Wela Hotel, Sunny Beach, Bulgaria

Hotel Wela is rated as 4*, but as we were going to Bulgaria for the first time we were unsure how this would reflect in real standards. We need not have worried as the hotel came up to expectations.
It is only a few years old, and as such, everywhere is in good condition. It was one of the cleanest hotels we have stopped in.
There seemed to be cleaners on duty 24 hours a day.
This was proven on the last night, when we were sitting ...
...our departure coach. Some young lads had been having fun, and one of them was thrown into the pool. He came into reception and asked for his key so he could get changed (Not go to bed!).He stood there dripping, leaving a big puddle on the marble floor. The receptionist,(By the way, all of them always had a smile and would always be polite and helpful) cheerfully gave him is key and within seconds a maid was there mopping up the mess. It was as if ... more

Hotel Wela is rated as 4*, but as we were going to Bulgaria for the first time we were unsure how this would reflect in real standards. We need not have worried as the hotel came up to expectations.
It is only a few years old, and as such, everywhere is in good condition. It was one of the cleanest hotels we have stopped in.
There seemed to be cleaners on duty 24 hours a day.
This was proven on the last night, when we were sitting in the foyer at 3:00 in the morning, waiting for our departure coach. Some young lads had been having fun, and one of them was thrown into the pool. He came into reception and asked for his key so he could get changed (Not go to bed!).He stood there dripping, leaving a big puddle on the marble floor. The receptionist,(By the way, all of them always had a smile and would always be polite and helpful) cheerfully gave him is key and within seconds a maid was there mopping up the mess. It was as if she had been kept in a cupboard and was pulled out just to deal with emergencies!
The rooms were really nice.2 large single beds, pushed together made a king-size. TV and fridge included. Bathroom was large, fully tiled, with hairdryer, clean towels everyday, and a full range of toiletries provided.
Maid service everyday, and they kept coming back until they found the room empty! Our cleaner came back at 4:30 in the afternoon, after we had a very late start!(Nothing to do with the cheap beer. which you can get for less than a £1 a pint. Cocktails work out even better value for money!)
Hotel provides facilities such as a small well-equipped gym (I didn't see it used once in 2 weeks because I think people go on hols to enjoy themselves!)
Masseur, hairdresser, beauty parlour, Internet café, small gift shop, table tennis, football field and volleyball court.
The swimming pool is small but it never got overcrowded, even though we went in the busiest 2 weeks of the year. It has a poolside bar so there was no need to keep going back into hotel for drinks (although its only a few yards more to the hotel, you are, after all on holiday!!).There are plenty of sun beds and you are never more than 10 yards from the pool, but this didn't stop the usual gangs of self important idiots putting their towels out early in the morning and keeping them UNOCCUPIED all day until they came back and decided to use their " reserved" beds late in the afternoon. Trust me when I say you don't need to bother.
One bloke made me laugh when in frustration he shouted a lot of obscenities in ,I think, French, and then proceeded to throw 4 towels, airbeds, bats and balls into the pool which had occupied prime poolside position until 2:00 in the afternoon. I layback impatiently, with a pint in hand, soaking up the sun, reading a book, but with one eye, hiding behind my fake Ted Bakers, staring at the new occupier, waiting for the action to start. Unfortunately , the family arrived, took one look at the size of this French beast and sheepishly recovered their belongings and sat on the opposite side of the pool, which was bit of an anticlimax for all the people watchers around the pool.
Our room view summed up the area we were in. If it weren't for the 3 half built hotels surrounding our lovely hotel we would have had beautiful views of the surrounding mountains. There was however no building work going on at all. I don't know whether this was deliberate, and had been postponed until the end of season or if they had all ran out of money!
It is something you should expect,this is after all; Sunnybeach .It is a mass of hotels built eclectically along the Black sea coast, with no thought for the end result. Apparently the coast used to be beautiful, covered in tall pine trees, mingling with sea and sand dunes. They have been ripped away and the result is a concrete mishmash of old, new and unfinished buildings. No area looks completely finished and it is a shame that planning permission is not as well controlled as here., because the result is not pretty
The hotel is only 200 yards from the beach and the beaches are kept nice and clean. The beach has lovely white sand and a warm sea. Not as clear as the Mediterranean so not so many fish to see when you go snorkelling but still a good experience.
The seafront is very busy and stretches for miles. There are loads of shops selling loads of fake designer gear (hence my Ted Bakers!). Bars and restaurants are everywhere and they are all plying for your business. So it is a very busy feeling and can soon wind you up. The upside is that you have loads of choice and loads of different places to try.
We found a restaurant near the hotel close to the seafront called the ARIZONA. Food was dearer than most places, but they did a good fillet steak for about £5.00 which I enjoyed, with a good choice on the menu for the rest of the party. This place was always busy. A lot of people, though, went back there at about 9:30 to watch the live band who were brilliant and always have a fan club by the end of the week. We only ate there twice because there are so many other places to try which are cheaper and better. We ate out every night for 14 days and I can't remember a bad meal. It is so cheap to eat out. You get about 3 Levs to the pound which quite often translates into things being 3 times cheaper than here. Four of us had proper meals with two drinks each and it came to about £20.The most I paid was £40, but that included a floor show!. They do however charge some silly prices, but again because of the exchange rates its still cheaper than England. They are definitely catching on and costs are going up. The local's are amazed at how much we are willing to pay for things. Watch out for when they join the EEC next year, then they will go up and up.
To sum up I would say we had a great holiday,but it wasn' what we expected.
If your holiday revolves around, sea, sand, sun and beer you couldn't go wrong here.
There are loads of families here so you do not get the18-30 club feeling that surrounds some busy resorts. it feels safe. We even let our 2, 16-year-old lads out on their own every night, but they had to report back to us for "kit inspection" at 10:30 to see how they were fairing (They do not follow the 18yr old drinking policy in Bulgaria!). They had a great time and want to go back ASAP.
If you want a more cultured holiday go to one of the other resorts or even the city of Sofia
The other end of Sunnybeach is a small ex fishing village called Nessabar, which looks more like the Bulgaria we expected and was probably a good base to start from
In all we enjoyed it but we would probably not go back to this resort. The people of Bulgaria, however, really are the best, they try so hard to make you welcome they are polite, friendly and engage readily in conversation, enjoying telling stories of their life in Bulgaria. it's nice to go onholiday to foreign countries, and get to know them and their ways. They have certainly sold themselves to me and I will visit Bulgaria again! 

...less