Arapya Sun Resort

The pool is huge and exceptionally clean, so it works well as an alternative to the beach. The beach right in front of the hotel is a little rocky, but sandy Arapya Beach is an easy 5-minute walk away. We loved the peaceful setting and the beautiful sea views, especially at sunrise and sunset. The lobby and restaurant have been renovated and feel fresh and modern. Restaurant staff were friendly and professional, and the food was adequate with a decent variety. Good value for money, and we'd recommend it for a quiet escape in lovely surroundings.

The hotel itself is great, but poor management could drive away regular guests. They also delete or hide bad comments, but word of mouth can't be hidden. This year the food was a huge disappointment. My 5-year-old son wouldn't eat it and said it didn't taste good, so we had to find food outside the hotel, which made things harder logistically and started turning our holiday into no holiday at all. The bar food was semi-finished too, so once again we had to look elsewhere. The stone paving around the pool hurt my child's feet and mine. The restaurant has two halls, and smoking was allowed even with babies and small children there. When I asked, the manager said hall 2 was open space, so smoking was allowed. To clarify, hall 1 has the bar, food buffet and five tables with four chairs each. Hall 2 is a glazed terrace with several windows open, and around 15 tables with four or six chairs. It often gets so crowded there's nowhere to sit, and if you arrive late, there's no food left.

It's a shame, because the hotel is nice, in a quiet location, and has a unique pool in my child's eyes. But the manager's incompetence and greed will turn away many long-time regulars. Her smirk while we complained about the service we'd paid a lot for was enough to make me comment every day. The food was really bad, and when we complained that it was beyond disgusting and that people were smoking in the restaurant around children and babies, the manager said some guests praised the food and the ashtrays on the tables. The room isn't fully open, only the windows are open. I wonder how the owner will feel when they learn that the manager is losing regular customers and damaging the hotel's ratings on every platform to save a few leva on food and expose children to cigarette smoke.

There's a lot of potential here, especially with the pool view blending into the Black Sea, but the place is very poorly managed. I hope the owners can get the staff organized better. Most employees were rude or impolite, and aside from a couple, none greeted guests or said goodbye. Only one person knew a little English, so communicating with the others was difficult, even for a few words. Breakfast was a letdown too. It was the same every day, with almost nothing sweet, and even the juice was bad. We'd expected much better from the Booking photos. The room was quite dirty, with unidentified stains on the curtains, spiders everywhere and hair on the floor. The toilet smelled of sewer, and there wasn't a proper shower, so the whole bathroom became a pond each time we showered.