Dana Palace Hotel

What a horrible place to stay. The bedding smelt of smoke, the toilet shower area is next to each other so you have to walk in and out where the wet water is and carry it around the room, thats if you dont slip. Mold around the tiles, room dusty very very basic. Air con I would not trust it, god knows when it was last serviced, total waste of time using it i think it heated the room not cooled it. Around the entrance we did not feel safe as people that had nothing to do with the hotel hang around and around the down stairs bar, with the ladies of the night. You get looked at not sure if i was getting offered out for a fight or wanting to serve my drinks. Even worse if your a group of females locals tend to latch on to these unfortunate victims. The food was what I can say it is not fit for human consumption. I used it once, that was enough, but I did see the owner and family have what I call a feast infront of the guests, as the guests were better off having his scraps. The hotel caters for youngsters so If you hait to sleep this is the hotel for you, kids run wild in this place screeming all hours of the day/night in the rooms and corridors. When you complain it falls on deaf ears. The noise is not just in the hotel its on the road with all types of people fighting in the street, shouting, cars reving there engines. This is on the road side. The pool side is no better with drunken German kids. The location is not that good, its down a long road, plassing beggers and people trying to sell you crap. After a day on the beach its the last thing you want to do is fight your way up the hill passed these people again. Not good if you cant walk far or unsteady on foot. Most of the so called pavement is missing. the Golden Sands area is very nice just try to avoid the women of the night, and ladies dont leave your hubby/boy/f alone for a second. I found that out just shopping, I was approached shocked the hell out of me. back to the hotel AVOID IT LIKE THE PLAQUE.

Very disappointed. there were plug sockets hanging off the walls. pool was very unsafe, there were tiles missing in the pool, one little boy cut his toe very badly. the pool was subsiding around the edges, flags were missing, steps to the pool had holes in them, we were worried for our childrens safety. The staff were very rude when i asked for eggs at breakfast i was told to go away. rooms were very poor balcony's felt very unsafe. There was a Bulgarian school prom in the hotel which kept us awake all night, they had music playing very loud till early hours, also they were running up and down knocking on all the doors. we went to meet the rep to complain but she never showed up, so i phoned the office on a number of occasions, to be told she would knock at my room but she never showed. I will never return to Bulgaria ever again!!!! people told us it was cheap, but as a family of 4 we spent £600 in one week. Overall people are very unfriendly and u have to pay upto a £1 each to use a toilet, even for children.

We had a very good time at this hotel with me, my friend, my mum and dad. The staff were very friendly especially the good looking receptionist who worked during the day.
The forest feast was also a good night, it was good entertainment.
The accommodation was rather clean, the maids cleaned our rooms everyday. They waited for us to get out of beds, no pestering.
The pool was clean and the man around the pool was rather funny. We all enjoyed this holiday very much, one of the best I have been on.

I was only passing through Bulgaria, but at the last minute I decide to stay for couple of nights in some of the resorts along the Black Sea coast. Golden Sands was the first resort on my list and Dana Palace Park was the first hotel with available rooms, so I just checked in.
I had a very nice stay. The hotel is very small and it's not completely finished yet, but it's very quiet, next to a nice forest, available 24 hours bar and a pool bar, clean rooms, TV and mini bar. I liked my room and the girl at the front desk was friendly. The food in the hotel restaurant wasn't very good, but I found many nice restaurants around the aria and the food was outstanding there.
The bartender at the poll bar-Ivan was the best part of this hotel. He was extremely well educated and knowledgeable young person. He have been to the United States couple of times and his English is spotless. I had a small history class with him and I was the student.
The second night he organized a barbecue party for some guests from Denmark at the pool with some fresh grilled food. Everybody were very friendly there, I had a great time. The beach and the sea-one of the nicest I ever been to, great food, great people, very beautiful women. I’ll defiantly be back for longer in Bulgaria and I recommend this country to every traveler. A way better than Turkey and Greece.

Me and my partner booked this through Teletext and the amount we paid we weren’t looking for anything brilliant, so upon arrival after a delay Gatwick! We were pleasantly welcomed and staff were plentiful to help everyone get checked in, and we were in our room within 15 mins of arriving, our room, was clean, the beds were clean, including sheets the linen was fine the bathroom was fine there was no problems everything worked admittedly the air con wasn't brilliant but it was enough.
Our balcony was good we had the side facing the road but it had the sun all day compared to balconies facing the swimming pool! ok the hallways were horrible tiled on the edges with carpet laid down in the middle yeah it wasn’t great but least you didn’t hear suitcase wheels during the night going up and down the hall way.
Breakfast, yes this was interesting to say the least and to the other reviewers your right it isn’t a British taste that’s why you’re in Bulgaria! They aren't in the EU (Jan 2007) so they are just coming up go with your eyes open and you won’t mind. Just about the swimming pool, I never saw any holes or and tiles missing from anywhere bar one single tile that I broke when I dropped their huge pint glass on the floor.
So that’s the hotel reviewed. the distance from beach to hotel now there are 2 ways to the beach if you find your going down the small steps that is the longest route but the easiest out of the 2 and the steps are small I saw (no offence) 60-70 yr olds trotting away with out batting an eyelid the other route your going down through other hotels etc and that’s where the measurement will be from beach to hotel, the resort is fun and yes people do want you to come and look at their restaurant because funny enough they want your custom, and yes it does get annoying but just say no thank you they leave you alone!
As for party street, now that’s a whole different type of scenario you'll know when your there because there is a gate in the middle, now when you get past this gate, if you don’t have a women on your arm, your in trouble! Always hold hands with your partner lol because trust me they won’t leave you alone, and if your partner's like mine, she'll be laughing too much to come and rescue you!
All in all this is a great place to stay jus keep open minded they isn’t in the EU jus yet so they have no rules to follow jus go for a good time and remember a holiday is what you make it!
Oh yeah excursions from Dana palace you have got to go on the 4wd safari (no wild animals just off road) take loads of water and wear swimmers its a mad water fight very bumpy so not for those that will complain. Also the night in the forest superb food and entertainment! the water park if your like me a complete I want my mummy wimp of wasps you wont like it middle stars are the best ones but still they are mad in there!

Having heard so many bad reports about this hotel, we were pleasantly surprised. The Thomson rep whose name was Emma, didn’t exactly fill us with confidence when we asked her about the hotel. Her exact words were, well you get what you pay for!
However, the hotel was clean, the maids were very good, the breakfast awful, the pool, well, very cloudy! Very cheap to eat out, lots of good restaurants, and good quality food. We never once felt threatened and on two occasions didn’t get in till daybreak.
Great place for all ages, very friendly locals. One drawback, it states in the brochure that the hotel is situated 300m from the beach. Even going down the steps, it was more like 3000m. Overall a good holiday. Must mention the bar staff at the hotel Ivo, Steve, and the rest. Great people.

Well were to begin, on entering Dana palace it looks very nice, then you enter your room the smell of sewage hits you, and what is supposed to be clean bedding is not it was full of sand from the previous occupants, and not forgetting the blood stained mattress.
The beds also kept collapsing even after being repaired, and the body fat stained shower, and label saying the toilet and seat had been chemical-cleaned it hadn't. The patio doors had been jemmied open. The air- con was none effective.
Breakfast was diabolical, I lived on eggs and bread my partner lived on water melon that's when they had some we gave up at the end out of frustration. But what really annoyed us what must of been the owner and his family came for a meal they had the best dinner when ours had big chips in them and their food looked mouth watering, and after all this our rep which was from Balkan holidays had never been in the hotel which was a bit of a joke between the other reps, the list goes on.

We booked this as a last minute price breaker with Thompson and had a great time. The price breaker promised either a 3 or 4 star hotel deal, and we'd resigned ourselves to the 3* deal before we arrived as we'd booked so late. I'm sure the other hotels were probably more luxurious, but the Dana Palace was nearer the beach area.
There is an issue with cigarette smoke but we found that was an issue everywhere in Sunny beach, not just in the hotel. Not only do more people smoke, but the German, Bulgarian and Russian cigarettes seemed to be particularly strong. However, we had rooms on the end on the 5th floor and they didn't smell of smoke and were perfectly pleasant. Beds were comfortable (both our rooms had two singles, but they were easily moved around) TV and fridge worked and the bathroom was clean.
The pool was kept clean and there wasn't an issue with people grabbing the chairs and then not using them - there always seemed to be space for everyone. The staff were friendly and helpful both in the Dana Palace and the resort.
Food wise, it did seem odd to be offered pasta and cucumber at breakfast, but there was also cereal, toast and traditional eggs and sausage along with chocolate bread (my daughters favourite) service wasn't the fastest, but we weren't in a rush so it was fine.
There are two main shopping sections to the resort - the beach shops and the "party street" We kept away from party street, and didn't see any of the ladies of the night so many of your reviewers have alluded to.
Our favourite restaurant was Leonardos - an Italian on the sea front, but most of them were ok. £20 ish for 4 of us for a meal with drinks. The local beer is much cheaper than Traditional British beers. It’s dry, but definitely worth switching to while you're there. I'm a vegetarian, and I didn't live solely on pizza or pasta, but it was much easier to find meat than vegetarian dishes.
We didn't do any of the Thompson trips - in fact, we hardly saw the rep and would arrange flights and accommodation independently if we were to go again, but the boys did go fishing which was very cheap (£13/£6.50) for a half day with food, even if it was very basic and they only caught Gobies.
The water park was about £10 each for the day (beware - children have to be very small (<120 cm) to qualify for child rates - there's 40% off if you go later in the day and then you usually don't have to pay for a sun bed.
All in all, we had a great time and the Dana Palace provided a good base to wander around the resort from.

1 reader found this review helpful

Where do I start! This 'hotel' is incorrectly classed as a 3 star. Although only around 2 years old it appeared much older and worse for wear.
The pool area was sunken in places with tiles broken with obvious health and safety issues. As you left the lifts you were hit by a smog of smoke coming from the cleaners room on all floors. The smell hit you all through the day and night. This is also where the bed linen and towels were stored. The breakfast was very Bulgarian and not designed for the English taste. Thank God for the Jam from the Supermarket.
The resort and Hotel were aimed for young single people with rowdy groups of youths drinking and singing through the streets. Leading to noise and disturbances in the corridors through the night until breakfast time.
Ladies of the night appeared on every street corner. Locals pestering you to enter bars and restaurants was also off putting and they definitely didn't take no for an answer.
We won't be going back. Please think again if you have young children!

Dana Palace is not a 3 star hotel. The bed linen smells of smoke as its stored in the cleaning room where the cleaners smoke. The food is repetitive, and not for the British palette. The carpet in the corridors are rising, and is a trip hazard.
This hotel books young males and females on there own, so you will not get much rest at all. for some unknown reason bangs and shouting is common. I have seen young teens drinking all day around the pool. Order around the hotel doesn’t exist, I have complained many times to the powers that be, only to be treated like a pain in the head. Thompson reps don’t turn up at the times displayed, you’re left with a 24 hour number.
The lobby is a hive for undesirables, to hang out and pester the young girls, even though the porters know and speak to them. The location is up a steep hill, if your disabled or have problems walking, you will have to get a taxi £££ or if you can catch it a road train runs from the beach past the hotel. Its never, the meters it says it is from the beach.
The Golden Sands area is a great place to stay, but like all tourist areas don’t forget your ££££. Would I stay again in is hotel? Not on your life. The people are friendly when spending money in the places. But can be abrupt.