Have you ever been anywhere on holiday that was like the emperors new clothes?

[Cheeseandlobster]

I did. Last year I went to a very small hotel in Greece. 16 rooms only with pages and pages of great reviews.

When I arrived all the tables were pushed together and everyone was sat together pissed as farts getting louder and louder. One woman was drunker and swearier than the rest and it turned out she was the owner.

It was expected that you socialise and drink at the hotel even though the entire pool had no sun from 1pm and the surrounding area was beautiful. The owner would bark at you if you asked for food from the menu and would openly slate other guests for making reasonable requests. And the interrogation you got if you went out of the hotel was crazy.

Luckily I met another lovely solo traveller who felt the same as me so we paired up and left the hotel at the same time each day to share the interrogation. I will never stay at another small hotel again because of this.

Anyone else?

Wild horses couldn't drag me to Center Parcs - whoever said it looks like a cross between Butlins and a leisure centre - agreed.

Emperor's new clothes for me would be Sydney. In my 20s I had lots of Aussie friends in London and they would wax lyrical about how wonderful Sydney is, so when they went home I went to visit and I thought it was soulless, ugly, sprawling and very, very overrated. Yes, it's a city with beaches, but so is Barcelona. Yes, it's very sunny there, but so are umpteen other places that are much closer to home and when it comes to cities it's more about the shops, the restaurants, the bars, the entertainment, the culture and the vibe - and Sydney was just underwhelming on all fronts apart from it's natural beauty.

I've spent a lot of time in NYC over the years too and while I can see its plus points, again London beats it hands down on any metric you could provide apart from 'number of very tall buildings' and 'crazy extremes of weather'.

@Nap1983 😂
I’m half Irish but they would t know as I wouldn’t go about telling Irish people but I’ve always found the Irish to be very friendly despite the despicable treatment by the English.

Full of dog mess. Everywhere. Horrid

No place I hated per se but did not feel completely safe in Morocco.

Enjoyed Petra and Venice - perhaps it depends on the time of year you go?

Barcelona was hellish. Arrid, dusty and pickpockets everywhere. Well at least that was out experience of it four years ago.

Dubai was foul, tasteless waste of money, no place for a feminist!

Devon and Cornwall were spoiled by the swathes of tourists (ironic, I know as I was part of the problem).

Nap1983 I couldn’t personally imagine hating someone I didn’t know because of where they were born.

I found Parisians very friendly and helpful, even with my KS3 level French and atrocious accent.

DP says the least impressive holiday destination he's ever experienced was a cruise ship trundling around the Caribbean; the ship was full of 'over excited Americans' who just wanted to get pissed and have a go at the ship staff - then when they landed on a private island, they were even worse because the staff weren't white . By the second day, he was staying in the cabin as much as possible just to avoid the other people.

I’m confused… you found all of Scotland rude?

@Puzzledandpissedoff I live in Scotland! Im
not from here originally but absolutely love it. I’ve never had issues with rudeness here. Or in Paris as it happens 🙂

New York. Honestly, it's so over hyped. It's just another dirty, North American city. It had no feeling. European cities have so much history and beautiful architecture and much more interesting to see. New York was such a let down

I haven’t found any nation rude. Some are more accommodating when you can’t speak their language and others less so and I think that’s absolutely fine. Whenever I’ve been to Paris I have made the effort to use their language and it has been appreciated even if I have to give up because I don’t know enough. There are rude people everywhere, plenty are British.

Paris.
Rome.
Australia esp Perth.

{mention: pixie5121} I take it from your user name that you're from, or have lived in, that far superior city!
So much more civilised, attractive, safer and all-round cooler than Barcelona, IME. And with much, much better food. (That matters a lot ...😊)
But the Barcelona metro was not pleasant, neither was walking through the streets of the old quarter, in the early evening. (Even with DH and 17-yr old DS. )
Once as I walked across Plaza de Cataluña taking in the sights, DH who was a bit further back clocked three blokes making a beeline for me from different directions and whistling to each other. I wish I could tell you it was because of my utter loveliness but DH was pretty sure I was about to be mugged. He called out and they scattered as he reached me.

OMG i loved Venice...although we did spend a bit and get a nice hotel. I loved pottering round, food was amazing. We hired a bike and cycled round Lido De Venezia , had a bellini in harrys bar and bumped into gilbert and george in the hotel lobby!

I wasnt a fan of cornwall at all, perhaps as a scot I have been spoiled but i was dissappointed.

Dublin was not good either, temple bar was fun but you step out and it was grey and not very nice. Also went to the worst wedding of my life there.

Although the worst ever was hiring a tin can somewhere by the sea near palafrugell in catalonia within some type of parc. We had never done it before, it was truly horrendous, leery older blokes standing watching the U16 beauty contest with their wives sat with screw faces, queues for the food which was nasty. We had one night and spent the rest of it out of the parc and left a day early.

I was surprised at Pisa, I wasnt impressed with the surrounding area around the tower.

It’s really funny reading this thread as I disagree with almost every post. I have travelled extensively and have loved so many of the places listed.

The only ones I agree with are Cyprus, Athens, Bangkok and Venice. Didn’t enjoy Florence because it was heaving but I can appreciate what a treasure trove it is. I get the anti -Sam Francisco sentiment to a point but lots to enjoy too.

Disclaimer- have never been to Florida or Centreparks 😂

❤️ Paris - fully expected locals to be rude but found them to be great. Even had a woman on the metro come up and massage my neck when she noticed me rubbing it. Found them to be very patient with my French. And of course so many incredible places to visit.

❤️ Barcelona - we have good friends there which probably cushioned it a lot for us, wonderful times there.

❤️ NYC - fantastic every time

❤️ LA - again, we have family and friends locally which helps immeasurably. Lots of good times.

❤️ Bali - Kuta and Legian have long been the Tenerife for Australians but beyond that it is magical.

❤️ Fiji/Pacific Islands- so beautiful, such kind people

❤️ Melbourne, Sydney, New Zealand, Rome, Vancouver, Montreal, Eilat (and all of Israel)

Morocco. I was harassed every moment I was there, and I got sunstroke!
New York. Dirty, noisy and I felt quite unsafe.
Las Vegas. The noise!
LA. Just...no.
Paris. The people I worked with were mostly ok, but everyone else..?

And every B&B that calls itself 'unique' and is based at a farm. I go for a rest, not to pander to the owner's whims and eccentricities!

Yes, I do prefer Seville! However, the issues you describe in Barcelona only really apply to tourists. I never had anything like that happen as someone living there who looked local. Overall I felt a lot better there than I do in London, to be honest. I wish the police would sort out the pickpocketing and mugging, though...it really ruins the city for visitors.

Center Parcs in the Lake District. This was circa 2004 and we paid £800 for a week's accommodation which basically only included entry to the pool area. All the activities were so much more expensive than they would have been at home. The restaurant served tiny portions for huge prices and the supermarket was extortionate. The accommodation was nothing special - we've stayed in much nicer holiday cottages for a lot less.

Just don't get its appeal or why it's still going.

I wouldn’t be surprised to be hassled in Morocco. I’d expect NYC to be busy and noisy and for parts to be unsafe as in London. I’d expect Las Vegas to be like brash and full of gamblers and Dubai to be misogynistic and corrupt.
I am surprised at the surprise.

Vienna

This thread just proves beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

LOL. Yes to all of that about Legoland. So old, tired and shit. Every time I feel down, I like to read the Trip Advisor review with the Wasps 🤣🤣

Yeah same. I don't think I've ever actually been surprised, other than how utterly rude the Canadian border guards were. Everywhere I've been has been more or less as I expected.

About Florida, though - can people please, please say Orlando and the parks if that's what they mean, rather than labelling the whole state by the place? Of course some might stay elsewhere and hate that too, but there really is a LOT more to the state than just the Plastic Pal and the corporate manipulation that goes with it

@Puzzledandpissedoff Speaking as a resident of the state for many years, thanks for this. We are so much more than Disney.