Sol Nessebar Bay Resort

The water park was great fun and very well run, and the beach is beautiful. There are shops, including a pharmacy, within about 100 metres, plus some lovely restaurants in new Nessebar about a 15 to 20 minute walk away. We found the staff friendly, and the hotel is clean and spacious throughout. There are plenty of good quality choices in the main restaurant and elsewhere around the resort.

I didn't expect the stay to be this good when I booked. The location was lovely, and everything else felt perfect too. The staff were so nice, the hotel is great for children, and the cleaning team left a little surprise for my boy every day. Stoyan, who runs the shop next to the pool, was really friendly. I can't think of anything to complain about.

The sandy beach is lovely, there are lots of pools, and the aquapark runs for three hours in the morning and another three in the afternoon, longer than at similar hotels. Around the garden, kiosks serve tasty options like paella, panini, burgers and fish and chips. The main restaurant has an excellent range too. It's frustrating, though, to see baklava gone just half an hour after opening because some guests take a dozen pieces and leave them uneaten. The amount of food wasted is high when people take far more than they can eat. That's down to the guests, not the hotel. For me, this may be the best all-inclusive hotel on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast.

For the price it was an OK stay, with clean public areas and restaurants. The food was OK too, and I'd even call the Italian restaurant good. Our room was older in style but still fine. The beach was nice, while the outdoor pools were clean but cold. It's a great fit for families with small kids, though I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for families with older teenagers. The big problem is the smoking. It's a smoker's paradise, and being outside without sitting in a cloud of smoke feels impossible. The hotel should seriously consider smoking areas, or at least smoke-free areas. Still, it was a good experience apart from that.