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?

Yes my French isn't great but the last time I was in Paris it was fine. Mind you, that predated Brexit by a long long way!

Anywhere that has disappointed me has been anywhere that has masses of tourists (and yes, I know I am one!) which means it's been difficult to enjoy it. I don't mind being "bored" in places as people say, it's about soaking up an atmosphere. Berlin, for example, has so much more to do than Zadar, but both are places I'd happily spend a long weekend for very different reasons.

So for that reason it's been anywhere I've gone at the most touristy time of year, largely going at that time for reasons I couldn't control myself.

1. Dubrovnik, for a friend's wedding in 2019. They're a teacher so we had to go at the start of the summer holidays. Teeming with cruise ship visitors and horrendously expensive.

1. Someone has said Keswick, but why has nobody mentioned Bowness? I went for the day to meet a friend who was staying there last summer holiday and it was crazily busy. We queued for an hour at Chester's. And it's not even the nicest part of the Lake District.

1. Koh Samui. I hated it even as a 19 year old.

it's always hilarious when privileged visitors are unpleasant to desperate ones in their own country

Oh come on, men being nasty to female tourists because they must all be slags isn't exactly pleasant. If they hassle women and don't take a polite no for an answer they deserve to be told to f off. Don't virtue signal, it isn't a good look.

The french in Paris are difficult , I know , we had an office there. For example I went to restaurant, was clearly alone so said "une personne", he looked at strangely, sat me down and brought me a beer, ( un pression). Or I was with three french colleagues, (who spoke english better than most english) , anyhow I asked for a table four people "quatre personnes", the waiter had no idea what I meant, so they had to intervene. They agreed he was just being arsey, as I pronounced it as Katra as recommended, they said they knew what I was saying, but to be perfect I it was Kaatra with a little more emphasis on the first syllable. So yes the people can be real arses.

I’m not sure why so much Barcelona hate either. We had a great time. We went in January and it was relatively quiet, weather perfect for sightseeing, great food, cool bars. Beautiful sights and we went to a classical guitar concert in an old church one night that was gorgeous.

i guess it’s good we don’t all like the same things but there’s nutters on this thread that didn’t like the whole of NZ?! No accounting for taste

You absolutely can learn a lot about the culture in two weeks if you make the effort to talk to people. I've had two-week trips that were absolutely life changing and resulted in me making major life decisions because of something I learned.

And surely you can say 'I could do this at home' about almost anything that isn't a unique natural wonder of the world, so why go on city breaks at all?

Same here. It's not about going to see a particular thing, it's about the small things. Yes, the Empire State Building is cool, but I don't travel to NYC to see it...I could just look at it on a photo or a Youtube video. What photos and videos can't really capture is the atmosphere and vibe of a place, the etiquette, how people behave, how they talk, the smells, the sounds. One of my favourite things to do is sit down alone at a pavement cafe and just people watch for an hour or two, eavesdropping on people's conversations. It baffles me how little others seem to care about the actual place/people/culture but now I think I'm starting to understand why people are so frequently disappointed by their holidays.

Calcot Manor - family friendly. Unfortunately the family above us were using the furniture as a climbing frame non stop and the banging and jumping was awful - and the hotel simply said "oh she's an excitable little girl". Food was very average.

Cornwall - family friendly hotel on a cliff top from the beach so no access with a baby, everyone in the hotel got food poisoning, took 8 hours to get there

I learned my lesson - never went anywhere billed as entirely "family friendly" again - it's just an excuse for poor service because you've got kids. And go outside the UK!

I was robbed in Barcelona.

We had been pre-warned (repeatedly) about the crime problem so were aware and tried to be vigilant, but the gangs are skilled and relentless so I was caught in a small moment of inattention on the Metro.

However, that day aside, we had a decent holiday there, probably helped by being with a wonderful group of friends. The weather was great, we did a lot of sightseeing and ate at some great restaurants. Wouldn't return though.

Also have never been to Center Parks - it sounds bloody awful and dreadful value for money and the posts here seem to confirm that.

How is that advising anyone to do anything? You need to work on your reading comprehension.

Agreed — I have found people be really helpful and offer to continue conversations with me in French so I can practice it. This is particularly true of service industry people, like taxi drivers, restaurant server and hotel staff (especially immigrants).

I haven’t been to Paris in about 5 years now but used to go for work and leisure fairly frequently between 2013-2017.

I will say that my American colleagues and friends bigged Paris up in a way that it just could not live up to (oh it’s magical, oh the pastries are the best, it’s so romantic etc etc) but it’s definitely a culturally rich big city with great restaurants of all kinds, amazing art galleries and museums, wonderful parks and excellent shopping (and, yes, I think the same is true of London and New York too). I mean, honestly, what more do you want out of a city?

i guess it’s good we don’t all like the same things but there’s nutters on this thread that didn’t like the whole of NZ?! No accounting for taste

I'm not a nutter. Having lived there and visited many times for various reasons, I can quite honestly say I don't like the whole country.

I'm not a nutter. Having lived there and visited many times for various reasons, I can quite honestly say I don't like the whole country.

So, you have spent time in every single place in NZ? What a load of rubbish!

This is stupid. If someone has lived somewhere for a significant amount of time and travelled around it, I think it's absolutely fine for them to say they don't like the country. It's not the same as going to Benidorm and saying you don't like Spain.

I love Paris (sister lived there for three years).

Parisians are very reserved and keen to present a particular front, but not unfriendly IME.

The last time we were there we were on a bus with our DCs, discussing the best route to do all we wanted to that day, and a very elegant lady in her 60s just started chatting to us and explaining the best way to do things. She was very haute but very charming!

Taormina in Sicily.....although to be fair hit a really bad patch of weather, torrential rain. Miserable hotel with awful breakfasts and carpets in communal areas soaked after the rain. Only one decent restaurant and shopping street full of expensive shops with crowds just wandering aimlessly up and down.

Yes, we were robbed in Barcelona too, i went in my late teens and tbh we were easy targets especially after a few drinks. Most people in our group were pick pocketed or had watches taken from their wrists.

Where did you stay?!

we stayed in Imerovigli away from the crowds of Oia and it was secluded, quiet and marvellous.

I adore Santorini. It’s got the most beautiful views of anywhere in the world. Sunsets are magical, food fantastic, beautiful sights. We hired a car and drove all over the island. Yes the crowds when a cruise lets out are mad but avoid those times?!

@Chubarubrub I am sorry that you had a rough time living in France and I assure you that it never crossed my mind you or others were being rude. I was making no such accusation.

But I feel a bit lucky to have learnt early on that as a more formal and egalitarian culture the French place a strong emphasis on greeting the shopkeeper, the hotel receptionist, the waitstaff, etc, on thanking them for any little kindness and on saying good bye. Each and every time. Each greeting is so brief that on my first trip I didn’t notice it.

On return visits I have noticed how few English speakers do this (in any language).The French do it almost unconsciously, but I really believe it is an expression of liberte, egalite, fraternite (I don’t know how to add symbols above letters on my phone). If any action on my part has helped me with the French, and I am not sure that it has, learning to greet people properly would be it.

Paris. Except for museums, very meh.

Fair enough I guess.

What is it you didn’t like?

And surely you must admit the sights are stunning? Queenstown, the lakes in the South Island, Milford Sound, the Bay of Islands, to name but a few

I absolutely loved Florence! Beautiful city with an amazing atmosphere and lovely lovely people. One of my favourite places in the world!

Sorry was meant to quote a pp who said she didn’t like it!

Patong in Phuket. Couldn't find a redeeming feature. Never again.