Hotel Riu Helios Palace Reviews

the hotel was spotless,the food was excellent/and the staff wherevery very pleasant.outside the hotel there was plenty to do .

great fabulous

It really was a struggle to enjoy this holiday! Firstly, this Hotel is situated in an 'extremely' noisy location where there are very nearby bars/clubs which literally bang out bassie music 24/7, needless to say I wore ear plus every night to try and sleep but this still did not block out the extreme noise. Secondly, I do not appreciate having to get up at 6:30 every morning to get a sunbed at the pool, but this is what we had to do every single day as the beds are all taken by half seven AND we therefore spent the whole of the holiday tired and exhausted. Thirdly, the evening entertainment is the worst we have ever undured and trust me we have seen some bad'uns. The Animation Team (on the whole) are really lovely guys and try hard during the day to get you involved in activities, but unfortunately as far as the entertainment goes, that is it. The Thomson Rep (Michelle) has the personality of cucumber and is ignorant and unfriendly, throughout the holiday we saw her on many occasions and she neither smiled or acknowledged us, in fact the only time she came alive was during the Welcome Meeting whilst selling the trips, and oh boy, would I have liked a pound for everytime she said 'for you', it drove us all mad. The food in the hotel is acceptable, very repetitive and occasionally very badly cooked (ie raw or burned to a cinder)but usually found something that we could eat. The restaurant area is extremely crouded and there are beams and counters that you have to manouvre around aswell as people which does get on your nerves. Also, the hotel generally has extremely inefficient Air Conditioning, in fact it was very difficult to find anywhere cool in the hotel, including the bedrooms where you could cool down. The beach is overcrowded and beds and unbrellas are 7 lev each for the day which seems rediculous. But generally Sunny Beach makes places like Aya Napa and Benidorm look positively dull and quiet. On the plus side, the hotel is clean, the pools are clean but absolutely freezing, the Animation Team are lovely, especially 'Ivo'and 'Tony' who were very funny and made our holiday enjoyable.

Recently returned from this hotel. It is officially a 4* but I would definitely rate it as 3*.

Food - was not as good as in previous Riu hotels we have stayed in. Young children were however catered for well in that there was always a selection of chicken nuggets, pizza, chips etc available. The dining room was quite cramped and on each table there was a small vase with cheap, plastic and dirty flowers in. Would have been better to get rid of them altogether.

Rooms - we read previous reviews regarding noise etc from the bars across the main road at the front of the hotel so paid for a sea view. What a view we got - right across the whole bay. We also ended up with a suite!!!! Only seemed to be a few in the whole hotel so we were extremely lucky. The rooms must have been modernised in the last couple of years as ours was quite contemporary. We did hear slight noise from the bars on the beach but not enough to keep us awake. Other guests who were at the front of the hotel got little sleep due to the bars across the street being open until 4 or 5 a.m. so they had to purchase ear plugs! The rooms on the first floor did not have balconies and those on the other floors were only 3 feet deep.

Air conditioning - as in previous reviews, it was pretty diabolical in the main areas but was very good in our room and in the salon bar where the evening entertainment took place.

Public areas - the only seating was in the ground floor corridors so was very limited and consisted of plastic settees - not good in the heat we had of over 40 degress.

Bars - one near reception with few seats, one by the main pool and one where the evening entertainment was held. Service good but the all inclusive drinks were quite limited and not a good standard.

Pools - one large one where the pool bar is and one slightly smaller one. This hotel was the worst I've been in for the reserving of sunbeds. All had towels on to reserve them by 7 a.m. even though there were signs from the management as usual, but they ignored the whole problem.

Entertainment - the entertainment team work all day with various activities e.g. rifle shooting, darts, water gym, childrens' club etc and then have to provide the evening entertainment too and do try their best. There are no professional shows bought in at all.

Resort - large resort full of bars and restaurants - most with people outside trying to coax you in. Hundreds of shops selling counterfeit products but these are cheap and dare I say it, nasty. The only decent leather goods I found were the same price as at home. Be aware that we saw several places where canabis and poppers were freely available.

Overview - I would suggest that this is a resort for the under 30s. Having said that, my daughter (19) was considering going to Bulgaria in September with a friend of the same age and having now been there is very unsure whether she would return.

If you do want to try this hotel and are used to 4* and 5* in other countries, don't bother as you will be disappointed like us. If you usually stay at 3* hotels, you will probably be extremely pleased with the Helios as the staff are extremely friendly and helpful and in general the facilities are good.

We have just returned from the Riu Helios Palace after a 2 week stay. We have over the past few years stayed within Riu hotels and unfortunately this hotel does not come up to the normal Riu standard.

For instance the reception staff were very brusque and it felt as though they were doing you a favour. There is currently a problem within the hotel with the pool towells going missing - if you mislay one a £20 fee is incurred per towell. We so happened to leave our towells only to return from a dip in the pool to have one missing - when we spoke to the hotel we were told that the towells should not be left unattended (should we have gone into the pool with them wrapped around our neck then?). We were told that it's 'the Germans'. Pool attendants very surly and unhelpful.

At rear of pool on the beach is a bar which starts playing boom boom music at midday and goes on to 5am. By the side of this is a restaurant which pours out smoke and parrafin smells as it roasts whole pigs. Many people were asking to move rooms but whether you were at the back or front of the hotel noise disturbance would be experienced. We managed to sleep between 12-3am after this the organised pub crawls from other hotels returned along the main street (the resort has just been opened up for 18-30's. Sunbeds - there are several notices around that say do not reserve sunbeds but you guessed it the 'Germans' were up an about and all the beds were gone by 5am. Food was okay something for everyone but repetitive. If you have to use the hotel doctor be warned that he is after 'your money' and will ask you to make repeat visits to him just so that he can check. He is quite rude and dismissive although he does speak English. Air conditioning is non existent within the rooms and can be uncomfortable.

All in all we will not be returning to this hotel as standards are low and sunny beach is far too noisy.
I just want to add though that the Thomson rep (Emma) is absolutely brilliant - nothing was too much trouble and she is not afraid of taking up issues with the hotel on your behalf. Emma helped us with the hotel doctor who said that my grandaughter needed 3-4 days in hospital for an ear infection and it turned out after an afternoon in the hospital she was well enough to return to the hotel.