What did you think would be more glamorous or impressive than it was?

[SugarMouseTown]

As a kid I thought that being an actor would be fun and exciting and I'm sure it has its moments but watching the behind the scenes videos much of it looks miserable and dull. Especially action movies where they're required to get drenched with every substance known to man and have explosions and fire going off around them.

What didn't live up to expectations for you?

Dubai. It's basically Bluewater on sand

Dublin, far less beautiful than I was expecting.
New York. The skyscrapers were impressive, but DC Washington was 100% times better to visit.
Hampstead Heath. I had read in columns about this amazing heath in London. In reality it is nothing special.

I loved Dubrovnik. But I knew there wasn't much to actually do there.

Spa days - too much hanging about in dressing gowns trying to look like you're enjoying yourself

The French Riviera. I was rather bored for most of the holiday we spent there. The only really memorable part was watching one night of the fireworks competition from a boat in Cannes harbour.
I will admit that my feelings about the place are probably coloured by the fact that i was eaten alive by some kind of insect that made Scottish midges look like amateurs. Probably suits multimillionaires better than ordinary people too.

Sex - tedious waste of time.
Spa days - tedious waste of time.

Shard
Paris
Rome
London Eye
London Zoo
Sex in said places
Centre Parcs
VIP @ Silverstone
Jules Holland's Hootenanny
Being on live primetime TV
Getting a first at one of the elites

All highly disappointing to me.

I must be easily pleased as well as love most of the cities everyone else seems to hate.

But worst most recently (last 10 years) was Harrods. Went with kids, not for me. Horrible, tacky, vulgar.

Caviar. Very very special caviar from Denmark apparently. Still disgusting.

Truffles. Huh? Tasteless, slightly smelly mushrooms.
Honey soy chicken chips (crisps). Urgh. Give me a bag of Kettles Original Sea Salt and I'm a happy chappy.
Grown-up parties: Too little dancing, too much booze.

Quite a few PPs have listed Australian sites as disappointing. For those of you considering a holiday here when borders re-open, here's a quick reality check:

Bondi Beach: The beach is lovely, as is the coastal walk to Bronte and Coogee. Bondi itself is filthy, full of fast-food joints, druggies and drunks.
Great Barrier Reef: Climate change and coral bleaching have spoiled a great chunk of it.

Instead, try:
Uluru: Walk the full 10km around the base of the rock and embrace the detail. It really is sublime.
Cairns hinterland: Beautiful rainforest walks to take your mind off the slow death of the Barrier Reef!
Hiking in Tasmania.
Walking and cycling in Melbourne with stops for food and art on the way.

Is that all there is, eh, AlphaBravo? Is that all there is? I was fortunate enough to have been a cynical child so when I left home as a teenager and worked in 5* hotels in London and Brighton I had no expectations of glamour, just accommodation with the jobs. What I did get was my first experience of rat poisin laid down in service areas, cockroachs in the rooms and sometimes beds, inadequate cleaning supplies and unhygienic cleaning practices, sexual harrassment from male staff.

As a cynical teen I would not even cross to the other side of the hotel to see the queen going past in her golden coach for her silver jubilee. and I never shared some of my workmates enthusiasm for visiting Harrods to pay over the odds for everyday items and support the al-Fayeds. Maybe working in hotels and restaurants is a bit like behind the scenes in theatres and tv studios, inadequate equipment, dusty corridors and bad - tempered workers pasting on a smile for the paying public. Not to mention weird goings on in cupboards. I would never pay to stay there or eat there even if I had the money.

Absolutely agree with August in England. We stayed in England this year and this confirmed as correct our usual decision to bugger off to Southern Europe. Day after day of grey mizz and drizzle.

@Champagneforeveryone

blowdryrat I literally came on this thread to mention the EuroTunnel.

While I didn't exactly expect it to be like a SeaLife tunnel, I was distinctly underwhelmed by every aspect of it. The only upside is it used to be convenient for taking the dogs abroad.

But what were you expecting it to be, then? I mean, it's never marketed itself as anything other than a tunnel for getting to the continent by train, any more than the Blackwall tunnel markets itself as a tunnel for going under the Thames by road.

New York

The Ritz.

Went there for afternoon tea and it was posh but not insanely so. Quite cramped, dry cake, a million fancy tea options that all taste of flowers...

Spa treatments, I just get bored and feel resentful for shelling out a load of money for something I could do myself at home (apart from massages, which I only like if they are proper sports massage type).

Afternoon tea most places- dry scones and soggy sandwiches for way too much money. The Edgbaston Hotel in Birmingham is a notable exception- that was fantastic, delicious and a real event.

Anglesey and North Wales. Unfriendly and grim. We cut short our trip.

Likewise, Oxford - the colleges bit is lovely but the town centre is manky. Ran for it on day 2 of a 3 day minibreak as there wasn't much to do after punting and the botanic gardens.

The Eurostar. It's just a train going through a really long tunnel, which is dark like every other tunnel and not the slightest bit like the tunnel at the Sea Life Centre.
Who said it was meant to be like the tunnel at the Sea Life Centre?
It's a convenient and non-flying way to get to continental Europe. Why would anyone expect it to be anything else?

Goodness, I thought everyone knew that Eurostar is a train that goes through a tunnel? Not glamorous or exciting, but practical and quick.
I'm a bit bemused by some people's expectations, really!

@IntermittentParps

The Eurostar. It's just a train going through a really long tunnel, which is dark like every other tunnel and not the slightest bit like the tunnel at the Sea Life Centre. Who said it was meant to be like the tunnel at the Sea Life Centre? It's a convenient and non-flying way to get to continental Europe. Why would anyone expect it to be anything else?

I didn't exactly expect it to be like the SLC but I was a bit disappointed at how ordinary it was. The adverts at the time had glamorous people in businesswear sipping glasses of wine as they sped through fields of grapes in comfortable seats. A bunch of VIth formers sitting in standard class going through a dark tunnel wasn't quite as exotic as I'd imagined.

True, @BlowDryRat - it's a very ordinary train ride, but it was marketed well. The idea of getting on a train in London and emerging in Paris was very exciting at the time.

I seem to be in the minority as I was (an am) impressed by Rome, the Colosseum and the Sistine Chapel.

Actually I reckon it still is! We did October half term 2019 in Paris and loved that we got off train somewhere exciting and Airbnb a 10 min cab ride away. Super easy. Also love Paris really not getting why anyone slags it off it’s great! We stayed literally in Montmatre like being on a film set. Sadly off limits now as teens can’t get their pass to go in anywhere

Also, it's a tunnel under the sea. I was a kid when it opened and there was such a song and dance about it. It felt like such an impressive feat of modern engineering should result in something a bit more exciting than a concrete tunnel that looks like everything other ordinary concrete tunnel IYSWIM. As a child, a tunnel under the sea = the Sea Life Centre. So not completely outrageous (if completely unrealistic).

I would like Paris were it not for our experiences of racism.