It's true that both hope and expect can be translated as esperar, but they can have aslo other translations...
In most sentences you will only want to use one of the meanings, and it'll be quite clear which one you're meaning...
In this case, as you want to use both meanings, you'd better use synonyms, something like:
Fue mejor de lo que pensaba / suponía / preveía / figuraba / imaginaba, pero no tan bien como deseaba / quería / me hubiera gustado.