Ralitsa Hotel
, Albena
Albena Resort 5
9620, Albena, Bulgaria
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Ralitsa Hotel Reviews
Sep 2009, dolliedimple
2 readers found this review helpful
Wow, we have just returned from our holiday in the Ralitsa Hotel in Bulgaria. Our party of 7 had an age of 7 to 75. We had a fantastic time, plenty of good fresh food with a great choice. Plenty of assorted drinks for us all, the kids really enjoyed just being able to go... more
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Sep 2009, ben fletchman
2 readers found this review helpful
i have just come back from staying at the ralitsa hotel, it was one of the best holidays i have had the food was delicious, and the service was great. for the kids there is a club running all day by the animation team who are very friendly and there is activities for people... more
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Jun 2009, Steve Doran
2 readers found this review helpful
Before my family went to ralitsa i looked at some of the negative comments about this hotel, and we were worried our visit there was to be a disaster.If you are going there do not worry the hotel, the complex, the food and the imported UK DRINKS are all first class!! If you... more
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Oct 2008, Mrs S Shrimpton
First comment about this hotel.........it appears to be a German owned hotel, and certainly 90% of the guests were elderly Germans who mostly used the Spa facilities. Second comment, it's more of a 2 star than a 4 star. Our room on arrival had not been aired and had... more
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May 2008, Miss L Cressey
This is the WORST holiday ever. Everythng is catered for germans! the food, the tv etc. No one likes the english. You can hear everything in other peoples rooms. The staff are rude. There was nothing open even though we were told it would be. The sea is full of jellyfish,... more
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Feb 2008, Mr L Eaves
1 reader found this review helpful
first and foremost i cannot believe some of the reviews i've read about this hotel,went as part of a group with kids,and before i get into it i'd just like to say one of the best holidays you could ever wish to have.upon arriving at the hotel you are aprehensive about how... more
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Feb 2008, Miss MAC Insley
After reading the comments about this hotel made by other travellers, i had practically made my decision that i wasn't going to enjoy this holiday whatsoever. HOWEVER, me and my boyfriend who were 18 stayed here from jun 25th to 2 july and the weather was brilliant. It was... more
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Oct 2007, Mr Bond
We have just returned from 2 weeks staying at Hotel Ralitsa. I have to say it wasn't as great as our travel agent made out when we booked. Within the Ralitsa resort there are 3 hotels - Ralitsa 4*, Ralitsa 3* and Vita Park and we were under the impression that regardless of... more
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Oct 2007, arnieandcaseysma!
We travelled to the Hotel Ralitsa with First Choice from Glasgow on 17/09/07 to stay all inclusive for one week. We had booked it as a bargain break and were pleasantly surprised. After reading some of the reviews I did not know what to expect but we were pleased. On... more
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Oct 2007, Mr R O''rourke
Me and my girlfriend booked this holiday at a very good price for 2 people all inclusive for 2 weeks, when we got there we soon found out you only get what you pay for. Firstly I would like to notify any potential customers of First Choice, the transfer time from Burgas... more
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Sep 2007, Mr Mj Weir
Just returned from my worst ever 2 week holiday, landed at Bourgas airport believing we had a relatively short journey to Albena took 3 hours including a pit stop at a shop in the middle of nowhere, inhabited by a pack of stray Alsatians. Finally arrived at Hotel Ralitsa at... more
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Overall very good
from frazzo
We flew out on the 10th August (not a good day for travelling by air-terrorist red alert) but we got away on time (one of the last that did by all accounts) We (6 adults, 4 kids) went with 1st choice and the reps were excellent and helpful with any info we wanted. The Ralitsa has a bad record overall on this website so I was expecting to be shocked and poisoned - not the case. The rooms were very clean, if a little basic and small, but adequate as we spent little time in them anyway. The food was better than I had been lead to expect but did get boring after a few days ,although there was plenty of choice the menus stayed the same but the dishes were moved around the large canteen type eating area. All the animation staff tried to get everyone involved and were friendly and spoke good English. There were a good deal of Germans about but there were also English, Irish, Scandinavians and French and nobody appeared to be preferentially treated by the, sometimes surly, bar and hotel staff. Cleaners were ever present and very friendly. The main pool could have done with a clean and we thought we may have had some minor bugs from it but generally we didn't have the poisonings that other people seem to have experienced. The Ralitsa superior, for the extra money, would have definately been more comfortable but as an all inclusive you can use the facilities anyway. I was expecting something far worse before going and, possibly due to bad press, the German owners have got their act together - I can't speak for everyone in our party but I thought it was fine and I loved Bulgaria.
Not up to standard
from buttock
Stayed at this hotel between 24th July and 8th August 2006, booked via First Choice holidays. The food was appauling, the hotel room was dirty and smelly and was right over the bin storage, which was emptied every morning at seven am. Also we were situated right over the top of the staff entrance (very noisy) especially at 3.30 in the morning, when notices all around the resort state no noise after 11pm. The Shower was filthy see photo attached. Little boy had food poisioning and sickness and diarrhoea for six days. Other guest also had the same symptoms and some of the animation team also came down with the same bug. This hotel Mainly caters for the Germans this is not a English friendly complex. I Would'nt return to this hotel again marks out of 10 equals 1/10 and that is pushing it?
food and entertainment
from scotland2006
My Husband and two kids are just home after our two week family holiday to the Ralista, the food was really bad , on the first week of our holiday we all came down with really bad sickness bug as was much of the hotel. the entertainment was awful for us as a family were dissappointed as we payed a lot of money for all inclusive and didnt use it we had to eat out .
Excellent family holiday
from booziefluziesuzie
My husband and 2 kids 6&3 stayed at the Ralitsa end August begining of Sept 2005 and loved every minute of it. We booked with Balkan holidays and stayed in the 4 star hotel. We had 2 twin rooms which were joined by a connecting door - perfect for our family. the rooms were spotless and the maids made the beds and changed the towels everyday. The hotel grounds like the rest of Albena were also spotless with the workforce wearing green overalls (we nicknamed them umpa lumpa's), cleaning up and gardening, even the horse drawn carriages going round the resort had bags to catch the horse manure!!! You have to bear in mind this is a former eastern block country that still has a lot of developing so dont expect the paths and road to be of the best standards. I thought Bulgaria was like England with sun!!! there were horse chestnut tress and marigolds!! The little market which is held daily in the resort is great but does get a bit repetative, but I recommend having the dressing up photos done, my kids loved it and we got loads of A4 size photos plus computer disc for £30. The beach was spotless and there were plenty of sunbeds. We went to the bar at the top of the hotel Dubrovnic - the drinks were quite expensive but the view was breathtaking. I also recommend taking taxi's if going on trips, you can agree a price with the taxi driver and they speak really good English. We went to Golden Sands there is a water park there which was really quite when we went so no queueing!!! excellent!!!! Back to the hotel Ralitsa, the food was really nice with a good selection - watch out for the rice pudding - fantastic. Snack bar left a lot to be desired and the soft drinks machine at the snack bar was always surrounded by wasps. We tended to use the smaller pool at the back of the hotel, sunbeds were not a problem and it was much quiter than the larger pool. Not much entertainment in the hotel if you didnt watch the animation team, although their shows were excellent, there wasnt much for the kids to do. The hotel was very international with a lot of Germans, so a lot of the entertainment was geared towards their tastes, but as a family we kept ourselves entertained. We paid £1600 all inclusive and a couple we met had paid over £2000 for the 3 star part of the hotel so beware when booking with the travel agents. All in all we had a great time will definately return to Bulgaria but probably try one of the larger resorts like Sunny Beach of Golden Sands.
Much nicer that we thought......
from Deirdre_S
Having read some critical reviews, we were a little apprehensive about out impending stay in the Ralitsa. As it turned out, it far exceeded our expectations. We had heeded the warnings about being accosted by porters looking to 'grab' our bags for a tip, however they weren't as pushy as we thought and this happened only on arrival. Check-in was quick and our rooms were spotless. The house-keeping staff were present on the corridors all day, and were extremely friendly. As this was our first 'All-Inclusive' holiday, we were also apprehensive about being treated as second-class citizens (served after paying customers, etc) however this was certainly not the case. Food was plentiful and very well suited to the differing nationalities, including the Irish. Breakfast was lovely each day, something for all our party. Similarly, lunch and dinner were very varied, with something for everyone, including the fussy toddler. Only crib here was the abundance of 'dill' on everything! The pool was lovely, though quite busy in June; might be too busy in the July/August season. The indoor pool was tiny and apparently very cold (as the youngsters informed us). The pool staff were friendly and helpful, and very appreciative of tipping. The entertainment staff were also quite good - a bit 'Butlin'sey' but very enjoyable if you weren't out to catch a West End Show. Albena itself would not be my favourite holiday destination; full of cheap knock-off goods shops and nostalgic photo booths. Also a bit on the rough side - we were happy to stay more hotel based. The local city Varna is also a bit on the rough side; pick-pockets abound. Overall, our stay was better than we expected and all our party had a great holiday, though it was quite a long way to travel for a hotel/pool-based holiday as there isn't an awful lot to do in the line of sightseeing.
Okay I guess
from stephanni
We came here as a 'present' for our honeymoon and I must say we were not that impressed. The all inclusive food was ok but not excellent and there seemed to be an awful lot of flies all over the salad, bread, cakes and fruit. The snack bar food was ok but not very much of it and we were quite starved in between meals at the hotel. The daytime is full of lots of things to do but during the night everything seems to wrap up by 10pm and then we were left twiddling our thumbs in boredom. We didn't bother trying to venture out in the evenings because we were ripped off by a 'free' horse ride to the beach. We checked with the guy offering the trip about 4 times before we got in the carriage. He rode us all over the place and it would have been quicker if we walked as we kept asking him to let us off, only to be told 'no its not how we do things'???!!!! Anyway, when we finally demanded to be let off, the guy wanted 60 levs, which was about £24. We gave him 20 and were not very happy. The room was okay, I didn't really like the shower but it was okay and we agree that the germans did seem to be treated better by some staff. Overall, the staff do try hard to entertain and if I came here again it would only be with the children when you don't mind staying in after 9pm.
excellent price, interesting stay!
from snorkles
Me and my boyfriend visted this hotel last year, and were hestitant after reading some of the reviews. We were pleasently surprised by our rooms expecting just the basics however the rooms were furnished to english hotel standards includ. television!only let down was our room was above the delivery point so often heard barrels, etc,being delivered early morning!the bulgarians are polite to a certain extent very good service for example in restaurants and bars however the chap that carried our bags to our rooms, even after explaining we could manage, stood forcefully waiting for a tip and wasnt slightly impressed we gave him english money as we had no levs in change!the last thing we needed at 4 in the morning! The pool, jacuzzi and outdoor areas we lovely and the food catered for everyone!Being a young couple we took full advantage of the free drink during the night and day, but as entertainment standards werent really for us, definately more family orientated we often got the noddy train into the centre as it can be a fair walk in heels along the not wonderfully lit street.albena offered Lovely market stalls throughout the day/night but again few bars and entertainement for us to occupy ourselves. Highly recommend the chinese there very good quailty but as with most places the toilets were dire. Never had problems with the protestutes we read about, they appear to work the outskirts more than the centre, however i dont recommend being in the town late at night, by late i mean 11!!!!!we were approached three times on one occasion by drug dealers but thankfully had no other hassle any other nights. The beach is amazing, its a must to do the paragliding to see the birds eye view!and the sail/bbq day arranged by the rep was a excellent value all round-great bbq, more free drink and free use of snorkelling equip, bodyboards. overall for £350pp we enjoyed visting bulgaria but may try one of the livelier resorts in the future.
hated the hotel
from A TripAdvisor Member
we were made not to feel welcome the only thing nice about the ralitsa were the excursions because it ment not being there i came down with food poison in the first week and could not eat for the rest of the week as i was worried if i came down with food poison again
Really good holiday.
from A TripAdvisor Member
I was really worried after reading some of the recent reviews just before I went, but was very pleasantly surprised. This is only a 3 star hotel and I have only stayed in a 4 star all inclusive before, so it was obviously not without surprises. Our biggest issue was that the rooms were not air conditoned and we arrived at 1am in 18 degrees with 83% humidity after a thunder storm. There is also nothing open at that time of night to get a drink or anything. There was fresh water in reception area and they had provided sandwiches and fruit in the room, but these weren't the best. Otherwise everywhere was clean, rooms were cleaned everyday, the pools were great, daytime entertainment was good, evening entertainment was not bad one wek but excellent the next. Most staff were friendly and helpful and the First Choice rep- Maya was excellent. The food was much better than the other reports stated. There was always loads of choice including 4 or 5 different meats and fish, chips, rice and potatoes, several veg selection and loads of different salads. Puddings were nice and good selection always loads of fruit available all day. Breakfast had cereals, fruit, breads and cooked breakfast including bacon, eggs and sausage although this was usually German style sausage. The only thing I wasn't happy with was the availability of drink. There was only a sort of juice style drinks available at meal times for the kids, during the rest of the day they only had water or fizzy drinks and then there was no diet varieties. We even tried buying some cordial at the shops but they didn't know what we meant. None of us became ill from eating anything and we all enjoyed the holiday.
A good overall experience
from Eoin
We have just returned from a very enjoyable trip to Albena. We stayed at the all inclusive hotel Ralitsa. When we arrived at the hotel we were swarmed by a group of staff that insisted on taking our bags from the bus. They carried them to reception, a couple of feet away and then practically demanded a tip. I gave him one and it was about 2 euro, he was not pleased. We then checked in and this other guy grabbed our bags and practically ran away and we had to run after him. He didn't utter a word to us just brought our bags to the room. He then stood and waited for a tip. I checked my pocket and gave him 6 lev, about 3 euro and he protested that he should get more but left soon after i started to get angry, it was only 7am and this guy who was so rude to us wanted us to give him a good tip. He is still waiting! I looked around the room, small but appeared very clean. I noticed a door and opened it and i walked in to the people's room next door. They were asleep! We quickly got someone up and it turns out that the maids cleaning the room had forgot to lock the door. This was a great 'welcome to the hotel'. After this shaky start things improved 100%. The hotel complex is huge and seperated into two. There are two good size swimming pools and regular entertainment at the main one. The weather was poor for our first few days but we still made full use of the facilities. The all inclusive set-up didn't really suit us. It is very cheap to eat out in Bulgaria and the food in the hotel was just not for us. The buffet in fairness is very extensive but we suffered upset stomachs as a result. Albena has some very decent restaurants on offer including Peter's house, Poco Loco and Dragon chinese restaurant. We tried the special 'a la carte' and it was pretty much the same as the buffet if not worse to be honest. The snack bars serve food that is edible and we had some there. The complex is very extensive and there are two tennis courts and a volleyball/basketball court. The staff at the hotel are very efficient but could use some lessons in customer relations. The German guests appear to receive the better treatment but this cannot be said of all the staff. We were only there for the week but went on two trips, one to Varna and the other to Nessembar, both were very worthwhile. Overall besides my few complaints the Ralitsa hotel is very comfortable only about 10 minutes to Albena. The walk is very nice and it's not worth getting the taxi's unless it is dark. We encountered no crime and found it very safe but there were plenty ladies of the night swarming. My favourite pub was The Tropical Bar and it is well worth a visit. It is opened 24 hours a day and they serve food 24 hours as well. If you can tolerate food that is different and plenty of nice local beer then the Ralitsa is for you. They have a very good animation team and kids club. We would certainly go back as we had a brilliant holiday. One final bit of advice is that there are doors between the rooms as said and voices can be quite clearly heard, in fact everything can, be aware!!!
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Ralitsa Hotel also called
- ralitsa albena
- ralitsa hotel albena
- Address: Albena Resort 5 9620, Albena, Bulgaria
Hotel AmenitiesHotel Description
- Continental Breakfast
- Free High-Speed Internet
- Free Parking
- Restaurant
- Room Service
- Swimming Pool
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Just returned from a one week stay in the Ralista Hotel, hotel pretty basic but clean and tidy. The food was the biggest letdown at this hotel and is very geared up for the Germans (who incidentally over-run this place). If you like bread rolls frankfurters and cold fish... more