Kristal Hotel

Had an excellent holiday at Kristal Hotel, Golden Sands. Hotel facilities excellent.
Restaurant very good. Best of all, staff very friendly and helpful. First Choice reps best ever met.
Only complaint - charge too high for tennis. 35l for 1 hour for 4 people.
Area beautiful, restaurants very good, people very friendly.
Will be back.

Just got back this morning boo hoo, sob sob! So sad and want to be back there!
The weather let us down. 1st 2 days were lovely, hot with a nice breeze but the rest of the week was cloudy and just like home!
Hotel = fab. Clean rooms and very spacious. Hotel staff were friendly and helpful.

We only went there bed and breakfast so we didn’t try the afternoon and evening meals but if you like eggs! Eggy bread, boiled eggs, fried eggs, poached eggs, scrambles eggs then you'll like the breakfasts! Its eggcelant!! ... Even the salad bar had sliced cold egg! I like egg on toast so I was happy... Although we only made breakfast 3 times!
People = a lot of the people there don’t speak 100% English, lots of Dutch and German people there but luckily we met some English people to go and party with. (There isn’t many)
Entertainment = not very good in the hotel, mainly for kids but who wants to sit in the hotel anyway when there’s so much out there to see and do! We went in muppet bar most nights; it’s a karaoke bar on Party Street, great night out. We went in Ivan bar also every night for a few drinks to get us started.
Clubbers = try Roxy bar and bonkers.
Prices... People are under the impression that Bulgaria is extra cheap... It’s not! People exaggerate... We were told you could eat out and it worked out about £5 per couple including a bottle of wine? Unless you have a bowl of chips or a salad then this isn’t true! Main course are approx 18l so about £4. Not including starter’s deserts or drinks.
Well worth it though. Warning.... Most of the restaurants don’t serve garnish with your meal so you don’t get chips or salad etc, make sure you ask before you order or you will just end up with a piece of steak on a plate!!! Lol ... The beach bars are more expensive than the bars on Party Street but only slightly
Restaurants = the menus are printed in foreign language, most being hard to understand but if u have something in mind that you want ask them and they will make it, I lived on garlic mushrooms with cheese! Yum!
They mainly cater for all nationalities' there’s and Indian and a Chinese and all the restaurants serve pastas (spaghetti) and steaks etc, you’ll find something you want everywhere and try to try food from the little snack huts yummy for on the way home after a night on the tiles!
Smokers... Ciggys are not 40p for 20... They about 2.6l so about £1 and there’s
No English cigs!! Oh and if you want buy bulks to bring home then buy them daily because the shops only stock a couple of sleeves.
Dogs = everywhere but they are harmless.
Varna = just like going to your local shopping centre... Boring and busy and very expensive.
Big drinkers = if you suffer bad hangovers I suggest that you have a couple of shots of 'jager meister' (pronounced 'yayger myster') throughout your night. Really settles your stomach and prevents hangovers... And for those who like to be absolutely wasted... Try a shot of 'ferna branka' but please beware this stuff is lethal!! Cocktails are cheap about 6l (£2) soft drinks are expensive £1.50 for a bottle of coke! Beer about £1 a pint coffees about £0.60p
Beaches = great! Clean and comfy loungers.
Touters = really really annoying. They get u from every direction. We tell the waiters we have eaten already or that we are meeting friends and we tell the leaflet givers that we will be there later! Easy! But repetitive!
So I hope I’ve helped you out here, Golden Sands is a great place to be in.
Unfortunately we came at the beginning of the season so it wasn’t as busy as it will be next month but it was getting busier every day! Will definitely be returning! Have fun!

Last night I just returned from this trip to Bulgaria which I will never ever go back to.
What can I say? The hotel was great with spacious and clean room and pretty architecture.
But the two things I was mostly worried about before I left by reading the message board, happened.
The food was near to horrible, greasy, hardly diversified and to top it up my husband and I got food poisoning, but the worse was that my 15 months old baby got really bad food poisoning since the first day there.
This was an organised trip for Easter, but felt nothing like it as no festive meal was offered which made all the guests as unhappy as we were.
Second of all I felt that the reception staff wasn't so helpful as you would expect them to be.
On the other hand the room service was fine, no comment there, but the toilet paper! Hi Hi Hi!
Also, when we considered going there we were told they have a Kids Club. Surprise, this was not running in this period.
One more note: If you're planning to travel by car BE AWARE! The roads are uneven, hardly any signs and marks so you really need a proper map or your GPS.
Good luck!

My wife & I stayed at the Kristal in Golden Sands arranged through First Choice.
This is not to be confused with the one you go to with Balkan holidays.
Although we went in September 2005 it was everything that we expected so much so we are going back in June this year the staff were very friendly and polite the hotel was clean anything you needed the hotel staff would get if it was possible.
The food was good everything you would expect given that YOU are in a foreign country the trips organized by first choice were excellent with one exception that was Bulgaria without make up that was one I did not enjoy but that is my opinion other than that it was an overall very enjoyable holiday and we are looking forward to June.

Well what can I say I’ve read the other reviews and it all boils down to the food is was absolutely disgusting. I contracted food poisoning during my stay and so did a young man that traveled on our mini bus.
Overall hotel was very clean and the maids that were doing your rooms were fantastic the room was left clean and tidy every single day. The reception staff didn’t seem to know at all.
The town nearby was a great place to visit buzzing every night, apart from getting bothered by every restaurant persons as you walked by the beach is good to and only a 5 min walk from the beach but this hotel isn’t for people that find it hard to use steps.

We went to Kristal hotel, transfer from Bourgas was not very good. The hotel is very clean and tidy.
Now for the food it was awful, my wife was very ill as were a couple of other people. We will not be going there again.
The reps where not helpful at all. Nothing to do in the hotel apart from drinking. Nothing for my daughter to do. Overall a really bad holiday.

My family and I have been back a few days, we all feel starved as the food wasn’t what we expected. They didn’t really cater for young children.
Hotel waiters and staff were ok but not helpful in anyway. The swimming pools were fine apart from the lifeguard who just sat there all day on his chair. Reception staff not helpful what so ever. I know they are foreign but they could have tried to help a little more.
Overall, hotel was clean tidy but staff not that good, kids entertainment good but only one show a week, very hilly lots of steps round hotel. OK if you’re fit and able, apart from that we had a good holiday.

We stayed at the hotel for 7 nights. When we arrived it was really hot about 35- 36c! It was like that for the rest of the week.
The hotel was really nice and clean and the staff were very helpful and friendly. We had a select room on the 5th floor which was very nice. The air conditioning could have been better though.
The food was delicious! It was a buffet and there was something for every member of the family. There was so much choice.
Golden sands is a very busy resort. Walking around town you get bombarded with leaflet distributors which get a bit annoying.

Nice hotel, lovely location and friendly, helpful staff.
But there is one major drawback: the food is absolutely awful. It is tasteless slop that isn't even prepared properly - there were several outbreaks of food poisoning during our stay.
You can eat out very cheaply in Bulgaria, so don't pay for half board if you are planning a holiday there. And don't bother complaining about the meals: the reps and hotel management have heard it all before and aren't particularly interested in hearing it again!

This was our second visit to Hotel Kristal, We stayed for 2 weeks and really enjoyed our stay, we had a select room which was larger than average with bath robes, slippers and DVD player as extras.
The hotel staff were very friendly and helpful. Breakfasts were lovely although evening meals got a little monotonous but there was a good variety.
The pools were lovely, we have 2 children Luke and Olivia and they loved every minute.
The Beach was not many minutes walk from the hotel and it was very clean but you have to pay for a sun bed unless you lay down your towel.
There are some really tasty restaurants, we particularly enjoyed the "Gibraltar", the food was beautiful and you got a free wine or beer with your meal.
Varna is well worth a visit (about a 15 minute taxi ride) lots to see and the food/drink is even cheaper there.
There is a big water park about 5 minutes in a taxi, great for all the family.
We noticed a difference in the amount of people in Golden Sands this year was far greater than last year, as its becoming more popular, and we did prefer it a little less busy.
There are loads of good designer fake's to get your hands on.
The entertainment in the hotel was geared towards kids which was great for us, they put on some good shows each night. The kids club reps were fantastic especially loopy linz.
Overall we really enjoyed our stay at Hotel Kristal and would go back again.