Riu Helios Bay Hotel

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New hotel at Obzor among many being developed. A pity as this quiet little town will benefit from the tourist business, but it will become another bustling over built place like other resorts there & spoil the natural beauty. Accommodation could not be faulted. Clean, spacious, good facilities (apart from no coffee/tea making in room), & wonderful view of the Black Sea - right on the seafront.
Not recommended for couples, more a family hotel, as most things are catered for kids & there were lots of them. Oh & Germans who in general are very rude & don't get on with us Brits! Language difficulty with a lot of Bulgarians, taxi drivers, couriers and some staff at hotels & bars. Some very silent journeys unless you speak German or Bulgarian. Our buffet food was excellent with a chance to taste many new things, but by the end of the week we got a bit bored with it.
Really nice Bulgarian Restaurant, serenaded by an accordion player. Wonderful bread, cheese dishes, salads a bit sparse in ingredients & wine is mmmmm! Good value for money. We had difficulty spending as most things so cheap. Good rate of exchange most places at £1 - 2.76 lev, but hotel rate disappointing at 2.50 lev.
We took trips out to: Sunny Beach - Much like Blackpool, too busy & loads of hotels built on every square inch! Beach beds every square inch of beach. Vendors galore selling much the same copy designer gear, shell jewelry, silver etc, etc, etc, Noisy, suffocating place, not for us. Nessabur: This is what we came for - quaint, natural, authentic.
Enjoyed entering through the Fort walls of this small place & wandering through the cobbled streets with lots of very interesting remains of churches. Good for souvenirs, pretty little bays. Varna - The Cathedral is about the only interesting building here. A bustling city full of designer clothes shops. Some small bazaars in narrow alleys where pickpockets lurk & vendors who are very persistent for you to buy.
We had a bad Thomson rep, very disinterested in us & we nearly missed one of our trips by the wrong time given to leave. Best to get around Bulgaria yourself as you can do better deals with taxi drivers than the organised trips or prices given by hotels.
Weather very unpredictable, cool, thunder, rain, hot - what next? In general, we had a good hol' though, got a tan, seen it, but will not return to a Country that is being spoilt.