Hotel Fenix

The staff have been helpful and cheerful, even with a bit of a language barrier, and we’ve had no bad experiences with them. The dining areas are kept clean, and staff clear tables when people finish. There’s not a huge food selection, especially for desserts, but the meals are okay for the price and you can find something you like. The hotel rooms are very dated, though we slept well. Our room had a strong musty smell when we arrived after landing in the early hours. Maybe the rooms hadn’t been used much after Balkan hols went bust. By morning it had gone, but there was a stain on the 90s sofa. I’d just bin it and replace it. Cleaners come in every day. The hotel doesn’t have entertainment, but the sister hotel next door does. They’re part of the same company, so ask and they’ll tell you about it. The restaurant bar serves cocktails and a good range of drinks, but ask for the cocktail you want. The other bar is leased. We got a little pack with a sandwich, water, and fruit when we arrived early, which was a nice touch since other hotels we’ve stayed at offered nothing. The pool is okay. A few sunbeds and umbrellas are broken, but we never had trouble finding somewhere to sit, and the lifeguard was always happy to help. The hotel isn’t four-star anymore, I’d say two or three stars, which matches the price. We got a great deal, so we could always eat out if we didn’t like the food. After reading the reviews, I’d say give it a chance. There are some real bargain holidays here, even if you just use it as a base. Go with an open mind, it’s not four-star, but it’s a budget holiday.

The pool was well maintained, with clean water, and was about 1.60-1.7m deep. Lobby cleaning was good, and the air con in the room worked very well. The location is pretty good, close to the beach, and there’s a nice large pool. Parking around and inside the hotel area is crowded and full, and costs 25 leva per day. The parking staff charged tourists for extra hours they hadn’t stayed, counting three hotel nights as four full 24-hour days. Their idea of a day apparently doesn’t have 24 hours! Public signs in the area advertised regular parking at 20 leva per day or a few leva per hour. The All Inclusive offer didn’t feel like real all inclusive. The food was okay, maybe 6 out of 10, but there was a queue of around 30 minutes to get any. I stood in line for over 10-15 minutes just to get salad, and there weren’t enough plates or tables. People wandered around for 15-20 minutes looking for a place to eat. The hotel is rated four stars, but I can’t give it more than three. I’ve never seen a four-star room like this in my life, despite travelling across four continents. There was an old metal safe with a key, but no key. The room was a bit dirty, with old, dirty furniture and not enough towels. The apartment sofa bed wasn’t flat and couldn’t be slept on, and there was some mold on the balcony.

We decided we’re never coming back. The shower broke twice, first it stopped working, and then it fell and broke apart. There was a cockroach in the toilet, and mosquitoes flew in and bit us. When I ordered Sprite and apple juice, they made the Sprite but gave me orange juice instead of apple. Our holiday started out fine, then turned horrible. Worst vacation ever.

The corridors and our room had a strong musty smell, and the internet was so weak it may as well not have been there. On Saturday 16.08, someone, probably housekeeping, opened our door before 8 AM, woke us, and immediately shut it. The same thing happened the next day at 8:05. It felt like a complete lack of respect for guest privacy and security. Don’t the cleaners know which rooms are occupied? We extended our stay by one night, but even though I told reception in person, they never extended our key. Emails got no reply and personal requests were pointless. The service and organization fell far below what I’d expect from a four-star hotel. Check-in took over half an hour, with queues like in the old socialist times. We were told to return at 3 PM for wristbands, so we couldn’t even have the lunch we’d paid for. The restaurant was chaos, endless queues, no plates or cutlery, and sometimes no free tables. Tea and coffee came only in plastic cups. The lines were so long that getting hot food was impossible. Luckily I’m vegetarian and managed on salads. A lot of guests piled food onto their plates and threw half away, or filled bags with fruit as if food was about to run out. At the pool, towels were left on sunbeds early in the morning to reserve them, while the guests were nowhere to be seen for hours. Our stay was only two nights, then we moved to another hotel where the standard really felt like four stars. Here, it seemed the stars were just in the logo. The owners need to get the basics right: service, organization, and respect for guests. Plenty of other guests seem to have the same impression, so this wasn’t just an isolated case. This place makes you not want to come back.