Neptun Reviews

First time in Bulgaria and not knowing what to expect, we were a little apprehensive,to say the least!

Arriving early hours at Varna Airport with a bonus unexpected private transfer things got off to a good start....
Got to hotel,looks good from outside,BUT!,getting to our allocated room we thought we'ed timewarped back to 1976! NOT joking! the rooms are VERY dated to say the least! This obviously was a luxurious hotel for the well-off Bulgarians and Russians in the pre-communist days,but the rooms really need updating and quick if it to keep in touch with all the modern new build properties currently springing up all over the Black Sea resorts.
First morning(staying BandB),went down for breakfast, in a word, bizarre! Brought a tray of sliced tomatoes with olives,then sliced cold polony(meat subsistute) and stong cheese;and the most revolting tasting fried eggs ever tasted,done in olive oil.yuk!
After that decided to eat out for the rest of week as it was so cheap!

This hotel is at the top of a side road(2mins walk) off a very busy dual carriage way(fast road) getting across the road which has an under carriage, wasn't a problem. When across the road it just head thru the green fence/gate and walk down the pedestrian walkway to the resort area.

THE RESORT.
St Kontantin is beautiful and we WILL go again,it is set in a lush forest/wooded area with a winding market area with bars/restaurants scattered along it.
The paths all end up at the beaches, few little secluded bay/beaches and more busier beaches.Beware there are jelly fish!
Plenty of trips to go on,(Romania,Istanbul(2/3 days)) We went on one to Nessebar down the coast,2 hour trip to get there and was not bad,just a tourist trap really,just mega busy and selling same stuff in the shops for more money.

EATING OUT.
In a word very inexpensive and very nice, we did not have a bad meal all week, fish dishes are a speciality!We found a little place that did fresh fish skewers/kebabs for 90p each and they were lushious!
Drinking is very cheap also;all beers and wine and spirits are easily affordable.

NIGHTLIFE.
This is a mainly couples/family resort,only 1 nightclub in the resort,We went to Varna a few nights for drinks,the bus is only 1 Lev(36p) from the above mentioned dual carridgeway and very easy to use,most people speak English in bars/restaurants/buses etc.
Varna is even cheaper,loads of shops,for a mega cheap night go down to the bay(just follow all the locals(20-40 years olds down towards the bay area)The area is FULL of bars and restuarants and even cheaper than the tourist resorts, we could'nt believe how cheap(3 glasses wine,3 beers.£4 maximum)

All in all Bulgaria is great, a little rough around the edges, and quirky.If you go,DON'T expect it to be like Spain,it's not! Just remember this is a fledging holiday destination just gearing up for much bigger numbers in years to come(the thousands of new build hotels in bigger resorts tell you that.)
Just take it for what it is,cheap to live and a stunning green country, full of very friendly people giving us the best welcome we ever recieved on any holiday!

When we booked our holiday we didn't know what to expect as we were allocated on arrival.

We had an early Sunday evening flight and we was delayed about an hour, so our holiday didn't start very well! We had read up on this site about the aircraft that Balkan Holidays use, was a clapped out machine, this however was untrue but the rest was. There was no entertainment, no decent food and no communication from our pilot about us landing at Varna as it came as a shock to everyone on the plane.

After 20 minutes of queuing at the passport control, we then had to wait yet another 20 minutes for the carousel to decide to give our cases, which had another set of cases from other flights so people were beginning to get very cranky as it was the early hours of the morning.

We found the rep to find out where we were stopping, and it was in a hotel that didn't appear in the brouchure, never mind on the map that was given to us by the rep!
When we finally arrived at the hotel, we had to walk up a long pathway and thought to ourselves what we had come to. We got checked in ok, then we had to find our room.

The room was very small and very basic, but because we had a long day we thought it was alright until we got up the next morning. The view we had was a back yard of a local's house and had the joy of looking up to her washing line full of her BIG BLOOMERS!!

The next day we spoke to the receptionist and told her we wasn't happy with our room and asked if we could move. The new room we had was much better, it had a double balcony, seprate bedroom and living area and the view was much better at the front.

As the hotel was only a 2* didn't really expect much, but we did think that the rooms would be a little more decent than what we got the 1st time round. Also this hotel had 1 advantage from many other 2* hotels and that was that this had its own swimming pool that was a decent size, but very cold when you got in it!!

We spent most of our time in Golden Sands as it was only a 10 minute bus ride that cost 1 lev 60 stotinki's (about 50p for both of us) and the area, markets and atmosphere was more for us.

St Konstantin market was very small and full of German's within 10 minutes of walking around you would have done all the market's.

While in Bulgaria you will need to be aware of taxi driver's, they will pester you to have a ride with them. They will collar you even when you are waiting at the bus-stop. Eventhough the taxi to/from Golden Sands and Varna are cheap, the buses are cheaper still.

On our trips to Golden Sands, we found plenty of nice places to eat. There was Kingdom, La Mamba and the Rocks. They all did great pizza's and pasta meals, but are loads more choice on the menu if you wanted to try something different.
Overall we did have a great time at St Konstantin as the people we met were brilliant and we will definatly go back, but will go to a more lively resort for more our age.

St Konstantin is an ideal resort for people who want a more relaxed atmosphere, but when they want a change of scenery can always jump on a bus/ taxi and go to nearby Varna/ Golden Sands.