Astera Hotel & Spa

The location was a real plus, right by the beach and close to the center of Golden Sands, including its bars and clubs. I never had trouble finding a free sunbed on the hotel's private beach. The beach bar is basic, with coffee, soft drinks and beer, and shuts at 5PM. There's no toilet or water tap there to rinse the sand off your feet. At night you can hear nearby parties with the balcony door open, but closing it blocked the noise completely. I didn't mind it anyway, and it even helped me sleep, haha. Our rooms weren't ready when we arrived for our all-inclusive stay, but we could use the hotel facilities straight away and got the key cards pretty quickly. The rooms were clean, cleaned daily, a good size and didn't feel dated. The AC worked fine. I'd have preferred a shower to a bathtub, but that's a small thing. They gave us a card to exchange for beach or pool towels at check-in. You pay 10 euros if you don't return the card or towel when checking out, and dirty towels can be swapped each day at the spa. Staff encourage guests to use the spa, though treatments cost extra. There are two pools, one indoors and one outside on a terrace with sunbeds and a pool bar. The outdoor water was on the cold side; inside it was a comfortable temperature, though I wouldn't call it thermal as advertised. Both pools are deep enough to swim in, but I could stand even in the deepest areas as a 6ft man. The terrace gets some sun cover for most of the day. The pool bar stays open until 10PM and offers coffee, soft drinks, wine, beer, cocktails, ice cream until 5PM, sweets and snacks like fries, sausages and basic pizza. I didn't try the snacks because I was always full from the buffet. The food was pretty good, with enough choice that most people should find something they like. There are two restaurants, and while their menus are much the same, sometimes one has a dish the other doesn't. They serve something new each day, with themed dinners too, so meals don't get repetitive. Fruit, sweets, coffee, soft drinks, wine and beer are available with every meal. Neither restaurant has outdoor seating, which is a shame. There’s a lobby bar and a smaller bar above it, both open 24 hours. The lobby bar stops serving alcohol and cocktails at 11PM; the upper one doesn't serve them at all. You can order them from the lobby bar at night, but they aren't covered by all-inclusive then, so you have to pay. Otherwise they have the usual coffee, sweets, soft drinks, beer and wine. I didn't try the beer, but the wine was okay and not watered down, and the cocktails were okay too, mostly classic ones. They also left a bottle of champagne in my room for my birthday. The hotel has two clubs, one on the roof and one in the basement, but both were closed. Elevators get packed at peak times, and guests aren't constantly monitored. If you find a good deal, I'd go for it.