Calisto Sozopol

The hotel is a 5-minute walk from the sea and has a big swimming pool. The rooms were clean, the staff were good and spoke English well, and the waiters were friendly. I liked the food there, too. It looks lovely, especially with the cozy evening lighting, and there are turtles living on the grounds. I've never seen turtles like that in Bulgaria. For me, it's a 10/10.

This doesn't feel like a place for international tourists. At 8am, a woman who checks guests' rooms when they go to breakfast shouted in Bulgarian at us several times, even though it was clear we didn't speak the language. When I asked her to speak English, she seemed really annoyed. I won't come back. I gave the service 2 stars because the other staff were nice.

The pool is big, beautiful and clean, but the staff made our stay unpleasant. An employee woke us up, then, when we opened the door, he entered the room above ours to reach the terrace and switch off the light. Around the pool, staff sat beside us laughing loudly and joking in Bulgarian. Aside from the receptionist, who speaks English, the rest of the staff don't speak it at all, and they get quite irritated if you try. Someone comes into the room daily to make the beds, but the towels and linen aren't changed. Card payments are only accepted for 10 BGN or more, and you can't charge purchases to your room, so you'll need cash for a juice unless you buy enough to pass the 10 BGN minimum.

The rooms have been renovated and look decent, with new furniture, air conditioning and good cleanliness, though some finishing touches seem to be missing. The pool closes at 7pm, which wasn't late enough for us. The food wasn't great, and the waitresses barely spoke English. One of them couldn't understand that we wanted TWO pizzas. My main issue is with the surroundings, which look like a third world country, with no urban planning at all.