| Holiday-Truth Readers Reports |
Susan Burt from Poole Dorset travelled to Club Hotel Riu Bolero with
Thomson
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2007 |
rated the Club Hotel Riu Bolero as follows:| Cleanliness |  | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Club Bolero was amazing! Clean, clean, clean! Delicious food, with a huge variety, freshly cooked and dishes replenished very quickly. Great central location within the resort & only a short drive to the city, Varna. Staff were polite, extremely friendly and a pleasure to have met.
The day to day activities were fun and you were not badgered into anything you did not want to do. The evenings catered early for the young and shows every night for all.
As an all inclusive hotel, the bar staff have alot of beveridges to serve but were always friendly and took time to speak to all the customers.
As a first to visit Bulgaria, my partner and I can't wait to return next year with the children.
I cannot recommend this hotel highly enough!
Click here for more information on this hotel, resort and region
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stuart from rotherham travelled to Club Hotel Riu Bolero with
thomson
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2007 |
rated the Club Hotel Riu Bolero as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food |  | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Hotel spotless staff always cleaning and proud to work in this hotel.Room large and well furnished mini bar topped up every 2 days (1 day with tip in fridge)Hotel 50m from beach and restaurants and bars Taxi driver assigned to hotel very helpful for local trips such as water park or trip to Varna for shopping would visit this hotel again.
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dana from bucharest travelled to Club Hotel Riu Bolero with
gusti tour
on a couples holiday.
There were 6 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 05 2007 |
rated the Club Hotel Riu Bolero as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location |  | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We stayed in this hotel for only 5 days and we enjoyed it very much.
They are very nice people. The food was excellent and the animation team tried hard to make us happy.
For the price we payed, we had more than enaugh.
Outside hotel it's just like in Romania, but inside...it's a different world.
We will visit Riu Bolero again on 30.08.07 because we enjoyed it.
Hope they will not let us down this time!
Anyway...if you want to feel good and happy on a hollyday you will, if you don't...you will allways find something to complain about.
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ian and trina from hull travelled to Club Hotel Riu Bolero with
tompson
on a family holiday.
There were 3 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2006 |
rated the Club Hotel Riu Bolero as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food |  | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The hotel its self was always clean staff were constantly cleaning. Staff were also very well presented and very polite. as this was our first all inclusive holiday all I can say is we will never go self catering again. The hotel is around 50 meters from the beach and 600 meters approx from the center.
The Entertainment could be better but having said that we did enjoy it on the long rainy days.
I would return to this hotel if you could pick it up and place it in sunny beach.
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david w grieves from wallsend tyne & wear travelled to Club Hotel Riu Bolero with
thomsons
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2006 |
rated the Club Hotel Riu Bolero as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Second year running and possibly 2007.
My wife and I find it difficult to fault.
The evening entertainment could be better but we did find a slight improvement from our first visit.
I had jokingly mentioned to the manageress and the head chef that we only came back for the lamb only to find on the last night in the Argentinean restaurant we were presented with a full platter equivalent to a Sunday joint at home. Took a bit of getting through but we managed to put a hole in it.
We lost one suitcase at the airport but the hotel staff bent over backwards to get us essentials.
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Lynne & Rob from Wirral travelled to Club Hotel Riu Bolero with
Thomson
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2006 |
rated the Club Hotel Riu Bolero as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Cannot fault this Hotel. Rooms are a great size & kept really clean - maids can't do enough for you. All the staff are friendly & very helpful.
Food was very varied & really nice, especially pizzas in the Argentinean Bar & Grill for snacks throughout the day. We have a very fussy 10 year old who found something he liked at every meal.
Entertainment was great for the kids.
We didn't really venture out of the hotel much - we had everything we needed on site.
Would definitely go again - location is lovely & pools are gorgeous, especially the indoor pool if you want to get away from the kids & do some serious swimming.
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Lorraine from Pontypridd travelled to Club Hotel Riu Bolero with
Portland
on a family holiday.
There were 6 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2006 |
rated the Club Hotel Riu Bolero as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We stayed at Club Hotel Riu Bolero, Golden Sands, Bulgaria. We found the hotel to be excellent, clean, staff very friendly and hard working, they couldn't do enough for you. There was always a good choice of food available to suit everybody. We enjoyed the main buffet and Argentinian resturants best. The daytime activities were very good and the team encouraged all to take part but left you alone if you did not want to participate. The evening entertainment was not very good but the team did try hard. They had the same group on two different occasions and they were very good but they put them in the corner. Yes I would visit this hotel again.
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Evelyn McGregor from Perth travelled to Club Hotel Riu Bolero with
Portland direct
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2006 |
rated the Club Hotel Riu Bolero as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: This was a very good hotel, the rooms were very spacious and clean.
The beds were the most comfortable we had ever slept in. The staff were extremely friendly and helpful.
The day time entertainment was really good with lots of activities to take part in. The evening entertainment was quite good but did not last for very long.
The restaurants in the hotel were very clean with good service. the food was good, but sometimes not very hot, which was our only complaint.
The animation team were extremely friendly and tried to get everyone involved. The only downside was that there was not much for our 14 year old son to do and there was hardly anyone else of his age around. He was allowed to join in the adult sports and the hotel animation team were really good with him.
Overall we had a great holiday and everyone was very friendly.
There were lots of British in the hotel and everyone was friendly and had a great time.
We would definitely consider returning to this hotel another year.
Its definitely worth a visit!
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Alison Pawley from Wrexham travelled to Club Hotel Riu Bolero with
Thomson
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2006 |
rated the Club Hotel Riu Bolero as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The hotel was really nice . Lovely rooms and great food. The Asian restaurant was by far the most superior.
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Saz from Wigan travelled to Club Hotel Riu Bolero with
Tui Thomson
on a family holiday.
There were 4 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2006 |
rated the Club Hotel Riu Bolero as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food |  | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The food was not to a "normal" standard that we have experienced at Riu in the past. We thought the food let the hotel down, it was more rated for a 3 star found in Europe.
If you like dry carrot and cucumber and bizarre fish pizza and many foods not labelled then this hotel may suit you.
The staff where all Bulgarian and well educated and polite, however experiencing Riu in other destinations the Bolero lacked an International feel / atmosphere? Maybe this is down the pay the staff recieve which I was informed is very poor.
The entertainment team made the best out of what they could the props were very poor in quality and again not to a standard of other Riu hotels we have visited.
The mini club was run like a robot same songs and stuff every night 7.30pm it suited kids up to 4 years and over that I got the impression it was a bit "babyish!"
The resort smelt like a harbour I appreciate it is a seaside resort but when it rained and then the sun came out there was aromas like you would expect at Fleetwood fish market.
The sea was full of jelly fish that did not seem to bother anyone but the floating carrier bags empty pop bottles, crisp packets and ladies p/liners did make the sea uninviting to my family anyway!
Bulgaria is very cheap and it is a "designer blaggers" paradise and I would advise anyone wishing to visit goes now before they join the EU as it will price itself out. An example of this is the airport they have just changed the Lleva sign to a Euro sign so you can see things are going to more than double in price.
The airport has very basic facilities my personal advice to anyone is buy sandwiches, pop, water, beer etc in resort as the airport is a "ripoff" . 3 Euro for a can of bulgarian beer = approx £2.10 that is dearer than Manchester airport? Does not make sense does it
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xanapeq from London travelled to Club Hotel Riu Bolero with
Thomson
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2006 |
rated the Club Hotel Riu Bolero as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The hotel opened in 2005 so was in really great condition and all the setting was lovely.
ROOMS: the room was huge with twin beds, a sofa, a balcony with 2 chairs and table which overlooked the upper swimming pool. The bathroom was nice, but it did not have a bidet. The bath was a bit inconvenient in terms of access - from the picture you can see you have to go over a small wall!! Our room was in the 3rd building which meant going up lots of stairs to access it.
FOOD: There were 3 restaurants for dinner: dining room, Argentinean restaurant over the pool and the Asian restaurant. For the last 2 you need to book. The Argentinean is self-service which means they can accommodate a lot of people, but the Asian is a la carte, so you have to book really early. We only were able to go there once. It was well worth it: you should try the fruit sushi!! In the buffet lunch and dinner, the food was OK: there was always a dish of poultry, pork, beef, at dinner some sort of roast, 2/3 pastas, pizzas, etc. the dessert was great: lots of variety, cakes, mousses, and at least 5 ice-cream flavours. The fruit was limited though.
POOLS: there were 2 outside pools (upper and lower with jacuzzi) and an interior pool (with Jacuzzi) which was warmed in the first days we were there (it was mostly 1,5 - 1,7 mts deep). And a kids pools, which few kids used, since the lower pool had a huge entrance not deep and the kids concentrated there.
For a deposit the hotel provided fresh swimming pool towels (the yellow ones on the photos). For the beach you had to bring your own towel.
As you can see from our pool photos taken at 9h30, all the chairs were reserved, but the people nowhere to be seen. This was a practise common with every guest of the hotel (regardless of nationality!!!). When we got to the pool at 9h, we had to try and squeeze the last remaining chairs to find a spot to sunbathe!! This was really outrageous because most people did not bother to show up until 12! We can certainly testify that there were very few people at breakfast around 9h, so everyone was still in bed, after having reserved a sunbed. It seems that in another riu (we read this on this forum), the management decided to take all the towels from the chairs – people were really upset about it. I just wished they had done this in ours, but of course I understand the people in the hotel don’t want to antagonise their guests, despite the warnings that sunbed reserving was not allowed. Also not allowed, was using inflatables in the swimming pools, but no-one seemed to noticed, and as our stay progressed the number of inflatables increased and even the adults were buying them and “parking” them in the pool. This was pretty disappointing and annoying by the end of the week, but our anger is towards the guests not the hotel. Perhaps we should have complained, but in 300 rooms it did not seem fair to spoil our holidays by being the only ones complaining.
STAFF: everyone was great, from the cleaners to the animation team, the cooks, the waiters, etc. Most were able to speak enough English to allow us to communicate. The hotel was always spotless, the empty glasses and dishes were noiselessly removed from near the pool and there were always new glasses in the upper pool self-service bar. No problems at all.
The ENTERTAINMENT was great both for kids and adults. we just attended twice: the Bulgarian traditional songs and dance night and one night by the pool with a great smooth band and some games for kids and grownups (how to recognise Bulgarian spices, mix drinks, make swans from towels). On this night the staff were all by the pool interacting with guests. Great idea!
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Tim Martin from Hastings travelled to Club Hotel Riu Bolero with
Portland
on a friends holiday.
There were 6 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2006 |
rated the Club Hotel Riu Bolero as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment |  |
| said: Worlds fussiest eater me, so im told, so don't take much notice of my low score, others seemed to think it was ok, pig swill to me. preferred eating out.
Hotel was spotless service was 1st class 2 great swimming pools, tennis court and indoor pool.
entertainment. Well went in there for 10 mins even thou the ale was free couldn't of stayed any longer. There were more people sitting outside than inside which was a bit of a give away. Hotel is fairly new so may be as time goes by the entertainment may get better.lol.
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Pam S from Harrogate travelled to Club Hotel Riu Bolero with
Portland
on a family holiday.
There were 3 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2006 |
rated the Club Hotel Riu Bolero as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Fantastic hotel, so many staff, cleaning, clearing up constantly.
Rooms 1st class. Service in restaurants excellent and food great.
Only complaint would be that the only bar open during the day was the pool bar, which wasn't much use when it rained, and when it rained it really rained. This was our 2nd visit to golden sands and this hotel was far superior to where we stayed last year (Helios Spa). Just wish we'd gone for 2 weeks instead of 1.
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Jackie from Wolverhampton travelled to Club Hotel Riu Bolero with
Thomson
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2006 |
rated the Club Hotel Riu Bolero as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: This hotel has only been built 1 year ago and it certainly has got things right.
The food is excellent, the all inclusive facilities are exceptional, no problems, no restrictions and good service by the staff.
The rooms are spacious and very clean. You don't need to take towels as these are provided daily for sunbathing (small deposit and refunded at end of holiday). Two large outdoor pools and one indoor. Would certainly go again
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dennis from caldicot travelled to Club Hotel Riu Bolero with
portland
on a friends holiday.
There were 6 adults and 3 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2006 |
rated the Club Hotel Riu Bolero as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Hotel Riu Bolero rooms very spacious and clean. Maid service very good. Food excellent variety to choose from. Close to beach and plenty of shopping stalls, bars, but not to roudy. Entertainment enjoyable but basic.
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Alan from Sunderland travelled to Club Hotel Riu Bolero with
Thompson
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2005 |
rated the Club Hotel Riu Bolero as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: A big well done to all concerned at this hotel. The food was good and varied in week we stayed (special mention to the lamb in the Argentinian? themed restaurant.
We were more than a little concerned about this trip, as up until a couple of weeks before, the Hotel still seemed not to be open. But having got there we had a great break despite the weather.
The pool area and fitness centre were very clean and along with the main restaurant, the best finished of the public rooms. I only mention this because as a rule the workmanship within the hotel was awful. It was only little things, but there were so many of them. Basically wherever you looked you could find potential problems.
Now this really is a pity, because it was not caused by skimping on materials, only standards of workmanship. Still you only had to mention a problem to reception and it was fixed within 24hrs.
The Hotel is within 100 yards of what looked like a nice beach (it was too cold to test it out) with plenty of bars, restaurants and shops along the beachfront. I'm sure there is more to the resort than this, but without my thermals further exploration was not an option.
Lastly the staff. What a credit they are to Riu. Entertainment staff seemed to on the go non-stop, as were the bar staff (cold weather, free drinks, you work it out). Restaurant staff too were attentative and very helpful.
Finally the acid test, will we go back - of course we will. Next time in July or August, and I'll take a spirit-level with me.
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Sheila/val from sunderland travelled to Club Hotel Riu Bolero with
Thompson
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2005 |
rated the Club Hotel Riu Bolero as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: This is a new hotel, we went all inclusive we found it excellent.
The only down side was the amount of steps to get to some of the rooms, but there were lifts in certain areas. We were lucky to be near the pool area as we requested.
The food was excellent the best we've had, a great choice.
The cleanliness was excellent, 2 outdoor pools and one inside all beautiful.
Two other themed restaurants to choose from in the hotel you have to book in advance, but never had a problem as we went end of September it was quiet but still busy.
Staff were excellent, the head chef wondered through the 3 main restaurants all the time making sure everything was fine.
Room was spacious and nice, TV only had one news channel in English which was a shame.
All in all a great holiday but could have done with a bit more sun shine
Would go back again.
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Donna from Hampshire travelled to Club Hotel Riu Bolero with
Thompson
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2005 |
rated the Club Hotel Riu Bolero as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We booked our holiday just 3 weeks before travelling on the Thompson website and got a great late deal price for an all inclusive holiday. The flights were good times from Gatwick and it was only 30 minutes transfer time from Varna airport. We were welcomed at the hotel with champagne and after checking in at reception we went to eat while the porters took the luggage to the rooms.
The Hotel was built this year and is excellent, the rooms are large, very comfortable and beautifully decorated. The Hotel is built as 3 separate buildings and there were over 70 steps from the reception to our room (until we found a shortcut, through another building and up their lift to cut off some of the steps!!).
The food was excellent too. There was a huge variety every day, all very well cooked and presented. Continental and English Breakfast was served every day with a large selection of freshly baked rolls and bread. Dinner included soups, a huge salad bar, roasted and grilled meats, a range of vegetables and potatoes, including chips, pizzas, pastas, fish, vegetarian dishes, many desserts and cheese a biscuits every day.
All the staff were pleasant and helpful. The entertainment team were excellent, always very friendly, happy and enthusiastic. There were lots of activities all day but never any pressure to join in. There were two outdoor pools and one indoor with a gym.
I would certainly go to this Hotel again but would request a room in the main building. I would also go earlier in the year as the weather was not very good, 2 days of sun, 2 of rain and the rest cloudy, but then again it was the end of September!
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Langbridge from Essex travelled to Club Hotel Riu Bolero with
Thompsons
on a singles holiday.
There were 5 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2005 |
rated the Club Hotel Riu Bolero as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We stayed in Riu Bolero and had a wonderful holiday, the hotel was spotlessly clean although I will say the floors in reception are very slippery and can be dangerous especially when wet.
The food and drinks were excellent and the staff and animation team especially Krissy & Nikolau could not do enough for you.
Unfortunately the weather was not good but the indoor pool was wonderful on these bad days.
The entertainment although only for one hour in the evening was of a very high standard compared to other hotels I have visited.
We were all inclusive and I would like to say that the food was excellent with wonderful choice for everyone.
I would certainly return to this hotel again but probably earlier than September.
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Kelly from North Wales travelled to Club Hotel Riu Bolero with
Portland Direct
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2005 |
rated the Club Hotel Riu Bolero as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: This was a newly built hotel that opened this year, it was an all inclusive holiday and the food was of an excellent standard, with plenty of choice.
The hotel was kept spotless through out our stay, and the rooms were large with plenty of space. The entertainment in the hotel was only on for 1 hour for adults but, with drinks all inclusive their was always someone entertaining the guests.
This hotel was one of the nicest on the Golden sands resort and we would book this again on a future visit.
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sarah ilsley from winchester travelled to Club Hotel Riu Bolero with
thomson
on a family holiday.
There were 3 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2005 |
rated the Club Hotel Riu Bolero as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We stayed here on the second week it was open,indoor pool was not open. Neither was the gym or tennis courts. Two outdoor pools lovely sunbeds and pool bar.
Staff could not do enough for you, animation team were great and put on some good shows getting guests involved.
Food good but got very repetative. Would go to this hotel again.
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