KEY POINTS:
Perpetually barking dogs, phones ringing at all hours, giant rats and haunted camping grounds - it's almost enough to make travellers stay home.
In Istanbul, we were booked into a small hotel near Hagia Sophia recommended by the Lonely Planet guide. It was neat and clean and reasonably
priced and we enjoyed the tasty breakfasts on the roof balcony in the fresh morning air, surrounded by marvellous mosques and churches.
But the nights were something else. A telephone on the wall in our room rang every time the front desk was phoned. The manager's large dog barked loudly when it rang so eventually we took our phone off the hook. But that didn't stop the dog barking whenever anyone rang.
Our room faced a steep alleyway with stairs from top to bottom. During the night, it seemed to be the habit of locals to roll oil-drums full of stones down the stairs at irregular intervals. The dog barked at this and when people arrived during the night.
We awoke to American tourists complaining loudly to the desk clerk about the lack of hot water in their bathrooms. This also set the dog off. Being on the ground floor we had plenty of hot water but only before 9am. The bathrooms on the floors above us did not get hot water as our son and daughter-in-law discovered. They used our room to shower but had to be early before it ran out. Late-rising Americans missed out altogether.
Once we bought earplugs and figured out the shower system it was a good place to stay. We might even recommend it.
Antonia Jones
A few years ago my husband, daughter and I had a holiday in Syria. Driving from Damascus to Aleppo, we stopped in Hamas where accommodation was difficult to find and our daughter's command of Arabic was inadequate. But eventually, with much sign language, we were guided to a small hotel that in the dark that looked acceptable. We booked in and were given a small suite.
The rooms were not clean, so we scrubbed the bathroom and decided to sleep on top of the bedding, unsure of who or how many had slept there before us.
All was well until 2am when the phone rang. We answered but there was no reply. After several calls, we left the receiver off the hook. Then there was knocking on the door. It was the desk clerk, upset the phone was off the hook.
We didn't notice when checking in that a mosque was directly across the street with loud-speakers facing our windows.
At first light, we were abruptly awakened by the muezzin calling the faithful to prayer.
As our daughter and I waited in the car, we could see my husband arguing with the desk clerk. When I asked, "What was all that about?" He replied, "We were charged for the telephone calls!"
Audrey Leybourne
We spent the last night of a wonderful trip to Cape York in the Daintree region at a resort with chalets amid the rainforest.
The heavy canopy of trees made it dark in the cabins and the lighting within wasn't overly bright. We hurriedly dumped our gear and went to the restaurant to enjoy the final dinner with our fellow guests.
When we returned we discovered visitors had left their calling cards in various places and made a meal of the soap.
About midnight, in a semi- conscious state, I thought my husband was caressing my shoulders. But wait, that couldn't be him, he was on my other side.
Then the penny dropped. I sat bolt upright and, turning on the light, screamed, "There's a bloody rat in the bed!" An enormous rat scrambled up the bed head and disappeared along the railing that ran around the wall!
The management sneered at my story, claiming it was some other harmless animal.
Glenis Muir
In the south of France, my boyfriend and I were looking for a place to camp. It was getting near dusk and we were tired, so imagine our delight to find a deserted camping ground. We settled in and were soon asleep.
In the early hours of the morning, I awoke in a cold sweat, full of fear and horror from the frightful nightmare I had just experienced. It was full of demons and menacing creatures flying around the park threatening and screeching and trying to get into the caravan.
I could sense Mark was also awake so I turned to him and told him of the terrifying nightmare. To my horror, he'd had the exact same nightmare.
We instantly decided to leave. I often wonder what had happened to that park, and why the atmosphere was so ominous.
PM Brophy