Holiday venues that didn’t live up to expectations

This is really just a story in part of mis-selling - and maybe more about our ideas about what is normal.
I'm sure we are not alone in a holiday property not being as we thought it would be.

We had a week in a large property near Caserta in Italy whilst my husband was researching something. We chose a large property because we thought the family might be able to join us when we booked it (they didn't in the end).
The photos showed a large pool in the grounds (20yds from the house apparently) but shared with neighbours.
It was an "upmarket" mini estate of maybe 10/15 properties set in lots of tree-filled parkland. A lovely setting.
I actually wrote to them to check about the pool as we usually treat ourselves to a dip in the morning.
We checked if there were agreed opening hours and when it was drained.
"Oh yes it was just as described and not drained till October.

No it wasn't
It was 15 mins walk at the other side of the (admittedly lovely) estate (so would have wanted to change there rather than nip out in bathing gear) and was drained the day of our arrival.
Never got to use it but had paid a lot extra to have it there.
The response to the complaint-
A shrug.

The house had numerous "quirks" that made the stay difficult.
Two separate fuse blocks with no logic (or labels) and an upstairs light switch which we found inside a cupboard!
No water if the neighbour was in the shower "just wait a while"
Lots of strange cooking things that you would never need (anyone made their own canoli when on holiday? and almost nothing "usual" - only one pan...

It was an artist's own home and filled with fabulous art and beautiful books.
They had left lots of glassware for our use - antique crystal type ( but no ordinary glasses to put by the bed - I was constantly afraid of breaking things.
There were enormous serving dishes and chargers in beautiful porcelain but two chipped "everyday" plates in the kitchen.

Thinking about it, I wonder why I found it so stressful - it was somewhere filled with beauty i should have enjoyed relaxing evenings on the terrace or in the sitting room- but everything was fragile and it was totally unsuited to our needs.
There was such a lot of delicate and filigree type stuff there and such stunning highly polished furniture we were relieved the family didn't come.

The stay was obviously marred by stormy weather which made the electricity trip out a lot, by not having anything to cook with "oh, you don't need to cook - surely you will be eating out every day".

I wish we'd gone with the idea of just cocktails and canapés at the house as it was well set up for that! They had left us all their wierd and wonderful collection of alcohol -
"Oh, just help yourself".

The holiday let I remember with greatest affection was many years ago when I was a kid. I was about 10 so it would have been mid 1950s. We went to a holiday camp in N Wales and the "chalet" was made from an old railway car.

It was called "Linger Longer"

As kids we loved it because it had all kinds of wooky corners where we played. I remember the glorious sunshine of that week. We were a big party - myself, sister and two parents. An aunt and uncle and two cousins. My mother said it had bed bugs.

I can remember reading the the letter of compiant she wrote when returning the keys. She had a long list of reasons for how the holiday had been spoiled. Her letter ended:-

The only thing good about the week was the glorious sunshins but you didnt supply that.

After that we always stayed in a caravan.

cc

readsalot

Paris. I was underwhelmed. Very disappointed.

I've felt the same when I've visited, but not many share our view.

I do. When I first visited thirty years ago it was enchanting. Over the years, and many visits, the city has become dirty, over run with aggressive beggars, frighteningly expensive, and although it didn't seem possible that it could get any worse, the traffic, and driver behaviour, have deteriorated.

Bondi Beach - totally underwhelming
Lake District - too many tourists and litter
Portmeirion- creepy and out of place on the Welsh coast

Aveline maybe that would be "joint enterprise" now.

Caleo thanks but sadly his poor nose was badly broken. That was a nightmare phone call from the police at 3 o'clock in the morning. A few years ago now but I can never forget the state of him. The men who did it all blamed each other so the police couldn't pin it on any of them

Great Yarmouth. Run down, unkempt, smelt of drains. I’ve never seen so many people eating chips. They can’t all have been tourists!! We went for a long weekend. It was too long. I hope it’s had some money spent on it since then.

Blossoming

Booked a cottage in Scotland described as’’a romantic hideaway”. It was a hovel. The owners were landed gentry.

Being a horsy -type growing -up. Many of the characters I met dressed like tramps & lived in potty, grotty homes.
They had a knack of patching -up a well adored jumper, regardless that there was hardly any of the original material existing!! 😶

…areas too.

Wasn’t keen on Washington D.C. apart from going round the White House (smaller than I expected) and seeing the same performance in the unchanged theatre where Abe Lincoln was shot.
I can understand why Jackie Onassis disliked it. It reminded me of a cemetery, lots of white buildings and soulless.
Warned to keep out of areas too.

Aveline

Oh yes 'Leith sur mer' is very trendy these days. My son lives there. Unfortunately, he was attacked one night by a gang on Leith walk. He survived, luckily, but his looks were permanently spoiled.

Aveline, I do hope when it healed it was no worse than an interesting scar.

Eloethan

I thought Paris was quite nice but not that special, ditto New York.

Paris not special??? Wash your mouth out with soap immediately and never darken Gransnet again! ! 😂

I am joking, in case anyone takes umbrage! (It’s so difficult to joke without someone coming down on you these days)

Our little family and me too have been very fortunate in living in lovely places before they became devoted to holiday homes and tourism. These kill a place for local people. Edinburgh is just big enough to support a lot of tourists, but the villages incorporated in the larger city have lost the sense of discovery one used to get from them. I wish I could show you what the Royal Mile was like in 1948 on a winter's night with a haar lying in the street,

RosieandherMaw

^One dark night , 70s, I was slightly lost driving along a back street in Leith. Nobody about except a taxi . The taxi driver stopped me and advised me to leave area as it was unsafe . That was local atmosphere all right--dead creepy^
You cannot judge by your experience of over 50 years ago.
Like many other cities , parts of Edinburgh like the Canal Basin in Birmingham, or Kings Cross in London have been developed, gentrified if you like, into vibrant, pleasant, safe modern spaces.
Have an opinion by all means, but be fair. Q

I was fair! I said this happened in the 70s. Leith has been gentrified since then.

One dark night , 70s, I was slightly lost driving along a back street in Leith. Nobody about except a taxi . The taxi driver stopped me and advised me to leave area as it was unsafe . That was local atmosphere all right--dead creepy
You cannot judge by your experience of over 50 years ago.
Like many other cities , parts of Edinburgh like the Canal Basin in Birmingham, or Kings Cross in London have been developed, gentrified if you like, into vibrant, pleasant, safe modern spaces.
Have an opinion by all means, but be fair. Q

paddyann54

*vice versa* Leith in the 1970s was a very different place from now .Its a lovely part of Edinburgh with good shops great restaurants and fabulous people.I can say I spent a lot of time ,for business,in both Birmingham and London in the 1970,s and they were hellholes…I,m told they are great cities now.

We stayed in Leith in 2019, lovely hotel, good restaurants within walking distance, and easy to get a cab into the centre of Edinburgh.

I found the Yorkshire moors endlessly uninspiring & very bleak!
Heathcliff is welcome to them, quite frankly!
However, one nice surprise was Blackpool. My children loved it & the people were wonderful. Such memorable jolly fun.

Oh yes 'Leith sur mer' is very trendy these days. My son lives there. Unfortunately, he was attacked one night by a gang on Leith walk. He survived, luckily, but his looks were permanently spoiled.

paddyann54

*vice versa* Leith in the 1970s was a very different place from now .Its a lovely part of Edinburgh with good shops great restaurants and fabulous people.I can say I spent a lot of time ,for business,in both Birmingham and London in the 1970,s and they were hellholes…I,m told they are great cities now.

I didn't cast any aspersions on Leith at all. That was another poster. I agree - there are lots of lovely places to eat there.

Our trip to New York this year and being shown around by a Big Apple Greeter has taught me that the way to see and learn about a place is through the eyes of someone who loves it.
I have been to multiple places, truthfully the only place I don’t give good press to is Australia in general. Lots of it was beautiful but in my opinion there was a lot of sexism and racism, that wasn’t for me.

vice versa Leith in the 1970s was a very different place from now .Its a lovely part of Edinburgh with good shops great restaurants and fabulous people.I can say I spent a lot of time ,for business,in both Birmingham and London in the 1970,s and they were hellholes…I,m told they are great cities now.

Everybody is different though, as the books thread demonstrated.

I loved Edinburgh but a friend of mine didn't like it at all.

I thought Paris was quite nice but not that special, ditto New York.

Caleo

ViceVersa

NotSpaghetti

Oh, not a fan of Edinburgh - rather "up itself " in my opinion.

Eh, excuse me, we're not all like that! Yes, it's a bit of a nightmare when the festival is on, but overall, I still love Edinburgh and think it has a lot to offer. And there's so much to see and do away from the actual city centre as well. So please, don't be put off by the Negative Nellies or Moaning Minnies - come to Edinburgh and explore more than just the obvious tourist traps.

What! Even the suburbs where the disadvantaged people live?

One dark night , 70s, I was slightly lost driving along a back street in Leith. Nobody about except a taxi . The taxi driver stopped me and advised me to leave area as it was unsafe . That was local atmosphere all right--dead creepy!

I'm sure there are areas like that in any large town or city, but there are plenty of places to explore outwith the centre of Edinburgh which are perfectly safe. Most tourists tend to stick to the very obvious attractions, whereas there are lots of interesting places even just a few streets away from those, which often tend to get overlooked. Again, I'm sure the same applies to many popular towns and cities, both here in the UK and abroad.

Caleo

We went frequently to the Costa Del Sol in the early 60s when it was not spoiled by mass tourism. We were there when you had a clean beach not a building in sight ,all to yourselves except for an enterprisng man who came to sell us water melon from his donkey's panniers. I would never go to any place overrun by tourists and their golf courses and blocks of flats and huge hotels.
The few cafes there were used mainly by Spanish people who ate Spanish food.

There are still unspoilt beaches along the coast, still many bars and restaurants where you will find locals and original tapas.

The tourist hotspots are busy in season, but it is also easy to avoid them.