Marina Hotel

Myself and my partner decided on Bulgaria as an alternative option to the norm of Spain and Greece and weren’t entirely sure what to expect.
We are in our late twenties and were looking for a fairly quiet relaxing holiday with the option of some bars and restaurants in the cultural quarter.
On arrival to Bourgas airport we were sent on a mini bus without a first choice rep to the resort of Duni Holiday Village whilst hundreds of fellow brits were bused away to Sunny Beach. (We were glad to get away from the Burberry brigade to be fair)
We were not naive about the monetary situation in Bulgaria but it was still a shock to see how poor the city of Bourgas actually is and how badly the airport needs a cash injection from the millions of pounds the tourism must be putting its way.
In arrival at the Royal Marina Palace hotel we were very impressed by the overall grandeur of the hotel, which certainly appeared to be 5*.
On attending the welcome meeting we were given a tour and bought 3 excursions from our rep Barney;
Ropotamos and Sozopol - Don’t bother - get the taxi to Sozopol which is the same price as the excursion (return- the taxi drivers wait for your return) Ropotomos a river cruise along a “nature” reserve isn’t all that it is cracked up to be. We saw one heron and on chatting to others discovered that we had been lucky! There was certainly no wildlife apart from the mosquitoes.
Sozopol isn’t the vibrant cultural place that we had expected and is also poor and run down but worth the trip to see the harbour and have a walk around the shops.
Nessebur and Sunny Beach - Worth the trip and a good shopping opportunity shared with the culture of Nessebar.
Blue Mountain - Took 6 hours return of travel, the mountain isn’t blue and the chair lift experience, although with amazing height and views, isn’t the safest or most modern contraption! Not worth the time or the money.
Going back to the hotel - the food was ok, not up to the star rating it has been assigned. The hotel staff were not always friendly and seemed to favour the majority of German guests - who after 2 weeks began to annoy with their q-jumping. A plus point is there is a beach towel pass system in place to avoid the 6am rush.
We didn’t get a double bed or sea view room as promised and fellow guests attempted but were unable to rectify this.
The hotel also began to close in our final week including restaurants and bars.
Bulgaria is seasonal so would recommend visiting peak season to have a better chance of good weather.