| Holiday-Truth Readers Reports |
Y Knight from Staffs travelled to Helios Spa And Resort Hotel with
Balkan
on a family holiday.
There were 1 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2008 |
rated the Helios Spa And Resort Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness |  | | Location |  | | Staff |  | | Food | | |
| Entertainment |  |
| said: All inclusive is far from the expectations. Only biscuits available in between meals. Drinks are diabolical. Local spirits, wine, beer and soft drinks allowed only. Cola is meant to be pepsi but apart from in restaurant its not pepsi. Most epople found soft drinks unbearable. If you pay for food or drinks then you do get a far better quality. Room clean on arrival but try to get it cleaned during stay or bedding changed is hard going. Location ok a few minutes walk from beach, plenty of shops around. This hotel should be all inclusive it is ok though if you're half board or bed and breakfast because service is far better if you pay. Staff are also pleasant to those who are paying.
Click here for more information on this hotel, resort and region
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Sarah Murphy from Wolverhampton travelled to Helios Spa And Resort Hotel with
Balkan Holidays
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2007 |
rated the Helios Spa And Resort Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: My room was not cleaned for the whole two weeks I stayed at this hotel, even after asking reception and my rep several times; I have photographs of the grime in the bathroom.
Poolside was not cleaned at all
We stayed all inclusive, it was appalling, it was more of a canteen than a restaurant we had to wait around for tables, cutlery, cups etc.
Hotel staff were very rude and unhelpful
Entertainment was very basic, and it was in a non-inclusive bar so if you wanted to watch the entertainment you had to buy your drinks to do so.
One Big Con!!!!
I cannot stress enough how disgusting this hotel was!!
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D Tunley from Manchester travelled to Helios Spa And Resort Hotel with
Firsr choice
on a family holiday.
There were 4 adults and 4 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2007 |
rated the Helios Spa And Resort Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness |  | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The Hotel was very good,Staff very helpful.
The food was ok we found something to eat every day.But as the hotel caters for so many nationals this was expected.
The hotel is in a good spot as you are away from the noise,There are 100+ steps you can use or a glass lift,which is very handy.Pools great one with slides and you can use balls and lilo's.one you can't and a warm indoor one.
The tiles are very slippy in the kids pool though.The entertainment staff are great they work non stop and really make an effort to get to know your names.they do darts.exercise,football.
There are 3 bars at the pool 3 inside,we had a great time but brits in the minority around20 percent
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lidbury from oxford travelled to Helios Spa And Resort Hotel with
Balkan
on a family holiday.
There were 6 adults and 4 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2006 |
rated the Helios Spa And Resort Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: When we first arrived we were all very pleased with the hotel, that was until it rained and there was buckets all over the hotel. After some English complain they were told not a problem rain stop leak stop. Also when anything got broken or lost they will try and charge you, we had no clean towels left one day and they accused us of nicking them and wanted to charge us for them that was until they checked their maids book and saw she had not left any.
Take alot of toilet roll as you will spend alot of time on the toilet.
All inclusive does not mean all inclusive you can not go into two of the restaurants or the club unless you are willing to pay.
The swimming pool is ok but the tiles around the pool are very dangerous when wet the amount of people who went over.
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Coveney Party from Kent travelled to Helios Spa And Resort Hotel with
First Choice
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2006 |
rated the Helios Spa And Resort Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: What a hotel very very clean. Our stay was just perfect. All staff were helpful and polite.
Rooms are lovely, laid out well with air con.
Good shower with endless hot water,and no smelly drains!!
Bottled water is available after midnight for free from main reception. Long trousers for men in the evening in the restaurant are required although some slip in without them. I missed one night and was ask to wear them the following night.
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kathy from wirral travelled to Helios Spa And Resort Hotel with
balkan holidays
on a family holiday.
There were 4 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2006 |
rated the Helios Spa And Resort Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Wonderful hotel, near the beach, would also recommend seeing the dance troupe"maximus" one for the ladies.
Anyway the staff are lovely at the Helios.
We stayed in the 3* part could't fault the bar staff even one of the female waitresses took to my 7 year old was very good with him.
Food was adequate, staff great, cleanliness great, entertainment rating 10 out of 10 (male dancers)
I would recommend half board as it gives you the option to go into the town for a meal.
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Geoff from Manchester travelled to Helios Spa And Resort Hotel with
Independent
on a family holiday.
There were 4 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2006 |
rated the Helios Spa And Resort Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food |  | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: First Time at hotel and read previous reports but went with an open mind.
Arrived at 2am and cases taken from taxi and were in our rooms before we had checked in. Rooms were clean and we had them overlooking the car park which suited us at it was very quiet at night.
Did not go all inclusive as other reports said not worth it, unless you have small kids who want drinks and ice cream all day I don't think it is. I hate to say this but many people of all nationalities did tend to waste a lot of food on all inclusive.
100+ steps at the back of the hotel down onto the main St make sure you can get back up them.
Pools were clean with lifeguards present but shut at 7pm Small gym shut at 7pm and the pool table and other games use tokens which you buy from the indoor pool attendant.
Which goes at 7pm Bear this in mind if you have kids.
Entertainment was not fantastic but few people wanted to join in anyway. The night shows which are quite good were £2 to get in.
All the staff were pleasant to me because I was pleasant to them. The odd tip doesn't go amiss either.
Ask reception or the concierge for advice on anything and you won't go far wrong.
The little outside bar at back near the pool is great for snacks during the day or a last drink or cocktail before bed. Thanks Itzo the bartender I hope I got his name right! Would go back again.
One final thing the food. We only did breakfast and whilst they do not do full English in the hotel the selection at breakfast was ample although busy sometimes. The orange juice is of the cordial type so watch the kids if you are worried about colourings!!
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Laura from Leeds travelled to Helios Spa And Resort Hotel with
Balkan
on a singles holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2006 |
rated the Helios Spa And Resort Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The hotel was fantastic. We stayed in a 4* room for 2 weeks and it was great. We could not fault any part of it, as a couple. The room was cleaned everyday and had air conditioning which was good on a night when it got a bit stuffy.
We had breakfast once, but it was very much catered for the huge amount of Germans staying there. There was a toaster, but this tended to just warm the bread. They also had cereal, if you don't mind having that. The only reason we didn't go was because my partner could not have dairy products so his only option was warm bread and cold smoked meat.
The pools were lovely, very cold mind you, even the one indoor. Plenty of sunbeds and bars by both pools and it is very clear.
Just a tip, the Germans can be very rude and do not say please and thankyou if you help them. e.g. when i held the door open for some they just walked through without batting an eye.
All in all the hotel and staff where great! Couldn't have asked for a btter place to stay.
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tam leggate from glasgow travelled to Helios Spa And Resort Hotel with
thomsons
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 10 2005 |
rated the Helios Spa And Resort Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: My first and major complaint is the fact that this resort was closing down for the season when we arrived to start our holiday, which was not explained to us on booking this holiday. By the end of our first week of our holiday most of the shops and restaurants were closed, all the bars had closed down or had only a very limited stock so we were forced to stay in the hotel for the remainder of our holiday.
This brings me to my second complaint, which was the hotel itself. We had booked the hotel as an “ALL INCLUSIVE” holiday basis, which was to include all meals, snacks, soft drinks, locally produced alcoholic beers, spirits and entertainment in the hotel. The All Inclusive status was from 10am to 11pm, but there were guests from other countries who were all inclusive 24/7, which annoyed my friends and I.
There was only 1 bar in the hotel that had entertainment as most of the other bars in the hotel were closed for the season.
When we went to the ONLY bar in the hotel with any entertainment on at all we were told we had to pay for our drinks and also had to pay for our children’s soft drinks.
As this bar was part of the hotel we should not have had to pay for any drinks at all as we were all inclusive. We tried to bring in drinks from the main bar of the hotel but were told we had to leave the entertainment bar or security would be called and we could be thrown out of our rooms and would have to find our own accommodation for the rest of our stay in Bulgaria.
This brings me to the food in the restaurant. On the whole the food was good, except for the chicken and the pork, as these two items were not cooked properly and were not kept at the right temperature, which is a major cause of food poison. We pointed this out to the staff but nothing changed so we complained to the Rep. Who’s answer to the problem was, to quote “ DON’T EAT THE CHICKEN OR THE PORK THEN”. This type of attitude from the rep was typical of all the staff in the hotel(with the exception of the bar staff in the main bar)if you had a complaint of any sort.
I now move onto the facilities in the hotel. The weather was not good at all so my kids had to use the indoor pool. After a few days most of the kids started to show rashes on their faces and bodies. We pinpointed this problem to the pool having too much chemicals mixed in with the water so we had to stop our kids from going into the pool. Another guest approached us and told us he had seen the pool attendant adding the chemicals to the pool while the kids were still in the water. I went to the attendant to ask him why he was doing this but he shrugged his shoulders and just walked away.
At the start of the second week of our holiday the pool table, table tennis table, the darts were all taken away and the kids play area was closed down. We went to the reception to ask why this was happening but they told us that they did not have the staff to look after the play area as the staff had been dismissed for the season
This now takes me onto my final but most distressing complaint for my family. When we were leaving the hotel to board the coach for the airport we had to hand in our keys at reception and receive a chitty that allows us to fly home. We were waiting for the reception staff to issue our chitty but he told us we would have to pay for 3 towels that were missing from our room. I was very embarrassed about this situation as this man was accusing my family of being thieves. By this time all the other guests were on the coach and I was holding everyone from departing. I had to demand the keys of our room back so my wife could go back to the room with the bellboy who had checked our room.
When my wife came back from checking our room she told me that all the towels were in the room and the bellboy had not checked the bathroom. I was very angry about this and demanded the chitty so I could get out of the hotel but he then accused us of breaking a plastic chair on the balcony of our room.
I told the receptionist that this chair was broken when I first got the room but he insisted that I pay for the chair. I paid 10 lev for the chair just to get out of this hotel but I am still very angry about the way we were treated.
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natalie from newport travelled to Helios Spa And Resort Hotel with
first choice
on a singles holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2005 |
rated the Helios Spa And Resort Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Hi there myself and my best mate wanted to go on a relaxing beach type holiday and we heard so many good things about Bulgaria that it was cheap, lovely weather, food, people etc, well most of that was true.
I was pleasantly surprised the hotel is classed a 4* and having myself not stayed in many other 4* hotels I would say this is one of the better ones I have stayed in.
The hotel is very large with 7 floors but there are lifts for you to go in, the hotel staff well 90% of them were very friendly apart from the odd one or two. The only down point is trying to understand what they say as their English is very basic but so is our Bulgarian.
We stayed under the all inclusive and really couldn’t fault the food there was a variety for everyone from chips to more of the posh stuff but for me who is a basic eater as in chips with everything I was very pleased the food. It was always hot and the breakfast was lovely, as for the drinks although in all inclusive you could go up as many times as you wanted and the measures are very generous, they were an acquired taste but the larger/beer was fine. A big thumbs up to the cocktails although they aren’t in the all inclusive they were very cheap to buy, less than £2.
The hotel was lovely and clean only exception was on one of the last days we were there. There was a leak in the ceiling in reception so all they did was put a bucket under it and left no warning to others.
The hotel was near to the local shops about 5 minutes walk away and so was the beach. Entertainment was quite poor. They catered for young families more than anything really but they do have the odd one or two nights where you can do stuff in the evening like discos etc.
I would stay here again but I don’t have any plans to go back to Bulgaria myself but if I did I would stay here again.
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Steve from High Wycombe travelled to Helios Spa And Resort Hotel with
First Choice
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2005 |
rated the Helios Spa And Resort Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The cleanliness was excellent, rooms cleaned throughly everyday & towels changed daily.
The staff were good, always smiling & always polite. Staff reacted quickly to any problems, our air conditioning was fixed withing 2 hours of reporting a fault. There was always at least one person in reception that could speak very good English & most of the other staff knew some English.
The food was good though we only stayed bed & breakfast, English & continental food. Restaurant got very busy during peak times but staff would immediately clear & reset dirty tables. Wouldn't recommend all inclusive as there are many restaurants & bars to choose from in the resort.
Location was good once you find the shortcut, the steps are quite steep, 114 of them, but there is also a lift you can use.
Entertainment in the evening was non existent except for the nightclub shows which start at 11.00pm & are aimed at adults, though very entertaining.
Plenty of space in the hotel even though it was fully booked when we were there & no trouble getting space around the pool. Lifeguards on duty all day. Would recommend using their spa facilities, very inexpensive & very good.
Rooms were large & a high standard of decor with good views of the resort. Rooms can be booked for late check out, cost is about £2 per extra hour. We had our room until 18.00 the day we left.
Would certainly use the hotel again.
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Graeme & Jane from Newcastle travelled to Helios Spa And Resort Hotel with
Balkane Holidays
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2005 |
rated the Helios Spa And Resort Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Helios Spa in Golden Sands.
Hotel location was excellent, make sure that you take the shortcut down the stairs or the lift or you'll be walking a long time. Hotel was lovely and clean, huge balcony, excellent cleaners, bar staff made us feel welcome even though we were all inclusive, a tip of 50 stotinkis (15p) here and there never goes a miss.
Food in the all inclusive deal was sometimes repetitive, but to be honest who cares, the food is so cheap anyway you go out most nights, and if you ever did manage to spend all your money, you could eat quite happily in the hotel. The free A La Carte meal was excellent, we would have went back and paid had we been able to book in.
The pools were excellent, if a little cold outdoors, but it was the end of season after all and it was cloudy for a week, so pools would not have been able to heat up off the sun.
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Jacquie, Tot and Dana Irvine from Middlesbrough travelled to Helios Spa And Resort Hotel with
Going Places
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2005 |
rated the Helios Spa And Resort Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Hotel clean and modern. Pool an absolute nightmare. Slippiest tiles surrounding it I have ever known. On the second day there our daughter slipped and knocked herself out.
Everyday we watched people (adults and children) doing the same. One day during a rain storm and adult fell down a set of sandstone steps from top to bottom (breaking his collar bone), a lifeguard who ran to assist him also slipped over!
The marble floor throughout the hotel was an absolute death wish too, especially if anyone dropped a drink or trailed water from the swimming pool in.
The bar staff were very rude and didn't want to know all-inclusive customers (mainly because they knew there wasn't much a chance of a tip!). Entertainment non-existent except for an hour an evening which you had to pay for!!
The day before we were due to leave two towels went missing from our room (sorry, were not replaced by the maid when she was cleaning room). I reported this to the Reception as I had been warned that they were operating a bit of a scam.
On our day of departure I was charged for the two towels! Needless to say I did not pay for them. Totally unhappy with this hotel and how it was run!
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Michelle from Manchester travelled to Helios Spa And Resort Hotel with
first choice
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2005 |
rated the Helios Spa And Resort Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The hotel was very clean and towels were changed every day.
Although the food was a little repetitive there was a wide choice so you didn't have to have the same for every meal. We ate in the hotel 11 out of 14 nights and found the restaurant staff very efficient. Neither myself nor my partner suffered any real stomach upset.(Well none that wasn't self inflicted)
The location was very good but we would recommend finding the short cut on your first day if you have to ask someone!!!
We weren't really interested in the family entertainment but it seemed a little sparse when it was on the children in other parties seemed to enjoy it.
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shirley from liverpool travelled to Helios Spa And Resort Hotel with
first choice
on a friends holiday.
There were more than 6 adults and 5 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2005 |
rated the Helios Spa And Resort Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The hotel was very clean and the rooms were very spacious.
The food was very repetetive every meal time,lots to choose from but repeated every day,there was 15 in our party and 12 of us had severe stomach upsets.
The location was very good especially when we discovered the short cut,also very close to the water park.
The entertainment was basically non existent!
Hotel staff did not speak much english and were not very friendly at all,with exception to the maids who were lovely.
The all inclusive for alcohol was a bit of a let down as this ended at 11pm,just as we were getting in the swing of things.we would stay at this hotel again but not all inclusive,especially as there are many restaraunts near by and very cheap.
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John Dunsford from Essex travelled to Helios Spa And Resort Hotel with
Balkan
on a family holiday.
There were 4 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2005 |
rated the Helios Spa And Resort Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We stayed for 14 nights in this hotel. Although the hotel rooms were cleaned daily, the maids neglected to actually clean under the beds. Resulting in skin and fluff being found! The restaurant was cleaned daily but food managed to escape the cleaners attention if it was under the table!
We also noticed that some of the fire exits were kept locked.
Hotel food was a complete joke, burgers and chicken that weren't cooked through and actually still contained blood! The food was so repetitive, you knew exactly what to expect the next night. The menu only seemed to feature, chips/beef/veal/chicken or pork also cooked the same way.
If you didnt fancy it at lunch it didnt matter because you would get it again for dinner!
The pools were very very unsafe, in the 2 weeks we were there, the ambulance was called everyday due to accidents poolside.(children and adults alike)
The hotel location wasn't to bad until they stopped the free train service taking you all the way to the beach front.
Due to the pool being so dangerous, we spent at least 10 days on the beach at a cost of around £10 a day not including food and drink!(soon adds up)
Most of the hotel staff are rude and ignorant, if your not paying for your food and drinks then theyre not intrested.
Entertainment was none existant, the childrens disco was
held by the edge of the swimming pool which we found to be very dangerous , as it was dark and often slippery and there was never enough "Animation Team" to keep a proper eye on them. All though we were All Inclusive, we still had to pay to watch acts in the night club or to play
Bingo round the swimming pool!
Drinks vary in price depending which bar you purchase them from.
On checking into this hotel be advised to check your room for any damage and report it straight away, keep an eye on your towels also as they seem to mysteriously dissapear when you check out and you may end up paying for them!
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jayne &peter leone from rugeley travelled to Helios Spa And Resort Hotel with
first choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2005 |
rated the Helios Spa And Resort Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The hotel was very clean, cleaners where cleaning all day and night.
Food was good plenty of choice, lots of fresh fruit.
Hotel was near to the beach but far enough away to be away from the noise of the resort.
Thought the staff needed to smile a little more.
Entertainment what entertainment they had 1/2 hour in the evening for the children's mini disco, then an hour of the staff entertaining the guests.
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Gill Smith from Manchester travelled to Helios Spa And Resort Hotel with
Balkan Holidays
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2005 |
rated the Helios Spa And Resort Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The hotel was of a high standard, clean and modern. The rooms were cleaned every day.
The staff were brilliant very friendly and helpful, most of whom spoke good English.
The all inclusive package is good value, but you can't get drinks after 11 p.m. or in the night bar at all, which I think should have been included.
Entertainment was poor on the whole, there was not enough. The dancing acts were good though, very professional.
The food choice was good, plenty of salads and fruit, but slightly repetitive.
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irene/mick from preston travelled to Helios Spa And Resort Hotel with
first choice
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2005 |
rated the Helios Spa And Resort Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Helios spa and resort first class in cleanliness.
Food very good plenty of choice even if veggie.
Situated within walking distance from centre of golden sands especially when you find the short cut(ask the rep).
Staff were always very friendly and polite.
Entertainment is limited in the evenings till after 11pm which is a bit of a bind but golden sands is always near by if required.
Definately would return to this hotel in the future.
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Debbie from Accrington - Lancashire travelled to Helios Spa And Resort Hotel with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 6 adults and 4 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2005 |
rated the Helios Spa And Resort Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Hotel lovely and clean. Do not go anything other than self catering (if possible) food is terrible (unless German), we got up to breakfast maybe 3 times and only had spread cheese on toast. every meal time was the same food from the evening meal re-heated from whatever left over from lunch (with added peas). Cakes were the best thing for our kids to eat. We spent a bomb on eating out at night.
Entertainment, what entertainment? Treat as second class citizens unless you got the right staff which we eventually found. The food is awful unless you go to the pool bar and pay for it even though you are all inclusive it's worth it.
Would not go again to this hotel.
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Katie from Darlington travelled to Helios Spa And Resort Hotel with
Thomson
on a family holiday.
There were more than 6 adults and 4 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 05 2005 |
rated the Helios Spa And Resort Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: It is a really nice hotel with nice marble decor.The rooms are quite spacious and the mini bar is very cheap.The lobby bar is open 24 hours a day and works out as about 80p for half litre of beer or a vodka and coke!
The barmen take a lot of pride in their work as they like to make a cocktail to perfection. There are 2 outdoor pools and 1 indoor pools with a really good pool bar playing music throughout the day.
Meals are alright as there is a lot of variety so you will probably find something you like. The staff are very helpful and will carry your drinks over to your table for you. The hotel is in just the right spot as it is a nice walk into the centre.
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Mariusz, Kate & Karoline from Golden Sands travelled to Helios Spa And Resort Hotel with
Ecco Holiday Poland
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2004 |
rated the Helios Spa And Resort Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Hotel was looking really nice - modern architecture 2 swimming pools.
The only disadvantage was that hotel was too far from beach, but special hotel train was offered for free.
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James D Willis from Letchworth Garden City travelled to Helios Spa And Resort Hotel with
Balkan Holidays
on a family holiday.
There were 6 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2004 |
rated the Helios Spa And Resort Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We were transferred to the Helios Spa Resort at Golden Sands because the Lunar Bay Resort was not completed by the time our holiday became due.
The hotel was generally clean apart from one pool, which was dirty.
The food was so bad that we all suffered a very bad bout of the runs after the very first meal and had to eat outside of the hotel for all main meals. We only ate toast for breakfast.
The hotel staff had a very poor understanding of English and we found it very hard to make them understand what we wanted.
The entertainment that we saw lasted for an hour one evening and that was it!
This hotel and resort was supposed to be equal or better than the hotel and resort we had chosen; it was not. It was very obvious to us that if you were 'all inclusive' you were treated as second class holiday makers that just did not matter.
If you have booked or are thinking of booking an all inclusive holiday at Helios Spar be prepared for a big dissapointment.
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D Wilkinson from Staffordshire travelled to Helios Spa And Resort Hotel with
Balkan Holidays
on a family holiday.
There were 4 adults and 4 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2004 |
rated the Helios Spa And Resort Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We were offered Helios Spa, as our original choice of Luna Bay Hotel was not ready. We also were promised all that would have been available at Luna Bay to be offered to us at Helios, it was not.
The beach was a good ten minutes walk away, and was very cramped - not very safe for young children. There were no watersports available to us as an all inclusive party, which we would have got at Luna Bay.
The hotel suites were very new and nice, however there were still a few work men completing jobs. Towles and sheets were not changed often enough.
Our main problems were with getting drinks, none of the bars were happy to serve us and made it as difficult as possible, one would only serve us with black Tea and Coffee, so we had to walk a long way round to another bar that would serve us milk. Some would only give a glasss of water others a bottle. None of the waitresses would serve us round the pool like they would other non-inclusive guests.
The pool was unkempt and a glass had been broken which resulted in fragments going into the pool, so fair play, they emptied the pool, cleaned it and refilled in two days.
The problem we had then was using the pool at the Crown Plaza, where no bar would serve us.
The floor around the main pool was extremely dangerous, children and adults slipping on the tiles. Thsi was reported to rep and main desk. Entertainment was very poor, pherhaps a dance show in the eveinig which would last for approx 1 hour.
The food was very poor on some days. Chips with everything, the meat looked re-heated continually and was not always very hot. Very difficult for all 8 of us to sit together at breakfast unless we were there at 7.30, dinner would be at least 8.30 before we could get a table. Not very good with 4 hungry kids. All of our party had diarrhoea for the whole two weeks, and two of the children had sickness, had to see the doctor who gave a prescription for the children.
Bear in mind that if you are all inclusive, you are treated like second class people.
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Karen Collings from Hertfordshire travelled to Helios Spa And Resort Hotel with
Balkan Holidays
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2004 |
rated the Helios Spa And Resort Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We were sent to this hotel as an equivalent to the Luna Bay hotel as it was not ready for opening yet, we was told that all we had booked for at the Luna Bay would be available at Helios spa but unfortunatly this was not the case.
The hotel is a very average 3*, the rooms are good, but the service is not as good as some but a lot is due to the language barrier, we found it very hard to get them to understand sometimes. Dont expect any organised activities and the main pool could have been a bit cleaner. We felt that as we had booked all inclusive we were considered 2nd class for example - drinks were served in glasses for paying guests at the pool bar but all inclusive people got drinks in plastic cups. The bars within the complex are owned individually and most will expect you to pay. There is only one restaurant (the brochure states at least 3) which is buffet. The food is bland and we all had bad stomachs a couple of days after we got there, the only one who did not have any tummy upsets was my daughter who only ate toast and chips. We also found that the food was only just warm and often reheated for the evening meal, food catering especially for children was non existent. Upon speaking to the tour rep we were told that we english are too fussy and that there was nothing wrong with the food and it must have been something we had eaten elseware but we had only eaten in the hotel until then. We also found many other Balken holidaymakers complaining to the rep about the food and bad stomachs, we spoke to at least 9 couples who were very dissatisfied. there was very little entertainment for the kids in the hotel and the adult entertainment was lacking as well.
Sorry if you have booked this but my advice is dont expect 4* and definatly do not go all inclusive. Also make sure you take plenty of imodium because you may need it.
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T Stock from Nottingham travelled to Helios Spa And Resort Hotel with
Thomson
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2004 |
rated the Helios Spa And Resort Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We were very impressed with this hotel - it really is a 4 star.
The buffet style breakfast (7.30am-10.30am) is extremely varied - it was self service with fruit, cereal, croissant, pain au chocolat, bread, cheeses, ommeletes cooked to order, cakes, mini biscuits, cooked breakfast, juices, water, coffee, tea etc etc available - so plenty of choice. Only criticism here is trying to find a table when the hotel is busy may take a little while.
It has 3 pools - 2 outdoor (larger one with slides), and a decent sized indoor pool as well - handy when it rained! There are lifeguards round the pools at all times as well.
The newly opened 'a la carte' restaurant at this hotel offers the best food we found in Golden Sands resort - really good quality and nicely presented. We paid less than 60 leva (about 20 english pounds) for a 3 course meal for 2 adults and a child with a bottle of wine.
Rooms were very clean and comfortable, with air conditioning, colour tv with around 20 channels (mostly german - with MTV, Euro news and BBC World), mini bar (prices good) and room service is also available.
They do lay on some entertainment: guided walk through forest to monastry, pool volleyball, pool aerobics, water ballet, showing latest films in 'Day and Night bar' (played Shrek 2 when it rained one afternoon).
Cannot fault this hotel.
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S.Baldwin from Burnley travelled to Helios Spa And Resort Hotel with
Lunnpoly
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2004 |
rated the Helios Spa And Resort Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The hotel food is good value but there is not enough variety for young children. The hotel is kept very, very clean and the maids are very thorough with their cleaning. The location of the hotel is very good because it is set back from the busy resort centre.
The hotel staff were very helpful and welcomeing and if they dont remember you're name they never forget you're face. Entertainment could be better but the variety is good and you have to appreciate that the locals are still learning the tourist trade boom.I would definetaly go back to this hotel.
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J. Leach from Exmouth travelled to Helios Spa And Resort Hotel with
First Choice
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2004 |
rated the Helios Spa And Resort Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Just returned from 7 nights at The Helios Spa and Resort in Golden Sands, Bulgaria. Our first visit to Bulgaria and can honestly say all the staff we had contact with were excellent. Everyone (and I do mean everyone) at the hotel were very good at their respective jobs and the place is kept spotless. We arrived at 3:00am and were made to feel welcome straight away (bar and change bureaux open 24 hrs! Brilliant). The taxi driver we used a lot (Nikolai - Yellow Mercedes) was a wealth of information and very helpful. The two waitresses in the bar knew our order (large beer and vodka and coke, no ice) after ordering it once, they also were both excellent. Sorry to go on but this Hotel is 6 star, but the brochure says only 3!
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