Holidays are meant to provide a break from daily life, fill with expedition and happiness. But accidentally, the places we stay transform into alarming experiences. In this article. we’ll collect 12 true stories of vacations that took unpredicted and frightening turns, full of creepy moments and remarkable misadventures.
Story 1:
I was at a hotel with my fiancé. On the 3rd day, we came to our room and my diamond ring was gone. Panicked, I went to the reception and shouted that I had been robbed. The manager was surprisingly calm, showing no reaction. He smiled and showed me an unpaid receipt.
It turned out that my boyfriend hadn’t settled the bill yet, despite multiple reminders, and they had taken my ring as collateral. I was furious. I told them this was completely unprofessional and that I’d be suing them—there was no way I was going to let them get away with this, and my boyfriend would eventually pay.
But he then stared into my eyes and said, “Your fiancé has a history of robbery. He’s been in the news before for scams. We can’t trust him.” I froze. I had no idea what he was talking about. Later, I googled him, and to my shock, it turned out he had been to prison. I was in disbelief. Everything about this situation suddenly felt like a lie, and I was left shaken by the truth.
Story 2:
For illustrative purpose only
A few years ago, I was staying at a hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, and they had construction going on. Construction-related faulty wiring or something kept causing the alarm to go off (false alarm), and periodically a recorded voice would announce there was some kind of incident and to stay in your room until otherwise notified.
All. Night. Long. I couldn’t get any sleep, and I had to get up early and work all day. © harbac / Reddit
Story 3:
Story 4:
In my 20s, I was traveling with friends on a shoestring budget, and we stayed at the absolute cheapest hostel we could find that was close to the downtown area so we could spend as little money on public transit as possible. “Hostel” was a generous term.
It was a tiny brick building in the center of a large city block, so you basically had to walk through this narrow urban canyon to arrive at its featureless metal door. You just punched in a code to enter. There was no one on-site to greet or help you in any way.
The space was divided into four units, and each unit basically looked like a wing of an insane asylum. Dirty white tile, peeling paint, dusty yellow lights—the whole thing. The beds were saggy mattresses on old metal frames, and each had a thin, wrinkled bedsheet on it. The bathroom was surprisingly fine, but the thing that absolutely broke us was the ants.
So. Many. Ants. There was nothing you could do to avoid feeling one crawl across you in the middle of the night, so trying to fall asleep was like torture. The manager/owner was completely unhelpful and insisted that the traps they’d already placed were good enough.
If we’d been able to afford any other option, we would have left after one night. Sadly, we spent four nights in this nightmare and just used it as an excuse to stay out all night exploring. A horrible experience, but it was a true moment of bonding for my friends and me. © FigureDrawPractice / Reddit
Story 5:
For illustrative purpose only
I needed to find a hotel because of my daughter’s gymnastics competition. I read online reviews, and they were good. The price was good too, so I booked it.
I had difficulty finding it because it was dark, and their sign wasn’t lit. The parking lot was pitch black. Just outside the entrance, there were two sketchy guys.
Inside, the motel lobby was dimly lit with flickering lights. The room was no better—stained sheets, holes in the bedspread, and hair in the shower. The fitness room consisted of a broken stair stepper and an old TV on the ground that was also broken.
I told the front desk that I wanted to cancel our reservation. She said, “I don’t blame you. This place is gross. I had an interview at Kohl’s and hope they hire me so I can quit this place.” © DareWright / Reddit
