St.elena Hotel Reviews

We only went to the St Elena as the Koral was fully booked in high season (see our Koral review from June 2006).

This hotel is not a bad hotel we just thought it lacked a little bit of 'warmth' towards guests of all nationalities. Some of the staff were very accommodating and pleasant, the younger ones were uninterested and surly.

This hotel is newish and is well kept in the main public areas.

However, we can only give a review based n the fact that we stayed in one of the family 'apartment' rooms. Whilst this was very big we did not like the dull dark decor and the layout. There was a large twin bedroom and a smaller room which had a tv sink, fridge and cooker in. We only had a fold down settee-bed for the kids in the second room and it took 2 days for them to provide another fold up single bed. You try and get a 14 year old girl to sleep with her brother and see what hassle we had! He slept on the floor on quilts. The room with the bed-settee smelt of fag-smoke and the kids hated being in there. The air-con did not work fully either. Our bedroom was large and roomy. The wardrobe in the hallway was lethal as every time one of us went to shut the sliding doors we caught either nuckles, fingers or back of our hands in it. After we all had hand injuries we gave up and did not use the wardrobe for the entire holiday. There were TV's in each of the two rooms but both had different channels.

The hotel has tennis courts, outdoor and indoor mineral water pools. the kids loved the indoor pool as it was in the basement along with saunas, whirlpools, massage etc. The entire basement fitness suite was the best part of the hotel for us.

Breakfast was HORRIBLE, the worst yet in Bulgaria. Looks like it's set up for Russians, Bulgarians and Germans. Never seen that many hard boiled eggs since our early travels in Greece!!!!
Fried bread which was 2 inches thick and soggy!. The only cereals were Bulgarain bran flakes. Nothing tasted good. The kids would not go into the dining room after we saw a huge bowl of peaches which had long thin mould spores on the 'furry' skin. The mould was about 1cm long. I still shudder at it. We are regular visitors to BG and know the breakfasts were well below par.

The larger outdoor pool started at 1.40m depth so was too deep for the kids as they are small for their age. The smaller outdoor round pool is for kids but is not large enough for a decent swim as it is about 2.5m in diameter. The traditional Bulgarian restaurant by the pool serves terrific food which is very cheap.

The bus stop is right outside the hotel for Varna and Golden Sands. Opposite the hotel on the main road is the Ecoogical Park which is very good and very cheap to visit (2 leva for kids and 3.5 for adults). Lovely place to go for a picnic as it's woodland and massive.

The hotel is ok for the price we paid but we would not wish to go back there.

First of all do not think twice about going , this place is amazing ,the locals speak , english, russian and german . 99% are the lovliest people you could meet.

FOOD. First ,try the kavarma,a pork stew with a poached egg cooked in a bulgarian pot, all the food is wonderful ,if you are adventerous, try the breaded veals tongue. Children will always find something, believe us with a fussy 12 year old.A small cafe we frequented (name escapes me) did a hock (haxe), which just fell of the bone , enough for two on it, 12 leva (£4).Berlinda's pizza was excellent value for money too about 7 leva (£2.30) for a 15 inch pizza .3 leva is a good guide to £1.

HOTEL We booked a family room and were very suprised at what we got .we walked in to find a double put-me-up and a single bed and thought oh #### until we discovered a door which led to another double bed. The staff were all very young and very helpful but it could have done with some senior authority .The pool was lovely ,but although the food next to the pool was good the staff were not .24 hour bar in the hotel. The indoor pool is very warm and nice if it rains.

MARKET Trainers are cheap ,as are zippo lighters,t-shirts, cardigans, watches,wallets,period style photos,pottery and bags . PRICES Beer 50p a half litre Bottle of wine £1.00 Good bottle of wine £1.85 (honest its good) T-shirts £3 Diesel cardigan £10 Diesel trainers £7 Zippos £1.20 (my mate has still got one i gave him 2 years ago) Watches £5 Wallets £3 Meal for two adults and two kids with a bottle of wine and soft drinks £15 Daily mail £1.75

ADVICE Pay for your excursions in sterling and cash your money in bulgaria a much better rate .they will only accept good condition notes , no tears or writing on them .

EXCURSIONS Day trip to nessebur was nice though a long journey , over two hours ,country people and discover bulgaria are a must ,lots of wine tasting and meals included ,go to varna ,about 1 leva each on the bus (ours broke down,all part of the fun ) Nessebur £12 (no meal) kids £8 Country people about £25 kids £16 Discover bulgaria the same , one of them takes you on a trip along the danube.

DUTY FREE Wait till you go home and get them at varna airport 200 bandh £8, bottle of jack daniels £12. you can only pay in euros or sterling .

See you there next year ,i will be wearing the celtic shirt.