Holiday From Hell
Back in 2019, we booked a family holiday by the sea. We found a little bungalow, only a 5 minute walk from the beach, 3 bedrooms, a garden, parking, wi-fi and a pool table for family fun. The photos looked perfect, the description was what we were looking for and so we booked it through an agency as we thought this was the only safe option of booking a holiday.
Now, we knew this holiday wasn't as expensive as others we had booked, but it wasn't cheap either. We had lowered our expectations, but we still expected it to be adequate and the reviews were good.
On arrival, all seemed perfect, lots of safe parking outside the bungalow, its own little area by a very quiet road. It seemed a bit dated, but everything was clean and tidy.
But it didn't take long to spot the problems that would make our stay challenging. Firstly, the heating was turned off and the boiler was inside a locked cupboard. It was September, so not overly cold, but our Charlotte is a little nesh and wears her beanie hat and dressing gown in summer so this was going to be a problem. They supplied electric heaters, just 2 of them, so one had to be moved around wherever Charlotte was and the other was parked in her bedroom. The first two nights were quite cold and we all became miserable. In the end, Gary went off with all the keys available in an attempt to break into the boiler cupboard, thank goodness he was successful and we eventually warmed up.
Another serious problem raised it head on the first night when we found the master bed to be so uncomfortable we couldn't sleep in it. It was so bad that on the second night we had to swap beds with William, as he can sleep on a bed of nails if needed. This meant that me and Gary were relegated to the double room where the front of the drawers had fell off and sat in a pile in the corner of the room.
The following day, another problem was found. The garden wasn't fully enclosed. To the side of the bungalow, the garden was enclosed with a small mound of earth that was shorter than our Maisie. Now, Maisie is a homebody, as in there's pretty much zero chance of her running off. However, it isn't completely zero and if she were to hear a motorbike or see a bird, she could be off on the chase. This meant every time she went into the garden, even for her midnight wee, I had to go with her and watch carefully.
This bungalow had so many problems, it became entertaining and a bit of a laugh, we still talk about it to this day. From only having 4 cups so you had to make sure everything was washed after using, to the shed outside being help up with a plank of wood. The tv was so small that we had to move the sofa to watch, thus exposing the piles of dust and dirt that hadn't been cleaned for what seemed like years. The pipe under the sink leaked, the decking was rotting, the garden furniture was just 2 chairs and the towels had more holes than the garden perimeter.
There was a problem that we didn't discover until a few days in, and it was an expensive one. There was only a small fridge in the kitchen due to lack of space and so there was a larger one in the outbuilding. We always eat in when on holiday so the food was crammed in. After 2 days, we discovered that the fridge/freezer wasn't working properly and all of the food had gone bad. Back to the shops we had to go every day to keep stocked up.
Don't get me wrong, we still had the most amazing holiday, with so much fun. The beach was only a few minutes away and was stunning, we went on lots of day trips and had a great family holiday. We still laugh now and don't take it too seriously, we never complained and we never left a bad review but most importantly, we learned a lesson.
This holiday stayed with us and made Seabreeze what it is today. From the comfy beds, enclosed garden, heating fully under guests control and a fridge freezer in the kitchen that works. When I think back to that holiday, the first thing that comes to mind was being cold. That isn't the memory we want for our guests.
Would we go back? Certainly no. Are we glad we went? Definitely yes.
