What was your worst ever prize?

Have you ever won a prize that was a huge disappointment or a total disaster? Maybe something arrived smashed, as recently happened to confessionsofacompaholic or you received tickets for an event that had already happened? Perhaps the prize was worthless or even cost YOU money? Why not add your worst ever prize as  a comment to this post? Next week, you will have a chance to share your BEST ever prize.

As you probably know by now, I love winning holidays and have won over 30 in my 26 years of comping. Sometimes the hotel isn't quite what we would have chosen ourselves, but the treat of having a free holiday means we can always find something to enjoy about it. Well, almost always. A few years ago I won  a trip to Malta where nothing seemed to go right, the hotel included.

The prize was a long weekend in Malta for 4 adults, with half board included. We took one of my daughters  and her boyfriend (now husband, despite that weekend!) and decided that we would hire a car so we could see something of the island. A wise decision because it was only a week before the trip that we were told  airport transfers in Malta were NOT included and we'd have had to spend an hour on a bus to get to the resort.

Anyway, we arrived safely and went to settle in to the hotel. Our rooms  were  at opposite ends of the hotel but both rooms had enchanting views of derelict building sites. There was a hospitality tray in the room, which had ONE teabag, ONE sachet each of instant coffee and sugar and ONE little pot of UHT milk with a stern notice above it saying this was intended to last us the whole of our stay but further supplies could be purchased (at a ridiculous price) from reception.

We had arranged to meet up with the others by the rooftop pool but when we got there, they were looking at it in horror. It was surrounded with scaffolding. Children were playing in the pool, with their parents dozing beside on  sunloungers, but there were gaps in the scaffolding right by the pool and a child could have easily fallen through it to the ground, seven storeys below.

It was neither attractive nor relaxing so we decided to visit the indoor pool. But as we opened the door, a large muscle-bound attendant barred our way. "Pool closed. 4pm" he grunted. "But it's only 2pm, there are two hours yet," we protested. "To late. You no time to swim between now  and 4pm." he insisted, pushing us out and locking the door.

So we  had a wander around the town instead of our longed-for swim. While we were out, we spotted several nice looking restaurants and thought what a pity it was that we were on half board, so with a good breakfast in the  morning we wouldn't need a big lunch, and in the evening we would be having dinner in the hotel.

However when we went down to dinner that evening, the smell of school dinners hit us! The menu outside the dining room showed that there was no choice of menu - dinner was cottage pie and boiled cabbage. It smelled disgusting, so we headed off into town and had a lovely dinner at one of the places we had spotted earlier. Then back to the hotel, where we were kept awake with music from the rooftop disco until 4am.

Next morning at breakfast time, things were no better. Despite there being a stall across the road selling masses of oranges for next to nothing, the orange juice dispensers in the dining room contained very dilute orange squash. The tables were stained and dirty, and the sugar in the bowls on each table was set into a solid mass. The meagre cooked breakfast was livened up by a bowl of tinned fruit salad and some stale white sliced bread. Not really a gourmet experience - but never mind, we were  going out to explore the island in our hire car!

Or were we? When we  got to the car, it had TWO flat tyres. And of course there was only one spare tyre. We called the car hire company - but it was closed on Sundays. So the men had to set to and tackle the puncture themselves, searching for a garage that was open and could help. Meanwhile, Emma and I sat and waited in the hotel lobby and found  an entertaining way to pass the time - counting the cockroaches that scurried across the floor every few minutes.

Eventually the car was fixed and we had our outing, which went very well apart from when we were bowling along a well made up road and it suddenly stopped. The satnav wanted us to carry on, but ahead of us there was nothing but a rough field. Not wanting to risk losing any more tyres, we had to retrace our path for about 10 miles.

When we got back to the hotel, a wedding was taking place. It was taking place in the lift lobby. We decided to wait politely rather than walking through the middle of the ceremony, but a maid with a trolley of towels pushed past us and  headed to the lifts, right through the wedding party. The bride and groom, under their archway of dusty plastic flowers, looked aghast.

Later that evening we saw the wedding party in the bar. There was a line of chairs up each wall, facing on to a narrow  strip of frayed, greasy carpet. There was a smell of stale beer and  cigarettes. There was no music, no dancing, everyone looked glum. I often wonder if that couple are still  married,  or if such a miserable experience on what should have been the happiest day of their lives spoiled everything for them.

Next morning we decided to go for a swim before heading out for another day out. Now there was a notice on the door of the indoor pool. "Pool closed until October". It was June.

Despite all the setbacks, we had a lovely break and saw some beautiful places. And by avoiding eating in the hotel, we had some delicious meals.  But something inside me has held me back from ever again entering a competition with a trip to Malta as a prize.