Places that were a let down

[DarcyDear]

Have you ever been anywhere on holiday and felt it wasn’t what you thought it would be? My friend is just back from New York and absolutely hated it. I’ve never been let down by a holiday but I remember being really taken aback at the levels of poverty and homelessness when I visited Los Angeles in my youth.

Alcudia Majorca

Landed at Palma airport, what a fucking dump, it was crowded and filthy with shit and puke in the toilets, it was the school hols and was rammed with kids

The island looked just like England under a grey sky and it bloody rained in August. The resort was like Blackpool. Total waste of money, we usually go to Cyprus, no comparison at all

@BensonSVU yep here’s my picture on 10th July this year in camp de Mar -horrendous!! Can see why it appeals to no one - I’m with you on Alcudia though - somewhat grim - nice beach though .

Paphos

Alcudia isn't the whole of Mallorca! And I'm sure there are some awful places in Cyprus too.

We really like Majorca but just didn’t get the ‘feels’ for Alcudia, a long drawn out resort with no soul, prefer Puerto Pollenca next door.

Unlike others liked San Francisco but we went in 2018 and it seems to have gone downhill since then. Not keen on Vegas, overpriced and every single casino was the same once you got inside. Was worth it as a base to fly to the south rim of the Grand Canyon which was awesome.

Also not keen on the Algarve or Portuguese places in general, hubby calls it a poor man’s Spain!

Others have said they didn’t like Dubrovnik and if they were there in the daytime with 3 cruise ships full of people then it was truly awful, couldn’t see the architecture for the people. We were staying just outside and started going into town at 5 and the cruise ship passengers back on board and it was a different place. In saying that I preferred Zadar.

No. Not at all. We knew it was a poor country, it was the disorganisation, the sexual harassment, poor food in a quality hotel. If we had gone for a cheap week, fine, but this was supposed to have been a 4 star plus hotel. We visited Sousse and Hammermet and the hotels were much more suitable for a family holiday.

I'm so glad someone else loves Belgrade. A very under-rated city break (once you get used to the driving, smoking, politics and lack of health and safety) and one that has endless things to do and see - the fortress, the Danube, the museums and galleries, the bars and restaurants - and is properly friendly. Unlike Dublin It's not pretty but it's proud, aggressively so and fascinating.

Yes, you've more eloquently said what they said. They found some lovely roof top bars and restaurants.

They said the public transport was free (and air conditioned) but therefore rather unpredictable. I'm just wondering whether no one paid...

The night after they left there were riots, mind.

My first trip to NYC and I came home thinking never again. I went again 🙈 with a different boyfriend and I think because we'd both been before it was ay better because we felt no pressure to race around. We re-did our favourite stuff together and some new stuff, more importantly, we slowed the pace right down and just ate and chilled a lot more. We're definitely planning to go back woth the kids.

DisneyWorld. I've been a handful of times and loved it but the last time was so disappointing. It was post covid and they'd got rid of fastpasses and we didn't feel the magic, we just felt like cashcows in very long queues which was just shit for kids. So many forums online saying "if you can't afford lighting lanes then you can't afford disney", which fails to recognise that there was previously a very good, free fastpass system.

We might try Disney again now that they've re-introduced some sort of fast pass system (although of course its now paid for and you need to be glued to your phone to book the lanes which feels a bit unmagical). But it's not what it was 10+ years ago.

Really didn't like Albufeira or Vilamoura but probably didn't explore Portugal as much as we should have done as we were in an AI so won't hold it against the country 😉

Please I absolutely LOVE (but evidently are not popular with MN users 😂) - Naples, Malta, Cuba and Athens.

Pathos is Cyprus wasn’t great.

My point is precisely that Dublin failed to inspire any strong feelings.
We're all different. If you love it you love it.

I shouldn't imagine it was 😆

In response to pathos in Cyprus lol

Mea culpe, of course they are !

We lived there in the 70s, loved it for 4 years and went back about 10 years ago, we were first of all surprised by how narrow Main Street was, sure it used to be wider! The worst part is all the naff development and the type of people it attracts, spoiled the place. I never understood why it was seen as a tourist destination though even before that.

@oncemoreuntothebeachdearfriends where on earth did you go?
The Algarve is so varied - historical sites, beautiful beaches, fun towns for nightlife, plus ye olde golf etc (which personally I find dull). And I love a waterslide - or six!
Plus the food, drink... general conviviality of the Portuguese people (may be slightly biased in this respect)