Hotel Dobrudja Reviews

Albena was a fanatastic resort. Extremely well planned, clean and well maintained streets and gardens. I would recommend it to anyone. There was plenty to do on the beach (very efficient lifeguards) and the hotel had 3 excellent swimming pools.

My main gripe was with the accomodation which was in need of refurbishment, and the Bulgarians themselves, who generally have a lot to learn about customer service.

We went half board and the hotel food was better than I was expecting, although it pays to get to the buffet early to guarantee hot food and the best choice. The guests (mainly German) quickly devour the best offerings like a plague of locusts.

Beware the little black beetles which seem to plague the resort (only in August by all accounts). If you are on a high floor you should have less of a problem. The first room we were allocated seemed to have a nest behind a radiator and we were eventually moved after I spent the night killing them in the room. My wife had them in her hair on a couple of occasions after walking around the resort in the evening. Also take the mozi repellant.

The plus side....The hotel is central and close to all ameneties and the beach.
The negative side....The hotel is listed as four star, but was not up to much. The rooms were adequate but in desperate need of refurbishment.

The food in the resturant was the worst part of the whole holiday. The variety was very limited and the food always seemed to be cold or luke warm at the best. They are obviously aware of the probelm as they provide a microwave for you to heat everything up. We ended up having to eat out.
The food and drink in the resort is really cheap thankfully.
The choice of food is very limited. Everywher seems to have the same menu. There are no foreign restuarants except for one Chinese. That is run entirely by Bulgarians and the menu is very limited.
There are no fast food outlets (A plus in my book)

The resort itself is very nice, clean and trouble free. It is idea for a family holiday.
The beach is excellent and the sea is very safe. The are lifeguards every 100 yards or so.
The evening entertainment is limited. There is only one English style bar, The Tropical Cafe. The staff are very good and they have a decent four piece rock/pop band and Elvis impersonator. You do get fed up with the same thing every night though. There doesn't seem to be anywhere else to go.
Took a taxi to Golden Sands once. About £12 return which I thought reasonable. The place is very much like Albena but still made a change.

On a night there are lines of pr*stitutes on the main street and near the hotel, however they do not bother you if you are with a family or girlfriend etc.
A really bad point is that all the family went down with diarrhoea and sickness. It seemed to go round, and just when you think you are OK it comes back again.
Be prepared for plenty of trips to the two nearby chemists Immodium Plus is about £2.50 for six tablets. I spent about £40 on the stuff!
The bug seemed to be effecting a lot of people and not just those from the same hotel.

Overall the holiday was alright but I wo'nt be rushing back there.