Hotel Glarus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: Medhotels - Jun 2006
Opinion submitted in July 2006 by : P Stevens / J Bailey - both 40+
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Below Average
My/Our Holiday Review:
We stayed at the Glarus Hotel for 1 week and that was enough. One guest had money taken from his room - believed to be a staff member. Towels/Sheets changed once! Location of Hotel good. Towels were put out early by the pool so we were unable to get a space. Weather was bad for 3 days. Beware of being ripped off and keep your money locked up. We would never go back. The resort is nice but thats about it.
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Hotel Glarus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (First Choice Discounts) First Choice - Sept 2005
Opinion submitted in Oct 2005 by : natalie - sheffield( 35,34,4,2,and dad
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
went in the glarus - september 2005
hotel very clean and tidy, resort excelllent very cheap 50p for a pint of beer, beach nice and clean (but jellyfish in water) but didnt bother us. shoppers paradise clothes very cheap and good quality. only one thing i can say is i wouldnt go again so late in the season becauce everything was closing down and the weather is not so good. it gets very cold at night so if you do go late sept early october - take a coat or if forget you could always buy a cheap jacket there
bot overall loved it - if you love turkey you will love this p.s without the hassel of the turks
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Hotel Glarus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (First Choice Discounts) First Choice - July 2005
Opinion submitted in Aug 2005 by : Lisa francis = 35 Karen Gearing =38
Resort Rating: Good
Accommodation Rating: Below Average
My/Our Holiday Review:
We went to the glarus hotel for 1 week at the end of july 2005.The hotel was reasonable rooms were clean but bathroom needs updating,the hotel staff were very poor at their job and do not speak very good english even so do not even smile.
We were on the 3rd floor our veiw was a roof and we only could go to sleep after 1o,clock in the morning as the noise was very loud.The food in the resort was disgusting i also found not a lot to do unless you want to sit in a bar all night.
The beach is very nice but you do have to pay 18 lev a day for beds which over a week is a lot.A word of warning you will not get a lot of peace on the beach as you are pestered by massargers all day and having photo,s done.
I have been to a lot of places but one thing for sure i will never return to bulgaria again this was awful holiday i could not wait to get home.
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Hotel Glarus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (JMC Discounts) JMC June2004
Opinion submitted in July 2004 by : Rose simpson-----Durham[62,65]
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
as we only booked the week befor i was a bit worried, but when we arrived at the hotel altho it was in the early hours of the morning,porters were there to carry our luggage.After checking in and seen the room on the second floor we were happy. In the morning looking out on the balcony the beach was there in front of us, couldnt believe it great.
we were happy with the room very clean got cleaned every day if not in the morming the afternoon. we werethere 2 weeks and sheets changed regular towels every 2 days.
we were half board, but could always eat the meals,fussy people seemed to always eat out.
drinks were cheap but we stuck to the local beers 5 Lev for 2 pints[£1-30p]
every night was happy hour for cocktails from7pm till midnight.
got them some time but couldnt taste the the spirits lol.
the rep was very helpful.i didnt see a lot of herbut she did explain every thing i wanted to know.
Taxi's bus and the small train round the streets were very cheap.
We went to the old town of Nessebar not a one to miss got a taxi might hav been a bit dearer but the buses were all full
the Glarus hotel is on the north side of sunny beach but a steady walk along the front looking in all the stalls along the way in very interesting. at the south side there is centre with lots more stalls
we would go back to this hotel in sunny beach.
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Hotel Glarus Beach - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Thomas Cook Direct) Thomas Cook 6th september 2004
Opinion submitted in Oct 2004 by : cher 4742 25 24
Resort Rating: Average
Accommodation Rating: Average
My/Our Holiday Review:
This hotel is a a fab location we were on the 6th floor and could see the whole bay, beds were changed regularly and clean towels every day. The food was absolutely vile, breakfast was edible if you like egg on toast, trouble getting a table - one morning another guest took my toast off my plate while I turned by back to pick up fried eggs - which you had to be careful with as they were not always cooked, crockery chipped and teas etc served from an ancient boiler which was often luke warm. Table cloths not changed very often and the tables cleaned with a dustpan and brush which I found quite disgusting.
Supper - vile, very little choice, lukewarm, no taste, chicken not cooked and red near the bone, not even the germans were eating in at night may be a dozen tables taken and believe me I am not a fussy eater - we go on holidays at least twice a year, half board and have never had a problem with the food. The four of us suffered upset stomaches for the whole two weeks we were there and so bad we rarely drank alcohol.
Entertainment at the hotel consisted of german bingo and was very limited in the resort itself. I was not told that the weather in september was changeable and had to buy jeans and jackets as the first week was very cold. Trainers and jeans - vey cheap, nessebar very quaint and pretty, though difficult to get to as buses often full.
Overall would I go back - never not even if it was free, if I could have come home half way through I would have!!!!!
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: Balkan - July 2007
Opinion submitted in August 2007 by : Joanne (29)
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
This is our third time to Sunny Beach and we still love it as much as the first time. There is just so much happening and nothing in the resort closes so you never get bored.
If you are planning to come here for your holidays dont change loads of money before you set off as you get a much better exchange rate at Crown exchange bureau's which are situated all over the resort and are the approved exchange's used by the major tour operators, and each time you exchange you get a voucher which allows you a better exchange rate the next time you need to exchange money.
Also, beware of the taxi's, when you need to use a taxi, make sure you agree a price before you get in and make sure its not on the meter as the first time we came to Bulgaria we got well ripped off and our taxi ended up costing us about £30!!.
We stayed in the Hotel Globus on a half board basis. The hotel was in the heart of the resort and a stones throw away from the beach. The breakfasts in the hotel were the same every single day but the evening meals were very nice, got some local dishes.
We were well impressed with our room (7th Floor Front), it was massive and the views were to die for. You could see right to the other end of the resort.
Although we really liked the Hotel Globus we were not impressed with the tour operator (Balkan Holidays).
Firstly prior to our departure we received a letter telling us that the return flight to Leeds/Bradford airport would be via Teeside to drop passengers off and also pick passengers up for the return to Bulgaria. Apparently this happens with all the flights from Leeds/Bradford but if you're booking online it fails to even mention this. Secondly if your planning on chilling out on the flight (think again) the plane is so old and noisy and there is no facility to plug earphones in and watch a movie (they dont have any televisions)so you cant drown out the noise from the engines. Also, if your planning any duty free shopping do not use this airline as you wont be able to buy anything english.
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: Balkan Holidays-July 2007
Opinion submitted in July 2007 by : Caroline&Fiona (30s)
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
The Hotel Globus was very clean, airy and spacious with two swimming pools,one outdoor which was extremely crowded from early in the day and a large (freezing)indoor pool opening out onto a large sun terrace where it was easier to find free sun loungers.Just downstairs from the indoor pool is a great snack bar with pleasant staff. Unfortunately however the pleasantries of the hotel(and resort) staff seemed to begin and end at the pool bar. The Bulgarian people rank amongst the most sullen and arrogant i have ever met with not a smile or a please or thank you springing from their lips.Vile individuals.
The resort itself is a mecca of tat and tackiness boasting hundreds of stalls of cheap "goods" and people constantly badgering you to go into their bars in order to serve you watered down cocktails of the lowest ilk. One word of warning: NEVER take a horse ride along the beach as the horses are exhausted and extremely erratic in their behaviour. I was thrown clean off mine and the owner was nowhere to be seen. Also if you are females on your own beware of men asking to buy you drinks;my friend and i believe our drinks were spiked and we have some horrible memories of that night.
The organised trips are well done although the content of some is better than others;the sosopol trip was very good but steer well clear of the varna/petrified forest trip. The so called forest is a sad selection of concrete blocks with a pit stop at a filthy cafe resemblant of something out of a Tarantino movie.
To sum it up: loud, tacky beach resort, loud tacky tourists,reasonable hotel, horrible locals,crummy food and shte booze. TRY SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!!
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: Balkan - Sept 2006
Opinion submitted in October 2006 by : Clare Howlett - Nottinghamshire (61, 59, 35, 33, 10)
Resort Rating: Average
Accommodation Rating: Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
We have just arrived back from Bulgaria. We had a very good holiday due to the people we met. The English/Welsh/Scotish and Irish really mixed well together and we enjoyed all their company. The Hotel was very clean and most of the staff friendly. The hotel food, however, was very poor. If you like boiled egg, fried egg, scrambled egg and stale bread for breakfast you will enjoy this. The evening meal was just as bad. Please check your chicken very carefully before eating as two nights it was still bleeding.
We went the last 2 weeks of September which we wouldn't recommend as the resort is closing down. A lot of the shops were closed, as well as bars. The weather also wasn't too good. We had 7 days of sunshine, 3 days of rain and 4 overcast days. Had to buy a jacket as it was cool at nights and when it rained. Please take your umbrella.
The resort is full of shops selling the same thing. Be carefull you check your goods as a lot of the clothing needs stitching. Some good bargins to be had.
Wasn't impressed with the rep in the hotel. He wasn't interested at all in what the client had to say. He was only interested in selling you tours.
The bowling alley is very modern but beware of the chap serving. He was very rude and made it quite clear he didn't like the english.
All in all we had a good time, spent more than we wanted to due to eating out every day. Highly recommend Djannys at back of market and Shanghi Chinese up near Victoria Palace. We would not go again to Bulgaria and would find it difficult to recommend unless you could guarantee meeting the same crowd as we did.
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: Balkan Holidays September 2006
Opinion submitted in September 2006 by : Gordon King, North lincolnshire
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
The Globus Hotel is ideally situated right on the beach and right in the centre of the promenade that stretches about one and a half miles each way.
The hotel is actually two hotels in one, the eleven story block one on the left hand side and the eight story block one on the right, we were in the eight story one.
The hotel is very clean and tidy, the bed linen and towels being changed every day, being situated were it is in the middle of all the action you would think that there would be a lot of noise, but the hotel is carpeted throughout and very well sound proofed, we were on the third floor and virtually heard nothing all the time we were there, the air conditioning was a godsend as the temperature was in the 20s and 30s all the week we were there, though there was a slight breeze at the night,
We were half board and although a little repetitive the food was quite adequate, the breakfasts being not quite as good as the evening meals, one word of warning, the local people never eat their food hot, and the meals reflect this, sometimes the food was barely warm, but there is a micro wave oven on the table where the food is, so this was a great help.
The part of the hotel we were in had five lifts and there was never any delays, there is also an Olympic size indoor swimming pool on the second floor, though as far as I could see this was never used as the shallow end was over six foot deep, which I thought was very unusable to anybody under six foot six, I only did see two people in it the whole time we were there, although there is a very large outdoor pool at the front of the hotel.
As for the resort, I would consider it one of the best beach resorts I have ever been to,
As I could see there wasn't a whole lot of trips to go on, the one place we did go to twice was Nessebar which we did find a nice quiet resort after the hustle of sunny beach, but if you do go, don't go with the organized tours, as I understand are quite expensive, we caught the local bus at the end of the main street from the beach near the Go Go Girls sign, the cost was about 20p each way.
The whole resort is packed full of stalls selling everything from designer watches to designer clothes, and yes we all know that they are fakes but believe me, the quality is a good as I've ever seen, including the real thing.
We were half board but still had two meals out, both at the Steak House, which were brilliant, and the best bar we found was the Maestro, with a group, magician and a Elvis impersonator most nights, beer around 80p with cocktails about £1.
My party and I booked this holiday as a late offer, booking on the Wednesday and flying out of Humberside Airport on the Sunday, we were a bit dubious about going with Balkan Holidays after reading some of the reports on Holidays Uncovered, about the hotels and the planes, but believe me they did us proud, as far as we could see we got one of the best, if not the best hotels, placed in the best position in the whole resort, flying back to Humberside Airport we had to circle around for one quarter of a hour because of fog, when we did eventfully land the aircraft wheels were only inches off the runway before you could see it, the fog still being that thick, believe me I've had rougher landing in total sunshine. Well done to the pilot
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: Balkan Holidays - September 2006
Opinion submitted in September 2006 by : 74, 57, 56, 26.
Resort Rating: Good
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW.We booked our holiday a week before but as my Mum and Dad had been the year before i was half prepared already.
The hotel Globus is a lovely hotel, the bar staff, Waiters and maids are all very friendly. The rooms are lovely and very spacious and spotlessy clean, the maids come in everyday, hoovering the carpet and providing clean white towels everyday, on one occasion the maid even folded the clothes i had left on the couch neatly and placed them on the table, putting me completely to shame. The food in the hotel wasn't the best i had tasted but it was edible, although there wasn't much choice. we went on Two trips, the jeep safari and Khan's tent cabaret, the jeep safari was enjoyable driving along bumpy dirt tracks but the first village we stopped at was advertised as having ostrich's which it did, but it also had a baboon named Chico, who's home was a 5ft by 4ft cage, it broke my heart so i please ask you not to go on this trip don't give these people a reason to keep this poor animal caged, there was also a kangeroo and two peacocks along with various chickens and other fowl all locked in cages, it made me feel sick.
The cabaret however was amazing, i urge you to go on this trip it was just fantastic, there were Moulin Rouge esq dancers, fire eaters, acrobats, contortionists, the food served wasn't fantastic but the show more than made up for it.
The resort itself was okay, not much to do if you don't like shopping or sun bathing. After dark the children come out begging but i was told by one woman that after she gave one little girl money she was seen giving it to an older man with a mobile phone who would then send her back out. If you find yourself peckinsh then try the chicken kebabs and the potatos from the vendors along the strip, they are very tasty, and DO NOT change your money anywhere else other than hotels or banks the exchanges along the strip are offering tempting rates but they are BOGUS giving FAKE NOTES. Oh and men on their own along the strip at night watch your wallets.
All in all i had a good holiday and i would go again.
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: Balkan Holidays - Aug 2006
Opinion submitted in December 2006 by : Claire, Gary and Kian (25,23 and 22months)
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
This was our first time to Bulgaria and we weren't sure what to expect.
We had booked a late deal for a week and got it really cheap.
The airline Balkan is really out dated and the flight was not good at all.
The planes are really small and so awkard especially when you have a toddler sitting on your knee.
On arrival to the hotel we were taking by porter to our room. The rooms are really clean and spacious and the maids come in every day.
We were B and B basis and i would not recommend half board as its so cheap to eat out and the food in the hotel is really basic.
The hotel is bang in the centre of the resort and in the middle of Aug it was really busy on a night. We had a buggy and it was quite difficult to get about as so many people walking about.
It can be noisy right up until midnight. We had a pool view which looks onto the main street and the beach and i would recommend this as its nice to sit out on your balcony and watch whats going on.
We really enjoyed Sunny Beach but i wouldn't recommend it for older kids as there is not much to do. The place is full of bars, restaurants and shops and it is really cheap but its going to the Euro in 2007.
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: Balkan Holidays-August 2006
Opinion submitted in August 2006 by : D Gray - North Yorkshire (38, 38 ,8)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
After reading some of the reviews we were a bit nervous!! We booked it only a week before we went but in general we had a very good time!!.
Balkan Airlines are a bit dated with the planes are over 30 years old and have certainly seen better days!. Try to not get sat at the back of the plane its very noisy with the engines!!!. The toilet smelt and the door would not shut. As mentioned by others there was no form of entertainment on the plane (although my husband said the Bulgarian Air Hostess was eye entertainment for him!) but remember you are only on the plane for 3 hours and it does get you there!!!. The food was slices of ham and cheese, tomato and cucumber, biscuit and a bread bun but personally we enjoyed it!.
Borgas Airport is a complete nightmare going and coming back. As soon as you land you need to get your passport stamped at immigration....the queue is terrible..we waited over an hour but thought at least our luggage would be foing round the carousel...wrong!!. When we got to arrivals it was chaos. There are only 3 carosels but lots of planes landed. It was hot, cramped and awful. Waiting another 30 minutes before our flight details came on a screen to tell us what carousel to go to we then waited another 30 minutes before it moved and it kept breaking down.... eventually 5 passengers including my husband dragged each case above their heads so people could claim them!.
When we eventually got out the ride to the resort on the bus was ok.
We got to Hotel Globus in the middle of the night and our first impressions were that we have choosen well!. The hotel is in 2 seperate buildings (Block A & B) we were in block B. Check in was straight forward and was shown to our room by a porter. The room was large, my son did have a camp bed but it was totally acceptable. The bathroom was fully tiled and had a proper shower cubicle. The balcony had chairs and a table to sit out on. The room was very clean and the furniture, bedding and towells of a very good standard. It was now 3.30pm but we decided to try out the hotels 24 hour bar. This was when we noticed how clean the whole hotel is. It is the cleanest hotel I have stayed in. Our room was cleaned every day with clean towels and bedding.....even had fresh roses left in a vase by my bedside!! The bar staff were very friendly and I also found the reception staff very friendly in block B all the way through our stay. Please make sure you get a safety deposit box its about £10.00 a week but certainly worth it.
I cant say to much about the food in the hotel as we were staying B&B and we only made breakfast twice but when there it seemed ok. 3 types of ceral, scrambled boiled and fried eggs, grilled tomatoes, spicy hot sasuage. Lots of bread jams etc, cold meats etc so caters for everyone. The coffee is Necafe and really nice!. Speaking to other guests who were on half board they did say the food was basic but eatable.
Sunny beach is a lovely resort and as people said a bit like blackpool!!. If you want a secluded quiet holiday this is not the place for you. It is still very cheap. Beer was around 50p. Most bars have 2 for 1 on beer and cocktails all evening (including the hotel bars) so its really cheap. The food is lovely. We found a small cafe style restaurant called the bananna (turn left onto the main promenade outside the hotel and walk along for 5 minutes its on the same side as the hotel) it does not look much from the outside but we ate there a few times and never spent over £10.00 including rounds of drinks!!. We also tried other restaurants and could not fault any. Children are well catered for and we found that all the hotes would do half portions of any meals for our son. We also loved the chicken kebabs and jacket potatoes that were sold right opposite the hotel on the front....and had one about 1pm most nights!!
The beach area is lovely but you do have to pay for the sunbeds but you dont at the Globus. The weather was fantastic and we found the Bulgarian people very friendly and helpful.
There were a few things that could be improved at the hotel....we were on the 5th floor of Block 2 with a stunning beach view. However we also had the view of the Nightclub called Beach Mania which is on the beach. The music does not stop until 3am!!!...and restatrts at 8.00am now it was not a major problem for us as we were not going to bed ourselves till 1-2am but if you have young children or are early to bed people it will be a major problem. People did complain but the hotel really could not do much (it is double glazed!!) and were asking people to ring the police as they were the only ones who could do something. Sunny Beach bars are suppose to turn the music down at 12.00 but this is not happening and the hotels seem to be in a major battle with the bars about it.
Another problem for us is we missed the night entertainment in the hotel. We normally go all inclusive so have had great night entertainment but there is none at all in the hotel. We made some friends on our first day so were lucky to stay by the pool bar with them every night but if we had not met I think it could have been a bit boring!
The other major problem was the sunbeds there are signs saying dont leave towels on them.....but unless you were down by 7.00 in the morning you had no chance of getting a sunbed!. It was so annoying to see sunbeds with towells on them and not being used until 3.00 in the afternoon after people had come back from the beach. There is a major shortage of sunbeds and some sort of system needs to be put in place.
There are other nationalities in this hotel mainly german, croatian and romanian. On our last day there seemed to be a school holiday of about 50 romanian 15 year old girls. They took over the pool area and had no regard for other holidaymakers....glad it was our last day but would love to know how other holiday makers coped!!
Overall a lovely holiday, I would certainly go back to Bulgaria and stay at Sunny Beach and the Globus (but would ask for a room at the back!!). Just go B&B as there is so many places to eat out and so cheap....if you are going remember Bulgaria is an up and coming country and are certainly trying their best!!...ENJOY!!
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: Balkan Holidays- Jul 2006
Opinion submitted in August 2006 by : Adele Fitchett- Wirral (42,12,10)
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Opinion:
Just returned from Sunny Beach. It was our first visit to Bulgaria. Overall we had a very good holiday.
The Hotel Globus was in an excellent location, right at the centre of things,and the rooms were very clean and spacious. We were lucky to get a family suite, with 2 bedrooms with a connecting door. This gave my 12 year old son and me a bit of privacy! The pool is great and there is plenty to do at the hotel and the resort. However, set your alarm for the early sun bed reserving fiasco.
Be warned, the food is very disappointing. Chanoves, across the road do good kebabs and pizzas and the 'castle' restaurant was also excellent. The Palace next to Chanoves was popular but the spaghetti dish I had was dreadful! A trip to Nessebar is a must and the taxi driver, linked with the hotel, who took us there was so friendly and informative.We visited the waterpark at Sunny Beach, which the children thoroughly enjoyed. Two evenings we went to the Gypsy Camp and Khan's Tent. Both were very good evenings,but the children preferred the Gypsy Camp, however on the down side we had exactly the same meal on both occasions.
Overall we had a super time and would go again.
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Thomson Holidays
Direct) Thomson Holidays
- June 2006
Opinion submitted in July 2006 by : Tracey Smith - Bristol (41)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
I must say I went on this holiday on my own, It was quite lonely to begin with, on the evening especially. Soon I was taken care of by the entertainment Team, Lou & Johney, & a Childs rep Connie, & a few others. They made me feel so welcome to join them on the evenings, even after they had finished work,(even on their evening off) going to local bars & several times to a local night club. These people made a great big difference to my holiday, must say a BIG THANK YOU to you all especially LOU.
The beach is very nice, plenty of sunbeds, but you do have to pay for them. If you are hungry whilst on the beach there are quite alot of bar from which you can purchase food, I found a really nice place to buy Jacket potatoes for only 5lev (our money roughly £2) including fillings. Only complaint really about the beach is you get the local traders always coming around trying to sell you beer or fruit etc, which you could go & purchase cheeper in the shops.
The hotel Globus was very clean, always someone cleaning somewhere. Same with your room, they were well presented. If you want a bit of piece & quite on an evening then I would advise you to have a room at the back of the hotel as the front over looking the beach has all the bars etc, which music carries on way til the early morning (6.30ish). They have a good size swimming pool indoors for those who like to exercise by swimming. I f you like your drink then the happy hour (6pm till 2am)in the hotel was very cheep, as well as the bars around who happy hour varied on time & what was on offer for that.
The hotel resturant food wasn't to bad, but just as the week goes on you tend to find your eating the same thing. At evening meal time you are not provided with drinks free, but they will sale you wine, water etc, just one thing to say if you have a large family & you chose to purchase water with your meal then make sure you buy a large bottle of water to share, not a small one each, as it cost 2 lev for a small bottle & 3 lev for a large bottle. Same as if you are on your own buy a large bottle of water & ask them to bring it out for you on the following evenings, just as they do with peoples bottles of wine.
Another complaint is about using toilets outside of your hotel, you are expected to pay every time you want to use one, fair play there are lots of places that yes does keep the toilets clean, but some that didn't & you still had to pay. If you had a large family then adding the cost up over the holiday, well you might not want to.
Overall I had a very good time on my holiday, very cheep over there, but with them changing to the EURO next year, things may change but maybe not straight away, maybe by 2008.
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Thomas Cook Direct) Thomas Cook-JUNE 2006
Opinion submitted in July 2006 by : RONNIE-LORRAINE 41-46
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Opinion:
Just arrived back from sunny beach brill holiday stayed in the hotel globus very clean staff brillant reception staff not very cheery but the bar staff were brill tanya and doby were the best love a good laugh will definetly be back next year.
the food was better than last year when we stayed at the park hotel continental which looked like a butlins holiday chalet.went to nessibar it was a gd day out plenty to do there as the exscursions are value for money but don't go on the traditional night that is crp.hotel globus is the 1 for us right on the beach.
night life and restraunts are brill to a lot to do at nite but watch as there are people out with snakes and croc.s for you to get pictures of and the is also a dancing bear which i thought was crule.don't fly with balkan holiday's there is no tv or radio on board and the meal(ha ha)a bit lettuce;cheese cold meat and biscuit which a thought was terrible so if you do fly with them please take a pack lunch with you .
hope you a have time like we did.ronnie-lorraine from fife.
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: Balkan Holidays, July 2006
Opinion submitted in July 2006 by : 2 x 50 year olds
Resort Rating: Average
Accommodation Rating: Below Average
My/Our Holiday Review:
Booked Globus hotel and was extremely disappointed.
Previously stayed at Chaika Beach which was wonderful. I would not rate the GLobus as 4 star+ as Balkan do. Room basic (no bath) no tariff for fridge, no telephone list for contacting reception, kitchen etc. No advise on whether room service is available. Reception staff extremely sullen and unhelpful. Bar and room attendants were very nice and could not fault them.
Food at breakfast (went once that was enough!) was terrible! Eggs, eggs and more eggs, badly presented and they give you side plates iinstead of dinner plates to eat from!
Would not recommend Globus as a 4star + hotel whatsoever, it might manage to scrape into a 3 star. Balkan airways ought to re-think their food on the flights also as cheese and ham is getting a bit boring! Also paid Balkan £20 for extra leg room seats which were non existent. Would not fly Balkan again or indeed go to Globus. In fact unless you're into partying Sunny Beach is not for you. Half the beach has been eaten away with cafes/bars/stalls/shops, which it doesn't show you in the brochures so beware, the beautiful Sunny Beach which was there 2-3 years ago is no longer.
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: McEwan - June 2006
Opinion submitted in July 2006 by : David McEwan - Manchester (73,72)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
Just back from a fantastic holiday at the Globus Hotel, Sunny Beach. Hotel is emmaculate and the staff very friendly. We had a maid who cleaned our room called Zebrenka (I think that is spelt right) and she was absolutely fantistic. She actually cried when we were leaving - my husband did learn a few words of Bulgarian from her which made her very happy. She was such a lovely lady.
The food at breakfast is not fantastic, but there is a good choice (the bacon is not very good) and you have no reason to go away hungry. We were only on bed and breakfast so we cannot comment on the evening meal.
We dined out each night at some great restaurants, one in particular,I can't quite remember the name but it was on the promenade to the left as you came out of the hotel, we had a lovely meal and the entertainment was typically Bulgarian, with dancers, singers and a Bulgarian walking on hot ashes. A fantastic night. Another great night was Khans Tent. Situated high up the view was spectacular and the venue superb. However, we did not go with the trip we booked a taxi (and arranged for him to come back for us) and we had a great meal. When you go on the trip you have a set meal, either chicken or pork which looked fine, but there are so many trips going they have to be organised and they are extremely organised. The last evening trip we went on, again on our own by taxi, was the Gypsy Camp which was also a very good night. They entertained the children, professionally, for nearly an hour prior to the show for the adults, which was an extremely good show.
We travelled quite extensively whilst in Bulgaria, going to Nessebar, Bourgas, Sozopol, Varna, and Pomerie all on the local transport from the local bus station. We went on one trip with the local agent which was good, but the weather changed when we go the mountains and it rained heavily so we were not able to go on the chair life. A bit disappointed with this trip. The crystal factory, also, we think the shop on the main boulevard in Sunny Beach offered more variety and the prices are very good. We bought two beautiful pieces of crystal here. I must mention Nessebar again, it is beautiful, especially the old part. It is traditional the people are great, very friendly. It is a place we wouldn't mind staying - a bit quieter than Sunny Beach.
Although Sunny Beach is very busy, the promenade full of shops, bars and loud music, it does switch off at approximately midnight and the soundproofing in the hotel room was great, we weren't kept awake at all.
A return visit is definitely on the cards.
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: Balkan June 2006
Opinion submitted in June 2006 by : Arnie 29, Roseann 33, Ann Marie 30, Donald 36
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
Just got back from our first holiday in Bulgaria. Sunny Beach is a large resort lots of shops, bars etc, the beach is very nice. Hotel Globus is a very good hotel, clean tidy rooms, would stay there again.
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Balkan Discounts) Balkan October 2005
Opinion submitted in Oct 2005 by : Tracy Allan -- Perth (42,41,15)
Resort Rating: Poor
Accommodation Rating: Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
Globus Hotel was very clean had one of the family suites but my daughter was sleeping on a chair bed and by the end of the first week had to go to the chemist to get pain relief for a sore back. The food was discusting we were eating only chips and a bit of salad by the end of the holiday.
First three days in resort were fine but after that everything in sunny bech started to shut down including the facilities in the hotel. Complained to Balkans rep to be told that the travel agent who sold us the holiday should have told us that the resort would start to close everything down on the 5th Oct instead of the 25th that we were told(as if they would tell you that after taking nearly £2000 for the holiday) If there had been spaces on the Glasgow flight at the end of the first week of our holiday I would have gladly packed up and came home.
We had English and German people in our hotel who all said the same as us. I would never go back to Bulgaria again and for anyone reading this who wants to give it a try then would not recommend Balkan
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Balkan Discounts) Balkan - August 2005
Opinion submitted in Sept 2005 by : Trev and Loz - Lincolnshire (47,34)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
This was our first visit to Bulgaria. We had been looking to come here with a view to investing in property for two years and finally made the trip.
The landscape is breathtaking and, as yet, unspoilt. Everything about it reminded me of Crete twenty years ago. Including Bourgas airport!!
The hotel was large and air conditioned with two pools, bars and a bowling alley. The indoor pool was a bit nippy for a stick like me but my fella loved it as it is huge and ideal for keen swimmers. Not suitable for non swimming kids though as it starts deep and gets deeper.
The accommodation was faultless. Rooms are kept very clean by a team of hardworking ladies. Ours even folded up our clothes (even my mum wouldn't do that!)
The food, well what can I say?, we had a fine dining restaurant in Lincolnshire, but didn't go there expecting English high standards. You get what you pay for. You wouldn't get two nights in a four star restaurant with breakfast and evening meal in england for £300 never mind a week. The food was fine though and we ate in a couple of nights. Oodles of bars and restaurants to choose from if you decide you can't handle the food. The two opposite the Globus on the beach road are pretty good. Chanove has a hog roast and open kitchen which smells fab we ate there twice. The one next door does wonderful seafood pasta but the steaks are pap. Bulgarians don't really have skilled butchers. With all the pig roasts going on, how come the globus couldn't get any bacon for brekkie? If you time your night out well you should be able to go on a lengthy pub crawl on happy hours buying 2 for 1 all night.
The resort is fairly lively. Something for everyone. Don't be put off by the peddlers, beggers and whores. I found the chained up brown bear quite disturbing. However the beach is beautiful and scenery magnificent.
Overall our first visit was a success. We found the Bulgarians really friendly. We went the whole hog and tried the language, it is amazing how much a face can light up because you try to say thank you (very badly) in their own language. We took a house hunting trip up coast towards Varna and found the people there even friendlier. We intend to return as soon as possible.
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Balkan Discounts) Balkan Holidays - August 2005
Opinion submitted in Aug 2005 by : Frank,Tracy,Beth+Kelsey Rounding-Leeds(46,40,12,9)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
What more can we say A FANTASTIC HOLIDAY no bad comments about anything.100% clean hotel,friendly staff and in our opinion food was of a good standard ,not cold liked we'd read about, even our children who are the most fussiest eaters found something to fill them up (excellent ice cream).Sunbeds around the pool always available not claimed by the reservation towels.
Rep was more than helpful and warned you about the do's and don'ts.
Aqua water park NOT for the faint hearted but a brilliant day out,Khans tent food eatable but not brill,the entertainment made up for that,dolphin show not to be missed but Varna a little disappointing not much to do or see.
Don't forget Bulgaria is only 12 years out of communism and the people are really trying to build up the resort so should be given a chance to improve any minor faults.
WE WILL DEFINITELY BE BACK TO THE GLOBUS A.S.A.P.
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: bulkin july 2005
Opinion submitted in Aug 2005 by : alan.t (41,36,8,4)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
been back from sunnybeach a month now. the resort is very good if you dont have young children ther is plenty of shops on the beach front. although it gives you the feeling of the bill murry movie (groundhog day)you get the feeling you done it all before. the food in the hotel was quite good although at breakfast time was a bit of a stampeed (arms and legs every where)drinks are very cheap 24hour bar.if you want to venture out of the hotel ther is plenty of places to eat i recomend the four towers (but thats me)the weather is very unpredictable when it rains it rains but when the sun comes out get the suncream on quick or you will fry.
as for things to do you might want to try the gypsy camp very good entertainment for all ages.also the bourgas shop and wine taesting trip is quite good. (cheap gold)nessebar is a must very nice place cant think of any thing else to say apart from (dont get so drunk that you dont know what your doing cos you may lose a few things as i did .got my gold chain and my glasses nicked of me when i fell asleep on the baeach drunk (my own fault realy)i wont do that again in a hurry .
anyway dont let me put you off going there it is a very nice place.
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Balkan Discounts) Balkan Holidays - July 2005
Opinion submitted in July 2005 by : Les Backelandt 43 Jenny Moone 55 George and Annn Bridgart 65
Resort Rating: Below Average
Accommodation Rating: Average
My/Our Holiday Review:
Just returned from Globus in Sunny Beach.Hotel appeared clean and rooms quite large but I would dispute the 4* rating having stayed at a superb 4* in Ibiza earlier this year.The food ,although just about edible, leaves an awful lot to be desired and the waiting staff do not appear to like it if you do not have a drink with your meal.( Indeed the whole reason for the waiting staff appeared to be to look for tips be it in the numerous bars or the restaurant).Even when eating out the food was sub standard with the possible exception of the Flower Pub and The Tropicana ( although even here we had to send a steak back as it was clearly off.)If you like a cheap version of the worst of Blackpool then Sunny Beach is the place for you.
The promenade is awash with stalls selling all manner of tacky tourist rubbish and is extremely noisy at night.Food and drink ( Bulgarian) is very cheap with virtually all hotels and bars offering a happy hour ranging from 1 to 8 hours where they offer the locally produced beer, wines and spirits for half price, ( About 60p per litre local beer and very nice it is too.) Smokers beware. YOU CANNOT GET ENGLISH CIGARETTES LEGALLY IN BULGARIA!!. The ones you will come across on the street are turkish copies and VERY strong . Try Victory Blue. 55p per packet and similar to english brands.Weather was variable ranging from hot sun to very heavy thunderstorms.
Sunbathers beware. Unless you are prepared to get up at 5 am then you have no chance of a sunbed by the pool and sunbathing on the beach is frequently interrupted by a variety of street sellers.All in all I was lokng for a relaxing holiday and was very disappointed as was the rest of our party.The displeasure with the holiday was further enhanced by a one and a half hour delay at the totaly unsuitable Bourgas Airport for which no explanation was offered despite numerous enquiries to the " information desk manned by nine people who appeared to have no interest in their work or the passengers.
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Balkan Discounts) Balkan - June 26th 2005
Opinion submitted in July 2005 by : Jean Richard, Ivy (47, 50, 78)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
Had a really good holiday in Bulgaria. The hotel was lovely, all the staff friendly and we did not have any problems with the mini bar in the room. The breakfast was a bit samey but quite eatable. I just wish they had croissants, but they did have toast, sausages, eggs, beans and various other things to eat. The evening meals were very good and always varied. Some people were very fussy, but we ate in there every night. We went to northern Bulgaria last year, which was much quieter than Sunny Beach, but Sunny Beach is a lovely place. Our hotel was facing the sea, but we did find it a bit noisy from the bars opposite, and wished we had a room on the back (not facing the sea), which would have been much quieter, but the music stopped round about midnight so it wasn't too bad. All in all we had a great time, the potatoes from spud man opposite Globus was great, as was the pancakes the girl made.
We had some very good meals in "Sea Eyes" restaurant on the front, very good there. If you go to the Globus say hi to Mel who works in cocktail bar front of lounge no. 2. She was a very nice girl, and always helpful.
Went on the Blue Mountains trip, had a very good time, the ride on the chair lift was amazing, and a visit to the crystal factory was enjoyable got myself some nice glasses and a beautiful vase.
Always remember Bulgaria is not Spain, it is completely different. go with an open mind and you will enjoy it. Bye.
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Balkan Discounts) Balkan - June 2005
Opinion submitted in July 2005 by : 18, 19
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
Just back from a week at the globus hotel, The hotel was very clean and lovely inside. Didnt try the food in the hotel because it was that cheap to eat out. Weather was fantastic and the resort itself was great, If you love shopping then youll be in your glory. Its really cheap to eat out and the food was great. Thea beach was lovely and clean. Not much entertainment at night apart from bars and clubs. People over there are so friendly and really lovely. I was absolutely terrified about flying but the flights were just the best. Bourgas airport was busy when he arrived and departed.
Weould definately recommend everyone to go to bulgaria and def the Globus Hotel. I would say to go to Bulgaria before they bring the EU in 2007
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Balkan Discounts) Balkan june 2005
Opinion submitted in July 2005 by : robinsons
Resort Rating: Poor
Accommodation Rating: Poor
My/Our Holiday Review:
well what can i say, the hotel is never a 4 star hotel I would only rate at the most a 3 star.
clean hotel & staff friendly but very badly situated if you like Backpool youll love it hear! so noisy & the hotel has no entertainment very badly designed & the food well thats a story in itself, apparently balkan know they had a problem with the food in this hotel last season & say that it has been rectified however I can assure you that this is not the case. the food is very poor, lack of variety & standard of food leaves little to be desired! this is supposed to be a 4 star hotel serving international guests but unfortunately it is frankly appaling. complained to the Rep & so have other guests!!!! you know when you go abroad if you have germans in the hotel it speaks volumes they dont stand for sub standard services!!!!
we were changed two days before we travelled to this hotel from the Iberostar Sunny Beach well this is more like a 4 star!
anyway resort very tacky lots of fakes i guess some pepole like this but mmmmmmmmmm not us this resort is cheap & nasty !!!!
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Balkan Discounts) Balkan May 2005
Opinion submitted in May 2006 by : Dave, Lynette, Sophie, Emily, (34, 35,9,4) Moreton
Resort Rating: Poor
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
This was our first and quite possibly our last trip to Bulgaria.
We flew with Balkan and although the plane we flew out on seemed like something from the second world war, it got us there on time. luckily ours was the only plane to land when we got there, so we were out of the airport pretty fast and arrived at our hotel within an hour. When we arrived at the Globus we were surprised at the high standards of the hotel. One thing we weren't ready for, was as soon as we got off the coach a porter grabbed all three of our cases and legged it to reception to get us booked in, and then on to our suite (even though I was telling him there was no need, and he pretended he didn't understand me). The reason for this was he knew there was no way I would have any Bulgarian change on me and any tip would have to be a note, (cost me ten levs, and I never saw him again).
We opted for the family suite and it was well worth the extra. It had two bathrooms, one with shower and a huge balcony which was on the side and back of the hotel. Although we were ten floors up with double glazing, we were kept awake some nights by the night clubs and bars playing unbelievably loud music.
The food in the hotel was edible and at times quite nice, but after three days of the same it started to become a little boring. Also most of the time people were waiting for food to be brought out as there seemed to be a constant shortage. From then on we ate out in the evening, but we still ate in the hotel for breakfast. Outside the hotel there are many bars and restaurants, and we tried to eat somewhere different each night. We went to the Villagers yard three times as this was the only authentic Bulgarian restaurant on the seafront, great food, great fire dance show, great price (60 levs for four people with drinks). However we felt we had soon had enough of Bulgarian cuisine.
The people in the shops and markets constantly try to sell you anything fake and tacky, even if you do decide to browse the shop keepers like to stand right in your face, so to be honest although we were there for eleven nights after a week we felt we had had enough of Bulgaria altogether, and that was how a lot of other people we met felt, even the people who weren't first time visitors.
Beware of the reps welcome meeting, It's no different to any other meeting where the rep tries to relieve you of as much cash as possible for day trips. We used the local bus a few times to go to Nessabar which only cost a few pence each. Nessabar is an old town on a small peninsular which is quite authentic Bulgarian, with lots of small narrow cobbled streets and Bulgarian restaurants, bars and tourist shops (well worth a visit, we went there 5 or 6 times).
The best thing we did was hire a car. we were able to go to the places the rep suggested on our own, and realised how much we could have been ripped off by paying him for a visit to zozopol (dirty beach, dirty harbour and not much else) and Varna dolphin show,(dated arena, boring show and very expensive). We went into Varna city which was clean and tidy with great shops and restaurants and We also drove on to Golden Sands which was very claustrophobic and seemed to be ten times worse than Sunny beach. We visited Bourgas city which was an absolute dump.
The price of beer in Bulgaria is very cheap, and we were lucky to have a fridge in the hotel room which we kept stocked with half litre bottles of stella, less than a lev a bottle. After we had walked up and down the prom front a couple of times being hassled by beggars, restaurant touts, bar touts and shop touts we felt we were ready to come home.
Going in May we expected the weather to be a bit like England which wasn't far from what we got. However when it was sunny it was hot, but when it rained it absolutely poured and the thunder and lightning was a bit scarey for the kids, although it did provide a good light show at night when we were stuck in. If your going to go to Bulgaria then Sunny Beach would be your best bet and if you like places like Blackpool and Benidorm then this is the place for you. However we felt it was a bit like how the late John Peel described stratford upon avon, it's somewhere you want to visit but once you've been there you don't want to go again.
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Balkan Discounts) Balkan Holidays- May 2005
Opinion submitted in June 2005 by : Helen, Paul and Joshua
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
Globus Hotel was absolutely lovely and we were very pleased with it, the staff were great, the rooms were brilliant and the pool was wonderful not to mention the view we had from our balcony!!!
A lot of other people who were staying at the same hotel complained because they said the pool area was too close to the main street and people walking past could see in- we didn't find this at all a problem and most of the hotels were like this. Our little boy is 4 and he really loved the pool and made lots of new friends.
The food was very cheap and we were spoilt for choice for which restaurant to eat out at. We were actually staying half board but we never ate in the hotel once as we had heard the food was basic and the restaurants were so cheap it didn't matter.
Clothes were cheap too but i'd recommened shopping around because some are better quality than others.
The only down side to this holiday was the weather as a few days when we first got there it rained and we found there was not much to do to keep you entertained when it was bad weather. The hotel did have an indoor pool but it was very deep all the way around with no shallow area- no good for kids. We also saw dancing bears too which was awlful as they didn't look very well looked after and were all chained up and looked so ill.
Hope this doesn't put you off going as it's a lovely resort and a fab hotel
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Balkan Discounts) Balkan - 2005
Opinion submitted in July 2005 by : Angie Carr (29) Nicky Henderson (28) Daisy (10)
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
The Globus Hotel is in the perfect location, in the middle of the beach and close to all bars etc. Hotel is very clean, staff friendly, would highly recommend. You may read some bad reviews about the food but you have to keep in mind you are in another country - the Bulgarians eat their food warm and so will you. The hotel food at breakfast was brilliant, they had everything you could wish for. Evening meal was ok, pleanty of choice but bit same-old-same-old after a few days. To eat out is really cheap so I wouldn't let this put you off the hotel.
Expect to pay less than £10 for 3 meals (inc bottle of wine & soft drinks). We paid £15 one night for 4 x meals, 1 x curry, 1 x prawn crackers 2 x pints lager 1x pint fresh orange - and that was expensive! Best value has to be the salads, big enough for a meal and less than £1 each. Beer about 30p, bottle of wine £1.80, kebab 90p. Would recommend any of the 'Happy' restaurants. Must have are the take-a-way pancakes and the jacket spuds both about £1 each and devine! Oh whislt on the suject of food I forgot to mention the ice-cream, oh my word a total must!!!
Sunny Beach it's self is very commecrial. It is full of bars, shops, restaurants and hotels, again all very nice but there is very little feel of Bulgaria about the place. If you are looking for a clean, safe, friendly place you have found it - as long as you don't mind the lack of culture that is. We did the usual boat trip, hired scooters and jet-skis etc but we also came down the Blue Mountains on a chair-lift, now that was different! Evening entertainment can be found in most bars but tends to be same acts in different bars at different times. Find 'Ali-Barbar' at the Majestic (I think that's what it was called, is right on the front opposite the 'Happy Duck' bar) he is great with the kids. Give Millies British Bar a miss (under the Neptune Hotel), is not very clean though they try their best to amuse the kids.
Would take the time to visit Varna but probably not Bouragas. Nessabar is very different, probably the most Bulgarian of the lot, and only a few mins. down the road.
Did we enjoy the place? Well we have just booked two weeks in Golden Sands resort for next year so the answer must be yes!
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Hotel Globus 4* plus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Balkan Discounts) Balkan - Oct '04
Opinion submitted in Oct 2004 by : BigJim (34,28,7)
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
Just back from a 1 week holiday(10th-17th oct). After having our hotel changed twice, three days notice before we flew out.
The Hotel Globus rooms and very spacious, maids clean the room every day (if you want a long lie the maid will wait till you are out of your room before they go in).
Meals in the hotel are disgusting, but you can go to some restuarants that are still opened, the Tropicana, Pizza Palace at cheap prices.
We also found as this was the last week of the season everything was closing down not much to choose from eating wise. The markets were v.good but they were jumping on you to make a sale.
The weather was freezing for this time of year (we were told it would be in the 70's).
At night there was no entertainment in the hotel, we found a british bar Millies, not far from our hotel with a magician, kiddie quizes and karaoke for the adults which we all enjoyed.
Watch out for the beggars and taxis drivers they will con you.
A trip to Nessebar is a must it is an old fishing village with some old ruins and an indoor market v.cheap too
Would go back to bulgaria but in a warmer climate.
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Balkan Discounts) Balkan Holidays - September 2004
Opinion submitted in Sept 2004 by : Jean Hedley - Gateshead (49, 49)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
Have just returned from two weeks in Sunny Beach and had an absolutely wonderful time. Stayed in the Globus Hotel, it was excellent with large clean rooms and friendly staff.
Many of the Brits over there were complaining about the food but to be honest my husband and I found it perfectly edible and well presented - albeit a little monotonous. The hotels have been catering to the slavonic countries for years and the Brits are only beginning to get a foothold so you've got to give them a chance. We found the food very similar to what we had in Tunisia. In fact my husband - who often suffers from tummy upsets when we're abroad - had no problems whatsoever. The food outside the hotels is excellent and we ate out several times to provide a bit variety. We generally just chose a restaurant 'at randpm' and we never had a bad meal. A two course mean for two plus a couple of beers and bottle of wine cost less than £20 and we were generally able to find a delicious lunch for £5 - £6 with drinks. I'd especially recommend Raffaelos Italian restaurant (next to the Arizona Steak House) and the Chanove opposite the Globus. Also the kiosk opposite the Globus made some of the best baked potatoes I've ever had. If you fancy a toasted sandwich one day I'd recommend the Sea Eyes Restaurant - but be warned the toasties are about a foot long and I'm not kidding!!
For trips out I'd recommend Nessabar - but I'd suggest you take the boat rather than the bus as it's a much more pleasant experience. You can also get the road train to Nessabar or, if you're feeling energetic, it's only about a 40 minute walk from the south end of the beach. Bourgas is wel worth a visit for the shopping but be prepared for the pushing and shoving at the bus stop - no polite English queuing here.
I must admit I'd been a little worried about Bulgaria before we went becasue of some of the comments I'd read on various websites - but I'd been prepared to blame my husband as Bulgaria was his idea. I'm happy to say, however, that none of my fears were realised and my husband and I enjoyed ourselves so much we're already planning our return visit.
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Balkan Discounts) Balkan - September 2004
Opinion submitted in Sept 2004 by : Keith & Christine (50,47)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
Hotel superb,great position, great facilities,bit noisy at night from bars in surrounding area but you get used to it after a few days.
Food however just about edible, if you like cold fried eggs for breakfast this is the place for you, evening meal not alot better,only just warm,don't let this put you off this hotel though,it costs so little to eat out & as I said before the hotel itself is superb.Beach great always a nice breeze to cool you down.Try the jet ski 30lev for 10 mins great fun.Eating out try the beefsteak at Bistro Billy £5 & the chicken skewer £2.80 excellent.
We would recommend the Globus to anyone.... just watch the food.
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Balkan Discounts) Balkan Holidays July/August 2004
Opinion submitted in Aug 2004 by : Margaret-Herts (44,42,15,13)
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
We enjoyed a super holiday in Sunny Beach.
A good walk along the front to the point where all the new hotels are being built and you will find yourself at Franky's place where we had two excellent meals and complimentary first drinks. 'Chanove' opposite the Globus has a really good band and other traditional dancers and a superb young couple doing display Latin/Ballroom dancing a very enjoyable and entertaining night out. The food is pretty good here too. The Bulgarian people were incredibly friendly they don't over greet you but if you have enjoyed your meal and say so they are genuinely pleased and very warm towards you.
The hotel was excellent the cleaners super efficient a couple of minor problems with the ammenities were quickly dealt with. You need to spend a little time getting familiar with the layout as the indoor pool is upstairs and next to it a lovely quite sunbathing area with two dishy barmen serving drinks no need to get up the service comes to you. One major problem for us was the noise from an adjacent bar 'Amigo' but a quick trip to the pharmacy and 4 sets of earplugs it was sorted! Anyhow the music miraculously gets turned down at 12:30 'ish so if you are a night owl it may not bother you.
Take an emplty suitcase for there are so many bargains to be had, Bourgas is only very slightly cheaper so if your feeling lazy you could do all your shopping in Sunny Beach, shoes, bags, clothes, gorgeous crystal and even jewellry are a snip of what you'd pay in the UK. The Balkan Rep was superb really trying to save you money and point out the dodgy currency exchanges along the front (avoid them at all costs!).
The sea was warm constant depth for a long range and no scary creatures well worth a trip onto the beach which is soft golden sand. Go to Bulgaria now before everyone else finds out but be warned they are very poor relative to the UK so book the best hotel you can reasonably afford you won't spend that much when you are there as everything is so cheap e.g Cocktails before dinner, 3 course meal with several soft drinks, spirits and beers and coffee the most we paid for 4 was £50 and they provide entertainment.
Good Luck and enjoy
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Balkan Discounts) Balkan Holidays - July 2004
Opinion submitted in Aug 2004 by : Julie Hibbert - Chester 33,35,4,6,42 and 16
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
Hotel was excellent although it was the traditional english versus everyone else first thing in the morning racing for the sunbeds at 6.30am!
Hotel itself was great from porters to maids, (the maid even waited for us to get up each morning and CAME back to clean the room later!).
Food was quite good although we only made breakfast twice but dinner was fairly good! Massage is excellent that can be done around the pool area! The resort was excellent with plenty to do for all ages, a lot of bars cater for children with nearby play areas etc... Taxi's were very cheap and reasonable as was horse and cart rides around the resort. Be aware of buying cigarrettes over there as they are stronger than the english version, (as made in Turkey). The "ladies of the night" also appear at about midnight but only approach lonesome males.
Food outside the hotels is excellent as well as the famous baked potatoes that have to be tried - meal in themselves! The original MacDonalds etc are there too. The flight going and coming back wasn't too bad although Balkan could do with updating their planes!
All together it was a GREAT holidat and we hope to go back some time and wished we has not waited so long to go!
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Balkan Discounts) Balkan Holidays June 2004
Opinion submitted in Aug 2004 by : Stewart Graham
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
Had a great 2 week stay in Sunny beach. The Globus is a very clean, spacious hotel and the rooms were cleaned daily. The restaurant served no frills food and it was a bit samey every day, but it was edible and we only eat out on a couple of occasions. The breakfasts were very basic but if you like eggs you will enjoy the Globus.
The resort itself was clean and I never once saw any cockroaches or mosquitoes. It is still very cheap and I'd not hesitate to go back.
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: dawson & sanderson. june 2004
Opinion submitted in July 2004 by : john & nora. Teesside 68, 58
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
Sunny Beach,! great. Globus hotel,! cant fault it, but the food in the hotel, diabolical.and always watch your change when using the hotel bar. The cable lift up to the Blue mountains is something not to be missed and although Khans tent and the Dolphin are good, they are never quite the same second time round,
our only real complaint was the airport at bourgas it was an absolute nightmare. Late transfere buses,passengers from about eight flights all trying to get through one doorway, 200 plus passengers for teesside trying to check into one desk with a young women with a chip on her shoulder followed by hundreds trying to get through passport control with an arragant controler. Bulgaria is a wonderful place to visit and have a good holiday but, dont travel bulkan air and where possible try to stay b&b. 3* plus min.
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Hotel Globus - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Balkan Discounts) Balkan - May 2004
Opinion submitted in June 2004 by : The Coleshill Family 36,33,11&7
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
This is the 2nd year we have travelled to Sunny Beach in Bulgaria. In 2003 we stayed at the hotel Hritazima. The hotel was at that time a 3star. We had a lovely time but the meals were pretty bland with not much variation. We decided that when we went this year (May 2004) we would go for a better hotel and chose the Globas which is a 4star+ hotel. We travelled by Balkan which again was on an old plane with a cheese/ham and a small salad meal (not very exciting.
When we arrived at the Globas we were very impressed they checked us in at the reception and we were surprised that the family room we had paid for was infact two very large adjoining rooms, both lovely furnished with large bathrooms with hairdryer and even telephones in them. The rooms appeared to be newly decorated and complete with airconditioning, fridge, telly etc. The bedding was changed regulary as were the towels. The cleaning staff even folded our childrens clothes and left everything lovely for us when we returned from the pool. The hotel has an indoor and outdoor pool which were both lovely, except depth markings are very hard to see. The only complaint we could make from this hotel was the food. Breakfast was either fried egg, boiled egg, scrambled egg anything to do with egg, toast or pastry or meat. The evening meal was not very good and wasnt very hot. There was not much to choose from and was very basic. This didnt cause any problems for us as to have meals out it is very cheap as is the beer and cocktails.
We enjoyed it as did our children and would recommend if you are looking for a holiday with a difference to give it a go.
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Golden Beach Apartments - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: Balkan Holidays - July 2007
Opinion submitted in July 2007 by : Kevin Todd - York (43 , 46 , 16 , 16 )
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
We were given these apartments as a last minute change due to a problem with our original booking and not having seen them in any brochure or read any reviews were a little worried what they would be like.
If you find them in next years brochure do yourself a favour and book them, they were outstanding.
The complex is brand new this year with some rooms being owned privately.
We booked two one bedroom apartments as we had two teenagers with us and they were finished to a very high standard.
Each living room had a comfy sofa and chair, table and four chairs, tv in living and bedroom, fitted kitchen including kettle,toaster,oven,hob,fridge plus a decent hair dryer.
The bathrooms are large and well appointed wet room shower types with a constant supply of independant hot water.
All apartments were air conditioned with double glazing througout,meaning what little noise there was on an evening could not be heard at all.
Our apartment had two good sized balconies,whilst our teenagers pool view room had one lovely big balcony.
The staff in the bar and restaurant couldn't do enough for you, the manager George in particular, was constantly prepared to do that bit more for you such as recommending things on the menu after telling him your likes and dislikes, then if you fancied something not on the menu he would manage to get the kitchen to prepare something else that you asked for or would order in different ingredients the next day for you, this was something we found a nice change .
The pool is of a good size with the pleasant surprise that there was no need for the dreaded towel ritual at the crack of dawn! There are plenty of sun loungers and while we were there it was like having a private pool, probably with about a dozen people round it at its busiest time making for a very relaxed enviroment to unwind.
The location of the apartments is at the southern end of sunny beach right next to the line of sand dunes in front of the beach.
There are plenty of shops and restaurants nearby with the busy centre either a 10 minute stroll away or a short ride on the mini train which stops outside the front door.
If you get the chance visit the old town of Nessebar, again on the mini train or ferry, it is very tranquil and picturest with some nice places to eat and drink.
We also went on the Lazy Day cruise from Nesssebar which is something we can also highly recomend.
Overall we can highly recommend the apartments and resort and although this was our first visit to Bulgaria it won't be our last.
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Golden Dreams Apartments - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: first choice july 2007
Opinion submitted in July 2007 by : dricso 36 38 16 10
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
Lovely clean appartment, we only booked a 1 bedroom but ended up with 2 which was huge. air con essential. First week was great then 18 louts from england arrived and caused havoc! (rep was useless, just kept saying he couldnt control 18 of them, so dont expect any help from the 1st choice rep for anything)
Bar was pleasant and service excerlent. All food and drinks in the resort was silly prices (£15 for a meal for 4 with wine and soft drinks!!) good supermarket behind the hotel. All shops sell fake everything but quality was good and who cares!
visit to nessebar old and new town worth the visit (beach in the new town is fab). bus leaves every 10mins from the hotel go down to the lights turn right and stop is 50m up. All other buses leave from the station which is easy to get to, go out of the bar enterance turn left so you pass the casino and go straight on. this is also the way to the bazzar which is cheaper than shops on the centre and beach front. Dont bother with bourgas, it is a 50min stuffy bus ride with a small town when you get there. All food we had was great lots of bbq and skewers (beef more expensive and waiters dont recomend it)only poor meal was in the chinese on the front it tasted like packet mix and I heard the indians were the same.
had a great time considering we dont usually go on package holidays. weather hot with the odd overcast day
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Golden Dreams Apartments - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Balkan Discounts) Balkan Holidays - August 2005
Opinion submitted in Aug 2005 by : Yvonne Russell - Sutton Coldfield (59,42,8,6)
Resort Rating: Good
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
One bedroomed apartments are spacious, spotlessly clean with plenty of storage space. Air Conditioned with kettle, toaster, hairdryer, 2 TVs with satellite (one in the living area and one in the bedroom). Nice bathroom with shower, but as there are no shower trays the floor was extremely slippery after using the shower.
Pool nice but half of it is in the shade, making it quite cold, and the sunbeds round the sunny side are dangerously close to the edge of the pool. Kids pool fine.
There are two drawbacks if you have young childen:
The hotel is across a very busy road from the main resort and crossing (even at the pedestrian crossing) is not easy.
There is a complex next door containg a nightclub, restaurant and a couple of bars. We were on the first floor overlooking the pool, facing this entertainment complex, and on some nights the music was loud until 6.30am (especially at weekends). The Bhudda Bar will grudgingly serve foreigners, making it blatantly obvious we are not welcome and the night club, called Extrem, only allows Bulgarians in!
The apartments not overlooking the pool, facing the road, had no problem with the noise.
Restaurant food is lovely but service very slow. We waited 1 hour and 15 minutes for a spaghetti dish! Drinks service quick and efficient.
The market area can be easily accessed without crossing the main road (by walking down the lane past the Bar/restaurant complex next door). There are 2 excellent restaurants - Djanny's, in the market area, and The Condor, on the main road, towards the centre. Both are excellent value and the portions are huge. We had agreat night out at Southern Nights. Good show for adults and children and the food lovely.
We had a good holiday. It was our second visit to Sunny Beach in two years and we don't plan to return because it is too commercialised now. Last time we went there were lots of activities for children but most of them have now been replaced by bars and shops.
We didn't like seeing bears and reptiles being paraded around the resort by the local gypsies.
The beach is wonderful. Golden Sand, clean and the sea is warmer than any of the swimming pools we were in.
It looks like they are aiming for the 18-30 age group now so we are going to try Sozopol next year.
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Golden Dreams Apartments - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Balkan Discounts) Balkan - 2005
Opinion submitted in Aug 2005 by : lee rutherford
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review: brand new appartment block first class finnish to rooms.pool area has to be seen. pool bar good at night if you want a quiet one or 3 mins walk over road into busy area. very good position. a1************
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Grand Hotel - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (First Choice Discounts) First Choice - august 2005
Opinion submitted in Aug 2005 by : Steve Liddle - Sunderland(66,64,37,35,12,10)
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Poor
My/Our Holiday Review:
THE HOTEL:This hotel was ABYSMAL.The food is of the poorest standard that we have ever encountered in all the times we have ever been abroad.How first choice could give this a rating of 3+ is beyond us.With the exception of two members of staff,the other staff need to remember that we are customers and not treat us like idiots.
The pool was cloudy for a lot of the time and was unbelievably FREEZING.However, one major talking point was that for nearly FIVE DAYS we were unable to have a hot shower in the evening due to a water shortage in the resort;we found this totally unacceptable and complained in the strongest terms to our rep who to be fair was very helpful at all times.The rooms were quite spacious with a good air conditioning unit.However, the cleaning standard was not done particularly well and there always seemed to be a damp odour in the room alongside a very pungent drainage smell.It is our opinion that the resort itself simply cannot cope with the escalating holidaymakers that inundate Sunny Beach in high season.
THE RESORT:We were quite surprised by the sheer size of the resort, it was much bigger than we thought.It has an abundance of bars,restaurants and shops, which on the whole were quite similar.However a good tip would be to go the the bars off the main 'strip'as these were noticibly cheaper by some way;approx 40p a pint as opposed to double.It has to be said that this is by far the cheapest resort we have ever been to.Because of the poor food in our hotel(I only ate in once!), we ate out all the time.We can personally recommend the four towers who did lovely meals at very reasonable prices and looked after the kids with free ice cream.Another gem we found was bistro adam where the manager was ott but an excellent host with very cheap prices to match.
THE BEACH:It was of a very high standard but did get extremly busy with food sellers beckoning out for business every other minute!The sea could get quite choppy with seaweed but overall was lovely.
TRIPS:We only did the one to Nessebur which was about 20mins in a taxi and cost about £6 which was fair.The place itself was great but please be aware that many of the streets are cobbled which made it difficult for wheelchair access (which we had) and buggys.We did speak to guests who'd visited Khans Tent and the general consensus was that it was a dissapointment, so we didn't bother.
OVERALL:A nice resort which we feel has reached saturation point.The Bulgarian people on the whole were very friendly and welcoming but at times were a 'bit in your face'trying to get your custom.Not sure if we would return because it is our opinion that it is light years behind say Spain, especially with regards to sanitation(not many places had toilets,which you had to pay for)but if your looking for a very cheap holiday would advise to go before the euro gets a grip.
One final point is that the weather can be unpredictable to say the least;we encountered six major storms in our time there!We would also like to say that we are not a family of habitual moaners but felt that certain things did need to be said!
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Grand Hotel - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: Eclipse - July 2005
Opinion submitted in Aug 2005 by : Sharon -Burnley (39,36,4)
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
Hotel in central location opposite the beach. Rooms decent size with maid service every day with towel change daily. TV mainly foreign but who goes on holiday to watch TV?
Good choice of breakfast stuff, some better than others. Lunch in hotel from menu and reasonably priced,dinner varied but always soups, salads, fish, pasta, meat and a local dish usually a stew. Not always pleasing on the eye but try some cos it usually very tasty.
Public areas good. Air conditioned(as are bedrooms take club cards etc to leave in air conditioning slot). Two bars in hotel and one by the pool under seperate management so gets a bit confusing where to sit and who is serving!Some areas look a little tired but hotel staff fantastic and friendly.
Good jacket potato stall outside hotel and cheap too, 4L (about £1.40).
Most bars have 'two for one' offers, so you can pick up to cocktails for 6-8L(£2-£3). Mmmmm. Not many BOGOFs on beer but still cheap anyway. Try bars away from promenade.Most have cheesy singers on, not much else in the way of entertainment but the nights are what you make.
Many stalls all round resort selling same stuff. Mostly fakes (CD, DVD, clothes) but very cheap. Gold a good buy.
Try and learn a few bits of Bulgarian, its reallly appreciated by the resorts staff.
Dont go to the Kuban Waterpark, get the free bus to the AquaPark(from main road near Kuban). Brill park with plenty to do, loads of sunbeds, food and drink a little more pricey and you cant take your own.
Only drawback no kids clubs in Hotels, wish tour operators would get their act together on that one! Resort has a few parks with rides on and inflatables on the beach which my little un enjoyed.
Give it a couple of years and Sunny Beach will be too overdeveloped but for now go and enjoy the cheap prices!
Already booked for next year. Enjoy!
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Grand Hotel - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Direct Holidays) Direct Holidays - May 2005
Opinion submitted in July 2005 by : Hillary Brown - Glasgow (49,48,12,10)
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
We arrived at the airport in Bulgaria on time. Our first impressions of the hotel were good. The reception area seemed clean and the staff were quite friendly.
We got our keys to our rooms and we were really pleased with the size of it. We had booked a family room, so we imagined it to be just 1 room, but there was 2 room joined with an arch. Also there was a large double balcony with excellent views!!
The food was horrible. I lived on fruit and salad for the 2 weeks.
The thing to watch out for is the beggers. we were strolling along the promenade when a begger approached us with a bear!!
Overall the hotel was clean and the resort was good.
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Grand Hotel - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (First Choice Discounts) First Choice - September
Opinion submitted in Oct 2004 by : James Houston - Accrington (56, 50,43, 42, 21, 6.
Resort Rating: Average
Accommodation Rating: Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
Grand Sunny beach hotel breakfast has got to be the worst I have ever had.The evening food was not much better. No matter what time you turned up, the food was never hot.
Walking along the beach front at night could be a bit daunting, having to dodge annoying little beggers and even worse, the pr*stitutes(they have no shame).
The airport at Burgas was an ordeal. It simply could not cope with a large amount of people.
Definitely the last time I ever go there.
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Grand Hotel - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Thomas Cook Direct) JMC - August 2004
Opinion submitted in May 2006 by : Samantha - Newcastle (40,38,12,9,5)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
We travelled to Sunny Beach on the 23rd August 2004. we had a night flight and it was delayed by 1 hour then when we got to Borgas we were horrified at the airport. it was like a mud hut. I took my daughter to the toilet and then she turned the cold tap on and it was scolding hot. This was 3.00am. It was dark when we got to our hotel so we couldn't see much. we went to reception who were very helpful we had booked interconnecting rooms and they were lovely. it was just two rooms with a door in the middle which meant we had 2 balconies, 2 fridges, 2 bathrooms which was very handy with 3 children.
When we woke up in the morning me and my two eldest children went to look at the pool but when we went in the lift it got stuck and my children were terrified but it opened after a while and we went to reception. I told the receptionist what had happenned but she wasn't interested! and said it was normal! so we didn't use it again! even though we were on the 10th floor we took the stairs!
The food was lovely with a great selection of food and plenty of cakes! the reception area was lovely and the maid service was great!
The resort was big and our hotel was right in the centre just across the road from the beach and 2 minutes walk from the centre. the beach was lovely and soft the sea was warmer than the swimming pool! there was plenty of watersports. i would recommend tropico bar and a bar at the back of the resort which was wonderful and very cheap. (we got 2 pints, 2 vodkas and 3 cokes for under £1.50!) the pool was freezing cold but it was ok after a hot day!
We went to Nessebar on the ferry ( which is 5 minutes away from the hotel) but it was very choppy so we got the bus back. Nessebar is ok for adults but i wouldn't reccomend you take children it is mainly shops and there is the ruins of an old church. my children didn't find it very intersting! In Sunny Beach it is very cheap to buy ciggerettes and alcohol. (we got a bottle of vodka for £ 4.00!) i would definetley go back to Grand Hotel Sunny Beach but it would be much better if the airport was rebuilt!
i would thoroughly recommend this hotel especially to families.
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Grand Hotel - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (JMC Discounts) JMC-august 2004
Opinion submitted in Sept 2004 by : k.collins- sunderland ( 37, 35, 11 )
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
Stayed there in August and thus expected good weather, experienced the best thunder and lightning we have ever seen on several occasions, also rain that the roads could not cope with, other than that the hotel itself was very nice, rooms were large and the bathroom was to a high standard, maid service was excellent, food left alot to be desired only ate in there three times even though half board, luckily the restaurants were so cheap anyway so this did not spoil our holiday.
Did not think alot of the so called games room, consisted of three playstations and the most unfriendly bulgarian we met staffed it.Excellent lounge bar and small bar attached to the hotel where the staff were the most friendly we met, beach just out of the front of the hotel and this was very clean with excellent and very cheap water sports, and a massage if you wanted.Try the Tropicana for a good night out.Try the indian restaurant, come out of the hotel(poolside) and turn left walk up and it is behind mcdonalds, food was excellent and very cheap(12.00 for 3 of us to eat including breads and poppadoms).
Would go here again but hopefully the weather would be better.
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Grand Hotel - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (First Choice Discounts) First Choice august 2004
Opinion submitted in Aug 2004 by : victor 58 isobel 57
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
hotel was very clean food was allright.First choice rep.very helpfull was about hotel every day pub attatched on to hotel very good.First time visitors to bulgaria expect to much. Cheap cigs drink;So stop moaning about little things and enjoy it
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Grand Hotel - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Balkan Discounts) Balkan - July 2004
Opinion submitted in Aug 2004 by : 46, 41, 7
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
Arrived during a thunderstorm very scary. Had three more during our two weeks there but it didn't spoil the holiday although the roads were flooded everytime. The hotel was lovely we were on the top floor and had great views. The room was spacious and had mini bar and tv. If you want a hot shower make sure you go in before 5.30 or you've shot it. The food in the hotel wasn't to our liking so we ate out and found it very cheap.
The resort itself was very busy, very clean, and buzzing at night. The beach was packed but we never had a problem getting a sunbed but got a bit fed up of being asked to buy icecreams, doughnuts, melon,and especially to have a massage every day! We had never been to Bulgaria before and wasn't sure what to expect, but if you like Blackpool then you'll love Bulgaria thats all i'm saying!
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Grand Hotel - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Direct Holidays) Direct Holidays _ June 2004
Opinion submitted in June 2004 by : Maureen Jackson - Port Glasgow (,48,45,3)
Resort Rating: Good
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
We arrived first week in June, A lot of building work going on throughout the resort. The weather was very changeable,we had heavy rain a couple of days.It was also very cold at night. This with all the building work made the place quite muddy. There was a building just being finished across from the Grand Hotel on the prom side, they were using pnuematic drills no good when you are trying to relax by the pool.The paving slabs throughout the resort were uneven, broken and dangerous.
GOOD POINTS:
Hotel was in an excellent position,just opposite large beach, friendly staff, food was okay( not very hot but there was a microwave in the dining room if you wanted to heat your food up), sunbeds were all full of towels early on. Rooms were spacious, lovely bathrooms but showers were cold at night.
Resort was cheap to eat and drink out.Cheap fake designer goods and DVD s etc.
Djannys just behind the market was excellent for food and drink, as was Condor next to the Post Office.
There are plenty of ATMs about which take CIRRUS,etc. Best place we found for changing cash was the CROWN money exchanges they gave good rates with no commision.
we found the Bulgarians to be very friendly.
Good game of Bingo twice a week at the Tropicana on the prom. They paid out over £ 500 for the full house this week and the ticket was only 5 levs.
BAD POINTS:
Not much night entertainment, mostly restaraunts with background singers or karaoke. Nothing to entertain kids.( Apart from funfair next to McDonalds but that could end up expensive as most rides were 4 levs a shot/ over £1) No kids club in hotel either.
Being constantly stopped on the prom by beggars day and night.
And pr*stitutes stopping the men at night.
Beware also of thieves in and around market. My aunt had her money stolen from her purse which was secured to her pocket by a pin. The empty purse was left dangling.
More negatives found in this one week than l have encountered in years of travelling abroad.
The only thing to entice you back would be the cheap prices.
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Grand Hotel - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (First Choice Discounts) First Choice-may 2004
Opinion submitted in June 2004 by : Dave and Marie 54-52
Resort Rating: Average
Accommodation Rating: Below Average
My/Our Holiday Review:
The hotel accomodation is basic, food is barely edible and the staff who speak english are fairly helpful.
The Pool Bar staff are mad and give away more drinks than you pay for.
First Choice rep was none existant after collecting trip money.
Trips are not value for money 2½ hours journey for 20 minutes boat ride,similar scenario for most excursions.
Local taxis provide better value and guided tours.
Visit to Nessebur is a must, go by boat but come back by taxi, the return crossing can be a nightmare.
Watch out for your belongings,my wife had her bag stolen, again no help from First Choice.
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Grand Hotel Oasis - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: Balkan - July 2007
Opinion submitted in July 2007 by : Julie Merenda - Crewe (35, 33, 4, 2)
Resort Rating: Good
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
We stayed at the Grand Hotel Oasis for 2 weeks on a B&B basis. We found the hotel to be of an excellent standard - extremely clean and very spacious. The pool areas are divided into the main adult pool and then the childrens pool. With having 2 toddlers we found the childrens pool ideal - it was the size of a normal pool at local swimming baths and there was a slide and a couple of swings in that area too which kept the kids amused. There was the usual 'towels out before dawn on the sunbeds' but what the staff did was fantastic - if there were still towels out 'saving' sunbeds and no-one was there by 10am then they would go round and collect in all the towels and put them in a big pile - hence freeing up the sunbeds again - Fantastic. It kept us amused most mornings seeing all the guests looking for their towels and realising they had been collected and then trying to argue their case!!!!
We found the staff very friendly and most spoke quite good English. The rooms are cleaned on a daily basis to an excellent standard. The breakfast was very good although after 2 weeks was a little repetitive but there was enough choice to vary it and if you did fancy a change there was lots of local places to eat out at instead. The only gripe i had was that breakfast was 7-10am but if you didnt get down till say 9.30am there would not be a vacant table and most of the food would be gone and they started packing away before 10am so we tended to go down for about 8.30am and found that fine for us.
The hotel is set back a couple of streets from the main beach front. The main beach front is the lively part and is very noisy, lots of bars, stalls, very busy, and we found that a little much with 2 toddlers so we stayed on the first street which was quieter although still an abundance of restaurants, bars, stalls etc. Everything was right near the hotel so there was no need to walk far - the beach was about a 4 minute walk. The beach itself was beautiful but very busy. We hopped on one of the little trains that drive round and ended up 10mins further up the beach which was a lot quieter and great for the kids. We mainly stayed by the pool though.
Eating out was great - there were tonnes of places to chose from so you were spoiled for choice - we ate somewhere different every night. My only niggle is that they tend not to cook chicken properly. They cook steaks fine but for some reasons wherever we ate the chicken was always a bit pink so i stayed away from chicken dishes. Most of the evening entertainment tends to be a couple of singers in the bars/restaurants singing so not very child orientated but we managed.
Overall we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. We couldnt fault the hotel or the pool areas, the resort itself is very nice, the beach lovely.
I would definately go again without a doubt.
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Grand Hotel Oasis - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Balkan Discounts) Balkan holidays - Aug 2005
Opinion submitted in May 2006 by : murphy
Resort Rating: Average
Accommodation Rating: Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
Stayed in Sunny beach in August 2005. Towards end of holiday season and a lot of places closed.
Hotel was clean and rooms big. Breakfast not too bad, all other meals in hotel and most other places in Bulgaria way below standard. Swimming pool and pool bar were good but no entertainment in hotel and many of the amenities advertised in the brochure were not open or incomplete.
Alcohol cheap but often pubs dont wash glasses properly which puts you off no matter how cheap it is!!Nightlife not up to the standard you would find in similar sized resort in Spain or Greece.
Bulgaria is still a poor country and you are aware when walking along street that people are watching you to see how easy you would be to steal from (this is particularly true when walking past the numberous young looking pr*stitutes at night time). Myself and my boyfriend found the cruelty to animals in the name of tourism appalling. There were two bears being dragged by a nose hook through the streets for tourist photo opportunities. Also the horses that pull the carts can hardly keep their heads up they are so exhausted and many of them look malnourished and badly treated.
All in all I wouldnt recommend Bulgaria until it is developed to the standard of a resort in Spain. However if you do go then the Gran Hotel Oasis is comfortable and clean and there are a lot worse hotels in Sunny Beach you could end up in!!!
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Grand Hotel Oasis - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Balkan Discounts) Balkan may 2005
Opinion submitted in June 2005 by : lynn 48 shirley 53 shirley 71
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
Arrived in bulgaria may 20th, first impression, hotel was very clean, rooms were very well furnished. we were b&b breakfast was ok.
When we arrived we were the only one's staying there, so it felt very strange,but just before the bank holiday it livened up. There was no entertainment in hotel, it had a pool bar, but no where to sit at night to have a drink,i believe we went to early,it advertised a dentist, italian restaurant, doctors, hairdresser, none of these had been finished. The staff are very friendly but the receptionists speak very poor english which is frustrating.
Bulgaria is fab, and would certainly go again, but if you are thinking of going some of the best hotels are as follows victoria palace, victoria, neptun beach, chaika beach,globus,bellevue,
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Grand Hotel Oasis - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: 2005
Opinion submitted in Jan 2006 by : Nikki Tomlinson- 14 - Bristol (45,14,46)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
well where do i start with this holiday it was 1 of the best i have had the weather wasent that good wel obviously not because when you go on holiday its normally for the sun but we had rain n a thunder storm at 1 point so ya now it wasent that good weatherwise.
the food restrants were really nice top food and the waiters were really friendly and most of them had really good english.
the appartments were quality!!!
alwayz clean it looked brand new the helpers at the desk were alwayz there and helped you with everything very friendly!
i was the only child on this holiday and i wasent lookin forward to that i wish i had taken a m8 like i am this year because it would of just topped the holiday of !
there were not that many kids there which got somepeople that may be good but incase not good atall lol!!
there were loads of bargins on the markets and shops and that like my dad got a timberland coat for 15 pound and in england there 65 so BARGIN !!!!!
theres loadz of makes like FCUK,lacoste,burberry al sorts like that which was mint!!
thats it really hopfully youll have a mint tym here u shuld giv it a go !!
luv nikki
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Grand Hotel Oasis - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Balkan Discounts) Balkan Holidays - 2004 / 2005
Opinion submitted in June 2005 by : McCurley , Middlesbrough (35, 31, 3)
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
Was a bit worried about what exactly to expect before we went to Sunny Beach. But all in all, there was no need. The people are friendly, the hotel was excellent and clean and the resort was so cheap! Bulgarians are very welcoming, and genuine.
We booked a family room, which had a kitchen area, and this was ideal. We had the flexibility when waking on a morning and no need to rush to breakfast. Toast and tea in the room were fine, before venturing down to the pool or beach. The food in the local restaurants was on average £11 for 3 of us, with drinks, and we never had any stomach problems - though you would struggle if you're a veggie, there's roast/BBQ meats being cooked in front of you at most places and they where lovely.
The only draw back for us was the lack of kids entertainment on a night. The hotel didn't have a kids club for Balkan people, and there are very few places on a night to entertain young kids. We did find one place though, Millie's bar, which although was a bit of a routine after a few nights, there were kids our daughter's age to play with and be entertained by a clown and some local cabaret acts (a bit Phoenix nites, but worth the laugh). The other option was the folklore show along the front promenade, entry was free, though the drinks and food are a bit more pricey than the rest of the restaurants... the nite cost £20 the most expensive during our holiday... but we're not really complaining.
All in all a really lovely surprise with a lot of things to do, just the kids entertainment needs a boost, which I'm sure will come in time.
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Grand Hotel Oasis - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Balkan Discounts) Balkan. sept 2004
Opinion submitted in Oct 2004 by : chads
Resort Rating: Good
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
Flight was very basic food ok , no entertainment.Take some snacks with you as they do not sell any on the drinks trolley.
The hotel was excellent it was spotless and they seemed to be cleaning 24 hrs a day,clean sheets and towels nearly every day ,they is a mini bar in the room which is very cheap ,the tv channels are not very good ,the pool was great but very cold.We had breakfast plently to choose from,but not very appertising.The staff where very friendly.
The resort its self is very nice plenty of good bars and restaurants we ate out every night in different places and had no problem with the food.A bit of putting to see all the beggars that contantly ask you for food and money .You can hire electric scooters and bike which kids as young as 10yrs where whizzing up and down the promanade no helmets are worn and it is very dangerous it is only a matter of time before someone is hurt,how any parents can pay for there kids to ride on them is madness.The beaches are ok ,if you go in the sea beware of the jellyfish we saw loads of them,plenty of sea sports to do if you like that kind of thing.
PLEASE BEWARE!at the evening the pr*stitutes enter the area we witness 1 jump on the back of a gentleman as he tried to get her off 2 where picking his pocket,some of the girls look about 13 yrs old not a nice sight too see when your enjoying a nice meal,didn t see much of any police.
There are loads of shops and stalls selling fake designer gear some where good but a lot is cr*p.Overall if you are looking for a cheap holiday this is the place too go,will probably go again when Balkan buy some new areoplanes.
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Grand Hotel Oasis - Sunny Beach
Operator and Date: (Balkan Discounts) Balkan Holidays September 2004
Opinion submitted in Sept 2004 by : Allyson Black 44 Ernest McCausland Dad 77
Resort Rating: Excellent
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