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?

I agree with previous posters about Cyprus. It has no soul or cultural identity, unlike all the Greek Islands I've been to.

Paris stinks of piss thanks to its dirty male residents pissing in the street all day. But if you ignore the smell, it's nice.

@CurlyhairedAssassin LOVED SD. Make sure you have at least a day at Coronado. We went on our last day and wished we’d gone sooner. Absolutely stunning.

Albufeira - people kept saying that the Old Town bit was really nice, but all we found was a square with Brits Abroad cheap meals and a bunch of scousers having a full on fight with each other.

Sorrento was equally tacky although we did eventually find a gorgeous restaurant at the marina and it is a good base for visiting many places.

I guess to each their own but I think New Zealand is glorious. Eye popping scenery everywhere you go, clean and unpolluted, gorgeous food, fab coffee culture, friendly people…. I could go on and on.

i adored it and would go back in a heartbeat. I’ve been twice and lived there for 18 months the second time. If only it wasn’t so far away, but that’s probably part of the charm and why it’s so unspoilt.

I’ve travelled extensively in Europe and Asia and New Zealand is my favourite of anywhere I’ve been. (The U.K. excepted as it’s home and I couldn’t live anywhere else permanently).

We loved NZ by the way and have travelled quite widely. I wasn't as keen on North Island, but Queenstown was one of my favourite places ever and we stopped in some great places en route to Christchurch airport.

Bondi beach on the other hand which we visited on the way back, reminded me of Newquay. DS loved it though so it wasn't a wasted day.

I'll add my vote to Centre Parcs. I was desperate to go for years, and when we eventually got round to it the DSs were young teenagers. They,loved it. I hated every minute! Damp, crowded, run down and expensive.
It was the sanitised countryside with hand rails.
Awful, simply awful.

Oh interesting. It’s somewhere I’ve always fancied going.

Santorini was magical and I assumed Mykonos would have similar vibes

Blimey you must have led a sheltered life. Cardiff isn't rough!

San Francisco has got so much worse in the last decade or so. It's really very sad. I went in 2007 and loved it - ten years later the homelessness and drug taking were utterly out of control, everywhere. And it wasn't just SF - previously nice little holiday towns like Santa Cruz and Monterey were the same.

I found the traffic and total rip offs in Florence very off-putting.

But on the whole I don't travel much so tend to be quite undiscerning 😁

Agreed on Egypt (Alexandria, Cairo, the Gizas). I disliked everything about it from the dead horses left to rot in canals to rubbish piled up in the streets as high as the first storey. Add to that the sexist awful attitudes, the in-your-face culture with people performing the most basic services you can easily do for yourself - ie. thrusting towels at you - then demanding tips and never leaving you alone for a moment, I quickly found it a very stressful experience as I hate having my personal space invaded. Add to that the corrupt undertone and people and police approaching visitors to the Pyramids (we were warned to stay away from them as they'd remove you on some pretext and then demand every bit of money they could for your safe return). It was awful and I have no desire ever to go back.

Croatia was spoiled by the people, who are among the rudest I've ever encountered (for context I find Parisians pretty polite on the whole).

Miami has a threatening undertone. I didn't feel safe. The keys are lovely, excepting Largo, which I thought a dump.

I like Istanbul very much but it's one place I wouldn't visit with a female companion: the men buzz around you like gnats and were a problem even when travelling with my husband.

Venice and Florence are amongst my favourite cities in the world, along with Vienna. I also have a soft spot for Boston.

Another for centre parcs!
I actually enjoyed it, didn’t find it as expensive as people say - no more so than if we went out for a meal at home.
but we got comments every time we came back - ‘oh you went out again today?’ ‘I recognise you guys, not enough for you eh?’ As though it’s frowned upon.
And the lodge not as clean as I would have expected!

The South Island is just mind blowing isn’t it. I also loved Queenstown but Wanaka and Tekapo were highlights for me.

I lived in Wellington so also have a very soft spot for that part of the north island. Such a great city. My second favourite after London.

Cork, Ireland. Was enchanted when we arrived - so beautiful! Unfortunately the people who live there seem to absolutely despise the English, whilst simultaneously fawning over any American within earshot.
It got tiresome very quickly.

I think I'm easily pleased!

Have loved a lot of these places!

The Getty Villa, Getty Centre, Griffith Park, LACMA-loved all of it!

Loved London for the Imperial War museum alone-never mind seeing Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" at the National Gallery!

London, so disgustingly polluted, hugely expensive and just lacking in atmosphere.

Eilat in Israel. Absolutely the rudest people in the hotel, restaurants, shops etc. I got physically pushed out of the line for a restaurant and a waitress let a door slam in my face. We went into a shop and (bracing myself) asked for some information on an item. The lady behind the counter replied in a broad Scottish accent. My husband and I were astonished and I must have looked relieved because the lady laughed and said “you were expecting me to have a go at you” or words to that effect. She was married to a local and agreed that they are the rudest people. I think I was expecting the kindness and humour of the Jewish people I know. Not like that at all!

Dubai - hate the place. Have to endure it for work every couple of years or so. And I try to make the best of it. Abu Dhabi is so much better (I still wouldn't pay my own money to go there though).

New York City - I loved it in the early noughties, even recovering from 9/11 it was wounded but proud. Went back more recently and it really has changed. Not keen to go back and will be exploring other cities instead.

Las Vegas. Married in NYC and honeymooned in LV. Constantly pestered with time share/hawkers/pimps. The casinos terrified me, its tacky. The shows were good though and the best part of it was hiring a car and driving around Nevada.

Paris - hated it the first time, found it dirty and rude but I have been back a couple of times and I am starting to get the French way and ended up getting on well with the locals.

Amsterdam is the only city I've known to stink of piss. Plastic urinals just there in full view on the streets.

Loved florida, found every member of staff and Americans so polite and chatty and lots of the children were far better behaved than in the UK.
Hated centreparcs, I love the rapids but it is very dated and the older cabins feel like a crime scene

@Sd352 I agree about Petra. I count it as an often overlooked gem.

San Francisco as well. Cold and hilly. Expensive. Paris on the other hand I enjoy enough to go every year. I was once trying to speak French to a taxi driver and he said, “Non, you speak English please.” 😂

I'm sorry you experienced that. I'm from cork, my dp is English and obviously I love him 🤣 but he's never had any bother here either. While all the locals in my town can't stand the Americans 🙈🙈 what part of cork where you in ?

In total agreement about New york, Los Angeles, Eygpt,Tunisia, center parcs,Dubai, Las Vegas and Paris.
Mykonos, was fabulous, but now is not, very similar-to santorini ruined by too many tourists. Ditto Capri.
I would also add Rome, never does anything for me.
However, disagree with Venice, fabulous out of tourist areas and Istanbul the same. Both lovely places if you avoid the mele.

I was in a small seaside village that I can't spell , port something and then Truro.... the nicest people I met in Cornwall where the people in Newquay Airport on my way home 🤣 I've amazing beaches on my door step so I don't think Cornwall would hold the same appeal as someone who doesn't live near the sea.

San Francisco, for all the reasons others have mentioned.

The homelessness problem was overwhelming and upsetting along with the drug addicts. We also witnessed a couple of incidents of street violence and a robbery turned brawl in a fast food restaurant.

Luckily was only passing through for two days, would never go back.

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

Yes! What is that? DH didn't notice it but I felt it very strongly.