Paradise Bay Hotel

The beach is such a serene spot. Trust me, book a massage there with Booba. The deep tissue massage was one of the best I've had.

The renovated rooms look nice, and the air conditioning worked well. That's about where the positives end for me. Housekeeping was a complete joke: no changes of bed sheets, no vacuuming or mopping, and dirty glasses weren't replaced with clean ones. There's no utility sink, only the bathroom sink, so I'm not sure how guests are meant to wash them. We got water only on arrival, not daily, which is standard at most hotels in this range. They changed the towels, and that was it. Breakfast service was horrible, and the food offering was terrible. It felt like a joke at people's expense. The pool is shared with the surrounding buildings, and during our three-night stay I never once saw it anything but completely crowded. They charged 40 BGN per NIGHT for a dog, but told us at the end of the stay, not upfront or when we asked on Booking. Honestly, if that's the fee, they should just say they're not pet friendly. It's an insane amount for a pet to stay in the room. Edit: I just saw the owner's response. Anyone reading it can see how ridiculous it sounds. I didn't object to paying the fee, only to how it was communicated and to the 'offer' itself. I stand by the rest of my review, which the owner didn't address. To show we weren't told the amount in advance, I'm sharing the Booking chat where the company said there would be a 'small' fee. In my opinion, that's misleading and not okay. The claim that we left the room dirty is a silly point: I was alone with my three-year-old dog, who's relaxed and well behaved, and we received no cleaning service at all while there. Just leaving this here.

My main concern is the children's pool. On the first morning of our 6-day stay, both my sons cut their toes in the round kids' pool with the slide. The cuts looked like broken-glass cuts and both toes were bleeding. There was no first aid kit in the room, so luckily we had a car and could use plasters from its kit. I told the cleaner, whom I met in the corridor, and she said she'd contact "somebody." Later that day I phoned the office and explained what happened. There was a metal drain cover in the middle of the pool, surrounded by small tiles that were broken or missing. Some were very sharp and could easily cut skin. The man at the office said he'd speak with the pool maintenance company. Five days later, nobody had repaired it or even called with an update. I warned some people, but still saw a small girl with an injured foot and a young man cut in the same spot. How many people have to get hurt, and how serious do the cuts have to be, before management fixes this dangerous kids' pool? I know pool maintenance companies are probably busy around this time of year, but not caring about children's health is a crime. Draining the pool and grinding down the sharp edges would take only a few hours. Maintenance people were walking around the pools, but this clearly wasn't a priority. Nobody even put up a warning sign. The apartment did have some good points: it was a good size, air-conditioned, and spread over two floors, with two bathrooms and plenty of hot water. The top window and balcony looked out over the pool and sea. The kitchen had what we needed to cook, with plenty of plates and glasses. The salt shaker being empty was something we fixed for the next guests. The restaurant's food was tasty, though its prices were on the high side compared with other places in Sozopol. The pool wasn't too busy and there were always sunbeds available. Parking was always available behind the property, and there was a washing machine. Other issues: there was no oven, the TV was about the size of an average computer monitor, and both bathroom sinks leaked, leaving the floors constantly wet. There wasn't enough shampoo. Nobody told us we could also park at the front by the restaurant. There's no good beach nearby; the closest one is around 10-15 minutes away on foot.

The location is great, but our shower was clogged and the room wasn't clean. We also had no toilet paper. A group of very loud young men were having a chalga party by the shared pool in the middle of the day, drinking and inhaling balloons. One of them verbally abused another hotel guest, while staff watched calmly and did nothing to prevent it.