another couple so no worries on the perv score, but the rest of it doesn't sound good either. I love Turkey but haven't been to Turgetries - would you recommend the resort if you ignored the hotel? It will be such a shame if it hasn't improved and gives the wrong impression on turkey as a whole.

oops sorry for gettin your name wrong, silly me

turgutreis itself is ok, fairly scenic, quite small resort, but prices are higher for food and drink than places like icmeler etc , the only thing i wasnt keen on was the beach as its very stoney and rocky and it was painful getting in and out of the sea, so beach shoes are definitely needed. the hotel is a good 10 mins walk along the sea front into the town so location is good, and views are good. the speciality turkish restaurant was very good, the restaurant on the beach is chargable so we didnt eat in there as dont agree paying for an all inclusive and getting charged full price for meals although drinks were free. the room we had was fine with views over the sea, but lots of other people were complaining about their rooms having no views and air c on not working, we were lucky on that side of things

im sure if the food has improved they will be fine. we went in may/june and it wasnt great and mixed reviews, but people that went in july and aug seem to have had better food.

theres a court case ive been told about going through about food poisoning too , from last summer so thats not very good

You know, I knew when she mentioned it that I had heard of the hotel, seems it was not for the best of reasons! I will just fingers crossed that they will be fine. There won't be anything I can do if it is a big disappointment, in an ideal world it wouldn't put you off trying a different hotel and resort but in reality it doesn't really work like that does it?

yea im sure they will be fine, the resort is fairly nice, i wouldnt return as i prefer other places in turkey , but this experience hasnt put me off turkey as i love the country and ive been going for many years and ive never had a problem like this before, infact we are going on fri to istanbul and really looking forward to it. i also like to see other resorts as turkey is such a large beautiful country

Our worst holiday was in Benidorm in 1997 - ABSOLUTELY HORRENDOUS!
Hubby and I took both our mums and our two children on an all inclusive - never, ever again!

The idea of Benidorm was that it had something for everyone - given the various ages in our party,
and going all inclusive was our treat to our two mums, and so they wouldn't need much in the way of spending money.

The first week was fine, all the adults got along, all the children played together in the kids clubs and round the pool
gardens etc - in fact, everything was rosey in the "garden" in the hotel.

But when we went out one evening, I was warned by two older, local Spanish ladies not to carry a bag as bag
snatching was on the increase. (We did hear tales of it later in the holiday.)

The second week of our holiday was the first week of the summer brochures - the cheapest time for anyone to go.
Oh my God! The hotel was invaded! Gangs, and I mean, gangs of people - parties of between 20 - 30 all with one
intention, to get everything they could from the AI deal because, and I quote they'd "paid for it!!!"

People began drinking at 9am, so of course their children were left to do as they pleased - in two days the table
tennis table was in pieces in the pool, the public area toilets flooded out after being pulled off the walls, children fighting,
adults fighting among themselves, then fighting with the staff when they couldn't get served more booze after midnight.

It was awful! And the rep - she was worse than useless!

We spent an absolute fortune that second week, we stayed out of the hotel as much as possible, both day and night.

One such day we were involved in a crash, in a taxi coming back from the market.
The locals ran out of the restaurants and grabbed the driver, surrounded the car and wouldn't let us out of it!
We were stuck in there for 20 mins with a four year old in the baking heat - terrified -until the police showed up.
We couldn't open any windows as theyu were electric and the keys had been taken out of the ignition.
(Luckily our two mums and our other child had gone ahead in another taxi.)
Nighhtmare!

We'd get home late some evenings to find some children fast asleep on the lovely lush couches in the public areas.
Others were running amok around the hotel. The staff did what they could but they were fighting a losing battle -
there were just so many children!

Where were their parents? Out on the town because the AI deal had finished.

On the last morning of our holiday, our youngest fell and we had to take him to the clinic first thing.
(It turned out that he had dislocated his elbow. )

Whilst there, we met five big burly blokes who were all members of a rugby team.
They had been battered, and I mean BATTERED (black eyes, split lips, cuts all over their faces and arms) - by women!

It seems that they had arrived the night before at a very popular hotel (which shall remain nameless for obvious
reasons) and weren't able to get a safety deposit box until the next day. They had been told that was the normal
procedure for their particular hotel.

So they put their bags in their rooms and made their way out to go into the town, but were assaulted on the
hotel steps - by women - with their stilletoe heels!
The women got away with their wallets, passports, travellers cheques...quiite a haul.

Of course the police were called but the women had long gone. I don't know if they ever got any of their things back
or not, we never saw them again because it was our last day.
(I did hear that this sort of thing had happened before though, from staff in our hotel, and from people back home
who had also been to Benidorm for their holidays.)

I would NEVER return to Benidorm again, nor go AI to any EC resort and NEVER EVER go on holiday ANYWHERE when the
dates co-incide with the first week of the summer brochures.

hi milly.molly your holiday in benidorm sounds a real nightmare,the problem with these type of all in holidays,is that people drink as much as they can in 2weeks, and are permanently out of it,The parents disown their children and expect other holidaymakers and hotel employees to look after them.The question is if something happens to the children who gets the blame