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From Donna Sutherland From Scotland, sent on 07 July 2003 Just back from Sunny Beach 30.6.03. Had a fantastic holiday overall and would def.go back. I went with my boyfriend and we stayed at the Pomorie Hotel which was basic but clean. I would like to go 4* next time tho. Beach itself is gorgeous, and there is plenty to do. The weather was fantastic; too hot for me at times! It was a very reasonable hol, food and drink is very cheap and the cocktails are fab! Go and see for yourself! |
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From David Featherstone From UK, sent on 04 July 2003 Hotel Zornitza, Sunny Beach. One of the slightly older (10-15 years?) hotels in attractive grounds in an enviable location, close to ALL amenities. Food OK and staff (cleaners) extremely polite and friendly but other staff who clearly perceive themselves as being higher in the "pecking order" (receptionists) can be abrupt and unapproachable. British treated slightly less favourably than Germans, but this is more than made up for by Zornitza's location. Try the Jupiter restaurant (behind Saturn Hotel) for a grill sizzler which is out of this world. Would serve 2 - 3 people for 13 leva (Ј4.88)!Would ertainly go back |
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From Angela Wright From UK, sent on 03 July 2003 We have just arrived back from Sunny beach (30.06.03. The resort/hotel(Alba) and hotel pool were the cleaniest I have ever seen. The food is not 4*star - catering manily for Germans, but you get by. The resturants are very good and inexpensive. Our son aged 3 and a half had a great time with lots of fun fair rides, bouncy castles and candy floss - he joined the kiddies club (even though he isn't 4) and was well looked after, each session costs Ј5.00 for 2 hours with food/drink. Don't take too many cigarettes into Bulgaria as they have been reports of confiscation at the airport.Don't buy cigarettes from the street sellars - ask in the shops, they keep them stored in the back room and cost the same as the street sellars Ј13.00. The beach and sea are great, umbrellas on the beach cost Ј2.00 a day, you can buy your own in the shops for Ј4.00, although there is only certain parts of the beach you can use them on. Now for the bad part- Balkan reps, mainly ours, a chap called Dragos, couldn't speak much english, which was vital when we had a medical emgergency, he was no help at all,luckily everything turned out ok, but I am presently writing a letter of complaint regarding his treatment of ourselves and other holiday makers requiring hospital treatment.Beware the public hospital,it is your worst nightmare and most holiday makers are taken there.Treatment can not be paid for by credit cards, although you are able to withdraw money from the local bank off your card. The cost of a broken arm was Ј250.00. Head injury Ј350.00. Double check you holiday insurance as to what to do in an emergency - we thought it would never happen to use but it did, and the Balkan rep did nothing to help us. We would go back again, only next time with a regular travel company who has english rep. |
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From Nicole Brown From Scotland, sent on 20 June 2003 My gran is in bulgaria at the moment and she has been phoning me and telling me how fantastic it is she said sunny beach is lovely and that she will be going back next year. I also have booked a holiday there for august becaue all the people who have been there are saying how wonderful it is. |
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From Paul From Scotland, sent on 20 June 2003 I got back from Sunny beach on Monday (16th June) and I'd go back in a second! We stayed at the Hotel Palas at the North end of the beach and it was terrific, the Balkan holidays Brochure did it no favours at all, although the food wasn't up to much. this didn't matter as all the local retaurants are excellent. i recommend the Jupiter which is behind the Globus hotel or the 'Bris' which is on the beach front and has an excellent floorshow including a firedancer. We were recommended the Dolphin, which is just out of town but the food there is medoiocure and the floorshow pretty poor. The best shows are at southern nights and Khan's tent. Khan's tent has by far the best but it is a relatively expensive night compared to all the others. If you do go, and you should, get a taxi driver outside your hotel to book you a table then take you there and pick you up. You'll find his prices are negotiable. The taxi drivers outside the hotels pay the hotel to sit there, they are generally trustworthy and don't want a bad rep around the hotel their recommendations are usually better than the rep's. Ours took us to a restaurant up in the hills called Miami which was excellent. The resort itself lacks nothing. It has everytrhing a big beach resort of Spain or greece has and with the added benefit of being absolutely spotless. the beach itself and the water are the cleanest i've ever seen. A few tales of caution. the hotel Pomorie needs some work, the Globus is not Finnished- a couple we met checked into a room which had no windows in it yet. To their credit they fitted them then and there. The hotel Victoria Palace is a 5* building site and there are plans to put guests in it as early as next month. Never change money anywhere but the banks on the main street or your hotel. Don't take travellers cheques. they get a worse rate of exchange, not even the banks will change them only the hotels. don't change all your currency, many of the street shops and trip organisers will sell you things cheaper if you pay in Sterling. The trips themselves are over hyped by the reps. we were with balkan holidays, Khans tent with them made it expensive and you got a set meal meal instead of a menu. the borgas shopping trip was a waste of time. the 'cash and carry' they took us to sold very little of interest and borgas itself has less to buy than the resort. The cheap safari was good but not if your scared of insects. it should also carry a health and safety warning as they really do mean off-road. Nessebur isn't worth the visit, but the boat trip there is nice. Bulgarians are a good bunch, nice, friendly and genuinely happy to see you. they also don't pressure you into their shops and bars like Greeks and Turks. English is not as widely spoken, but my Bulgarian is alot worse so its wrong to criticise. The food is ace, BBQ meat everywhere and they do pigs/lamb and chickens on spits at the front of the restaurants the local specialities are great. although the exchange rate got worse for us its still about 30p for 20 cigs, less than a pound a pint anywhere, and as low as about 20p on the main road by the bank and market. Cocktails are about Ј2 but you'll find you either get them half price or buy one get one free. Dinner can be anything from Ј7- Ј20 for two, but if you spend Ј20 you've really went a bit mental and there's no need to eat and drink as much as we did. The clubs are great with iceberg a favourite, the coleseaum just opened and was widely publicised (lights in the sky)but we never went although it looked great. The weather was just nice, in the thirties every day and it never rained. The heat is not as opressive as Greece and at nightime it was usually quite comfortable for sleeping. The flight we took from Glasgow Prestwick to Borgas was fairly awful. Soviet era Tupelov Planes do nothing to calm the nervous flyer, the water coming from the emergency escape door handle a constant worry. Balkan Holidays need to sort that out as there was no film or radio on a 4 hour flight and the food on the plane was pretty crappy too. Smuggling back more than your quota of 200 cigs is very tempting as the local bulgarian brand (victory) are really pretty good. you'll only get british brands at the airport where they compare price wise with those in Spain. they do pretend to sell them on the street but we were told they aren't real. Bulgarian customs know that we can only bring 200 home so they also try to catch you, and they'll take the lot if your over. I took 200 in hand luggage and 200 in the case. they opened both when they saw there were cigs in there to count them. to my delight there were no customs officers at Prestwick yet so i managed 800. The counterfiet CDs are also very good, they let you listen to them before you buy them so you know they'll work. Bulgaria is a great Place!! |
