Share your bad/scary experiences

[act1980]

I am interested in hearing about negative things that have happened to people who have stayed at certain resorts.

I think it would be good to highlight any issues so as to help people pick safe accommodation, especially if they are travelling with children.

I, thankfully have only ever stayed off site at villa communities and touch wood have never had any problems.

The only time anything ever happened was on the night we arrived at Somerset, in Remington Golf Club. We were fast asleep in bed at 11pm from the jet lag and the phone rang. We woke up completely startled, and at the end of the phone was a British woman who told us she was standing outside our villa because her vacation home had been burgled and they had been instructed to stay at this house. I found it odd as we had reserved this house so we couldn't understand why the management didn't see the house was booked. It really put me on edge, I think because I was so exhausted from the travelling as well and I wasn't really on the planet too much at that point. Thankfully were weren't bothered again and had a great holiday.

What are your experiences?

 

[wayneg]

I am not sure past experiences help much for future trips that people are planning 1-2 years in advance. Places change constantly(for better and worse) for example we stayed the the Comfort Inn LBV, cockroaches got in the room and the room was not clean. Now its had a full refurb and new name and I wouldn't hesitate trying it again for a furture trip.

Most problems I know of have been Villas, I personally know 3 people who have had their villas broken into, relatives a few years back had all their money taken, cameras etc. but that shouldn't stop anyone booking a villa as vast majority have no problems with villas, where there is a problem the police and management companies do something about it.

 

[Pegasus928]

I have only ever stayed in villas and have never had any problems, but as you will find throughout these boards everyone has their own opinion as to what makes for a perfect holiday.
What one person may seem as a problem, and a major black mark on their holiday, someone else may just shrug it off and not let it bother them at all.
If anyone wants specific examples of holiday experiences they can ask a direct question, otherwise they can do a search in the Trip Report section for the resort in question. Most people who bother to write a report generally go into all aspects of their holiday and will cover both the good and the bad.

 

[2Tiggies]

I have only ever stayed onsite so no villa or private home experiences. From an onsite point of view I have to say that I feel incredibly safe. Obviously the sensible level of due care still needs to be taken wherever you are.

 

[littleangel38]

Ive never had an bad experiences in hotels

But when we came home from Orlando in 2008 we were so tired we didnt take our luggage out of the car. My boyfriends sister then took the car out and left it down a dark road and it got broken into and EVERYTHING got stolen, my phone, purse, camera, new clothes, old clothes everything I possibly owned and then our insurance said they couldnt cover us because we had returned home.

Hopefully going back this September to replace all our photos and purchases

 

[act1980]

Gees I'm sorry to hear that

Did anyone read about this a few years back?

Couple taken at gunpoint, was left near Osceola landfill after struggle.

Etan Horowitz and Erika Hobbs
Sentinel Staff Writers

June 10, 2007

Two Connecticut tourists were abducted and robbed at gunpoint shortly after midnight Sunday morning after a Downtown Disney shopping trip.

According to the Orange County Sheriffs Office, a man in a black Volkswagen Jetta called out a question to the couple, who were staying at a Disney resort, as they walked through the parking lot at the entertainment-and-shopping hotspot.

When they stopped to answer, the couple, Justin Stetzer, 20, and Jessica Dellacamera, 20, both of Branford, Conn., were forced into the car at gunpoint.

Deputies said that three men inside the Jetta drove the tourists to a gas station and forced Stetzer to withdraw money from an ATM. After stopping at an unknown location, the men took the couple to a remote location near an Osceola County landfill.

They forced the couple out of the car and beat them, striking Stetzer in the head with a handgun. But the two fought back against their attackers, and in the scuffle, the gun discharged.

That scared the men, who panicked and fled.

According to deputies, Stetzer and Della camera walked to nearby Kissimmee home and called the police. They were not seriously injured.

The men were able to leave with both the cash and the purchases the couple left behind.

Disney spokeswoman Zoraya Suarez declined to say which resort the pair was staying at or how much longer they would remain in Florida. She said that Disney officials were working with the two "to take care of their immediate needs."

 

[kevin harrison]

The couple in the story above were believed to have not told the whole truth, the cops started digging and they refused to help draw sketches and take part in a lie detector test. They also had reported similar stories happenning to them previously. They then didn't want to press charges and withdrew their story.

 

[act1980]

Just seen this on another thread! http://www.wesh.com/news/27002337/detail.html

I know what I would do to that guy!!!!

 

[Pegasus928]

I'm not really sure what highlighting the above is expected to achieve.
Everyone who posts on these boards knows that you have as much chance of being involved in an incident in Florida as you would anywhere else in the world.
I'm all for open discussion - where we compare the good and the bad aspects of a Florida holiday and people can make an informed choice based on all the opinions put forward - but this kind of scaremongering serves no benefit whatsoever in my view.

 

[Pegasus928]

I also think that if the thread asks for posters to share their bad or scary experiences then you should allow people to do just that - not trawl the internet for as many stories as you can find which serve no purpose but to put worry into peoples mind.
I am locking this thread now as, in my view, it can only go downhill from here.