+ Review by Òàíÿ Íåéêîâà
28.05.2019 12:09

Date of stay: May 2019
Type of traveller: Other

Hotel rating: | 3 out of 5
Location: | 3 out of 5
Staff/service: | 3 out of 5
Rooms/accommodation: | 1 out of 5
Food: | 3 out of 5
Entertainment: | 5 out of 5

+ Review by Brian Hardy
08.06.2010 08:58

Date of stay: May 2010
Type of traveller: alone on a holiday

Hotel rating: | 4 out of 5
Value for money: | 4 out of 5
Location: | 5 out of 5
Staff/service: | 1 out of 5
Rooms/accommodation: | 1 out of 5

Hotel and staff very good.Food was only luke warm.Nothing to do in hotel except lieing by the swimming pool.You have to get out early to put your towels on sunbeds.This is because the pool is shared with the hotel next door and they charge there guests for a sunbed and umbrella and they are free at the bellvue. Hence all the beds get occupied early. Hotel is situated about a half hour walk to the main strip. Beware the golf buggies and electric scooters.If they hit you they are not insured. watch out for pickpockets on buses or anywhere it is crowded.Do not exchange money with street venders Money they give you for each pound is the old lev notes which are worthless. Some lovely outside restaurants near to hotel with excellent food. asked hotel management to put a microwave in our restaurant so that the food could be heated but they take no notice of any complaints. If there are any young people in the hotel sleep is impossible due to the noise they make when going to there rooms.Definatly would not go to sunny beach again. So have a good holiday I dare you.

+ Review by Ally Mcgregor
20.08.2009 07:13

I would recommend to a friend

Date of stay: Aug 2009
Type of traveller: family with children

Hotel rating: | 5 out of 5
Value for money: | 5 out of 5
Location: | 5 out of 5
Staff/service: | 5 out of 5
Rooms/accommodation: | 5 out of 5

just got back from bellevue (4th-18th august) was dreading it from the reports on here we were an extended family of 8 with age ranges from 6 through to 60.The hotel is quite modern and clean, maids are very efficient , bedrooms are quite spacious with tv mini fridge ,hairdryer.All rooms come with sea view although some are side sea view ,at the front of the hotel can be noisy but only till midnight so if you have young kids ask for poolview or at the back of hotel.
FOOD; breakfast was quite nice and plenty of choice from bacon sausage eggs (scrambled, fried boiled)toast fruit ,pancakes.evening meal was a bit hit and miss and repetitive theres was always something to eat but it meant most of our party ate the same thing every night so we ate out 10 of the 14 days .
location is brilliant you can virtually fall out of bed onto the beach yes there is a karaoke bar next to hotel but we spent most of our nights in there due to lack of evening entertainment anywhere nearby.there is a lovely steakhouse just round corner who even do sunday roasts allday every day .The hotel pool is absolutely freezing being in a wind trap and it does get busy as you share it with the hotel next door who have to pay for there sunbeds so hence they use the bellevues which are free.The main strip in sunnybeach is like blackpool all lights and tat and fake everything you get hassled by fruitsellers and people trying to get you in there restaurant some of which were quite intimadating but most were fine and just trying to drum up business bellevue is in the northern end of sunny beach and is slightly more expensive than the southern and middle end of the beach we managed to find local beer at 1 leva (about 45p) at the southern end but saying that it only 3 leva (1.40 ) at our end .beach can work out expensive if using everyday as it is 7 lev for umbrella and 7 for lounger.

+ Review by Leman Charles
18.08.2009 07:20

Date of stay: Aug 2009
Type of traveller: family with children

Hotel rating: | 2 out of 5
Value for money: | 2 out of 5
Location: | 3 out of 5
Staff/service: | 4 out of 5
Rooms/accommodation: | 3 out of 5

The Hotel itself is not too bad and location wise would be okay but unfotunately there is a Karaoke Bar, situated right next door which plays repetative loud music until midnight every night, this obviously won't bother some people but I wouldn't recommend if you are a young family as we all struggled to get a good night's sleep, which you need as it is imperative you get up early about 8:00 a.m. to claim a sun lounger by the pool (they are now free at Bellevue) as they are all taken up very early.
The pool itself is a good size but is shared with the Hotel next door so can get quite busy at times but be warned it is very cold particularly in the morning.
There is 1 man who provides a small amount of activities throughout the day by the pool, aerobics, water polo, volleyball etc. which is okay.
The Hotel itself has an Internet room which is 6 lev for 1 hour which the children enjoyed but again not free and table tennis, table football which is free!!
The meals at the Hotel are okay, a little repetetive and not particularly child friendly. The Hotel is clean and most of the staff are friendly patricularly in the poolside bar. Make sure you use the Hotel toilet as it is free, you have to pay everywhere else.
If you decide to go to the beach beware of Jelly fish in sea, lots and lots, in fact one of the children was stung, not dangerous but painful all the same. The cost of 1 sun lounger on the beach is 7lev and 7lev for an umberella, so quite costly.
The 2 main things that suprised and disappointed us about Sunny Beach were the prices of most things and the commercialism, the promenade is like Blackpool, getting hassled every 5 minutes to come into this restaurant or this bar and some can be quite offensive when you say No. With regards to the cost of things you will find that the Bulgarians charge for everything and an example of costs:-
1 x Magnum Ice Cream = 4.5 lev (£2)
1 x Original Barcelona football shirt (not fake) = 175 lev (£80)
1 x Okay magazine = 15 lev (£7)
The beer on the promenade is slightly cheaper than over here if you drink the Bulgarian beer for imported it's as dear if not dearer than in the UK.
The promenade without the hassle would be quite an interesting place to walk along at night but that spoilt it for us.
It has lots of bars, restaurants and hundreds of market stalls/shops selling fake gear, i.e. football shirts, bags, wallets, ed-hardy t-shirts, etc. none of it real but obviously that reflects in the price.
I would recommend a trip to Nessebar, which we all enjoyed, there is a boat that goes from the pier just across the road from the Hotel, the price of that was 50 lev(£22) one way, whereas if you get the bus it is 1 lev each one way.
I would also recomment for families the waterpark at Nessebar, we had a great time there and booked through the Balkan Holidays rep, the cost was 90 lev (£40) for a family of 4, so a good deal. Another family staying in the same Hotel went to the Action Aquapark in Sunny Beach and were a little disappointed.
We also went on a trip to the Dolphinarium in Varna, also taking in Varna centre and an ancient Monastery, which I have to say most people on the coach were disappointed with, so I would not recomment this.
The best thing about Sunny Beach is the weather, which was glorious for the 2 weeks we were there.
My wife had been to Bulgaria when she was a child and it has changed so much, that we fell it is in danger of becoming another Malia/Faliraki, etc. hopefully they will do something about it before it is too late and we also feel that they are totally exploiting the visiting tourist by not only charging for everything but in a lot of cases overcharging.
All in all I wouldn't recommend Sunny Beach for families with young children but if you are a young couple or a group of men or women then it may be something that appeals to you and the Bellevue Hotel would be fairly suitable.

+ Review by Marvin Scoles
06.07.2009 12:58

I would recommend to a friend

Date of stay: Jun 2009
Type of traveller: a couple on a holiday

Hotel rating: | 5 out of 5
Value for money: | 5 out of 5
Location: | 5 out of 5
Staff/service: | 5 out of 5
Rooms/accommodation: | 5 out of 5

We arrived at the hotel early hours of the morning but was greeted by friendly reception staff.
We found the hotel to be extremely clean and the staff very efficient and pleasant. Our room was spacious and very comfortable. There were musicians playing most nights and there appeared to be a childrens club.
We were half-board and thoroughly enjoyed our meals which were buffet style. There was plenty of choice with six different fresh fruits served at both meals, the water melon and cherries were so very tasty. The meat served for the main course was nice and edible but not exceptional. There was a choice of restaurant although the a la carte came at an extra cost.
Location is perfect - so close to the beach and a short walk from the centre or the main bus route.
The resort is very clean and we found ample places that sold cheap beer and food. Infact going off Artist Street all the bars on the right sold 'big beer' at 47p plus most of them had evening entertainment.and most of the bars do promotions at varying times. The beach bars are more expensive but then one would expect them to be.
During the weeks stay we used buses, bars, restaurants and purchased gifts and we always found the staff friendly and helpful and felt we got value for money.

+ Review by Colhun
08.08.2008 01:01

Date of stay: Jul 2008
Type of traveller: family with children

Hotel rating: | 4 out of 5
Value for money: | 5 out of 5
Location: | 5 out of 5
Staff/service: | 5 out of 5
Rooms/accommodation: | 4 out of 5

Our "small" Family was in fact very large and easily accomodated our family of 4 and had ample wardrobe and shelving for storage. The room was well equiped with a TV, fridge (but not very cold), Hairdryer etc and was cleaned daily by the maid who liked arranging the kids toys in various poses each day on their beds. The only fault with the room was that the shower curtain was 6" too short and therefore the bathroom got a soaking evry time you used it.
The swimming pool was pretty cold (sea was far warmer) but was always clean. As you have to pay 5 levs for a sunbed there was never any real problem getting one, although more people did start reserving them before breakfast on our last few days.
The one thing that does let the hotel down is it's food. IT IS PRETTY GRIM TO BE HONEST.
The poor standard of hotel food appears to be a common trait having read some other hotel reviews before we went, but i think you have to be realistic and accept that mass produced food is not going to be the greatest. If you can book B&B or room only then that would probably be a better option.
The majority of the hotel/resort guests appear to be eastern european or Scandinavia, and i think the food has perhaps been more tailored for them with some unusual meat, fish and vegetarian dishes. Vegetairians in particular will find it pretty hard going as many of the vegetarian dishes actually had meat in them. By mistake or on purpose, i don't know.
That said, we did manage to find something most evenings, and the made to order omlettes were pretty good, but as the fortnight went on we did find ourselves eating out more often. It is pretty cheap to eat out and the Italian outside the hotel on the strip was excellent, as was "Friends" just around the corner. The castle also do a mean pizza but we thought they were a bit more expensive.
The hotel cancelled the kids club just a few weeks before we arrived, but you can use the one at the Globus (15 min walk) instead, which we did on a couple of occassions, and the kids thoroughly enjoyed it. We also used the Majestic for the kids discos.
Entertainment was provided each night by a couple singing but we chose to go to the Majestic instead or sit in Bikini Beach bar(excellent setting) and have cocktails on the beach instead.
We had a slight problem with noise on our first 4 nights as the Slavyanski Hotel, which shares the Bellevue pool, had on an "entertainer" blasting out songs to an empty bar. Thankfully they got rid of him after that and it was far quieter. You do get some noise from Amigos bar on the Promenade but thankfully the hotel is classed as being in the quieter end of Sunny Beach and everything has to close at midnight, so you do get a peaceful nights sleep.
The resort is typical of any european resort with the usual stalls selling souveniers and fake designer goods etc. Nessebar has the same stalls etc but is far more attractive with its cobbled streets and village feel, well worth a visit and also considerably cheaper.

+ Review by Danny Jenkins
10.08.2007 03:03

I would recommend to a friend

Date of stay: Jul 2007
Type of traveller: family with children

Hotel rating: | 4 out of 5
Value for money: | 5 out of 5
Location: | 5 out of 5
Staff/service: | 5 out of 5
Rooms/accommodation: | 4 out of 5

Hotel pool

View from room across pool
Don't be put off by the large amount of building work as you get near the hotel it does not affect the hotel at all but i think in about 5 years the resort will be spoilt and over commercialised so go soon.
Not too much to look at from the outside, inside is modern; clean and well maintained. The rooms have good air conditioning and are quite spacious, with a fridge that is large enough to store your own drinks - hotel beer 2.5 lev supermarket 1.8 lev. We had fantastic views of the pool and the sea across to nessabar. The food IS NOT ENGLISH so don't expect it to be the same as home. It is typical continental style and as a family we enjoyed it. The staff do seem a little stand offish but when you speak to them they are friendly and helpful - remember they earn about 300 - 400 lev a month (£100 - £120) for only 5 months of the year so tips have a great effect on how you are treated, most don't expect them and are grateful when they get them. The pool which is shared with the hotel next door (Slavyanski) is pretty good, again it is not quite UK standard but it is clean but VERY cold, the sea is much warmer. Our gripe was that the sun beds at the hotel cost 5 lev a day or on the beach 6 lev. It did mean that you didn't have to get up at dawn to get a bed.
On the strip there are a range of shops selling genuine imitation designer goods! bars and eateries to suit every taste. You can rent electric scooters; golf buggies and 4 seater bikes for about 15 to 20 lev an hour. Early morning is best before there are too many people about. The beach is very clean and very safe shelving gradually you can get a massage for 25 lev. This end of Sunny Beach is the quieter end which suited us but as you go towrds the centre the night life gets a little more frenetic. 2 lev will get you a seat on the road train to the centre and the bars and discos.

+ Review by Danny Jenkins
10.08.2007 03:03

I would recommend to a friend

Date of stay: Jul 2007
Type of traveller: family with children

Hotel rating: | 4 out of 5
Value for money: | 5 out of 5
Location: | 5 out of 5
Staff/service: | 5 out of 5
Rooms/accommodation: | 4 out of 5

Hotel pool

View from room across pool
Don't be put off by the large amount of building work as you get near the hotel it does not affect the hotel at all but i think in about 5 years the resort will be spoilt and over commercialised so go soon.
Not too much to look at from the outside, inside is modern; clean and well maintained. The rooms have good air conditioning and are quite spacious, with a fridge that is large enough to store your own drinks - hotel beer 2.5 lev supermarket 1.8 lev. We had fantastic views of the pool and the sea across to nessabar. The food IS NOT ENGLISH so don't expect it to be the same as home. It is typical continental style and as a family we enjoyed it. The staff do seem a little stand offish but when you speak to them they are friendly and helpful - remember they earn about 300 - 400 lev a month (£100 - £120) for only 5 months of the year so tips have a great effect on how you are treated, most don't expect them and are grateful when they get them. The pool which is shared with the hotel next door (Slavyanski) is pretty good, again it is not quite UK standard but it is clean but VERY cold, the sea is much warmer. Our gripe was that the sun beds at the hotel cost 5 lev a day or on the beach 6 lev. It did mean that you didn't have to get up at dawn to get a bed.
On the strip there are a range of shops selling genuine imitation designer goods! bars and eateries to suit every taste. You can rent electric scooters; golf buggies and 4 seater bikes for about 15 to 20 lev an hour. Early morning is best before there are too many people about. The beach is very clean and very safe shelving gradually you can get a massage for 25 lev. This end of Sunny Beach is the quieter end which suited us but as you go towrds the centre the night life gets a little more frenetic. 2 lev will get you a seat on the road train to the centre and the bars and discos.