Clubhotel Bolero Reviews

Flew with Thomson on time, small plane which had no television on board however we were kean to get our holiday started so we didn't mind this. On arrival at Varna airport, which is very small and basic the reps were fantastic and our transfer time to the hotel was 30 minutes and ran smoothly.

Once we had arrived at the hotel Riu Bolero we were very impressed particularly with the service with staff unloading our baggage from the coach and transferring them to our rooms. The rooms were very clean and smart with a hairdryer in the bathroom. The rooms were cleaned everyday with clean towels every day. They would make things such as a teddy bears and swans out of our beach towels which my daughter was amazed by.

The hotel facilities included two outdoor pools, 1 indoor pool, 2 jacuzzi's (1 indoor, 1 outdoor) nail bar, hairdressers, The complex was spotlessly clean and the staff were very friendly. They worked very hard and always had time to be pleasant to guests.

Bottled water is available to guests at reception for free and there is a fridge in the keep it cool. Pool towels are available for a refundable deposit which can be exchanged as often as you like for clean ones.

There are three restaurants, Asian (bookings taken)which we found was very poor and most guests would leave and go into the buffet restaurant, Argentinian Grill (Bookings taken)which was a bit hit and miss and tends to serve the same food as it does during the day once it serves lunch/ snacks 10-3pm and the Buffet restaurants which we ate at most evenings and on the occasional lunch time. The food was good, a bit repetative on times but no different from our experiences abroad. The kids however had a prolem with the food as they didn't like what was on offer most of the time, not through not trying different things as they did and they tended to spend the whole holiday eating pancakes for breakfast, chips for lunch and chips for supper. They did snack on fruit as there was a wide choice and widely available. Once the restaurants closed at 9.30pm there was no snacks/ food available until breakfast which was a pain paricularly if we had dined early in the evening they became hungry later on.

The hotel entertainment was boring to say the least and the only negative aspect of the holiday. In all fairness to the entertainment team they work incredibly hard, but the evening entertainment bores the children and begins at 9.30pm only lasts 45 minutes!!! On compaining to the rep hoping that she would accept constructive criticism her answer was ";the entertainment needs to wind down in time for the bar closing";. The entertainment finished at 10.15pm and the bar closes at 12 midnight!!!!

Golden sands was great with lots of stalls/shops that come alive at night and interesting to haggle with the locals, however tourists are hounded by people trying to entice you into there bars/restaurants.

All in all we had a fantastic time at Golden sands and the hotel Riu Bolero and would definately return again The only downside of the holiday was they rubbish entertainment but having met three fantastic families we all made our holiday fun. Hope this helps you :)

I felt I had to write a review about this location and hotel, after reading bad reviews of Golden Sands.

EVERYTHING ran smoothly, no airport delays, Airport, .. fine , clean, even though alot smaller than ours.

Golden Sands, was lovely, clean beach, excellent lay out, lots of stall like shops along the front, and a fab big wheel in the centre, which we all went on for 4 levs (approx 1.60) for 5 mins but the view was great. We went into the centre twice, Poco Loco disco bar was a good night, reasonable prices, and fantastic dancers.
Also to the left of the hotel is a bar called Lucky Eye, lovely views, but the night we were there was had four gogo dancers on the bar for ages, and we felt we had to watch them or appear to be rude!!

Varna, was lovely too, not AT ALL as many of the reviews said. We had lunch in a cafe in centre called Red Fox. We had two pizzas, one bowl feta salad and two gorgous coffees for 15 levs (approx £6.00)
Varna was much cheaper than Golden Sands. Yes we did see beggars in the subways, (like in most cities) but do we really object to giving a lev or 2 to an old person with no legs?.. personally we didnt mind.

Riu Bolero was beautiful.. no other word to describe it. Lovely friendly staff, especially the bar staff and animation team that work their socks off. Lovely lovely people. My friends and I bought some chocolate one day, which we offered to them (as it was melting rapidly!!) they loved it, very happy... (which goes to show whatever nationality... we`re all chocoholics.!! All food and selection was fantastic too.

Lots and lots to do for the children too, their little mini club, their own section with pool, and swings and they put on a show at the end of the week.

All entertainment finishes strictly at 12, but that wasnt a big problem for our group.
Two bar staff Dakah and Christian behind the nighttime bar all very very nice !!
Christian loves his football.

Would highly recommend Riu Bolero and Golden Sands, highly FANTASTIC value for money. The location is perfect too, 1 minute walk to the beach. Two minutes walk to the left to a nice prom and probably about 15 mins into Party Street to the right, up a hill. We didnt go there at night though.. we didnt need too, there was enough going on nearer to base.

Taxi rank and little train, stops outside hotel. Have a wonderful time in Golden Sands... as we did.

Just come back from the Riu Bolero and have to say we had a fantastic time, the staff especially the entertainment team bent over backwards at all times to make sure we had a great holiday, just the week before we went the E. Team were trying out new shows at night and these were a big hit, it was only on for an hour each night but when you see how hard these guys work you know why, most people quite content to sit outside and enjoy the free bar until 12.00, never saw anybody abuse the bar or restaurants and when we were leaving they were bringing over some english sausages for breakfast as they noticed the frankfurters were not going down too well with the british contingent this is how well looked after you are.

Whilst we were there the E. Team also started doing a trip to the Botanical Gardens, which we went on and it was really beautiful, it cost us 12 lev each for about a 5 hour trip, the same trip with Thompson but with some ruins thrown in to view cost 62 lev so choose your trips with care. Enjoy your holiday we certainly did and will be going back there.

The Riu Bolero is in the quiet end of Golden Sands which is lovely as it is quiet and if you want night life it is just a half hour stroll along the sea front.

Just got back from a fantastic holiday, Riu Bolero in Bulgaria,missing it already.

Hotel fantastic,weather fantastic,Local people friendly,this hotel is lovely,rooms spacious,we had a family room which is 2 rooms with door adjorning each room having its own bathroom and tv.maid service everyday.staff always making sure every where is clean.food execellent,choice of everything,there are 3 resturants but for 2 of them you need to make a reservation for your evening meal.3 pools all great lower pool is more like a fun pool.animation team working all day doing some sort of game.only not so good thing was evening entertainment at hotel was just disco for about an hour 9-10.Beach just 2 min walk away and lovely golden sand, sea water nice 2,water sports on beach great fun,jet ski 50 lev for 2 people on 1 jet ski which is about 22 quid,parasailing 60 lev for 2 people.we also went horse riding which was about 5 minute drive from the hotel,aqua park also 5 minutes away.taxi through hotel into Varna is 40lev return we went but was too hot so came back to hotel and went in the pool so didnt really see much.

the resort along the beach is good lots of stalls,bars,resturants each 1 of them trying to get you to go in so just say maybe tomorrow and they are fine.there is also a mcdonalds along this stretch.I would recommend this hotel and

resort and will definatly be going back.

Just returned from Riu Bolero Had a lovely time and ate and drank far to much. Most of the staff very friendly and helpfull with the exception of one of the female bar staff.

The Asian restraunt is lovely but is a slow process so be prepared to spend a couple of hours over your meal. The Argentine Grill is a bit hit and miss we had a couple of very good serve your self meals and one absolutely awful which we left walked out and went over to the main resteraunt which I think must be the french one that the previuos comment talks about. There is nothing French about it. The main restraunt food in the evening is very good and you can usually find something for every taste. However the breakfast can be a bit unorganised, eg no cups not enough eggs especially if everyone goes at once. Generall it is best not to expect proper English brekkie.

If you are fortunate enough to get room 564 you have the most enormous L shaped balconey which is about 30 feet in length over looking the pools. Our only gripes at the time was that the pool bar closed at 6 pm and the general saloon bar didnt open until 7 pm. There are no snacks available after the main dining room closes and they turn of all the lights outside the bar at 11-30pm which it is quite dangerous with all the steps We had a forum of guests with the management and reps and they are working to rectify these points. Oh and not enough Parasols as it gets real hot around the pool. The entertainment team work very hard but the evening entertainment is naff. If you do have mobility problems there are a lot of steps on the site and the getting in and out of the over bath shower is hazardous.

Another tip would be to get pool towels which you change everyday for 20 lev per person per week which is refundable at the end of your holiday save space in the cases and the towels are lovely.We did the luxury pamper your self yacht trip and were disapointed it was hyped up to be a yacht (not what I thought a yacht should be like)only saving grace of this was that the dolphins with their baby swam right next to boat. It certainly wasnt worth £50 each. The pools at the riu are lovely but you need to get up early to nab your sun beds! Overall a good relaxing do nothing holiday with all the facilities you need.

I hope this was usefull and that you have a good time

Having got a good price we went with low expectations. We were very pleasantly surprised! The hotel was lovely, the staff couldnt do enough to help - bell boys took the bags to our rooms when we arrived at midnight and check in was fast, and always asking if there was anything they could do to help.(Reps were not so good but we didn't need them)

You get free pool towels - so save space in the suitcase! Its a £7 deposit which you get back at the end of your trip and you can get clean towels as often as you like. The restaurants are fab - we ate in the French one twice and the Argentinian 5 times - you need to book but can do it on the same day and if you dont mind eating early (7) you'll never struggle to get a table. There is plenty of choice, its hot and very very nice. The third restaurant is Asian and is a set menu rather than buffet and is Japanese - ok if you've not got kids with you and you like sushi we heard - not for us.

You can pay around £30 for a late check out with reception (book early)- well worth it. You get your room until 6pm - good timing to get ready to go to dinner and have a couple of drinks before heading home.

Didnt go into the resort too much but what we saw was good - when you get to the front head to your right - we went wrong the first time! Nice beach and plenty of nice bars and places to eat by the looks of it - we enjoyed the hotel food so didnt venture out to eat.

The health and beauty salon in the hotel is great, got a fab facial for £10 - highly recommended.

Kids reps are great - very friendly and have nice facilities. The evening entertainment is mostly done in house, a bit cheesy but the kids loved it and went off on their own to watch it leaving us to make the most of the bar!

We spent £150 in the week - on totally non essential items - jewellery, gifts etc

Went to the water park but wouldn't recommend it based on our experience - husband injured his elbow on first slide and had to have stitches! There was a queue of people with similar injuries although not as bad - the medical attention however was very good and it certainly didnt ruin our holiday.

We got back on Wednesday and booked to go again next year within the week - this time for two weeks.

Difficult to find fault with the hotel really, minor gripes are that there are a few steps to deal with - we had a 1 year old in a buggy but got used to carrying the buggy up and down and the hairdryer is not very powerful, one of those in the bathroom - ok if you've got short hair but if not take your own!

If you've booked a family room they look fab - my brother had one and they had tonnes of space - the travel cot was good - duvet and pillow provided and it was a huge room! Third beds in all rooms are decent - our son had a double bed settee to himself and our niece had a huge leather bed settee in the family room!

The maid service was good, they give you gifts of perfume if they see you and if they called whilst the 1 yr old was sleeping they would call back but offer to take any nappies whislt there.

The weather was fab - before we went the forecast was awful but it was great every day (first week in June)

Roll on June 2007!!

Its our first visit to Bulgaria and we were very pleasantly surprised. The people are very friendly and do not pester you. Our hotel was excellent its a new Riu hotel with very high standards. The food was of good choice and hot. The all inclusive facility was worked well. Never any hassle to get any drink at any time. The hotel has two swimming pools and one indoor pool. They have an animation team of around 8 people trying to get people to carry out activities throughout the day and are always pleasant and smiling. would recommend this hotel

The staff at the Riu Bolero were very friendly and helpful. The quality of the food was excellent (best I have ever had). The rooms were spacious and comfortable. We were disappointed that there were no english channels for those rainy days. This is a newly built hotel, so hopefully they will consider this as there are a lot of english people that stay at this hotel.

If you would like to visit other places I can recommend a taxi driver called Ivan Getov +359 8888 333 72. He took us to Varna and picked us up at an agreed time. We didn't pay any money until he returned for us and he was very friendly. We paid 25lev return from Golden Sands which was cheaper than the hotel taxi.

We had a fantastic holiday, despite the poor weather for that time of year. We enjoyed walking along the front and the shopping. There is free drinks and food at the Casino, but you need your passport to get in.

We had a great time at the Riu Bolero. We were a little concerned at reports that the hotel was unfinished but needn't have worried - it was fantastic!

We had a problem with the sink in the bathroom one day and reported it to reception before going for our evening meal. After dinner, I briefly went back to the room to get something and the sink had been fixed already. The staff were all so polite and very, very efficient.

The food was absolutely excellent and we put so much weight on, despite trying to be careful! The main restaurant and the Asian restaurant have a wall which is all fish tank. It's lovely to sit by, very relaxing.

There was a fantastic choice of food. Breakfasts were excellent and the pancakes were really scrummy. Lunch was always excellent with lots of choice and if you were still not full, you could always grab an afternoon snack or ice-cream. The pool bar was really good with some really lovely refreshing drinks. The popcorn was probably the only thing we didn't like (it was salted). Dinner in the main restaurant was really great. There were all kinds of different dishes including a carvery and they often had a theme night. The Asian restaurant was gorgeous (even for fussy eaters!) The portions didn't seem particularly generous but we were very full after our meal. Sushi was a new experience - although we saw some people turning their noses up at it. We tried it and it was really good! All the courses were really tasty. The Argentinian restaurant was fantastic too with some really great wines.

The entertainment was really good. The resort seemed fairly new and it was nice to be able to go for a walk down the long road by the beach. There are loads of places to eat or sit and have a refreshing drink. You can jump on a little train if you can't be bothered to walk all the way back! There are a small number of girls in the evening who approach men on their own, however we saw policemen patrolling on a number of occasions.

We went on a trip to Varna which was interesting. It was nice to go but it was similarly priced to the UK. We were warned about pickpockets and there were a LOT. I wouldn't want to return to Varna until that was sorted, it was quite scary. We sat outside at a restaurant and saw one lady get her handbag pinched. I had my meal with my camcorder and bag on my lap - there were kids coming up behind us and running their hands along the seats. We made it back to resort safely with all our possessions intact but that really spoilt our visit to Bulgaria. The other trips we went on were all really good with no such problems.

We visited Sunny Beach resort one day - it was nice but quite crowded and a bit like Blackpool - Golden Sands was more suitable for a relaxing holiday.

GREAT: Riu Bolero / Golden Sands
NOT SO GREAT: Weather - only had two nice days out of 7 / Varna

Hello all. Just got back from a week in the lovely hotel Rui Bolero. When we booked we weren't really sure what to expect and after reading reviews on the internet I was worried that the hotel wasn't completed but I needn't have worried. When we arrived we were given our check in stuff on the coach to save time as their were 3 coaches arriving that evening. We were greeted by champagne or squash which I thought was a very nice touch indeed and made you feel at home straight away. We got to our room on the 5th floor and we were amazed how nice the room was. Very spacious, lovely view of the pool, all in all a very good room. O.k. now lets cut to the good things and not so good things.

We spent most days down by the pool, which was very nice. There are two pools, one on the ground floor (for children and adults) and one up some steps (for adults). We were on the ground floor which has a pool bar, very handy. The only problem we found with this pool was a tree that blocked the sun most of the day. Good for kiddies that wanted shade though I sopose. We were going to the pool about 10 and most of the decent sun beds were gone, people most have been out of bed at 8 and put their towels out. Shouldn't be allowed but the same everywhere. The animation team were fantastic, they came out every day at 10 and 3. They had activities for the kids and adults all day, including basketball, football, bowls, darts, volleyball etc. They were great with my son, he loved the sports and they made him feel really special. My partner also played some sport and enjoyed it.

Now for the not so good things. The food, myself and my husband were not keen at all. Lots of fish and all salad had a funny taste to it like they use some kind of oil that isn't very nice. There were lots of different food though so we lived on pasta and chips but we were hoping for a more varied diet. However, breakfast was good, yummy pancakes. The toast machine seemed to take for ever though. The orange juice was squash and wasn't very nice at all. The argentinian restaurant was very nice but you have to book. And the asian restaurant was disgusting. But then sushi and a choice of chicken or fish for main isn't really our thing.

The evening entertainment was basically non existant, they had shows every night with different themes but they were from 9 to 9.30 and that was it. Not very good if you are trying to keep a 7 year old boy entertained, he got bored and we ended up down the seafront spending money.

The resort of Golden Sands is brilliant. We enjoyed walking along the sea front in the evenings and during the day. Everything is so cheap as well.

All in all a good holiday but I hope that the hotel food will improve and the evening entertainment if we ever decided to go back which is a possible.

Oh something I forgot to mention that Thomson didn't tell us when we got there: you can get FREE bottled water from reception for your room rather than buy it.

Hope this helps.

Just returned from our two week holiday in the Riu Bolero, Golden Sands and although I don't normally review holidays in this way I feel, as this hotel is new that it would give others a chance to read up and find out first hand what its like.

The main facilities are all completed now with only minor adjustments still happening in some rooms, we certainly weren't disturbed during our stay. Indoor pool, jacuzzi and gym finished and available to use.

The hotel staff were extremely friendly, the food was of an excellent standard with all varieties available throughout the day, breakfast in two restaurants from 7 - 10, lunch from 11:30 - 3, snacks and burgers from 3 - 5. Evening meals from 6 in three restaurants of which two require reservations. No complaints at all.

The service and cleanliness of the hotel was brilliant and on a rainy evening had attendants with umbrellas to walk us across to the evening entertainment and bar.

Constant games throughout the day, evening shows okay, although a bit amateur but the entertainments crew were energetic and friendly. Beauty centre with massage and manicure is also good and extremely reasonably priced.

The only downside being insufficient beds by the pools for August time of year and number of hotel guests. We had to get up early and reserve beds with towels. Although this isn't really allowed, as signs say, everyone does! As we left however, the hotel were trying to take steps to stop this from happening.

Hotel close to beach and amusements but the beach beds and parasols were costly too!

I would however, recommend this hotel as the rooms were extremely well equipped (hair dryer and fridge), cleaned every day with air conditioning. We had a famiy room which gave us plenty of space, two of everything!

Riu Bolero is now totally complete and is a beautiful hotel. Staff are lovely and animation team are great with kids and work had at the entertainment.

Rooms are really nice, carpeted with oriental style bathrooms, air con, tv, fridge etc. Food is great, with three restaurants to choose from, and loads of variety. If you get bored, eating out is very cheap.

The resort itself was extremely lively in high season, with the best part to the left of the hotel, to the right it was a bit tacky, with sideshows and people pestering you all the time to eat or drink in their bars (or worse!!).

The beach is beautiful with fine sand and crystal clear waters.

A lovely holiday, you won't be disappointed if you have booked the Riu Bolero.

We checked into the Clubhotel Riu Bolero on July 13th 2005 for a fortnight. Before we arrived, a letter arrived from our tour operator telling us that the hotel wasn't completed and that there would be building work going on around us. Horrified, we visualised an open building site, but we needn't have worried. Most of the hotel is finished (apart from the indoor pool and some apartments) and we only heard low drilling occasionally. The outdoor pools are lovely..possibly the best in the resort.

The rooms are luxurious - with carpets, marble tiles, nice beds, two telephones, hairdryer and plenty of storage. I have no complaints about the food in the hotel - only the manager of the main resturaunt. He snapped at my cousin and I, telling us we should 'get dressed' and 'put on some clothes that are suitable' for teatime - I was wearing a skirt just over the knee and a long sleeved top and my cousin was wearing a long skirt and vest top. I thought this was ridiculous, especially as we'd seen other women wearing bikini tops to dine. He was also horrible to his staff and insulting when we asked him for a 'big big' table for 6. In the second week, we booked into the hotel's Argentinian resturaunt a lot - the food was similar (bread table, poultry and meat, pizza with feta and meat toppings, soups, chips, potato wedges, cake, etc) but the atmosphere is nicely casual and the staff are more polite. There is also an Asian buffet that we never got round to trying.

The entertainment was typical - comedy, pantomime, plays, magic shows and dancing - but a decent head start for going out. As for the resort, we thought it was very good. The main shops, bars and resturaunts are by the seafront where there's also cheap water sports, a bucking bronco, bungee jumps, big trampoline and people posing as statues.

A lot of holiday goers have mentioned the 'ladies of the night' in the resort but to be honest we barely noticed them. They only seem to bother young men on their own. There were lots of people handing out leaflets during our stay, giving us 'free invites' to clubs and bars which did get irritating.

As older teenagers, my cousin and I were looking forward to some good nightlife but I found that most of the clubs (namely bonkers and roxy) were far too claustrophobic and the music was soOo loud. I got conned with club entry fees twice so it pays to give exactly the right change to get in. I'd recommend the Muppet Karoke Bar and Amfora Karoke Disco to meet English people. The street artists were amazing and there were also photo studios where you could go to dress up in various costumes and have professional photos taken. It cost us 50 pounds for 3 big photos and 6 smaller ones but they're a cracking souvenir! Shops were great for cheap designer labels and I regret not leaving more space in my suitcase. A designer hooded top for example only cost 13 pounds. The weather was nice and sunny but there were a couple of erractic storms when we arrived. There weren't many English people in the hotel and the resort was predominantly German holiday makers.

Overall, I had a good time and would go back with my boyfriend. I hope this review has proved informative and have a good holiday, people!

Just got back from the Riu Bolero in Golden Sands. Had a lovely fortnight there along with my wife and two kids.

The hotel is lovely and I think all the facilities are now open, including indoor pool and spa area! The rooms we had were comfortable and quite a good size. They were nothing special but I couldn't really fault them. The food at the hotel was very good but after about 9-10 days we were all pretty bored of it as it was quite repetitive. I also got sick on day 10 and that kind of put me off the food a bit! The main restaraunt had 'theme evenings' a couple of times a week but you'd be hard pushed to spot the difference in the menu over all the other days! Pizza, pasta and chips were available everyday for some reason. An argentinian restaraunt which can be pre-booked served a slightly different menu and was also very nice. The Asian restaraunt was interesting, it served a set menu of chinese and japanese dishes such as sushi. I have to admit, we only ate there once and that was enough for us but there were other people there who booked again for more.

The swimming pools are great, nice and big and ideal for kids as well as adults and there are plenty of sunbeds, We found we had to reserve our sunbeds at about 8 'o clock to get good ones. I hate doing that as I don't think it should be allowed but with everyone else doing it, you have no choice.

The entertainment team or 'animation team' as they are known do a great job through the day organising activities for those who want to participate. These included football, basketball, water polo, air rifle shooting, darts and more. In the evening, I'm afraid the animation team are not so good. The evening entertainment consists of about 45-50 minutes of the team badly miming to very old cheesy songs or puting on badly scripted, slow boring little plays. I felt embarrassed for them on a number of occasions. Before and after the show 'DJ Ivan' would play his 'Now that's what I call music 4' CD. One night a week we got professional entertainment which was great, one night was a music quiz which was mostly European and classical music. The main problem with all this somewhat annoying 'entertainment' was that the bar in which it takes place is the only bar open from 7 until midnight and so if you wanted to take advantage of your all inclusive drinks, you basically had to put up with it. We ended up sitting just outside the bar most nights but it only helped a little.

Having said all that, there seemed to be some people enjoying the efforts of the animation team and so maybe it's just horses for coureses, but definately NOT my kind of thing.........give me a man with a guitar or piano any time!
A word about our trip to Nessebar. This was a lovely place to visit but the coach trip there was 3 hours and back was just over 2 hours and the air con. in the coaches over there doesn't seem very effective. Also, the roads are bad and so the coach trip was a nightmare. I reckon it would have worked out cheaper in a taxi (we had to pay for 2 adults and 2 kids in the coach) and been a lot quicker and more comfortable and so that's the way I'd recommend it.
We briefly visited Sunny Beach and I thought I was back in Benidorm. It is a very densely developed resort that was full of drunk teenagers. There was a scottish football match being shown in the bars and they were rammed packed with very noisy, very drunk fans cheering and swearing, this was in the early afternoon. I'm so glad I didn't decide to take my family there. I think if it's a party kind of holiday you're after, this would be the place. It looks like a great resort for a lads holiday.

I will just say we only saw a small part of the resort and I'm sure it's not all the same but Golden Sands was definately more my kind of place.

The hotel will be very nice when its completed.we did enjoy ourselves but were disturbed by building noise and made to feel uncomfortable by workmen staring at whilst sunbathing.The hotel staff were very helpful and very polite but the holiday rep was not.
We were led to believe that the hotel was completed and that only some of the facilities were incomplete.We would therefore warn people going there in the next few weeks to expect building work to still be going on in the hotel rooms as many rooms were still unfinished when we left.
Finally the rooms when finished are lovely and comfortable and the food was of a very good standard with plenty of choice.