Hotel Koral Reviews

We found this hotel really nice and quiet and all the staff really helpful and friendly. It was ideal for couples or a family with young children.

This is a follow up review to our earlier reviews from this summer (June). We re-visited in late Sept. 2006.

Was quite shocked when we saw the Koral in September at the end of the season as it has some very obvious signs of water leakage in the main downstairs areas. When we were there in June the hotel was immaculate but large 60cm to 1m patches of black mould were to be seen on the ceilings.

As this hotel is usually spotless, we do hope that these will be fixed, now the hotel has shut down for the winter.

Thw food was also not up to it's usual high standard and I can only assume that as it was the last week of the season they were using up what they had left.

Staff (as usual) were brilliant and we will return to the Koral in April next year.

It was our first visit to Bulgaria and we did not really know what to expect.

We were a large group (2 families) and everybody had a great time. The hotel Koral was really nice. The rooms were big and clean and the maids had a sense of humour (several times they folded the sheets into amusing shapes). The pool was nice and clean, although it would have been nice with an evening swim but it closed at 6 pm.The kids enjoyed playing pool and table tennis in the foyer although it did cost a small amount. The restaurant food was lovely. Breakfast buffet had lots of things to offer, cold and hot, but you might want to bring teabags from England. We were half board and the evening food was really great. Pasta and pizza which appealed to the kids and lots of delicious Bulgarian and international dishes that we liked. We originally thought that we would also eat out some nights, but the food was so good, we ate there every night for the 2 weeks. Usually we went out for drinks some local bars afterwards. All the hotel staff were nice and friendly and spoke resonably good english. From the hotel there was a 5 min walk to the market, which was open until about 11pm. Plenty of shopping for the girls and bars for the boys at 50 pence a pint. Had lunch at Pizza Romana, on the market street, a couple of times. Very good, authentic, freshly cooked pizzas in their turtle shaped pizza oven.

For a different evening we popped into Grand Hotel Varna's Party Beach, just down the road from Koral, and sat on their four poster sunloungers around the pool and had a drink and chilled out to the music. Slightly more expensive, but well worth it. The beach at the end of the market road is ok, but there is a better one if you continue to the left, pass the huge ship restaurant. We tried some watersports, like parascending, bananaboat riding, big Mabel and jet skiing, all at reasonable prices. Took the local bus ( 1 lev, about 35p each way ) to Varna, which was a lovely town. Recommend a visit to the cathedral, archeological museum, (impressive gold jewellery collection) and the roman baths. The dolphinarium was also good.

The first trip we booked through our Balkan Hols rep,it was the Pirate Adventure. Great fun for all ages, but expect to get wet. We realised after that, that most trips can be booked with other companies at cheaper prices. TRAVELplus (the first company on the market street) were good. We did Balchik and Kaliakra and Nessebar-excellent trips with an excellent guide called Giorgie. We also enjoyed the People and Country trip with another company, good fun. Bulgarian people were friendly and welcoming. Some of the bar men were quite amusing.

All in all a great holiday and the weather was very good.

Just returned from Hotel Koral at the VERY beginning of the season(1st week in June 2006). Weather-unpredictable- June and Nov are the months when rainfall is above average. Hotish (23-25) and sunny in the day but poured down each night from 7ish. Showers are heavy and come on VERY fast and if they last a couple of hours it can get a bit chilly.

BALKAN HOLIDAYS: First time with this company but reps. not as bad as I have read here. I do know that the pattern of Balkan of changing fights and times mentioned here on numerous reviews is true. Our flight was changed 3 weeks before going from early morning to 8.30 on a Friday night from Gatwick. We were not happy to have to travel from Essex to Gatwick in the Friday night rush hour.

Reps in resorts do not speak perfect English but tried their hardest. The good thing for us was that they are no where near as pushy to sell trips etc as other reps in the Med. resorts. Service was good and if you wanted them to not bother you it was fine. Our reps could not have been nicer when on the last day of our holiday, Balkan were informed that our Travel Agent - OAKLEY HOLIDAYS - Peterlee, had gone bust and had not paid them the money we had paid to Oakley. ABTA claim forms etc. were filled in and handled within 1 hour and we did not have to worry whether or not we would have to pay for the holiday twice.

HOTEL KORAL: Went 3 star rather than take chance on 2 but apart from TV in rooms not a lot a difference. Room was large and spotless. Bathroom the same. Rooms are cleaned every day to a high standard. Only trouble was maids come round from 7.30 to 8.00am. If you want a lie-in you MUST put do-not-disturb signs out the night before or you will be woken up by the staff. Breakfast is served from 7.30 to 10.00am but if (like us on our first morning) you are 1 minute late (due to early morning arrival- 04.25am) the manageress will refuse you entry if she is around. Pool was kept spotless but tiles around were very slippery if you walked on them with normal shoes on. Don't know if it was slippery with bare feet as was too cold to try but suspect it may be. Food in hotel was excelent at breakfast but not really that good (compared to all of the eateries nearby) in the evening. But a 3 course evening meal was only 10 leva so if you are on a budget it is perfectly acceptable. (NOTE: In June 2006 there are 2.80 leva to the pound so a meal of 10 leva is only £3.50-£4.)

Hotel staff did not seem to speak a lot of English as in the past the resort catered more for Germans and Swedes. English is getting more and more popular and the younger Bulgarians will have a go at it. Hotel is set back from the road within lots of trees. It took a couple of days to realise that all the hotels are 'hidden' in the trees which make you feel very private. We asked for a quiet room at the back of the hotel as the pool is at the front and the reception/lounge has nightly entertainment. The hotel has a bar/club/disco room attached at cellar level, entered by going outside and down some steps. This is where the reps hold their meetings. However, it is so stuffy, with no air circulating and stinks so badly of fags we could not sit in there for a night out. (I am a smoker but this place was rank). Go next door instead to the open air CLUB VEE bar which you can see from the hotel and the pavement outside. It's new this year and built of wood and the 2 guys who run it are brilliant. We were virtually the only customers as they have just opened and they brought in a telly from their home to let us watch the footie (World Cup) every day and gave us free beer on our last day. They also do a mean fresh chicken 'n' chips.

ST KONSTANTINE:
Seemed a little run-down when we first arrived but as the week went on the council were out and about sprucing it up. It is a very pretty place with all of the trees etc. Walking down from the Hotel Koral you pass the Grand Hotel Varna which dominates the main bit of the town. I have never seen such an ugly looking ex-communist lump of concrete.

However, don't be fooled by it's horrible look. Go inside and be amazed at 5 star luxury. The place is like the Tardis, it's bigger inside and full of marble walls. It has 3 swimming pools, one bowling alley and facilities coming out of it's ears. In the gardens you don't get a sun umbrella or a cover made of palm leaves, you get a full wooden four poster bed/settee with white cotton drapes to lounge on. Just go in and see what I mean. Opposite the Grand Varna are restarants, open air bars and market stalls/shops. Turn left and head for the ALDO mini supermarket. This is where the only cashpoint in the area is.

The middle of ST Konstantine is full of wooded walks where you will pass numerous stalls with shoes, fake designer stuff, nicknaks etc. You cannot get lost really as all the roads and paths lead to somewhere you will recognise. From the Grand Varna if you carry on past the left turn for the ALDO supermarket and walk on for about 100 meteres the road takes you down to the coast areas. There is not a single beach but a selection of small coves reached by quite a few steps. This is not a place for anyone who has trouble walking. As you go down this 'beach' road you will come across the mineral spa pools. You will know when you are nearby as they smell like the drains in Greece. They are like large swimming pools and you pay 4 lev to get in (or 10 if you want the luxury loungers etc). The water is stinky but very warm and really relaxing. Give it a go but get showered before you leave the complex or you and your clothes stink.

SURROUNDING AREAS:

Nearby Golden Sands and Sunny Beach are brilliant if you like Blackpool on Black Sea or Palma Nova/Magaluf (but even more developed). If you like constant noise, bustle and the next hotel room looking into yours then these are the places to be. If not avoid like the plague!!!! We, personally were so thankful that we were no where near them on our first trip to Bulgaria.

Varna as a city and a port and is still struggling to come out of the communist era. Lots of horrible concrete blocks of flats with shabby exteriors and rusty facades. We went to the museum in Varna which was very impressive, but the grounds were very shabbby with broken steps, seats, rubbish bins and large areas of paving stones collapsing into the ground (we mean looking like they had been sucked in by an earthquake). If you are near the impressive Catherdral of the Assumption, at the front where the dozens of cabs all park, over the other side of the main road (by the MCDonalds sign) you will find little baker's shacks which sell REAL Bulgarian food for a fraction of the price in a cafe'. These shacks are really clean and the food is delicious and cheap. You can buy what looks like a HUGE triangular pasty, filled with either melted cheese, salad or sweet filling for about 1.5 leva(0.18-20p approx).

We travelled around the countryside quite a bit and preferred it to some of the 'concrete' and run down towns.

Went to Romania on a trip booked through the reps but to be honest it was a really long day (06.30am to 9.30pm) with not a lot of time spent off the bus in Romania. Spent 1 hour in Romanian museum, one hour for lunch and 45 mins in a seaside resort. We went to compare the 2 countries but there's not a lot in it. The crossing at the border can take anywhere from 45 mins to 2 hours EACH WAY and is dreary. Unless you really want the extra stamp in your passport (like us) this trip is very expensive for what you get, and is such a long tiring day.

Spend your cash on the Bulgarian day out seeing the stone forest, have Bulgarian lunch,visit beekeepers, go wine tasting for hours. Much better value AND everyone came back pi**ed.

Loved St Konstantine and will go back. Might try the Grand Varna for the pampering, but if we cannot afford it we will be more than happy to go back to the Hotel Koral.

We only booked flights as we were due to stay in a villa which was cancelled on us 2 days before.
I found this hotel on the internet.
When we arrived we couldn't believe how nice the hotel was compared to everything we had drove past on the way.

We stayed in the 3* part of the hotel but also booked a 1 bedroomed apartment because of the baby. When we entered the room we couldn't believe how large it was, there were 2 bedrooms a sitting area (complete with sky tv, fridge, large sofa etc...)

on our first day in the hotel we were very imperessed the pool was spotless and the rooms were cleaned almost immediatly, i cant say very much for the breakfast, omlette everyday (im not sure it was cooked to well either)they must cater for the more dominent nationalities....
We noticed over the next week the standard of the pool slipping and soon realised it's cleaned for the next set of guests coming (hence the ear infections) its also freezing cold.
The staff at the hotel are fantastic and cannot do enough for you, the bar is open 24 hours a day and there is constantly a lifeguard on duty through the opening times.

I would definatly reccomend this hotel but the resort itself leaves nothing to be desired. I haven't ever been to such a quiet place (don't forget we had a baby)
Restaurants i would recommend are the Indian Deli at the bottom of the road and a place just after the HAPPY bar (it is dearer than anywhere else though)
It's a shame the hotel is not in golden sands....