On arrival in the dead of night this hotel looks very impressive, one of if not the best looking I have ever arrived at on a package holiday. All lit up and the water park within the grounds gave a very impressive and exciting start to a much needed holiday. The reception area again when you arrive in the dead of night is also very impressive, and we have never had bell boys before. We were very happy with the room (5th floor) and the sea view was fantastic.
This unfortunately is pretty much where the good went bad.
These are our experiences over the next 14 days, The food in the canteen, it cannot be called a restaurant by any stretch of the imagination was very poor. It was pretty much exactly the same as the day before. Stewed meat, rice, chips (mostly cold) pasta, tasteless pasta sauce. Fish fillets with the biggest bones I have ever seen and with the heads on clearly not fillets, rabbit ribcages, and if that's not enough what the hell are GIZZARDS? Salad bar consisted of cucumber in half inch slices, tomato, spam, and sliced processed cheeses, olives and not much else. The bread was hard dry and to my mind stale, for the whole 2 weeks. When visiting the canteen the staff in there were quite rude and couldn't wait to take your plate, if you get up to fetch a drink don't expect your plate to be there when you get back. The first day I went to the bar to get a round of soft drinks for the kids whilst they were eating, 9 cokes please and was told I could only have 2? What's all that about, we had 9 kids in our party?
On complaining about this to the reps we were told, and I quote "we never eat there; we go to pakos bar just down the road if you want decent food we suggest you go there!" On complaining to the rep that all of our 22 strong party including the kids were ill with stomach upset and/or violent diarrhoea we were asked, and I quote "have you tried pakos bar" we told her that we had just been drinking the water from the water siphons and were told "don't drink that the bar staff just fill them from the tap" brilliant I and both my kids had the squits for the last 3 days and that's all we had been drinking!!!! The mixer drinks machines are also plumbed into the tap water so no escape there either!
Poolside bar, you have the choice of 1 kind of beer, vodka, rum, gin, whisky (until they run out)
coffee, hot chocolate, Pepsi, orange, lemonade or tonic water. Hot dogs, both the bread and the hot dog sausages left uncovered all day from when they put them out at 8am to when they take them away at 5.30.
Pizza/ kebabhut, again all food left out in the open all day. Pizza is admittedly fresh as there is always a long queue and is served as soon as it comes from the oven, but is thrown onto a plastic tray and shoved across a dirty counter top to you by a old woman who clearly didn't want to be there. The kebabs consisted of 2 or 3 pieces of pink chicken meat, one slice of cucumber and a tiny bit of onion in hot dog bread, again all left uncovered to anything that might want to land on it whilst the staff sat in the back room behind a curtain smoking.
Reception bar, in the whole 2 weeks holiday I didn't get a cup of coffee in a cup or a beer in a glass. All the drinks throughout the hotel were served in plastic cups. Around the pool is expected but in the bars away from the poolside and indoors this is unacceptable for a 4 star hotel. All the hot drinks were out of a drinks machine similar to the ones found in your works canteen or train stations etc so don't expect a proper coffee anywhere in elenite. Unless you go to the frigate bar and pay for it! This is also in the next hotel down the beach.
Irish bar, sounds great, an Irish themed pub not like any I have ever been in. it looks like this pub was an afterthought as it is virtually underground is small cramped scruffy and quite stuffy when full, without any windows or proper ventilation. Again all the drinks were mostly served in plastic glasses but if you do manage to get a glass hang on to it as they only have about half a dozen. Also the bar staff have a weird notion of setting light to paraffin on certain cocktails, we didn't ask anything else about this but it did fill the room with paraffin fumes which had nowhere to escape!! Anything other than the one choice of beer and the spirits mentioned before then you have to pay for it. 5 lev for a bottle of beks about £1.80 and the spirits were just ridiculous prices. We went to the shop just down the corridor from the bar and bought it from there 1.60 lev about 60p a bottle. Took our own spirits too, just got the mixers from the bar, left the bottles on the table all night and nothing was ever said so we kept doing it. At least we had a decent drink and it was a hell of a lot cheaper than the bar.
Above I mentioned the corridor leading to the Irish pub, to get to the pub you have to go by the computer room 6 lev for an hour which is reasonable, loads of pcgames and that there tinterweb thingy. Gift shop, jewellery shop, shop selling beer, crisps, and sweets fags etc. a dodgy clothes shop selling fake brand name clothing. A so called jjb sports shop also selling fake brand names. A tattooist of all things and a pool/ arcade. 1 token for the arcade games is 1 lev/ 35p ish one token for the pool table is 3 lev/ £1 ish. If you have kids and sit in the Irish bar expect most of your holiday money to go into those machines as there is nothing else for the kids to do.
The amphitheatre, we never actually got to use this as none of the evening entertainment happened. Just as well as we didn't even find it until the start of the second week. When we complained to the rep about the evening entertainment that was not only advertised in the brochure but was also on the first choice board in reception, she told us that the manager hated first choice and wouldn't let them put any entertainment on. We had bingo and a couple of game shows in the Irish bar in the whole two weeks of our stay. Fine you might think but if you are not sat around the bar you will not see a thing as the place is just too small and simply not laid out for such things. Also the rep told us that after they had finished bingo or whatever they had to leave the hotel grounds immediately and could not have a drink or chat with anyone.
Beach bar, this is a fantastic looking bar smack on the beach but you have to pay for all the drinks there. Also don't expect a quiet day on the beach as this bar bangs out dance music from about 10am till 10pm and it is very loud. Anywhere on the beach its loud full volume dance music morning till night, anywhere behind it and all you get is the bass, bloody annoying I'll tell you. What's more it's always empty. We made the mistake of going in there the first night 1 beer (half pint) 1 amoretto and coke, 1 Jim beam and coke came to 45 lev which worked out at roughly £16. Needless to say we didn't venture in there again even if we couldn't escape the noise of the place.
Frigate bar, next hotel down the beach but in the same complex. This is a pay bar and not all inclusive so we didn't bother going for a drink there, looks nice inside though. Dam site nicer than the inclusive bars anyway.
Coffee shop, in the same complex as the frigate, ok same as all the other inclusive bars but had more glasses. Also this is the only place in the whole complex where the kids can get ice cream. Only ice cream mind no suckers/ lollies etc. so if you are sat beside the pool at the royal park and your 7 year old wants an ice cream as they do then it's a good 15/ 20 minute round trip in flip flops to take them to fetch an ice cream. Also in there you have the shops mentioned before minus the dodgy clothing and the arcade and pool tables prices as above but different tokens. On the plus side on the steps leading up to the coffee shop you can buy a fake Rolex watch from the watch stall (other fake watches are available)
Also in this complex is the night club where you can send your 13 year old to get drunk of a night if you so wish as many were doing while we were there. But they can get a drink at any of the other bars on the resort as the bar staff didn't care who they gave alcohol to, as did the shops. We didn't believe it so we tried and every time my lad came back with a drink. (Obviously we didn't let him drink it) The entertainment in this complex was not for the English at all. The restaurant in this hotel looks a lot nicer than the one at the royal park but you can't eat there. Bowling alley, looked newly built never tried it as our kids weren't interested so cant comment on that one. Sozopol restaurant, not bad but not great either and you have to be up early to book it on the day you want to go. Sunshine restaurant, booked a table for 16 at 8pm, when we turned up it was closed. Back at reception the answer we got was the preferred one to any problems "I don't know" When we went to the royal park canteen around 8.30 most of the food was gone and was not being replaced either. Bearing in mind it closes at 9.30 this isn't good.
Most nights around the complex you will find drunken teenagers running amok. Up and down the corridors banging on doors, up and down in the lifts and being noisy and at times abusive, parents probably sat in the Irish bar. One night my cousin and her family in the next room had a powder fire extinguisher fired under her room door. Her 7 year old was going to the bathroom at the time and was covered in the powder and was subsequently sick all night. The whole room was covered it was on the clothes bedding everywhere. When we rang the reception it took 10 minutes for them to get up to the 5th floor and there were 6 of them. They first accused us of doing it saying that it couldn't get under a closed door and after much arguing in the corridor my cousin's husband and I were made to go to security. Once there we were forced into a small storage room with the CCTV recorders. At this point none of the staff would speak English to us, we had to stand and watch the footage which clearly showed it wasn't us. At no point were we offered an apology for the way we were treated. Nothing ever happened to the people who did let off the extinguisher. The next morning the staff went round the hotel and removed all the powder extinguishers fro the fire points.
If you plan on going into sunny beach, which is the closest town of 10km go for the 9.50 am bus, the 10.50 am bus is rammed and you probably won't get on. Everyone queues up but when the bus arrives it's a bit of a bun fight to get on. 2 lev or 70p ish though is very good value. The taxis outside the gates are very good 25 lev and 20 return and they are always waiting for you whatever time you want to return. Sunny beach is an experience you can buy almost anything fake there from a Rolex watch to designer shirts and jeans dirt cheap too. Great if you like that sort of thing. You can also buy cs gas, pepper spray, cross bows, hunting knives, flick knives, throwing stars, nun chucks, stun guns or tazars, coshes in fact a whole array of deadly weapons on the market stalls also along the beach. If you can buy them you can bet the local thugs and street robbers have them too.
The bars and restaurants along the sea front offer some great food and beers at really good prices. Also whilst visiting the sea front you can check out the other hotels. Kind of like on bulls eye, look at what you could have won!!!
Steer clear of the fruit sellers, they will rob you and they are everywhere. Buy a money belt is my advice if only for your own peace of mind.
The royal park hotel should be a fantastic place, it looks fantastic in the brochure and on the internet, but beware something has gone seriously wrong to cause this many complaints. Also don't forget once there you are trapped there is nothing else within walking distance. The food, the service, the ignorant staff and the management's attitude towards first choice will guarantee you a fairly miserable holiday, probably one you spent all year saving up for. My holiday cost £1700 for 2 adults and 2 children, but we ended up spending over £1000 on eating out, drinks and entertainment. Not great for an all inclusive holiday.
I would not recommend this hotel or resort to anyone,
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This review is rubbish! Almost everything this person states is incorrect. I am assuming, because it is an older review. The times of the buses are wrong - and since the bus STARTS at the hotel, how can it already be rammed? He is also quoting incorrect bus fares - it is 3 levs to Sunny Beach, and 4 Levs to Nassabar.
The shops are just bog standard touristy shops. Well laid out, reasonably priced [but more expensive than in Sunny Beach, where they have to compete for customers - which you would expect]. its a couple of minutes to the ice cream, not a 20 minute round trip [unless there's a long queue of course]. Entertainment was every night, pretty much, and sometimes during dinner, too, in the dining room. Poor food? Please read my review, and bear in mind that they cater for up to 3000 people here - could you do it?
This may have been an honest review when it was written, I dont know - my gut feeling is that this person is one ot those people who like to look on the negative side of things - thus ruining his /her own holiday, and probably ruined it for the rest of their party as well.
Judgee 10.06.2008 00:41
Just read someone elses review on this place. Thought Id check another one out just to see if you had similar experiences.... unfortunately it sounds like you did ;(
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Sep 24th, 2007
very helpful by (100%):
