Royal Bay Hotel

We enjoyed our one week stay at The Royal Bay as we needed a chill out holiday but if we had stayed any longer our relaxing holiday would have turned to boring one. Arriving in Bulgaria we were transferred to an area near the Royal Bay where we had to be picked up by a golf buggy as the Royal is at the bottom of a steep hill where buses cannot go. At 2 o'clock in the morning we had to wait half an hour whilst the one buggy went back and forth picking everyone up as the driver was also helping people check in and show them to their rooms before returning for the remaining guests stranded on the hill! Once shown to our room we were really pleased with it. It was large, clean, modern and had everything you could need, with a fantastic sea-view which I would definitely recommend paying extra for. The alternative is facing a sheer mountainside and hearing the noise from the kitchens and air conditioning units. The all-inclusive food was OK. You would never go hungry here but it did get a bit monotonous. There are other restaurants in the complex which you can visit in the evenings as part of the all-inclusive deal but you have to pre-book early that morning. Be prepared to queue and to make a few attempts before you are successful. Compared to other places we have been all-inclusive there was not a lot of snacks available outside of restaurant hours. These tended to be a hot dog or biscuit or if you ventured to the other hotel there was ice-cream. Regarding entertainment there is absolutely nothing to do in the evening apart from sit by the bar. We tended to visit the other hotels (a 5 min walk) where there tended to be more atmosphere and a little bit more going on. There was some organised evening entertainment for children. Due to the hotel complex being remote you will have to get a taxi if you want to entertain yourself elsewhere (Agree price with them beforehand!). We went to Nessebar which was really nice. It had lots of quaint shops and very reasonable restaurants. Otherwise most of our days were spent on the gorgeous beach which is only a stone throws away from the hotel where you can pay to do watersports (jet ski, pedalo's, canoe's)or we visited the aquapark (on the Royal Park complex) where you paid for the sun beds. The aquapark will be really good once it's completed. There is also a crazy golf course near there you pay for. All in all we enjoyed our stay but we will not be returning. It was too remote and unless you paid a fortune on taxis, you could feel 'trapped' in the complex. We will also never travel with Olympus again as not only did they not turn up for a trip, they also forgot to pick us up on our return journey to the airport. We were again stranded on top of the hill for 2hrs! Thankfully we had our mobile phone with us and had luckily written down our rep's number. We ended up getting a lift on a First Choice bus picking up passengers for another flight, arriving at the airport with 20mins to spare before our plane left!

My family and i have just returned from 2 weeks at the Royal Bay hotel in Elinete, Bulgaria. The positives first... the location is absolutley beautiful. The hotel is situated right on the beach and is quite breathtaking. The hotel staff are working continually around the clock to ensure it is spotless both inside and out. We had maid service everyday and the rooms were quite spacious. The hotel is on a complex owned by the Victoria Group and when we booked the holiday the brochure left us with the impression that holiday makers could eat at any of the hotel/restuarants on the complex...... now for the negatives..... you cannot eat at any other hotel than your own (i'll come back to the food), you can eat at any restuarant if it is booked on the day. Booking into a restaurant means queing from about 8.15am until the booking opens at 10am in order to stand a chance of getting a place at one of them. We did try a couple of them and the food was good - hence their popularity! Sunbeds are in very short supply in ratio to the number of guests, so if you arnt getting up early to queue for a decent meal you need to be up early to get a sunbed! Going back to the food. It was terrible - always served luke warm, very limited choice especially for the children and only available at certain times. If youre hungry after 9.30pm forget it! During 'eating times' food is not covered and is served canteen style..... many a happy fly also feeds!! Other things.... there is a really great water park on site, and although enterance is free, sunbeds, food and drink are all at a charge. ?All inclusive? NO. Also be warned if you have any medical problems there is a meadioca doctor available, but no pharmacy - they can only be found in Sunny Beach, which is about a 50 minute round trip away. Drinks included in the all inclusive are limited, there is a cocktail bar on the complex, but again this is not included in the all inclusive package. So to conclude the location is lovely, the food is dreadful and read the all inclusive detail very carefully.

We have just returned from our weeks holiday in Bulgaria.It was amazing!!! We stayed at the Royal Bay Hotel in Eliente. On arrival from the airport we passed a lot of construction work but when we arrived at the hotel we could not see or hear this. The hotel itself was very clean and tidy. Our room was very large with a big balcony with a sea view. The food was very nice though the breakfast could of been better, but had a wide range of dishes to suit everyones taste. With a good selection of childrens food. Swimming pool and beech were both gorgeous and well looked after by hotel staff. The pool had a bar for drinks and the sunbeds and parasols were free, however you need to get there early in the morning. Unfortunately there wasn't much evening entertainment for adults but plenty for children. We do however recommend Kahns Tent for adult/family entertainment. But we do not recommend Pakos Bar even though our rep raved about it. It is basically a shack with tables, BBQ and a BIG TV with Sky. One draw back would be the receptionists were quite rude and unhelpful but this may be down to lack of understanding. There is a mini shopping centre within the resort for souvenoirs, and fake goods. Overall, a brilliant holiday Bulgaria is definately a place we would recommend. Best to go in next few years before it becomes really popular like Spain. Have fun!!! Andy and Susanna

Just returned from the Royal Bay Hotel in Elenite - June/July 2007. After reading some reviews on the Internet I was a little concerned especially about the food. However, I need not have worried - we had a fantastic time. Hotel/Accommodation ============== When we arrived at the hotel we were pleasantly surprised. In many cases when you finally see your hotel you wonder if it was the same one in the brochure photos. The Royal Bay Hotel looked great and our room was exactly like the brochure. We had (as most rooms do) a balcony with a glorious sea view. It's great to hear the sound of the sea when you are going to sleep or waking up. The hotel is very clean and there are staff cleaning constantly. It's so lovely to be able to go for a walk and not see any litter and well maintained plants and greenery. Food === This seems to be a controversial area in most of the reviews I have read. Personally I thought it was fine. They had a reasonable selection of foods to choose from and there were never any queues whatever time we attended. The staff were great particularly with the kids and the service was incredibly efficient. We only stayed for a week and I guess after 2 weeks it may have seemed samey? I've certainly eaten more healthily this week than I usually do. The all-inclusive package was a great. Facilities ===== This hotel is clearly aimed at either older guests or families. There is no entertainment in the hotel itself during the evenings (which was fine for me as I prefer it to be quiet) but there are other locations a short walk away that cater for this. The hotel is situated in the Elenite Holiday Village which also consists of the larger Royal Park Hotel and the Apartments. All share a number of amenities and it works very well. The Village is a private facility and I enjoyed the seclusion and security this offered. The pool at the Royal Bay is smashing. The kids were in it constantly and it was very safe. The poolside bar with all-inclusive facilities was a godsend. There is also a Water Park on site which is free (though there is a small charge for sun beds). This is good too though the music that is played constantly is a little too loud for my preference! A free Kids Club is also run which is great for younger children though the older kids may feel out of place. My 4-year old enjoyed it whilst the 9 and 10-year olds felt too old for it. Beach ==== The beach is very clean and safe for children. The sea is wonderful, very clean and clear. You can wade out quite a distance at waist depth. It is also right on the doorstep as the hotel is situated right on the beach with forest behind it. Definitely worthwhile going down early to grab a sunbed. Also, if you look from your balcony at around 7:30 am you can see dolphins. Weather ===== The weather can either make or break a holiday like this and we were very fortunate. Bulgaria is in the middle of a heatwave at present with very little rain and high temperatures. The average is meant to be about 30 celsius at this time of year but when we arrived it was nearer 40! It cooled off to a pleasant 29 later in the week which was perfect and it was sunny every day. Summary ====== Overall, I would recommend this hotel to anyone and would definitely return given the opportunity. It is probably best suited to older guests or families. Anyone wanting more lively nightlife would be better off looking to Sunny Beach.

date 8th june 2007 reviewer gill and paul hotel located on a private beach in a quiet part of bulgaria. there are 2 more hotels further down the beach belonging to the same group but you can only use the facilities at the elenite village, you can drink there using your own hotels wrist band, both are all inclusive, and use their spa facilities which have to be paid for. the royal bay is a very clean and tidy hotel even the public areas are cleaned on a regular basis. the food is quite good and there is always plenty of fresh salads and fruit which are fab. staff are helpful and friendly. nearly all the rooms are sea facing and the views are fantastic,where else can you sit on a terrace with a coffee at 8 in the morning in glorious sunshine watching dolphins jumping in and out of the sea! we admit we did get a little stir crazy cos there is nothing to do so we got a taxi into sunny beach twice,costs 45 lev return(£18) and it takes 20 mins to get there.sunny beach is very busy and noisy more like benidorm and blackpool. if what you want is a quiet getaway from it all relaxing break the royal bay hotel in elenite is just the place we loved it.

We loved this hotel we were a party with two 17 year olds as well we thought they might be bored but they both had a great time. The food was good not sure what some expect of food. I love all the salads and fresh fruit that are on off every day. Had a great night out in the Bulgarian al carte restaurants. Enjoyed it so much have booked again to go this May. Took the teens to Sunny beach and both of them were glad we had not booked to stay there. A bit like a Blackpool full of hotels and no character. Never stayed anywhere as clean as this result

In principle, this is a great resort. The hotel is right on the beach, there are a few swimming pools to chose from and the food and drink is on tap for your stay. However, in practice the food is terrible, the staff very unhelpful, the entertainment non existent and, and i have to state this again, the food is appalling. We booked an all inclusive holiday as a way of knowing what we would spend and ensuring we didn't spend much money. It felt like a prison camp. the food was slopped out and was the same in every restaurant, i had food poisoning for 3 days and had no escape from the terrible food. We decided that the 'al a carte' restaurant may offer us a way of getting some fresh food but all that happened was they served the slops to us rather than having to get it ourselves. If you are thinking of visiting Bulgaria this is a great area and sunny beach seemed to be a great place - if a little busy but Varna is a great day out as are a trip to the mountains. We ended up spending nearly as much as the holiday on escaping the hotel. there are much better places and the all inclusive deal is a total con - the drinks were awful and the bars dull and boring. Bulgaria seemed like a great escape. all that the hotel was missing was the bars on the windows. this was the worst holiday i have ever had!

Perfect Week The hotel was clean, food great, staff excellent, weather was fantastic The whole holiay was Great.

To be honest, we booked the Royal Bay outside of Sunny Bay in Bulgaria because it was cheap. Expectations weren't high as a result, but all-in-all we were pretty pleased with it. The real action takes place in Sunny Bay - a Blackpool type purpose built (or being built!) resort of, we were told, 80,000 beds. It is a bit tacky and in your face for our liking and so we were glad that the Elenite Complex is about 15 minutes out of town in it's own bay. Let's clear up the name thing first - the whole complex is owned by the Victoria Group which is obviously a large local Bulgarian (?) chain and so is sometimes called "The Victoria Park Resort". I'm guessing that "Elenite" (another name the complex gets given) is the name of the village that may have existed there once. If that isn't confusing enough, the resort, which occupies a narrow, cliff backed piece of land running for about half a mile along the bay, is then split into three separately named sections: ROYAL PARK HOTEL - This is nearest to the main gate and is where any action that takes place is centred. Most of the restaurants (more on this later) are here, it has a large pool, the only "pay" bar and a selection of small shops/stalls. If you like noise and company this is your best choice - I believe the rooms to be slightly superior to he Royal Bay too, but didn't see any to say for certain. Lots of people in reviews bemoan the lack of entertainment in the evenings and any that does take place is held in the Royal Park. We didn't bother with it. ELENITE HOLIDAY VILLAGE - This is the middle section of the resort and comprises a series of self catering chalets built on terraces up the steep hill (Mums and Dads with buggies be warned and ask for one on a lower level). The "Village" has the largest section of beachfront with sunbeds and was pretty quiet. ROYAL BAY - This is where we stayed and is at the far end of the bay although it is a pleasant and not very long walk on the prom to get to the Village and the Royal Park. It has a pool as well as a good number of sunbeds on the beach outside. Its only restaurant is the large self service one on the ground floor. Our room was clean and was kept clean. It had a bath and shower and towels were changed pretty much every day. A TV had a good choice of satellite programmes in various languages. We had a sea view balcony but these have pretty much all had mud nests built in them by swifts who busily come and go throughout the day. This can be off putting and my wife was among many who couldn't use the balcony because of the birds and their detritus. I don't know why the hotel tolerates this - it is a shame. Restaurants - On arrival you will be fitted with a coloured band denoting which section of the resort you "belong" to. There are a complicated set of rules about where you can and can't get served in the other section of this all inclusive resort - I can't help thinking it is designed to deter one from straying too far from the mother ship! Some restaurants in the Royal Park are A La Carte and one is expected to queue on the morning of the day you want to use the restaurant to book. I'll almost gaurantee that, whatever time you turn up (booking starts at 10am) there will be a queue there already. We couldn't be bothered wasting good holiday time getting involved with this palaver and so we didn't! The food in the Royal Bay was fine. It varied every day during the week we were there, there was plenty of choice, food that should be hot was, and although we ate later than the majority of people (there were a lot of young families) the food was regularly replenished. For the price we were paying we thought that the hotel did an excellent job in this department. I've seen reviews complaining about the lack of choice for vegetarians - this we found unsubstantiated. There are also reviews complaining about the greasiness of the food - again, this was not our experience. Tasty, freshly cooked and prepared food in plentiful quantities was what we found. Water, wine and beer are freely available to take with your meal, as is feshly brewed coffee, tea and hot chocolate. There are two squashes available too - dayglo orange and green respectively. Leave these alone - they're foul! Bars - If you are prepared to stick with beer and drinks made in Bulgaria, these are free and readily available. We had no complaints about the quality of these. The only bar at the Royal Bay is rather small. Despite the good availabilty of seating in the bar and lobby areas, some people prefer to sit at the bar and it only takes six people to do this for it to be blocked and getting served becomes more of an issue then. Beach & Pools - This is what we came for...a pile of books and a sunbed! Good news - there are loads of beds/parasols. Those around the pool tended to get "reserved" by family groups and the pool generally was "squeal central" but the kids obviously loved it. The beach by the Royal Bay and also at the Village were quiet and the bars are near enough to go and get a drink, including lovely cold water whenever you fancy. The bad news is that there is a shortage of mattresses for the beds so if you come across an unclaimed one, grab it and take it to your room each night. I don't like to od this sort of thing usually, and I suppose we could have bought a li-lo, but you certainly need padding if you want to be comfortable for more than 30 mins. The other bit of bad news is that directly outside of the hotel puts you in the swift's flight path and we were pooed on more than once as a result. STAFF - English is generally well understood. Their is an obvious heirarchy - reception are the "top dogs" and the least customer friendly. Restaurant staff were generally lovely - helpful and cheerful. Bar staff - these guys were well aware of their power (!!!) and one abused this somewhat, but other bar staff were good too. Cleaning seems to go on around the clock - the point and effectiveness of this level of intensity was a bit lost on me, but the place was kept smart and tidy. THINGS TO DO - Our rep (First Choice) was a dishevelled Welsh lad who seemed to be hungover whenever we talked to him. Luckliy, we didn't need to use him. We went off campus only twice in our week's stay - both times because it was raining and the complex holds no charms in poor weather. We went first to walk around Sunny Bay and thought it was awful - brash and down market. Then we went to Nessebar which is sold as a "world heritage site". Sure, they've got one or two ruins on this small promontory, but rather more obvious are the legion of tourist tat sellers. I wouldn't bother again to be honest. SUMMARY- Suprisingly good value for money. Food is good. Rooms are fine. Royal Bay is the quiet end of the resort and that suited us just dandy(take some games for the evenings though!). If you are looking for a lively place, don't book anywhere on this complex but if you just want to flop it is grand. I worry that they wouldn't cope very well in high season - with occupancy at about 60% in our stay it was manageable but things might get a bit too packed in August - reception, bars and poolside especially. If you have an open mind and are prepared to roll with some of the shortcomings of a country and people still emerging from years of Russian influence into a more tourist friendly place, then a week here could do a job for you.

As far as location goes, you could not ask for more, right on the beach. However the hotel has a lot of problems, mainly the food, I have never had anything like it. It was awful! The choice for breakfast was poor, trays of part eaten food were not removed, new fresh food was just poured on top of the old stuff. The staff were completely miserable and very rude. The choice of all inclusive drinks was poor, the entertainment non existant. However very clan hotel and rooms were to a high standard. Will certainly not return!