Latest Reviews for Albena

we arrived in albena for our 3rd vist so knew the resort well , we expected from the hotel our usual friendly bulgarian greeting, how wrong were we .

the reception staff cold not get us checked in fast enough no friendly smile at all. the rooms ( we had 2 ) were comfortable i must admit , we were sold this holiday as a 4 * but would struggle to give it 2 * . the bar staff were everyones worst nightmare, the hotel is all inclusive but you are regulated by 1 surly bar lady to 2 drinks even though in our party there were 4 adults.gets to 10.50pm and she goes into overdrive with this as after 11pm you have to pay for your drinks. we got into a group of english people every night and thats when she really went for it , accusing us of getting everyones drinks for them as if that mattered to her we were as i stated all inclusive. several of us complained to the reps and were told the bar was their worst nightmare and they had told them but nothing changed, the food was recycled night after night and was very poor, all the people we made friends with went down with severe tummy bugs and sickness lasting several days.

the resort itself is very clean and cheap.i would not reccomend this particular hotel to anyone.there was no entertainment at the hotel it was all next door and very poor, nothing at all for my 2 year old grandson.

Not recommended for a hol to the Ralitsa, we are just back from 2 weeks and it was awful, the kids entertainment was in german, the food was awful, they were serving kids alchol, and the evening entertainment was held in a big room with rows of plastic chairs with no tables. The snack bar is the same four items everyday, its not like any other all inclusive hotel. The only good thing about this hol was the weather. Beware there was a Rat outside the main reception, which was spotted at night.

we went to albena beachclub for a week in june 2007, had a great time but have to say the food WASNT GOOD and the bar service was AWFUL, limiting drins to two per person! Yet in the restaurant the foreigners could eat and waste as much as they wanted and were arrogant enough not to queue not like the british.... but failing all that bulgaria is a must if u wanna chill, weather was really hot. met sum loveley people, english, germans, romanians an bulgarians. sue,john an joe.

After reading the other reviews and already having holiday booked we were more than worried about this place.

First off we had a fantastic week at this hotel and resort.
The hotel and grounds are spotless and kept this way by the great staff.
The rooms were cleaned daily and fresh towels left.
The food is fabulous with so much choice, nobody went hungry.
The hotel is 2* so we were'nt expecting the ritz, which i'm sure most of the people who have commented on it were.
We thought it was better than some 3* we've stayed in before.
The resort of Albena is lovely. Great beach, great shopping, great food and great entertainment. And best of all, cheap.
This was our first time to Bulgaria and we didn't find anything wrong with the hotel or resort. We will definately be going back in the near future.
Happy holidays to you all******

This was an all inclusive holiday. It consisted of 2 sister hotels, S and M. We stayed in the S which was the quieter one of the two, the M had a large reception area, consisting of comfy seats and a bar with several bar staff and the ice hockey table games which you couldnt see but could hear. This was ideal if you wanted to be in a noisy busy atmosphere. The S hotel bar/reception was much calmer, there were some nice comfy softas and a TV screen and a couple of computer games screens set up, a small stage where the entertainment was (on a small fairly intimate scale) - we only stayed for one Mr and Mrs game one night, only because in the evenings we liked to walk into the town (about 20 mins walk - or you can catch a 'noddy' train very cheaply and frequently)and get some fresh air and have a couple of drinks somewhere else etc. So the other evening entertainment we cant comment on. The bar in the S hotel was only manned by one person, so it never got really busy whilst we were there. All the local drinks, ie gin, vodka, rum, wine, beer etc are all free you have to pay for anything imported, ie baileys, and cocktails. The measures were very generous.

The hotel was clean, the rooms were clean, - we did have a faulty lock on the sliding doors to the balcony but we reported it and it was fixed that morning. We had a great view overlooking the beach which was lovely - the sea was safe for kids etc as you could go out quite a way before it got deep. The location of the hotel is brilliant, right on the sea front. two small pools belong to the hotel plus a small indoor pool but the nicer bigger pool area which we used belongs to the Gegano hotel next door. One thing I dont know if it was the time of year we went but at 6.00pm everybody had to dissappear from the pool area so the pool man could put all the beds away.
We were very satisfied with the food in the hotel, plenty to choose from, all varieties from plain meats, ie roast beef, chicken, to local type dishes mainly pork and chicken varieties, vegetables, plenty of salads, bread, sweets and the fact you could just go and pour yourself a glass of white or red bulgarian wine however many you wanted was fantastic. The staff do like to keep tidying up your table and clearing dishes, so if you do have something on your plate and you go off to get another drink or something, eware your plate might have disappeared when you get back!

During the day the animation team set up volley ball games, bowls, darts if you wanted to join in.

All in all we had a great relaxing holiday, we didnt venture out of the resort only to go to the aqua park in Golden Sands, but there are plenty of places around that you could visit, taxis, buses etc are all reasonable prices.

Hi have read some bad reviews for this hotel,,, if you are booked dont worry we had a fantastic holiday.

Albena is a great resort, the hotel could not be any closer to the beach and the Bulgarian people are very friendly if you are to them.

Bulgaria is also still very cheap to buy anything and everything.

The hotel is imaculatly clean and the food was fantastic. Some of my group found it a bit samey towards the end of the two weeks as with any all inclusive.One of the my children is very picky about what he eats but there was always something he liked.

We did not want to come home...

There is not much entertainment in the hotel and when there is it is such a tiny space that not many people can sit and watch, but we made our own entertaiment being in a big group.

Just back from a week All Inclusive at the Albena Beach Club Hotel.

Weather was fantastic, couple of thunderstorms but cleared up very quickly. Transfer time was 3 hours from Bourgas Airport which wasnt so good since in the brochure it says 45 minutes and Varna airport is only half an hour from the resort. Hotel room was nice, we were on the fourth floor with a sea view. Very clean, maid service every day with fresh towels. Minibar stocked up every day with juice, chocolate and alcohol, very tempting! Beach was lovely and clean. Kids and husband enjoyed the watersports closeby. We generally used the pool at the sister hotel as it was larger and had a kids pool as well. Was a good place to go if looking for a relaxing weeks break but not if your looking for plenty to do. Little or no entertainment at night so made use of the train going into the town most nights which was cheap and regular, train came every ten minutes.

Big problem we found was the food. Lack of variety, strange concoctions, (sausage stuffed with cheese anyone?) luke warm and unappealing. Kids and I lived on chips pasta and rice, even husband who'll normally eat anything struggled to find something edible. Snack bar does pizza, chips and mini burgers every day but even they didnt look very appetising. Found that the majority of the foreigners didnt grasp the queuing system at the buffet! Ate out at the steak house nearby which was nice, staff friendly and attentive, cheap prices. Avoid the chinese in the town, not that the food was bad but the curry was anything but and had raw carrots all through it!

Apart from the food situation we did have a fab weeks break, would definitely go back to bulgaria but probably somewhere a bit livelier and with a shorter tranfer time.

Please do not put yourself through this awful holiday (honestly). We went to Bulgaria as it was cheap on all inclusive but I wish I didnt the food was awful the staff only like you if your german and for the hotel it was full of very rude germans.

When venturing out to the small town my partner was constantly approached by prstitutes even though we were walking hand in hand! Our resort was guarded by armed police and you can only enter through barriers as the Bulgarians are very very poor and dangerous. I felt very unsafe the whole holiday and feared for my 7 year old sons safety.

We had numerous things stolen from our room including very small change! Be aware that when you arrive at the hotel you will have 2 men who carry your bags to your room (very polite I thought!) but then they will not leave your room until you give a tip, we hadnt exchanged money at that time and we told them that so they said 'give us english money then'. I CANNOT explain in words how awful this holiday was...PLEASE DONT GO

Reading other reviews I have to agree that this hotel is not up to scratch. It is a shame because the position is wonderful and the beach is lovely. The rooms were cleaned very well but I too saw the ice cream cone and wondered how long it would be before someone picked it up. When we arrived our toilet was leaking,making the room smell. We reported it several times but it was not sorted out for a week, when the First Choice Rep.had us moved us to another room. We noticed that someone else was soon in the room, presumably without the toilet being mended. The Rep (I think her name was Maya) was excellent, the best we have ever had.

The food was the worst thing, it was never hot. Three of our party were ill. I had a stomach bug for a week and my husband and I developed terrible colds, which seemed to be going around. We saw people sneezing over the food and also people tasting something from the buffet and putting the spoon back! The wine in the restaurant was OK but the wines and beers at the bars were terrible. The barstaff in reception were very surly and seemed as if they didn't want to serve you. I reported my stomach upset to the Rep and she said that other people had it as well.
The balconies had wire on them, presumably to stop children getting through the bars but the bottom of the wire was razor sharp and I cut my foot on it.

We did like Bulgaria and would like to go back but not to this hotel. We went to Golden Sands twice which we liked very much, lots of shops and nice hotels. Go on the big wheel, it's great.
The town of Albena was very nice, with shops, stalls where they take your photos dressed in old clothes and a lovely park with crazy golf. We did a trip to Varna, visited the cathedral and shops and also went to a wine tasting (dosed up with Imodium!!)and watched the football at the Caribi bar which is next to the hotel. We ate there one night and also at a Chinese which was nice but still not HOT!
The bar after the Caribi bar (I think it was called 'the old oak' served good food and there was some good entertainment there (don't miss the human 'slinky' he's very good)

My husband always said he would never go All Inclusive, but my daughter persuaded him. I know he will never go A.I. again and quite honestly it has put me off.
I hope these reviews will prompt the owners to improve things and make it a decent hotel.

Well where to start. What a joke!!!

We decided to get a safe straight away as we had all cash due to being told the exchange rate was poor. 1st mistake because our safe was broken into within a few hours of having it, mobile phones, psp, £700 cash and digital camera amongst other smaller items. The police, staff and rep made this experience even worse due to their lack of empathy and cluelessness. Rep refused to translate our police documents when we finally received them a week later, and once we arived home we discovered she had failed to inform the police of several smaller items that were also in the safe. Were told we had to get money sent over from home and although my nan transferred £800 immediately we only received £200 a day later and the other £600 a week later!!!!!! Had to get up every day at 8 to fill in forms and were put up to all inclusive. We booked b and b due to the fact we didn't want all inclusive! Apparently though this was satisfactory compensation.

We had to go to the next hotel the Albena Beach Club to eat and just read the other reviews to back me up the food was inedible and cold and the smell made us retch, also no choice of drinks. This is only half of our fantastic holiday, and we were offered £50 compensation, tut tut, a visit to the solicitors I think!
For food Poco Loco is excellent, that was the only good thing...
Don't go!!!