MPM Hotel Astoria

The food and drinks weren't my main issue with Astoria, though the drinks could be better and seemed more about quantity than quality. My bigger frustration was how little had changed since I visited three years ago. The opening times still feel confusing: everything starts at 7:30 a.m., so there's no chance to sit with a coffee and watch the sunrise. The route from the pool to the beach is also locked when it's most useful. You can't go out toward the cliff until the gate opens at 9:00 a.m., and it shuts again at 6:00 p.m. That's absurd. I wouldn't rate this hotel four stars now. I'd give it three at most, like its sister property Orel. Parking and early check-in were especially frustrating. The hotel's own lot is always full, so you have to pay extra and leave your car 1-2 km away. At reception, the woman struggled to say the numbers in English. I understood the early check-in charge to be 15, but was charged 50. It left me wondering whether this was deliberate.

We picked this place after researching hotels that weren't too big, where we could relax, eat well and enjoy plenty of drinks. After travelling around Bulgaria and Romania and staying in all sorts of places, walking in here felt like we'd struck gold. We stayed in the main hotel, and our room had a lovely sea-view balcony. It was cleaned every day, towels were fresh daily, and the beds were changed after just three nights. The beach is less than two minutes away, with plenty of sunbeds and umbrellas, plus a beach bar. Even at the start of June, the sea was so warm. The pool also had lots of loungers and shade, and felt refreshing in the heat. There was a big choice of food, good drinks and lovely staff who worked hard. They spoke English too, which helped since I speak absolutely no Bulgarian, much to my shame. We'd love to come back. Thanks for such a fabulous stay.

The thing that finally made me write this was checkout: not one elevator was working, so I had to haul all my things down the stairs while trying to get around people coming up. Ridiculous. There were some good points, including fair room service, generally polite and smiling staff, and dinners with different themes. But plenty else felt far from four-star quality: weak internet, no hot water after about 9 p.m., a shower that took half an hour to drain, and climate control switched off at night and early in the morning. Breakfast was repetitive, coffee was bad, and the cocktails tasted cheap. At 4 a.m. the receptionist looked gloomy and irritated. P.S. the seagulls are awesome. They flirt with you while you eat, and that's the best entertainment at Astoria :D

There was so much to choose from at meals, and the food was tasty and well cooked. The drinks were fine too, and if you have enough, you can get the effect you're after. Between meals, the snack bar had enough to keep us going. We left after a week a few pounds heavier. The hotel has its own sunbed area on the beach, about a 50-yard walk away, with a beach hut offering complimentary drinks and such. Our rooms were clean and spacious, with aircon and a balcony, and the staff were welcoming and polite. My five stars are for the value, not because this is a five-star hotel. The main criticism is how much food guests from all nationalities piled onto several plates and then left uneaten. Maybe the hotel could limit people to one plate at a time, though that would probably be hard to enforce. The sea was lovely and warm when we went at the start of June.