Sun Palace Hotel

1 reader found this review helpful

very much the same as mr keegan comments
the worst holiday we've been on by a long way like he has said dont eat anything there and beer is flat never have any glasses ,nothing for the kids to do and are bulled by the big german kids around the pool, pool is never cleaned ,all the staff at the hotel are unhelpful ,no uniform very dirty.hotel room that we had stay in had fleas in the carpet.
if you have already booked to stop at this hotel i would advise you to go to the hotel mercury just around the corner and us there pool and there staff are very friendly and helpful and the food is spot on

The saddest part about writing this review is that - like me - most people will only read it after they have booked the Sun Palace Hotel. I have just returned from what is now officially the worst holiday i have ever been on.
After being picked up from the airport we were dumped on the side of a main road. None of us had been here before and the 'Rep' didn't even show us where the hotel actually was before jumping back on the coach and leaving us. A local cab driver had to point out the hotel to us, which was nicely tucked away on the street behind us. Thanks Balkan 'Rep', you set a great standard and your employer must be proud at the way they trained you.
I won't harp on too much about the food, it was rubbish and i refused to eat or drink there after our 3rd day and chose to eat at the Hotel Mercury next door. In fact, the last week and a half was spent there in a decent pool with decent food and drink and you can actually feel on holiday there. I would totally recommend you eat and drink next door and for the sake of your health, don't touch what is offered at the Sun Palace as you will start, for no reason, feeling dizzy, sick and faint. Getting a case of the galloping trots is also a given, trust me.
The Sun Palace should be totally re-vamped. Take away the drunken 14 year olds that security allow to sing loudly, fight, smash bottles and throw plastic bags of human excrement from the balconies at 3'o' clock in the morning. I witnessed kids as young as 14 being served beer in plastic cups just because they borrowed a yellow wrist band, which meant they could be served alcohol. A red band is issued to under 18's however, as lots of people refused to even drink the cheap beer handed to us there were plenty of discarded yellow bands for the teenagers to find and wear. Although, I took my children and none of them are over 16 yet ALL of them, apart from my 12 year old were given yellow arm bands upon arrival.
The staff will not care about you - don't even bother asking them anything as they will just say 'my colleague will see you' and you won't see anyone again. Don't bother even trying to be nice to the staff at the cash-only bar inside as they will just flash dirty looks at you and carry on playing solitaire on the computer. Also, be VERY careful when leaving your room. If you don't push the button on the inside before you leave, the door will still be open and, trust me, you will lose 2 new t-shirts and a mobile phone along with it's charger.
The pool has no depth and is basically a water polo area. Don't expect a swim or a relaxing time beside the pool because the constant droning of loud house music will put paid to that along with the oily surface on the pool. Again, go next door to the Mercury and use the pool there. You probably won't even get a space beside the pool anyway as i witnessed bunches of of people placing towels on the beds at 11PM for use the next morning!!!
Don't expect any form of entertainment - unless you class a 20 minute 'mini disco' with classics like agadoo and the birdie song as entertainment. If you are over 30 and not single i wouldn't bother venturing into the main strip looking for entertainment as this area is crawling with pick-pockets, beggars and the odd prostitute. This is not just an accusation as i was 'dipped' to the tune of 300LV, propositioned by skanky looking women and constantly asked for money to 'hospitalise a very ill boy' who probably didn't exist - If he does exist he must be a millionaire by now.
The only day out nearby is the Aqua-park but don't do what the hotel staff suggest and jump in a cab and pay 20LV when the meter only says 7LV, get the free bus from the stop at the front of the hotel that runs every 15 minutes. Hotel staff are very friendly with the cab drivers *nudge nudge, wink wink*. Every other excursion is way over-priced and at least an hour and a half by coach.
Sunny Beach is not a family holiday destination. It is trying to be the new Ibiza but has gone way over the top to the point of becoming sleazy. There is not much more i can write about this place and i know you are probably reading this and thinking 'oh no, we booked it now'. Sorry but you should have read the reviews before booking it. I know i will from now on.

Had 2 great weeks in this Hotel, there where alot of people moaning about the food
it wasnt English... well stay at home then. there was always something to eat
great selection of salads, soup, fresh bread, stews, fish, meat, always a choice. plenty of fresh fruit, and cakes. ice cream, also outside by the pool there was a pizza bar
that also served chicken, they would griddle the bacon from the resteraunt in a morning and cook you fresh eggs also they cooked fresh pancakes so I dont know why anyone could complain about choice. every morning around 11am they would bring fresh cakes out and sandwiches only meat or cheese but still another choice, the hotel was spotless and staff I found where pleasant, and helpfull. I would not hesitate to return to this hotel or recommend it to people who dont want burgers or fish and chips

Having read the reviews before we went to this hotel we were prepared tio eat out some of the time. But to have to eat every meal was ridiculous. There was absolutely no food for the baby, not even yoghurt. Tea and coffee cold in flasks. Food disgusting, barely warm. Pizza at snacks served half cooked, as was all the meat. There was no option for British holiday makers, only catered for Germans and Bulgarians. Very little alcohol and no diet drinks, not even diet coke for the 3 diabetics in our party. Every alcoholic drink i requested was not avaialable, only lager, beer and vodka. The chef was carving roast chicken, which my husband asked for, he didn't bargain for a huge bone and the wish bone. Two of our children got cuts from the tiles in the indoor pool which was absolutely freezing, the outdoor pool wasn't much warmer. Staff were extremely ignorant and unfriendly. The Balkan rep didn't want to know our complaints, he just arranged transfer to the Globus 4 star half board, which we paid extra for. The Globus was fantastic, there was food we could all eat. We decided not to take too much notice of the bad reports before we went but wish now that we had. All the bad reports previously made were true unfortunately. Overall sunny beach is a beautiful resort, shame about the hotel. The shower curtain in the room was green and black mould on it. I would definetly not recommend this hotel to any British family.

We have just spent a lovely week in this hotel. The hotel is spotlessly clean and I can honestly say I have never seen so many cleaners, who worked so hard it puts us brits to shame. We had our bedding changed in the middle of our week stay and clean towels every day, you just had to throw the dirty ones in the shower and they were changed.
We stayed in the four star rooms which were very spacious and nicely presented. Air con was included in the price and it was worth that little bit extra we paid for a nicer room. We are well travelled and cannot believe the ratings that people have given this hotel. The staff were friendly and helpful and I do believe where ever you go people treat you as you treat them and so we had no problems at all with the staff.
The food is why I rated this complex a 7 I would have rated it higher if it wasn't for this. People forget that there are other nationalities there and have to cater for all not just for the brits. If its fish and chips you want then go to Blackpool.
Breakfast breads, fruit, cereal, boil eggs, beans, cheese, salad, outside they did fresh pancakes and bacon. Tea and coffee all day long although the water wasn't hot enough for tea but I just reheated it in the microwave. Lunch was a variety of hot meals, salad, meats, bread, fruit. The same for evening meal but I never once saw anything twice in the week. Three nights the chef's were out were you just went up to them and they cut up what choice of meat you wanted in front of you. Ice cream was available, soft drinks and alcholic drinks were available from 11am to 12pm and there was no limit. I found the food fine as I eat most things but my hubby who is very fussy found it not as appealing but he always found something to eat and we only ate out once which says it all. There were a few people moaning but they certainly ate the food so it couldn't have been that bad for them. We only paid £130 more to go all inclusive than going self catering and I think we had more than our moneys worth and we are not big drinkers. It is a cheap holiday going to Bulgaria it cost us £730 for two adults for a week all inclusive and I think it was excellent value, if you want the Ritz than pay the price.
We always managed to get sunbeds not matter what time of day it wa, but there were no mattresses and only a few parasols which would be a problem in July and August. We went to Sozopol for the day which was lovely, but I wish we had done the Blue mountain trip because everyone we talked to said it was lovely. We would go back again to this complex.

1 reader found this review helpful

This is the worst holiday we have ever had. The hotel was dirty if you look properly and the location of the hotel leaves a lot to be desired. There were vagrants sleeping in the undergrowth directly outside the entrance. The food was apauling. the hotel seems to cater for the germans and not the british. The resort is full of bars and shops and every shop you go into is the very same and as for not being able to spend your money there is rubbish as it is pretty expensive no matter where you go. We went on a few trips and they were all dissapointing. We will never go back and we would not reccomend the hotel or the resort to anyone.

1 reader found this review helpful

my partner my son and myself have stayed in sun palace for 2 years running. we have seen some huge improvents at the pool area and decor this year. food isnt fab but its because its mostly bulgarian and thats just not my taste. i like the hotel my only complaint this year was the reception manager who was rude and walked away while i spoke 2 her. there was also a very grumpy receptionist. all the other staff were luvly and helpful. the hotel is in a gr8 place its very central. bulgaria is slightly more expensive than last year but thats expected. will stay here again. mamacitas restaurant is a must for a bacon buttie :) . para sailing is fab 2. all in all a gr8 place but beware of pickpockets they work in gangs and we had a narrow miss with them

just got back today 9th june had very relaxing time even though was 47 in our party u will have noticed us i arrived midnite to no room ready with my teenage girls but then got nice lovely clean room the cleaners well we called them the ants they were everywhere never stop hotel really lovely but food oh my god iread reviews so expected it but i have lost half a stone and i was thin to start with i have lived on chip buttys for fortnite i feel sick thinking of smell food same everyday horrible but theres pizzas outside which is nice and two lads who do them are lovely one looks like porcelin doll lol so go if wanna lose weight cos its still nice hotel oh and entertainers are lovely my daughtere loves them so hve good holiday but be aware of been mugged

Hello, stayed at Sun Palace from 25th May- 1st June 2008. On arrival we were impressed on the look of the hotel. Whilst booking in we were given a food bag of sandwiches and water which was thoughtful. Our room was spacious with a nice view of the pool. We found the cleaners did not once clean our bedsheets and we had new towels every other day. We were all inclusive and found the food was well presented but consisted of the same thing for lunch and dinner. It was always cold and a few people complained. As for the comment below about the chef i never once saw him, the only person we saw checking was the Food manager after complaints were made and later on during the week improvements were made. We found the staff very unhelpful and rude apart from the holiday rep for Balkan who was very helpful and went out of his way to help us. Lots of nice resturants to go to but found it wasnt as cheap as people say. The local workers were very in your face and didnt seem to want to help. Dont be fooled by the buy one get one free cocktails as you cannot mix these you have to have the same type.
Dont get us wrong, we did have a lovely holiday but put of by overall help from the Bulgarians and food! Hope this helps.

Our first impressions of sunny beach were very nice. The sun palce is a very clean and tidy hotel. The staff although were not very friendly or helpful. Our room was 4 star even though we should have been 3 star the rooms were huge and again very clean. The food well we didnt expect alot having read all the comments on here. We are not picky eaters and usually will try anything however if I was rating the food I would have given 2/10 it was usually cold and all looked and tasted the same. My advice would be dont bother with breakfast and wait for the snack bar the pizza's were ok. Oh and lunchtime food was better that evening as anything left from dinner was heated up for tea. Be careful of chicken and it was pouring with blood one evening!!! The local spirits were ok and enjoyed the cocktails. We went for a chinese one night which was very nice. Sunny beach is NOT a cheap place as people we spoke to said prices had doubled since last year. Be very careful when out and about as there are alot of theives and never ever get a taxi they rip you off. We also went out to a show called khans tent again the food was bland and expensive if you do book look around as prices can vary from £20 to £50 pp. Enjoyed the week there but wouldnt go again!!!