Thanks to Opie for starting this thread and to _most_ of the people who posted (some notable exceptions), it was fun to read these accountings and some of them were downright hilairious! (Of course, I was sorry to hear of the bad experiences but the way some of you described them was quite entertaining).

Some of the comments about "spent birth-control devices" remind me of a beach I was once on which was strewn with used condoms. This was many years ago when I was a kid, I can't recall exactly where it was but it was probably either Corpus Christi, TX or somewhere in FL where I was staying for a family-wedding.

Having sex on a beach (or any public place) is vulgar, vile, perverse and completely tasteless in and of itself and of course, leaving behind 'souveneirs' is beyond disguisting.

John story above about Israel reminds me of the place we were supposed to saty in Tel Aviv while my husband worked for 2 weeks. It was called "The Home" and if my own home ever looked like that I would jump out a window.
It had a kitchenette which had cabinets full of very dirty dishes with food all over them and the cockroaches to match dining on them. The bed was a matress ON THE FLOOR with two of the filtiest pillows I have ever seen anywhere.....they looked like they had been used by Calcutta street people for 200 years....and no linens for the bed or pillows. The only window looked out on a brick wall of a building about 10 feet away. The shower head was right over the toliet (for those that like to save time it seems) and there was no shower curtain or container in the floor for the water...just a dirt mop in the corner to wash the water off the floor into the drain when you finished.
There was no bathroom sink..just the filty food encrusted kitchen sink. And by the way we made reservation at "The Home" 2 months in advance and paid in advance too! Despite the fact we lost some of this money we checked out the next morning.

About 15 yrs. ago my husband took me on a great "buy" of a trip to La Paz, Mexico. Hotel was semi-ok. BUT ended up trying to get back to the states WITH salmonella poisoning (caused by shrimp probably cultivated in open sewage!--that's what the U.S. dr. said!).

The Mexican state airline pilots were trying to go on strike, but could only do so by circling the airports (there were 3 of them--puddle jumpers) for numerous times and making almost crash landings! They thought this was the way to get the govt. to come around to the pilots' ways of thinking that they were "on strike".

Finally, at the last stopover (after much verbal exchange), I promised the pilot that I was personally going to go up to the cockpit and throw up on his sorry A$$ if he didn't get into the Houston Airport ASAP.

Needless to say, Mexico is not tops on my list. Figure there are soooo many places in the USA and Europe that still need to be visited. NONE of the staff (hotel and airline) seemed to care about my problems--and I'm very happy that my fellow AeroMexico travelers didn't kill me, even after I requested them to do so several times!

When I was a kid, my parents took the family to Fat Lake, Wisconsin. I have dim memories of the "Fat Lake Horror Vacation" and am emailing my parents, now in their 80s for a report. When it arrives, I will post it....I have a memory of blood on the walls !

Toss up between Stolberg, Germany in the early 1980's with mes parents OR some resort I dont care to remember on the North coast of the Dominican Republic, 1995.

Stolberg was en route during one of dad's famous 'driving across Europe in a dodgy British car' trips that he favoured. It was an industrial-type place with one hotel. Our room, of which I had a camp-bed, was directly above a bowling alley and the pin monkeys/jockeys in Stolberg certainly loved that game. Breakfast was that wretched black bread with no spread, just eat it dry with some weird tea.

Dome Rep was spoilt by my illness, acute gastro-youknowhat, diagnosed by the doctor by punching me in the kidneys from behind with no warning, changing my nationality to english so his computer would accept me and selling me some expensive medicine banned in Europe.

I did, of course, get the last laugh, as the recptionist needed my insurance number (which I didnt have) so I made it up on spec before she checked.

Our bathrrom was one of those open air affairs with bare wires and geckos, the tv,which I had to watch as i was bedridden for 11 days had only one channel, and even that was grainy. All it showed was James Bond films, over and over again, so when it was time to go home I knew all there was to know about SPECTRE and SMERSH and whatever.

Maggie Valley NC. Arrived at camping cabin after dark and were shocked out of our slumber the next morning at dawn by the whistle at a saw mill just across the creek from us. Then the second night, something tore into our dining canopy and ate all of our food. Our last night there, a group of Hell's Angels on their motorcycles roared into the place about dark and proceded to come onto our back deck(which overlooked the creek that overlooked the saw mill!!) and tried to get into the cabin. We got up and left at MN. Stopped and got an effeciency apt. for the night. My parents slept on the bed and my 3yo son and I slept on sleeping bags on the floor and got eaten alive by fleas!!!

2nd worst vacation. "Beautiful A Frame Chalet on the banks of Sylamore Creek" This caught our eye. We made reservations and headed to Mt. View Ark. Just me, my mom and 2yo son. Met owner at court square and were introduced to his very long haired grandson who was visiting from Calif (Charles Manson???) Followed these guys for miles down a gravel road, which continued to get more and more narrow. Finally I came around a curve to fine the man's car just coming out on the other side of Sylamore Creek. 7mo pregnant me, my mom, my little son and I going off into this big creek in by 1980 Corolla (how was I to know there was a low water bridge?). Finally got across and came to an overgrown pig trail, which I follow and found the man's car on the side of the trail and he and Charles Manson are unloading milk jugs full of water. Strange. Followed them to the chalet and found out there was no running water (now I know what that little A Frame shed out back was!! A toilet and me 7 mo pregnant. The chalet was really cute and tiny with the furniture made by the owner. Owner told us before he left if it started to rain hard to get out, because when the creek got high, you could not get across the low water bridge. There were steps down to the creek. I still laugh at the pictures of me lying on my back with my belly up in the air and my little son washing my hair in the creek (he is almost 21 now). It was scary at night and my mom was glad she brought her pistol. Mom took my dad back a little while later and he could not believe we stayed back in there alone. It was too far back for him!! My mom and I had many laughs over this trip. In fact, when she was terminally ill, an article came out in the Commercial Appeal (Memphis) about this cottage and how people had really gotten suckered in by the wonderful sounding ad. I have gone back to the creek many times since this adventure. Unfortunately, a few years ago a super cell tornado came up Sylamore Creek, and apparently destroyed the chalets and the low water bridge. There is now a new bridge, but can't find the little A Frame. I love Mt. View Ark. A real jewel.

I guess the worst place I ever elected to visit was Edinburgh, Scotland. I didn't have a lot of money, so price guided my hotel selection. I picked one just north of Princess High Street not far from the Sir Walter Scott Memorial. The desk clerk assigned me a room that had construction going on beside it, seemingly from 5 AM until 8 PM. The next day I tried to do a little sightseeing, but the weather was awful. I had been told to visit the building where the Scottish Parliament sits. After some wandering, and some curtly delivered directions from locals, I found it and tried to have a look inside. Although no signs were posted contra-indicting entrance, some surly fellow told me "You're not allowed in there." and brusquely ordered me to get out. Later, I went to a concert at Usher Hall featuring the acclaimed pianist Claudio Arrau. Trying to make conversation at intermission I remarked to the fellow in the seat next to mine that Arrau had played well. He just ignored me. Later trying to enjoy a pint in a pub, I was asked by a local where I was from. For the first time in my life outside of Germany I was made aware that being an American was a crime. He blasted Americans in general, and me in particular, for being ignorant, decadent clods who had no comprehension of art, music, and culture. (I was so taken aback that I could not even think to show him my concert ticket stub.) After a few more similar incidences like that I decided that I was in the wrong place, and that what I had heard about friendly Edinburghers was so much publicity to lure tourists.
I haven't been back to Scotland since and it will take a lot to entice me to return.

Interesting comments on Mackinac Island. Writer complained about having to open windows for fresh air (no airconditioning). I consider fresh air a definite plus, even when that air has the teensiest aroma of the many horses on the island. The island employs many college kids as "pooper scoopers". Yes the rooms were smallish, definitely not cookie-cutter hotels with airconditioning and unopenable windows. They were Victorian built and decorated - the entire atmosphere of Mackinac Island is Victorian. I don't know where the writer ate poor food, but it certainly wasn't at the Grand Hotel, or the Island House. Different strokes, of course, but I found Mackinac Island a wonderful place to visit.

Here is another negative for Mackinac Island. A number of years ago, we sprang for a stay at The Grand Hotel, grand it was not. The public rooms were nothing short of spectacular, but our room was a shambles that looked out through a tiny window over the roof of the laundry in back. There was a tiny wall sink in the room, because it wouldn't fit in the tiny bathroom that housed a toilet and a stall shower. This was not an inexpensive room. When we booked, months ahead, we were told it was the "best room" available. The meals were steam table food served with a big flourish by waiters balancing the food over their heads. I guess the drama was to make up for the overcooked, underseasoned, mediocre food. We tried to book dinner one night in their ala carte upscale restaurant even though they would not credit our included meal in the main dining room. Unfortunately it was totally booked with one of the many tour groups that inhabit the place. The hotel was a constant parade of gawking tourists. I understand that now they charge non guests a fee to tour the hotel in an effort to cut down the constant parade. I also agree about the smell of horse droppings all over town. In the heat of August it was pretty ripe. And the only thing the town had to offer was a lot of tee shirt shops, tacky souvenir shops, and about 500 fudge factories. I will admit our day of bike riding following the entire shoreline was pretty wonderful, but as for the entire experience -- forget it!!!!!

I don't have a vacation destination per se that I felt was awful, but there are three accommodation facilities in National Parks that seemed poor to me. One place was the hotel on the south side of Mount Ranier. As I recall it is/was called Paradise Lodge. The room was very small and uncomfortable. Ranier, of course, is an amazing spectacle that should not be missed. The other was a room at Grant Village in Yellowstone. But my comments matter little because the annual visitation rate at Yellowstone is so great that most anything will sell.
In other posts, I have described some incredible experiences at Yellowstone.
So this is just one sleeping facility I feel is substandard. In both cases we were only there one night.
Mount Le Conte Lodge in the Smokies was the scene of another unpleasent visit.
The beds are not very good and the food is canned. That night some "toughs" in another cabin picked on guitars and "sang" virtually all night. (Caterwauling and wailing would be more appropriate terms.)
They had the management intimidated and continued their act unabated. I understood later that they had pulled that stunt once before and this time they came in under assumed names. Given that Le Conte Lodge is well up a steep trail (unless one walks in 8 miles from New Found Gap) it was most inconvenient to get up and leave in the middle of the night. The singers would pick a night when the "pistol packing" National Park Ranger was not in residence. I don't know if this selection was by luck or by design.
Even so, getting a reservation at Le Conte continues to be difficult because it is so popular.

In defense of Mackinac Island:
I think the gripe you have is with the Grand Hotel and not Mackinac Island as a vacation destination. They do cater to large convention groups and manage to keep their rooms filled. They used to be rated a 5 diamond property by AAA, but they lost that distinction years ago. Try one of the lovely B&B Inns on the island, or another resort that has amenities similar to the Grand Hotel. Mission Point Resort is in a quiet area east of the docks.

We have stayed at the Metivier Inn, which is located just behind the main street very close to the docks. We arrived early and were able to place our bags in a locked shed and go about our explorations until our room was ready. The porch is a great place to relax. The lobby had menus from every restaurant on the island to peruse. (I highly recommend Woods.) Our room had a 4-poster queen bed and was very well decorated. The sink was inside the bedroom area. I'm a fan of that arrangement, though. The bathroom wasn't unnecessarily cramped. Breakfast was a delight, and we ate out on the wide front porch watching the traffic.

I know If I'd paid Grand Hotel prices only to see what my money had bought me I'd be sour to the whole Mackinac Island experience, too. Don't give up on it yet, though!

I stayed at the Manele Bay Lanai last july (99) and it was excellent, I couldn't fault a single thing.
Worst Ever....
Zante in Greece, a complete dump.

Never traveled abroad. Worst for us has been Wisconsin Dells area or Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge TN. Yuck.

Worse place was the island of Antigua. Got stuck there during hurricaine Georges. People just begged and begged for money the whole time you were on the beach. Tour guide from Apple Tour was rude and nasty.

Without doubt - Gran Canarias (Canary Islands)
Woke up at 3 in the morning to find a thief rifling my wallet in the non-airconditioned condo. Next morning beaches packed solidly with pink plump northern Europeans. British family next to us - kids complaining that they were bored. Night life - encountering the pizza and beer brigade, taking all to excess. Gross meaty views walking past the nudist section taking a short cut. More plump pink beer drinkers. Puke on the sidewalk outside the condo complex the next morning. Low cost really does mean cheap!!!

Anna has probably had a bad experience in Bali, I've been there about a dozen times (it is very popular with us Aussies, since its so close) and have not had the kind of problems that she mentioned.
For those interested, the Sheraton Laguna Nusa Dua's Lagoon entry rooms are superb. Step off your balcony right into the pool. Not cheap, but superb.

I have several "worst place" stories, but I'll give you my top two. These weren't really vacations because I was working on a cruise ship, however these are places/times I will never forget!

1. Martinique - (Only for the day, thank God). My friends and I (group of about 10 people) were walking through a rather large park and decided to take a group picture by one of the "historical" markers. We climbed up onto the remnants of a fort and our dear friend stood with all of our cameras taking shot after shot. As we were getting our pic. taken, two men on a scooter drove past our pic. taking friend and dropped something. Not thinking anything of it, or even looking down, my friend went to retrieve the item and found himself holding a knife. The pair drove back and my pic. taker tried to hand the knife back (DUH!!!!!!!) when one of the men jumped off and grabbed a camera, cell phone and Mr. Pic. Takers wallet. A wallet containing $1000 cash, his pay for the week. He tried to run after them along with the other guys in our group, but stopped after the knife was flung about by the Scotter Theives! Scary. We went right back to the ship and huddled in our rooms and watched a Disney movie to cheer ourselves up!
2. On a cruise returning from Bermuda to Baltimore we experienced the roughest seas I have ever seen! 25 foot waves that tossed our ship around like a rubber duck! EVERYTHING on the ship was sliding around, including chairs, and even the grand piano in the lounge that flipped over! (That helps describe how rough it was!) People were a really scared and Hitler, oops, I mean the Captain, had to come on the loudspeaker three times with updates on our condition. (Of course he said it was nothing to worry about. Yeah right. Just a "little bit of ze rough seaz." The motion caused a large coffee pot in the galley to spill causing an electrical fire. We had to evacuate two floors of passengers from their rooms and led them to the showplace. Half of the people were crying and freaking out, the other half had been drinking profusely and I was FREAKED out because I knew it was too rough outside to put the lifeboats down! The fire was small and put out almost immediately and we let the people go back to their rooms. The whole ride to Baltimore was HELL and I was up the whole night just waiting for the ship to flip over! (I had been on this ship for 6 months, so I'm not one to worry, but on this night I sure did!) When we finally got to Baltimore the passengers were EVIL! It was the first time the ship had been in the U.S. for 6 months so there were a lot of customs procedures to go through, therefore the passnegers couldn't get off immediately. I had the oh-so-pleasurable job of saying farewell to our pleasant guests and was nearly trampled over as they tried to exit. It was a mob scene and I couldn't believe the number of grown men and women who screamed in my face because they couldn't get off the ship! Like I could help them? Am I the Queen of Customs? I think not! The passengers acted as if the crew and staff had caused the rough seas! I swear all the passengers had grown horns over night! Needless to say, that cruise line is now out of commission. Hmmmm, I wonder why . . .

Oh, thought of one more! Hope you don't mind!

3. I worked for Regal Cruises for a short period of time and we were supposed to do a Panama Canal cruise. Well, the higher-ups didn't do their planning very well and realized that there was no way we could make it to the Panama Canal in the time frame we had. UH-OH! Our poor cruise director held a meeting and told all of our passengers that we weren't able to go to Panama (which was why most of them had come on the cruise) and that the itinerary would change. The people went NUTS! I mean, CRAZY and INSANE! The entertainers were sent to the lounge to "help answer questions" which were told to not really answer, so we were the ones that got screamed at once again. The passengers started chanting "We Want Panama" but it was quite out of sync and pretty ineffective. The staff understood why they were angry, but what could we do about it? Was little dancer me supposed to go up to the bridge and turn the ship around? Yikes! I've never seen people so furious - and furious at the wrong people. There was a petition started by some crazy woman who was trying to hold meetings and such. Compelte chaos! But I must say, it is a bit hilarious to listen to passengers talk about the reason we weren't going to Panama! It was really only a time issue, but I heard stories like -
"The captain isn't onboard, so we can't go there!" or "None of the engines are working." Ha!!! I couldn't help but chuckle!
Footnote- They weren't very happy at the start of the cruise either. Our ship was a whole day late to the pick-up point in New Orleans. We had a bit of a problem because we ran aground in Key West. OOPS!!!! That cruise was doomed from the start!

I hadn't thought of this in a long time, but when we were growing up my parents loaded us 5 kids in the car with tents and sleeping bags and took off for the weekend. The drive was so long and we were so nowhere. Dad kept saying we were going to the Colorado River, we lived on the southern CA coast at the time. I believe we went through Needles (blazing hot) and Blyth to this awful campground FULL of silver streamer trailers. As we were accustomed to spending our vacations on the west shore of Lake Tahoe we couldn't understand why we would drive forever to set up a tent in a trailer park sans trees. There was so nothing to do here. Well luckily that night there was the hoedown at the "lodge" where the king and queen Hobos were crowned and then set off on a parade through the campground. My brother and sisters still howl about this one. By the way we were near the river but it was not usable as it this particulr location it was deadly swift!