Page 10 | Where was your most disappointing holiday, and why?

wholetawn · 2023-05-18T15:35:45+00:00

I'll start off. Our most disappointing trip was to French Polynesia in the South Pacific. The scenario is stunning, but we found the people unhelpful and quite frankly, lazy, unless you were offering to pay them a lot of money to do something small.

Georgyporky · 12/08/2023 19:21

Whitby.
In 2021 we couldn't leave the UK, so we went to places we hadn't been to before.
Apart from staying in the worst hotel with the rudest management we've ever known, the whole place stank of fish & chips all day long, & was full of dogs & their excrement.

DorritLittle · 12/08/2023 19:26

@Bromley4ever I had a French gite with babies awful holiday too. I haven’t yet been back to a French cottage. We did get a bargain but…

DorritLittle · 12/08/2023 19:28

Georgyporky · 12/08/2023 19:21

Whitby.
In 2021 we couldn't leave the UK, so we went to places we hadn't been to before.
Apart from staying in the worst hotel with the rudest management we've ever known, the whole place stank of fish & chips all day long, & was full of dogs & their excrement.

Sounds delightful 😂 I was considering Whitby next year…

Mixituposis · 13/08/2023 06:28

I was underwhelmed the first time I went to NYC, 20 years ago. Went again last year and had a wonderful time - spent more time in Brooklyn than Manhattan and liked the relatively new additions eg the High Line, 9/11 memorial, the Edge, NYC ferry (not the Staten Island one). also seeing it through teen DDs eyes added a new dimension.

I want to revisit Istanbul one day as went in December with a dickhead ex and didn’t enjoy it, but suspect I’d love it now with DH.

Ginmonkeyagain · 13/08/2023 10:54

@UrsulaBelle we did an accomodation on arrival cheap deal to Kos after univerisity exams. We were a lot luckier than you as we got an apartment in a very small quiet block a little winding road up from the sea. It was just an apartment - no bar, no pool etc.. but we were perfectly happy as we planned a lot of sea swimming, visiting Kos town and exploring local sites (Archaeology geeks).

Our holiday rep was mortified (we were three 21 year old women) and kept saying we were welcome to use the facilities at the (frankly hellish looking) club 18-30 apartment complex about 15 mins walk up the road. We politely declined.

StillWantingADog · 13/08/2023 10:56

Not a holiday as such but did a side trip to the Bahamas once. So dull. Full of noisy, brash, entitled Americans (no offence to Americans I know full well English can be unpleasant and probably worse). Yeah the beaches and cocktails are nice but it’s def not got the exotic vibe I was hoping for.

seratoninmoonbeams · 13/08/2023 10:59

alphasox · 18/05/2023 17:28

Portugal. Some family members offered us their “holiday” apartment in the Algarve, which we thought was v generous, however when we arrived there it was in an inland, very ordinary non touristy town, and was just a flat in a normal block of flats full of regular Portuguese families, not a holiday destination. (Not even a balcony!). It looked over a busy duel carriageway!
It was 40c all week and the flat wasn’t air conditioned so we couldn’t sleep, and there was no pool to cool off in.
there was a sports pub/restaurant downstairs where the food was ok, but we could hear all the shouting from there up in the flat, as they seemed to have football on the TV every night.

It was a 45 minute drive to the nearest beach so we had to do that most days just to feel the breeze. While we were there the flat plumbing leaked so we ended up spending a day without running water and another day sitting in the flat waiting for a plumber.

I’m sure the Algarve is lovely but it’s ruined for me…

Did you not look into the location and apartment details before you went 😯 🤔 Portugal is beautiful, not just the Algarve either.

Ginmonkeyagain · 13/08/2023 11:05

I remember a friend invited us and some other friends to join her for a week at her cousin's Spanish apartment on the Costa Blanca that she had free use of in late September. The town it was in was dead and the few places open all seemed to cater for English ex pats - pints of Fisters and chips with everything. It wasn't terrible - we cooked with food we got from a decent market, played games and it was still warm enough to go to the beach and swim.

However after three days we were so bored we decamped to Valencia and booked a hotel room.

StillWantingADog · 13/08/2023 11:06

NowWhatUsernameShallIHave · 18/05/2023 22:32

Sharm El Sheikh

The hotel was definitely not 4* and the majority of people were Russian who were rude, didn’t understand any etiquette around queuing or talking to staff and were racist.
the food was also very geared towards them too.

Tbf I think that’s just certain hotels. I went to one in Koh Samui that was full of well off, noisy, entitled Russians so know exactly what you mean.

Koh Samui still has lots going for it though (not so sure about Sh el Sh)

RTHJ14 · 13/08/2023 11:09

Similar experiences to those mentioned in Turkey and Egypt (albeit in the noughties!) has put me off for life..

As single girls the harassment was terrifying, random men touching us (as a redhead I was especially fascinating it seems), with a really scary moment where we ended up corned in a bazaar and crawled out under the table to get away!

I see and hear many people rave about the places now, but I just can’t shake off the memories!

Stepmotheringthepatriarchysdream · 13/08/2023 11:10

Isle of Wight. Pissed down all week. Loads of depressing towns with pound shops and sad looking people, grey skies, appalling customer service everywhere, cafes and unhygienic toilets everywhere we went.
Tired looking theme parks and miserable parents and children everywhere.
£400 ferry return to travel a few miles across the fucking sea.
They'll get a shock next summer when everyone goes abroad.

Willmafrockfit · 13/08/2023 11:11

cornwall
it rained
took so long to get there
i hated the narrow roads

Willmafrockfit · 13/08/2023 11:11

oh and the caravan was small

pompomdaisy · 13/08/2023 11:18

I think just about all of these could have been prevented by doing a bit more homework first. Google maps, learning about culture of place, trip advisor to find good restaurants etc!

Ginmonkeyagain · 13/08/2023 11:20

Pints of Fosters obvs. Pints of Fisters would be something very different! 🫣

Stepmotheringthepatriarchysdream · 13/08/2023 11:24

pompomdaisy · 13/08/2023 11:18

I think just about all of these could have been prevented by doing a bit more homework first. Google maps, learning about culture of place, trip advisor to find good restaurants etc!

If only everyone were as perfect as you!

Inyournewdress · 13/08/2023 11:26

Halkidiki, nothing against the place it’s gorgeous and I hope to go back there. Just that it rained solidly and it’s depressing being by the beach and woods etc and not able to enjoy them, in a place with not many indoor facilities. The hotel manager threw his hands up to the sky and said ‘England!’.

As a destination Paphos in Cyprus was extremely underwhelming. I enjoyed the holiday because we were in a lovely hotel with amazing restaurants/pools etc but Paphos itself was not great. At all.

Inyournewdress · 13/08/2023 11:28

Georgyporky · 12/08/2023 19:21

Whitby.
In 2021 we couldn't leave the UK, so we went to places we hadn't been to before.
Apart from staying in the worst hotel with the rudest management we've ever known, the whole place stank of fish & chips all day long, & was full of dogs & their excrement.

oh no that sounds so awful! I had been wanting to go to Whitby…

rookiemere · 13/08/2023 11:32

We had a lovely holiday in Whitby a couple of summers ago. I really liked the place, didn't notice more dog poo than anywhere else and enjoyed having a number of fish restaurants to choose from. There's lots of nice walks and you're not far from Dalby forest for a days e biking or walking.

StillWantingADog · 13/08/2023 11:35

Re Whitby we went peak pandemic and the town was very busy but otherwise really liked it.
beach was huge, didn’t seem busy at all

i’d avoid Robin Hood’s Bay though we drove up there and didn’t stay long at all (due to crowds)

TheaBrandt · 13/08/2023 11:42

Georgy we did the same. Our accommodation was lovely to be fair but I am so done with Whitby a week was more than enough. Somehow the whole place gave me the creeps. Plus it was chilly in the summer and I crave summer holiday warmth I appreciate this is not Whitby fault but 2021 indeed was a sad year for holidays.

Shadowboy · 13/08/2023 11:53

Dorset. Boring.

As a geologist I should have found it fabulous but it was just a bit run down and full of aged couples and families with wild children in restaurants.
weather was OK but the beaches were all rammed.

I much prefer Devon or Cornwall
or going abroad!

alphasox · 13/08/2023 11:58

Condescending much?

As I said, I know Portugal and the Algarve is lovely, it was the flat and the situation we were in that made it a bad holiday. And no these were days before google maps etc. it was just a nice family member offering us a favour.

alphasox · 13/08/2023 11:59

@seratoninmoonbeams my last post above

Berlinlover · 13/08/2023 12:15

Genzken · 18/05/2023 19:43

Cavtat in Croatia, i just hated it. I've been to Croatian Islands lots of times and loved them all the mainland just had a totally different feel to it. Couldn't wait to go home.

Oh no! Cavtat was one of my favourite holidays ever.