just returned back from Sunny Beach!! Great holiday

Myself and my fella returned back from Sunny Beach this morning after a fantastic week away.We%26#39;re 29 and 28yrs.We stayed at Iberostar Sunny Beach,great hotel,very clean and would stay there again, only let down was the food.It was dire,we were half board but ate out every night and most breakfast.Getting a sunbed wasn%26#39;r too much of a problem,although the Germans were out in full force if oyu didn%26#39;t get up early enough.

The resort of Sunny beach was a lot bigger than i had expected,the beach is lovely although 7 lv each for a bed,parasol could end up costly for a family.Buy some lilos and lie on them if you dont want to shell that out each day.

The gypsies with the fruit are annoying but just tell them %26quot;no%26quot; and they will back off.

We loved wandering round the many shops and bought loads of G Star raw jeans,tops etc.For all you KFed fans,theres loads of Ed Hardy clothes.

We ate out quite a few times whilst there.DJannys is fantastic with queues of people outside waiting to get in,always a good sign.Also,Far A was nice,i had a lovely Shepherds salad there.

Billys Bistro was a bit hit and miss,wouldn%26#39;t eat there again.Just down from Billys Bistro is a restaurant called Brothers,here we ordered a combo for starters,which i have to admit was gorgeous,then we had steak.I would recommend this place,it was lovely.We had mexican food one night in The Funny Pub,that was lovely.For lunch we normally had a kebab or a huge jacket potato from one of the street fast food places.

We only went on one trip and that was Khans Tent,what a rip off that was.We weren%26#39;t the only ones who thought we had been robbed of our hard earned holiday spends,%26quot;spectacular cabaret%26quot; and %26quot;the best night out in bulgaria%26quot; is how the rep described it.Well im sorry,been crammed in a restaurant with entertainment that wouldn%26#39;t get passed the first round of britains got talent isnt my cup of tea.Sounds harsh,but if you%26#39;re over 45 and don%26#39;t get out much, then you%26#39;ll enjoy it.I looked around at one point and most people were yawning.

When drinking in the bars we enjoyed the many cocktails that were on a BOGOF offer,Corner bar was great,as was The Funny Pub,they had a great live band there.Malinas was great for a chilled out relaxing drink watching the football,0.79 for a beer.I loved Sunny Beach and would urge anyone who likes a lively holiday to go.We will be booking again.

|||

Thanks for your report Ange. I am sure it will help others planning to visit.

|||

Hi Ange, Glad to herar you had a good time.

Disappointed in the comments about the Iberostar. We normally stay in this hotel and have had nothing but excellent service and standards from them,

Last year food was superb and I put on half a stone, especially liked the fried to order omelettes.

Couldn%26#39;t get in this year due to it being full ( flying out tomorrow )and quite a number of forum members stay there. Lets just hope your disappointment was a one off.

Toonman

|||

me again Ange, Meant to say if you have booked KT with a rep you will get ripped off( earlier poster said about 80 lev ). Recent returnee only paid 53 lev and a choice of meals unlike the reps night .

Toonman

|||

Hi Toonman

Thanks for your reply,the Iberostar was a fantastic hotel.I would stay there again, but maybe on b%26amp;b basis.Rooms were kept so clean by the hardworking maids.I liked how they played music into the bathrooms.Ive stayed at several Iberostars all over and they haven%26#39;t dissapointed me.The food however at this one was terrible.The pancaskes and omlettes in the morning were nice.The evening meal was just terrible,not much choice at all.

I wanted to book KH independently but my other half was a bit wary,I work for Thomson and know they charge silly amounts for trips,sadly they dont give freebies to staff!!

Thanks for all your fantastic advice prior to my holiday on here,we shall be booking to go Sunny Beach again

Ange

going 2 sunny beach 13/9/09

Im going 2 sunny beach staying at hotel fenix on the 13th sept with my partner + 2 sons aged 12 + 7 im worried about the weather after hearing its not very good at that time ov year, is there plenty 2 do for kids if the weather is poor? any info would be gratefull

|||

We gave been many times around that date and had not very good weather, i would take some woolies with you as last year i had to buy some it was so cold, there are plenty of trips you can go in for when the weather is cold, we went on a blue mountain trip and around sliven which is well worth a visit it does not need to be warm to do this trip

|||

have just came back, the weather has been very hot only had 1 overcast morn sun was blazin by 12.30.hope u all get same. best take cardi, jackets can get a bit chilly at night time.

|||

Kids are looking more forward 2 the pools so hoping we get a few good days, thankyou 4 ur reply

|||

hi lou we went the same two weeks that you are going last year. we only got about 4 really hot days in the two weeks. it was either raining or cloudy /overcast. you can go into the indoor bowling with the kids if you like that .we also went to neesabar a few times really nice place .didnt find much to do for the kids when the weather was bad apart from bus trips and walking around the shops we had to buy jackets and jeans as it was really cold at night time having said all that we still managed to have a good holiday you may be lucky and get good weather while you are there have a good time regards kate

just returned

hi i have just returned from sunny beach had a great time thanks to the advice given by welsh lady and toonman thanks so much your advice was very good.we stayed in a apartment so ate out all the time our favourite places to eat were far a opposite condor and in my opinion a lot better food and better value thanks welsh lady for telling us about that one also the atol was very nice the bolero was lovely but a bit out of the resort only found it because it was near were we were staying. sunny beach is a lovely place a lot cheaper than golden sands and the people are very friendly. also if you just take the advice on here you will have a great time ie just say no to the fruit sellers and they will not bother you i went with my wife and 13yr old daughter and never once did we feel frightened

many thanks rasher

atm's

Hi there.

whats the position with cash machines in Borovets,

Are there any?

Thanks

|||

Hi, there are several. One at the gondola station, at hotel Rila, at hotel Samokov and at hotel Flora are the ones that come to my mind.

|||

Used them several times before, no problems, but did hear of an issue with the one at the Gondola last season - at one point it wasn%26#39;t Levs in the machine, it was loaded up with a different currency!! Not sure what happened there!

|||

Thanks for your rapid response%26#39;s

Thought there would be!

Ta

Is Junona hotel any good, is there no pool????

anyone stayed at Junona hotel?? know of any cheap B%26amp;B%26#39;s??? going 22nd August 2 weeks 2 women %26amp; 1 child aged 13

|||

The Junona has 2 wings, a 2* and 3*. The 2* is very basic and no air conditioning but 3* only added on about 3 years ago and is supposedly OK.

Very handy for the shops/bars/restaurants as it%26#39;s opposite the very plush Barcelo Royal Beach.

On the same street is the Grand Hotel Oasis which does B%26amp;B. 4* , large pool and good standards. Have stayed there twice myself.

Have a look at the reviews under hotels in Sunny Beach.

Toonman

|||

Hi, stayed in Junona 3* 5 years ago when it first opened. The rooms were very nice, spotlessly clean and the food was very good. Hope this helps, by the way the location is fab for everything xx

|||

Mixed reviews on this hotel and from what I can see it has no pool but guests have the use of the pool at the Hotel Jupiter next door.

|||

Beware!! A friend (gentleman in his 60%26#39;s) was savagely attacked and robbed by a man with a truncheon INSIDE the Junona! He was attacked and clubbed from behind on the stairwell as he was walking up to his room, and his gold chain ripped from his neck. His attacker hit him across the face and head witha truncheon and it is only because he fought him off with his beach bag that he was not left more severely injured.He was left badly battered and bruised and spent the rest of the holiday dealing with the police and reps from Balkan Holidays - neither of which were interested. The hotel did not care at all. Sunny Beach has a reputation for muggings, and like any country (including the UK) you need to have your wits about you - but you don%26#39;t expect to be attacked within the safety and security of your own hotel! Balkan holidays have advised that they are not responsible....and offered no support or assistance...I assume they mean they are not responsible for the safety of their guests - so traveller beware!!

Hotel Junona

Hi,

Has anyone stayed at the Hotel Junona? There aren%26#39;t any reviews on here yet.

|||

The Junona is very central in the resort being directly opposite the Barcelo Royal Beach complex/shopping mall.

The 2* part is extremely basic but there is a newer part ( 3* ) which is significantly better.

The 2* part does not have air conditioning.

Toonman

|||

Thanks Toonman, I knew you would know!

Not too bothered about the air-con, I want to use the package deal just for the flight. I%26#39;m hoping the stay in the apartment I bought last year which is near completion, but just in case there%26#39;s any delays, at least I%26#39;ll have somewhewre to stay.

My apartment is one of the new-builds across the road from the Polyusi.

Thanks for your help

Jan

|||

Beware!! A friend (gentleman in his 60%26#39;s) was savagely attacked and robbed by a man with a truncheon INSIDE the Junona! He was attacked and clubbed from behind on the stairwell as he was walking up to his room, and his gold chain ripped from his neck. His attacker hit him across the face and head witha truncheon and it is only because he fought him off with his beach bag that he was not left more severely injured.He was left badly battered and bruised and spent the rest of the holiday dealing with the police and reps from Balkan Holidays - neither of which were interested. The hotel did not care at all. Sunny Beach has a reputation for muggings, and like any country (including the UK) you need to have your wits about you - but you don%26#39;t expect to be attacked within the safety and security of your own hotel! Balkan holidays have advised that they are not responsible....and offered no support or assistance...I assume they mean they are not responsible for the safety of their guests - so traveller beware!!

Just back and didn't want to come home.

Hello all

Back since last Tuesday and honestly have to say it was the best holiday I have been on.

My parents have an apartment in SB, about 20 min walk from the main strip and as I said to them you are close enough for all the action but far enough away to relax.

This was my second time to SB, 1st time been 3 years ago and oh sweet jesus how things have changed for the better (can I just add it wasn%26#39;t because we didn%26#39;t like SB 3 year ago but we got married etc etc within that time and didn%26#39;t holiday apart from honeymoon.)

Here are a few reccommendations/ or not in our opinion:

Restaurents:

Memorys - steak is fantastic, Lasagne was like leather - I won%26#39;t return here as I am not a steak eater and we waited 2 long for Lasagne which if I had ever eaten a hangbag - I feel this is what it would have tasted like - although we were in a group of 9 and 7 out of 9 got steak and returned for another visit.

Cormer Pub - English Food - lovely homemade spud chips, Lasagne was lovely, hubbie got mixed grill and loved it although couldn%26#39;t finish it they still gave him the t-shirt.

Jacksies - Irish Bar - lovely basic food, omelettes, homemade steak burgers etc

Chinese - beside the Funny pub - upstairs - can%26#39;t remember the name of it - fab fab food - we ate here 3 times

Pubs:

Spiders - be very very careful here, when they have happy hour and your supposed to get say 2 vodkas and sprite, one deffo had vodka the other didn%26#39;t - we never noticed this at night but the one day my friend and I did all our shopping we stopped in for a drink and we were both caught like this - although I did point it out to them and drinks were replaced. We also spotted a %26quot;local%26quot; taking a scottish girls bank card - we told her but she was absolutly hammered so don%26#39;t know if she even remembered - this can happen anywhere so I don%26#39;t want to tar this only to Spiders.

Malinas - as another poster said .79 stinkys for a pint - where could you get it, hubbie and his friend loved it here for the footie - they spent less than €5.00 between them in like 4 hours!!!

Corner Bar - karaoke and DJ, but be wary of the mozzies I managed to get 22 bites on my legs and one on my arm in one night here - nearly freaked with the itch.

Sharkeys - for a late and quiet drinky - nice and cheap and good irish music for when we were feeling a bit homesick - as if!!!

Groceries:

Maldost - behind the multiplace about 150 yards and turn right - its like a big red shed - big supermarket which offers Bulgarian prices not tourist prices - 6 carrots 27 stinkys, 3 peppers 30 stinkys, double bottles of wine for under 4 leva

Overall we had a fab 2 weeks, relaxed when we wanted to and went mad when we wanted to.

Like everyone else says don%26#39;t leave your brain at home and you%26#39;ll be fine.

For those of you, you haven%26#39;t gone yet - I%26#39;m jealous!!! I so so wanted to stay .

Enjoy!!

|||

i to have just came back . my 1st time %26amp; i loved it. best use avon skin so soft replenishing dry oil body spray cost £5. is smells nice but it does keep the mozzie,s away all 4 of us never got bitten at all.