Riu Helena Park Hotel

Just got back from Helena park and l must say l was quite taken back by the hotel it was so clean, we had a suite for three of us and we was amazed at how big the rooms were and the size of the double bed it was so big.
l found the staff not just one but all of them was really friendly, Anna in the lobby bar worked her socks off and always smiling and Levina who looked after our table at night as soon as you sat down she was there always being helpful and Georgi too.
The grounds was swept every day, the pool was cleaned every day. Wherever you went it was clean and tidy. The food was lovely but some people said they had upset toms but l think this is to do with rich food and change of diet. Vicky the Thomson rep was helpful she informed us of a lot of things like don’t use the bus (which we did) and had no problems.
If l had to nit pick, some of the trips we when on was a waste of money like Nessebar and the riverboat trip but you must go to khans tent (what a night out) for £29 you get a 4 course meal a bottle of wine plus a Fanta and a bottle of water each, a group at the start, fire eater etc it was great, we didn’t like the strip by the sea it was all too much. 10 out of 10 it was great.

1 reader found this review helpful

I spent a week at this hotel with my daughter and was not impressed. Our flight was delayed so it was 9.00pm when we checked in. The reception staff did not explain to us that there were two seatings for dinner but told us to go directly to the restaurant without going to our room as it was so late and the restaurant closed at 9.30pm.
Unknown to us we had actually been placed on the first sitting 6.00-7.30pm so when we arrived at the restaurant at 9pm we were scolded by the extremely rude Maitre d'hotel who did not seem to realise (despite several attempts at an explanation) that we had just checked in. Needless to say this did not get us off to a good start. Many of the staff were rude. We had discussions with one of the barmen who was serving us cocktails without alcohol and then trying to tell us that we couldn't taste it because there was fresh lemon juice in them. I went to reception to complain about this particular case.
The hotel itself was beautiful but was badly let down by the rudeness of the staff. When I checked out I told the receptionist that I had traveled all around the world but had never faced such poor customer service. There were a few friendly staff members but they seemed to be the exception. It would seem that customer service was a phrase they had never heard before.

2 readers found this review helpful

Having recently returned from our holiday in Sunny Beach at the Riu Helena Park I felt that I had to leave a review for anyone considering holidaying here soon. This was our first time in Bulgaria and were wary about it as we had heard several different stories and read some reviews, however we found it to be one of the best holidays we have ever been on.
The hotel was first class! The maid service was every day and the hotel was immaculate and staff couldn't do enough for you. There was a varied choice of food each night such as chicken, veal, pork, pizza, pasta with different sauces, and several different choices of cold I had meats.
The only thing I noticed was although they had food for children I really didn't think it was suitable and maybe wouldn't have been happy if I had had children with me.
Although the Helena Park is at the far end of Sunny Beach away from the centre, it is a pleasant walk full of shops and restaurants which we really enjoyed each night.(Had to walk our dinner off).
The beaches are fantastic if you are a beach lover! Overall this was a really good holiday staying at one of the best hotels we have ever stayed in and would definitely recommend to anyone.

1 reader found this review helpful

This was our first trip to Bulgaria so it was with some trepidation that we boarded the plane from Glasgow for our trip to Sunny Beach. It was quite late in the evening when we arrived at Bourgas airport (more about that place later!) and the bus journey takes around 50 minutes (unless you were unfortunate enough to be on the Leeds-flight bus which got lost and took 4 hours to get there!) to the resort so it was straight up to the rooms (once we found them, the hotel is a bit of a maze) for a shower and a good night's sleep. The rooms were very nice, clean, comfortable and spacious, although we had "Superior" ones, the regulars are quite a bit smaller so try and get an upgrade if you can. Our holiday was via Thomsons so the next morning there was the usual meet 'n' greet will their rep - this to be honest was a complete waste of time, the girl (nice as she was) new absolutely nothing about the resort, the hotel or anything else of much use and was only interested in trying to flog some very expensive excursions. After this we ventured out into the sunshine for a first look at the resort and were pleasantly surprised. The Helena Park is one half of the Helena Resort (the other being the Helena Sands) which is situated about 2.5 from the centre of Sunny Beach. The Helena Park is directly behind the Helena Sands so none of the rooms really have what could be called a sea view although it is only about 150 meters from the hotel to the lovely (sunny!) beach across a section of private promenade (you'll see why I've mentioned this later). Thomsons have the hotel listed as a Platinum resort so we were expecting high standard throughout and in the most we were not disappointed. The rooms were spotlessly clean and the staff were all pleasant and courteous. There was a lack of evening entertainment in the hotel but guests can use the facilities over at the Sands and they did have some, although to be honest it looked pretty dire. During the day the cheery staff laid on numerous activities which were particularly good for the large number of special needs and handicapped who were staying at the hotel and everyone seemed to have a great time. The hotel and indeed the whole resort is laid out in such a fashion as to be wheelchair friendly so if this is a deciding factor in your choice of holiday destination then you may find that this hotel suits your needs perfectly. The swimming pool at the Park benefits from the resort having it's own filtration plant so the water is not full of chlorine, although it is unfortunately shaded by trees so can be a bit chilly, although the Sands pool and the sea are only a few meters away so it's not really a problem. One area where the Park fell down badly was the food. We were there on a half board basis and if there had been any decent restaurants within walking distance I doubt we would have eaten at the hotel at all. The breakfast menu was varied but the food was fairly low quality but far better than the dinner one. Personally I am not a great fan of pizza or pasta and chips but I found myself almost forced into eating this for most of the week as the rest of the food had what can only describe as the "Rolf Harris Factor", i.e. "can you tell what it is yet?" My impression was that he had a load of meat and a load of signs saying Beef, Pork etc and they simply stuck these randomly together. Grey-looking pork was presented as "Sirloin Steak" and Chicken Thighs (at least I HOPE it was chicken) in a watery gravy was labeled as "Chicken Nuggets". The rest of the main courses throughout the week were no better and dinner wasn't really something that any of us looked forward too with any great relish. To be fair the starters were quite nice if you like salad and the sweets were passable, however two members of our party came home with mild food poisoning so all in this aspect of the hotel gets a resounding thumbs DOWN - well below the standard expected of even a two star never mind a four. Interestingly on the literature in the rooms the Helena Park is listed as a FIVE star so it looks as if it has had one taken from it and certainly the food could account for that. The resort of Sunny Beach consists of one long promenade with a few small streets running off it and is, as someone else commented here, just one big car boot sale. Once you leave the private Helena section of the resort the walkway is flanked by row upon row of small shop units all selling counterfeit goods - watches, clothes, perfumes, CDs and DVDs. None of this looks to be especially cheap, certainly no cheaper than I've seen it at our local markets and car boot sales. There are no "proper" shops in the resort at all with exception of some small supermarkets. The only shops that weren't selling fake gear were those selling knives, police-type batons and stun guns - not exactly something that made me feel safe. The season was only just beginning whilst we were there and by midweek it was beginning to be quite busy. There are vendors on the seafront renting out golf carts and small mopeds (both banned from the private, guarded, Helena section of the promenade) with the result that you have to share the walkway with these. We witnessed many drunk-looking teenagers careering about on these carts weaving in and out of the crowds at high speed so you really need to be have your wits about you at all time. Another thing to watch out for are the money changers who approach you in the street offering you an exchange rate that seems to good to be true - it is. All you'll get is a handful of worthless counterfeit money wrapped up in one genuine small denomination note, which is exactly what happened to one holidaymaker I spoke to. There are also quite few persistent begging gypsies to contend with. There appear to be quite few things to keep the kids amused such as pitch n putt,rides and an archery stand - although I'm not sure how sensible firing arrows towards a target set 10 feet from sunbathing tourists is! There is also one of those bungee sling things but you're braver than me if you go up one of those, especially out there. The beach itself was lovely with a gentle run-off into the sea making it ideal for kids although more adventurous swimmers should be aware that there is no division between the swimming are and that used by the jet skis with the result that they can come quite close at high speed. The Helena Resort is located within walking distance (a long walk mind you) of St. Vlas, but I wouldn't recommend you try it. There is only pavement/sidewalk for a short part of the way and it is a busy and dangerous road (they drive like lunatics). I made the walk one early evening on my own whilst the rest of my party were getting ready for dinner and as I approached St Vlas a boy of about 18 crossed the road in front of me and out the corner of my eye I caught sight of another suddenly running across behind me so I stepped to the side just in time to see the Stanley (craft/boxcutter) knife in his fist. At this point I decided to return to the hotel - quickly! We had one slightly cloudy day whilst were there so we made the journey to the neighbouring town of Nessebar. This cost 20 leva (about £7/$13) in a taxi. Before I talk about Nessebar I should warn you about the taxis or the one that we got at any rate. Ours was an old yellow (all the taxis are yellow) Ford Focus which at one point had been purple - at least the back half had......the front had been silver and the airbags had been removed and passenger side one replaced with what looked like a cutting from an old leather jacket. This car is stationed at the Helena Park so avoid it at all costs and try and pick one of the few newish taxis. Anyway back to Nessebar. This is quaint looking little seaside town with some very interesting archaeological digs and a nice historic feel to it. This translates over to the shops as well for instead of selling counterfeit dvds here they sell counterfeit antiques! They are full of supposed WWII Nazi relics - mainly pocket watches, but if this is the case then most of the third Reich must have lost their watch somewhere in Nessebar judging by the quantities on sale! Once again there are few "proper" shops but it's well worth a trip. Not in a taxi though - the bus back (admittedly only to the bus station at Sunny Beach - 5km from the hotel) cost only 0.60 leva (about £0.22/$0.40) each! Despite sounding negative about the resort I personally enjoyed my holiday and was actually considering a return until (come one, you knew this was coming lol) we had to try and get home. First off the Thomson rep told us the hotel did not have a courtesy room available for changing in (they did) and then tried to extract £15/$30 EACH from our party for the bus journey to the airport, despite this being part of our package and us having proof of this. It was once we got to the airport that my mind was made up never to return to Bulgaria. On arriving at 19.30 hrs for our flight home at 22.15 we were confronted with the sight of several hundred people forced to stand around in the bus park with more and more coaches arriving by the minute as the Bulgarians refused to let more than a few people at a time into the terminal building. The airport is tiny and staffed by only a handful of dour looking Easter Europeans who insist on inspecting every minute detail of every traveler’s passport before stamping it in triplicate. The Thomson rep ensured us this was perfectly normal and our flight would be leaving on time, which was slightly disconcerting as at 22.00 hrs we were all still standing outside the terminal building (which is about the size of a minor UK mainline train station) in the pitch dark waiting to check in! It took nearly another hour before we were finally through customs/passport control and on the plane. The whole thing was so badly organised you couldn't even get annoyed it was verging on comical, although I'd hate to see the place when it's the height of the season and really busy. The tour operators should really warn their clients to expect this delay at the airport, although given how clueless our rep was about everything else on the holiday (hi Michelle!) it's not really surprising. Apparently there are plans to build a large new airport to handle the increasing flow of tourists into the country but this will be situated some 200 miles away from the resort of Sunny Beach. All in all I have mixed feelings about the place. I enjoyed the holiday (apart from the food, the incident on the road to St Vlas and the fiasco at the airport) but the country is lacking many basic amenities (such as decent roads/shops etc) which we in the west take for granted. It reminded me a lot of the way the Spanish costas were 30 or 40 years ago. I'm sure given the amount of money that is being pumped into the area that in five or ten years time Sunny Beach and similar resorts will have captured most if not all of the traditional Spanish holidaymaker market but for the moment if you are looking for more than just cheap drink, fake designer gear and sunshine I would advise looking elsewhere.