Sol Nessebar Palace

I have read many reviews and opinions regarding this hotel before going there. The last reviews from 2008 were disappointing and I hoped that they are not very accurate. Unfortunately, this is the reality. We traveled from Romania by car around 10 hours and we arrived there pretty tired. The kids were tired too and very impatient. The problems were waiting for us. The first one, is the parking. Image in a 5* hotel, with it's own parking space, you have to pay 5 BGL/per day for the parking (apx. 20 EUR/7 days). In the same time, you could hardly find am empty car space and you could receive no help from the parking guard that could not speak any English or other international language. We understood in the end that all he wanted was to see that tickets for the parking. Of course, you could receive the parking tickets only after you received the room. Which leads to the second problem. The reception area. We expected that a 5* hotel to have an exemplary reception. No way! The reception personnel barely speaks English and they are rude and not very willing to help. The general attitude is "Sorry, I cannot help!". We understood that the rooms will be ready for us only at 14:00. We arrived too early, so we had to wait. We paid for AI package, like the last year when we were to Arabella Hotel, Golden Sands. There, they gave us the AI bracelets immediately after we arrived, even if it was also too early. The second issue were the rooms. Even if we were 3 families, with vouchers from the same travel agency, bought together, they gave us rooms in different areas. 2 rooms on 4th floor and 1 on the 2nd floor. So, we waited for a few hours while the reception guy said that we will try to resolve this issue. This did not happed so we were stuck with the initial rooms. We contacted the travel agency, they also said that the situation is not normal, but in the end, they did also nothing. We had to carry our own luggage, since nobody from the reception had any intention to help. We arrived at the rooms and luckily the rooms were ok. Definitely not 5* rooms, but ok. I could say that they can compare with a room in a 3* hotel near Lyon airport, France, only slighter bigger. The fridge was empty, no saw/needle package, nothing to wipe out your shoes, nothing. In one of the days, even the power stopped for more that 1 hour. The hotel has only 3 elevators for all the guests. Imagine how it was during the meal time! You had to wait for minutes until an elevator finally arrived, and to see that it was full! The maid entered the room on a daily basis, but we did not see much activity. Only that the sheets were arranged, but in a very sluggish manner. I've been in other 3* hotels in Bucharest where they did a much better job. The view from the balcony was ok, but in the same time you had no privacy. The guests from the other rooms, on the left and on the right, could easily see what you were doing, talking. And so could you. Which leads to the second problem. The noise! We had a French couple with kids nears us, and they were pretty loud and you could hear everything in the room! The same thing happened when the animation team were starting their after lunch shows and our kid was sleeping. The animation team gave their interest to entertain the guests and the kids. But the shows were not extraordinary and they cannot even compare with the animation team that we had last year at Arabella hotel, Golden Sands. There war many activities during the day, but mostly for the German kids. There was a pretty large green area in front of the hotel, with trees and toys where the kids could play. Immediately after the park, there was a big level difference until you reached the beach, since the hotel is on a higher ground. So, the access to the beach was made on some stairs that were very annoying. Image each day you had to climb for more than 5,6 times apx 70-80 steps! We love the beach, the sand, and also the kids like very much to play on the beach. But the Nessebar Palace beach practically does not exist! You are encountered at the stairs with a very big signs that says "NO INCLUSIVE", and you understand that it is a private beach. So you have to pay apx. 12 BGL for 2 beach chairs and an umbrella. You have to to this, since you can hardy find some place to lay down the towels on the sand, the beach being so small! And the other issues is that it is also dirty. It is full of green water plants and the water is full of leeches. Also the sand is not very clean. And if you try to dig a hole in the sand, only after max 10 cm, you will find rotted water plants that smell horribly! Besides that, no entertainment on the beach. Just a small bar where you can buy a cold beer for 3 BGL. Once you leave the beach, you cannot find a shower at the hotel entrance to get rid of the sand. Just some discussing accessories with brushes for the feet that did a lousy job at getting rid of the sand! The pool area is ok, but the water is a bit cold. After some time, you can get used to it, so it is ok. In front of Sol Mare Hotel, there is a pool for small children with 2 small slides and a bigger one, with water. To use the bigger one, you had to climb some stairs in some sort of castle. Once you got to the top, you had to be very careful, since water was all over the place, on the tiles, and you could easily get hurt. My 4 years old kid fell and hurt himself pretty bad on the nose and head. Generally, the hotel area is pretty clean and there are always some people that clean the place. Still, near the pool, there are some dangerous places. I could see from the balcony several times kids and grown up people that feel on the pool side. The Sol Palace hotel is joined by the Sol Mare and Sol Bay Hotels and you are free to use their facilities. But we did not do that much, since the Sol Palace hotel is bigger, it has a bigger pool and cafeteria. The food is not extraordinary and many times we had to wait in queues for food. Once, I waited for more that 15 minutes for a Spanish omelet. There were 2 places were you could serve yourself with beer, but almost all the times you could not find a beer glass! The same thing happened with the cereals cups. You had plenty of cereal, bu no cups! The soups were pretty ok, but they were also served in small cups. One should have to get 2 cups to get a decent quantity of soup! You could find plenty of salads, cheese and fruits. Sometimes, for example, the water melon was lacking, but it was refilled pretty fast. There ware no natural juices and the ones available tasted terrible. The fresh juice was available, but you had to pay additionally. Good thing the beer was ok, but only when served really cold! I could not say the same thing for the coffee! The coffee was very bad! My friends brought their own coffee maker so they were ok, since the coffee at the hotel was execrable. The same thing I could say about the pool bar service. Several times I had to wait long minutes until someone at the bar managed to take my order! Yes, it is not like other AI hotels where you can serve yourself with drinks and food. here you had to ask the hotel personnel and there was no queue system. In the evenings, there is not much to do. The entertainment shows are pretty boring and you have to places for promenade. You are stuck in the hotel, since it is very isolated. Good thing we visited in one of the days the Old Nessebar city, which is nice. We went by boat from the beach, 2 families with kids and we paid 40 BGL. We also went to Nessebar Aqua paradise, which is ok, but cannot compare with some other waterparks where I've been. It is pretty crowded, and there are strong wind currents in the facilities. Once you get wet, it is pretty annoying to wait at the queues with the wind blowing right at you! We paid 55 BLG for one afternoon (from 15-19). Onle last advise, do not change EUR to BGL at suspicious exchange rates. Always ask before the exchange which is the rate, if you make the exchange in the city! Normally, it should be 1.91, 1.92. At the hotel, the rate is 1.85. Better safe than sorry! I have always compared this year vacation with the one from last year, at 4* Arabella Hotel, Golden Sands. I can say that last year was much, much better, and I can say that Sol Nessebar Palace hotel is somewhere around a 3*+ hotel.

We booked 2 weeks in this hotel for something we thought to be a nice holiday - NOT AT ALL. From outside and in exteriors photos the hotel look OK but the services very very bad and the personell very very low - far far away from 5*. For example : - very isolated, no place to go arround without a car - the food and drinks was terrible - very low quality - no minibar and no room-serivce for all inclussive - the pool was very dirty - we had also a little (if we can say that) friend in the room - a veritable bug (see the pfoto) - and we seen some even in the restaurant - the beach was very small and dirty - the wayters and the barmans very unpolite - we had to wait before they even ask what we want and don't think that eny of them served you at the table - you had to go at the bar

the food is very bad. pool is really dirty. no minibar at all. rude personell. no toilet paper for 2 days.the drinks are the cheapest possible, i never drink so low quality beer or juice. they ruined my vacantion. so believe me... stay away from them

We spend the last week of June this year in this hotel. I was very dissapointed because: - it is isolated, no shops arround, to get into the city you have to take a taxi - the food was terrible most of the time; I hoped at least the kid food will be better but, unfortunatelly, some days I preffered to give to my child to eat food from the "grown up section" because I have strong doubts about the so called chicken they served at childrens bar. - the minibar in the room is empty; they explayned that at all inclusive we have the open bar until 23,00 in the evening; as I usually drink water at night, we payed for the water at the only shop we have in the hotel - the beach is very small and if you don't want to pay for umbrella and chaise longues you don't have were to stay - the barmans make us to wait long minutes before they served us...with obvious no pleasure The hotel have nice rooms, it is clean, it has a very nice park, it looks perfect, but I won't recommend it and I wont' go there again.

i am writing this review to warn people about the sol bay/palace hotel.i stayed for two weeks from the 2nd of june to the 16th june 2008. i have 3 children 11 months old ,seven and eleven years of age. the hotel is to be fair very clean no problems there. but that is were the holiday ends and became a nightmare for myself and family. the hotel is miles from anywere to get away from the hotel it is always either a bus ride or taxi . the entertainment is none existent they have a team there who try there best but are very limited to what they are allowed to do . no music disco,s for the kids of a night no party games ,shows of a night or anything. are main problem is the food . it is totally disgusting ,the variety on offer is of a very poor quality. chef could not crack an egg one morning do u get the picture. under cooked all the time always luke warm for some strange reason. always repetative loads of choice food wise to be honest but it was all disgusting . my 7 year old and 11 month old came home and were diagnosed with salmonela which involved the environmental health officer . there is a claim going on if anyone went on these dates and have been ill please email me andyjayd@yahoo.co.uk thanks.

I just got back (on Monday) from a wonderful week at the Nessebar Palace hotel. It's true there isn't anything to do around the hotel so you might want to bear this in mind. My aim was to have some much needed rest and relaxation. For the first time ever on a holiday I didn't even leave the hotel except to go back to the airport. OK, I think two weeks of this would have been too much but a week was blissful. The hotel is very clean and there are armies of cleaners in evidence. The floors were sparkling in all the communal areas. Similarly, the pool area and food areas were kept very clean - the cleaners even hosed down the sunbeds! I found reception to be extremely helpful and didn't have any problem with not being understood by any of the staff. The currency exchange also had better rates than the place at the airport. I always found something to eat. The salad, in particular, was always fresh - no limp lettuce or stodgy tomato. No problems in getting the required five helpings of fruit and veg per day! The vegetarian food was also good, unusually, as was the pasta. Bulgarian Night was excellent too with lots of traditional food and dancers in the restaurant. Service at all the bars was generally prompt but there was rarely a queue. I imagine in high season it might get a bit busy - already sunbeds were being reserved at breakfast time although the hotel information suggests this is frowned upon. I loved the lobby bar and sitting on the terrace outside in a comfy seat with an ice cold beer. On the negative side, I didn't like the beds in my room, which I thought were hard but this is a matter of individual preference and experience. I also think the main room could have done with being vacuumed a bit more than it was. Absolutely no complaints about the cleanliness of the bathroom though. We had a seaview, which was worth it, although some of the entertainment happens poolside and this could be a problem if you have young children needing early bedtimes although, to be fair, the noise wasn't too bad through the double glazing and I always wear earplugs to bed in hotels too. Perhaps the rooms furthest away from the stage might be better but I can't comment on that. Personally I wasn't keen on the beach area either but I was happy hanging out around the pool. Happy holidays!

Hotel was lovely, food was too. There were foreign dishes but something and chips on offer almost every night so plenty of choice if you prefere english. also lovely salad buffet every meal time. Pools were great with castle an slides for children. Kids club was good but not very english. Night entertainment was a little poor had mini disco for children at 8pm. Then adult entertainment at 9.30pm,.. ..was very amature, although the animation team worked very hard, needs improving, an there isnt anywhere close enough of a night to walk to so you are a little stuck. Nessebar town is a 30min walk away or there is a bus to take , or of course a taxi which is about 10lev. it is a lovely picturesque fishing port,beautiful with little gift shops an bars everywhere. Sunnybeach is a little futher not really in walking distance. The hotel is right on the beach but there are loads of steps to get down there so not ideal for buggy or wheel chair. All in all a lovely relaxing holiday!

Where do I begin with this review! Having returned from a weeks stay at this hotel and have experienced a total nightmare of a holiday. The hotel is now named Sol Nessebar Palace and is stuck out in the wilds about a half hour walk from New Nessebar and an hours walk from Sunny Beach. However, you can catch a bus a bit further up (on the same side as the the hotel) into Sunny Beach or Nessebar the return is boarded on bay 1 at the bus station. If you decide on a taxi it will cost you 25 levs to Sunny Beach or 12 levs to Nessebar-one way- there is no free courtesy bus! Under no circumstances would I book this hotel again as we had a nightmare of a holiday. The hotel is classed as a five star, but barely reaches a two star - in my opinion. However, the hotel is kept very clean and the bedrooms are a good size - there it ends. Everything else is awful starting with the canteen pig swill - sorry food - how they can call it that is beyond me everything is either undercooked or overcooked, swimming in grease, re-cycled, repetative, meat is under debate if or not is shoe leather. Every meal is torture and as there is nowhere else to eat you are stuck with it unless you travel into Sunny Beach or Nessebar as we did each day. The staff are ok apart from some of the reception staff who can barely speak any English and tend to be rude. The all inclusive drinks are stopped dead on 11pm, even if you have been queuing for 10 minutes waiting to be served - the bar is tiny and only has two people serving in-between collecting glasses. In peak mealtimes water, soup, cutlery and glass supplies run out and you have to chase the staff to stock up again whilst your already cold food goes even colder. On a good day they may put the microwave out for you to warm up the slosh. Everyone we spoke to had suffered some kind of tummy upset - myself, husband and friends included. Entertainment is great if you are five years of age, like bingo or stupid games the Animaction Team try and drag you into their silly world and can be quite annoying at times. The sandwiches - be quick - that they put out around 10pm each evening are the highlight of the day! However, like I say - be quick - as they only put out two trays and these are left by the little bar by the childrens play room downstairs. Altogether, a dreadful experience and one of which I will not be repeating preferring, in future, to stay at the Iberostar Sunny Beach Resort of which is very good.

Firstly it is no longer Iberostar, it is part of the Sol Melia Group and known as Sol Nessebar Place. The hotel itself is lovely and clean, the staff were friendly and helpful. We found it was too far out of Sunny Beach, and was isolated from the main action. There are several points anyone with children should bear in mind, the pool bar offering daytime snacks had the option of 6 different choices,these never varied in the 14 days we stayed there, also the food is reheated in a microwave even the chips! The main menu is repetitive but adequate although all the meals are served lukewarm. The animation team try hard but there is very little in way of adult entertainment in the evening ( a definite downside considering the location of the hotel from Sunny Beach). Also, th AI bar closes at 2300. Would I go again? yes but not to that hotel. Please note, our accomodation was changed at the last minute and we should have been staying in Sunny Beach. Please feel to ask any questions?

We stayed in this hotel on an all inclusive basis at the end of May 2008. Food - Now don't get me wrong I don't go away and expect every meal to be served up perfectly as I would have at home, however I would expect hot food to be served hot and not luke warm. We ended up heating our food in the microwave - not very 5 star! The pool bar is ok but again the hot food is cold and they heat it in the microwave unless you time things well and get a batch of food that's just been cooked. On AI there is little choice, a pasta dish, pizza slices and chicken nuggets and of course chips. Its the same each day, although instead of chicken nuggets there was fish fingers one day! Bar - the AI bar on the ground floor closes at 11 pm - the entertainment bar stays open after that (until 2 am I think) but you have to pay for drinks if you are AI after 11 pm. Shop - there is a reasonably well stocked shop at the Palace but there also shops in the Mare and Bay hotels either side, all of which can be used by any of the guests in any of the three hotels. Cleanliness - Extremely clean - there always seemed to be someone cleaning something ! Pool - The pool area is lovely and plenty of sun beds available. During our second week we found out that there was a lifeguard but we didn't see him the first week so I'm not sure of the arrangements there - if you have kids and want a hotel with a lifeguard it would be worth emailing the hotel direct to double check. Location - it's pretty much in the middle of nowhere. There is a bus stop a short walk from the hotel and you can get in to Old Nessebar for just under 1 lev - and it's well worth a visit. Sunny Beach is 1.40 lev. The condition of the buses is hit and miss but we didn't really have any problems. The hotel have their own taxis with agreed prices so if you want to use them you know you're not being ripped off - a price list is available at reception. Keep it and refer to it when you are out and about and getting a taxi back - never agree to let them run the meter as there is no standard setting and you could be charged anything - always agree a price before you get in and be guided by the hotels price list - using this method we didn't encounter any problems. Spa - sadly we didn't get around to using the spa within the hotel but we did have a look around and it was lovely and the prices seemed very reasonable. Money - You can change money etc. at reception but to be honest we never take cash away and use ATM's instead - there is an ATM at the sister hotel (same complex) the hotel Mare and we just used that - we were typically getting 2.38 lev to the pound which was pretty good. Whatever you do don't change money outside of the hotel.