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?

Rome... really dirty with lots of homeless people pissing in/around fountains so it stank to high heaven! Also lots of gangs trying to sell you all sorts of shit everywhere, most of whom were migrants being taken advantage of I think. All the churches dripping in gold just seemed awful next to such poverty.

Dubai... can't walk anywhere, too hot outside most of the day and it's all so glitzy in the sun it hurt my eyes. But tbh I knew I wouldn't like the attitudes and way of life there so glad it was just a layover. No idea why people go for an actual holiday.

I had no idea it was tidal

Dude. Even the Thames has tides. I feel like the sea is not the place for you.

Lol. #shade

Gosh so many times! Back in the day when I used to rely a lot on reviews. Then I realised so many of them have the exact same words, the same peculiar way of writing... Are usually written around the same time. I also think it's very very unusual for a "fabulous place" not to have any bad reviews. There are idiots everywhere, you're telling me they've never been here!? As if!
I've travelled so much that it would be hard just to single out one place as underwhelming. Buenos Aires, on the other hand, was the only place I've visited up until today where I felt like reviews didn't do it justice. I thought it was much much better than I expected and if I could change one thing it would not to save my money expecting loooots of duty free shops.

Kind of Cyprus, but it was our own fault. The Roman ruins are pretty incredible to be fair but it's so ugly and overdeveloped compared with the Greek Islands I've been to.

My dc, now adults, often say how they are disappointed that I didn’t take them to centreparcs.
I read the blurb at the time and knew I would hate it. I’m a couch potato who loves history and architecture.

Pickpocket central is Barcelona, even worse than Prague. OH probably broke someone's fingers when he felt a hand in his back pocket, the scrote ran of hugging his hand and the local people on the station platform cheered and clapped OH on the back!

We were once in the queue for our flight to the States when our two moaned they would rather go to Butlins! Later in the year we took them for a weekend, they never moaned again!

Definitely Center Parks - our cabin smelt of damp, one bedroom had no window and it was quite dated. It just felt like a cross between a slightly more upmarket Butlins and a leisure centre.

And Belfast. I’ve heard so many people rave about it but wild horses couldn’t drag me back.

Nooooooooo!!!

It's one of the few places I would happily spend the rest of my life in.

Ah yes Paris

I really wanted to love it but I found it all a bit meh

Tried to flex my GCSE level French but found a lot of Parisians just v impatient, barking at you either in v fast French or broken English

I did love Montmartre, especially the view of Paris from the top

Love many places in the rest of France

Loch Fyne hotel in Scotland - no connecting to Loch Fyne seafood supplier/eatery.

”The spa” was an old pool and basically a hot tub in the garden, room smelled terrible, lumpy panacotta and the response was …. Well we have lots of guests and nobody complained before …..

New Zealand.

I find UK hospitality in general distinctly average unless you pay £700 a night for four seasons etc

Weirdly I found cornwall to be extremely over rated. Locals are rude , transport is shocking, as are the prices and tbh I've far nicer beaches near my house. I honestly can't see the attraction and wouldn't be hurrying back

The reviews were on Trip Advisor. Hundreds of them. When I got back I deliberately searched the bad reviews and they all said similar to what I thought. I think that particular hotel is great for those who just want to remain in the hotel mingling with other guests.

Centre Parcs seems to be a definite theme here

London. Been many times. Lived there for a few months too. I just don’t get the adoration for it.

I also disliked Bali, definitely one of my least favourite places. We’ve travelled a lot around Asia and Bali was the only place where we felt genuinely unsafe. We were on the receiving end of a few attempted scams, and had a very threatening experience with the taxi mafia.

On the other hand though, I could visit New York or Rome again and again. It’s funny how we all experience places so differently.

100% centreparcs, I just do not understand why anyone would go there. If you live in the UK then chances are you live an hour or so from the amenities they provide so may as well just stay home in your comfy bed with nice food and do a series of day trips.

Marrakech - would not have liked to have been there without a man and some street performer tried to scam us but luckily a local lady saved us and told the scammer to do one. Did expect some sort of stuff along those lines but it was extreme.

Florida would go back but didn’t expect the weird vibe!

I despise London, so I’d better not go to New York 🤣

You had no idea it was tidal?!

Florida was strange, we got lost driving back to the airport and I actually felt unsafe. If I went again I think I’d stay in a Disney resort and just ‘do’ the resorts and parks.

@Afterfire

Weird isn't it. I loved Lucerne.

& Barcelona
& Paris

& LA/San Fran etc were exactly as I was expecting them to be.

Arles was the place I've been most disappointed by. It was such a let down.

Valencia I ended up in for a couple of days between events & I didn't think much of it, then the following year, I was asked to go there to work, but the 'event' got cancelled the week before, but I decided to go anyway. I ended up living there for 6 months & it was fabulous!!!

I read on here once someone called CP going on holiday to a council leisure centre.
We have a family member who is obsessed and goes several times a year spending thousands and thousands. Even goes for Christmas and New Year. We tried to be very diplomatic about it (extended family trip) but I think the fact we’ve never gone again has spoken volumes.

Barcelona, San Francisco and Las Vegas. I probably needed to spend more than a couple of days at each though

I agree with Paris, hated it. Everyone was so rude and literally laughed at me trying to speak French.
Loved Madrid, Barcelona and Stockholm though. Can't remember much about Dublin (St Patrick's Day 😂) but Ireland in general I thought was lovely. Also pretty fond of Center Parcs too 🤣🤣 we're off to Verona next week so fingers crossed 🤞🏻