There is one good review on T.A for end of may that will ease everyones minds looks like the hard to please guests are there

Mandy I'm going on June 23rd with my 3 kids, we are from Ireland and used to early holidays too. We are gonna have a great time. I read a fantastic review by a lady just back with her husband and 2 teeny children and she gave the place 10/10, and going back next year!!
Her review is on reviewcentre.com if you want to read it, sorry I'm not very good at posying links but its worth a look Mandy.

I cant wait to go now

Thanks everyone - Im sure it will be fine - I just get worried when I heard bad things like that as we certainly don't need it just now and want to get away from hassle hassle hassle!

Have reat that review on reviewcentre and it sounds good - put my mind at ease a bit.

I suppose for every 10 good reviews you will get negative ones and I usually take it all in my stride but that one review just got me really really worried - my hubby's not one to deal with confrontation as he's quite quiet so it would be down to me to deal with it and I just don't relish the thought, but will do the towel count thing every day!

I agree with the comment about the entertainment - I think the person who posted the review was maybe expecting a little too much from "early season" entertainment, been there and had that many times before but we, like other early school holidayers are used to it - I'd rather make my own entertainment than go later on in the summer when it's ALL of the UK on holiday at the same time and you can't move for people!!

Hey-ho! Thanks again for putting my mind at rest.

M
xx

I suppose for every 10 good reviews you will get negative ones

Yes - if you have had a bad experience on holiday you are likely to storm online and want to tell the world about it - you have an axe to grind. But if you have had a fabulous time, you have less incentive so I often feel that there might be an imbalance of bad reviews over good in general. In my chosen hotel there are lots of bad reviews but I have a had a fab time there and keep going back. I can't be the only one

Hiya all, we also go in a few weeks time and the aprehensions are starting to kick in. Over the last few days, there seem to be more reports coming back about the towel thing, one report on another site states that one family opened all of their cases in reception to prove that they didn't have anything, this made no difference at all and they still had to pay!
The thing that bothers me is that this horror is being reported by a people on their return and they the reports that they are giving all moreorless match.
It sounds incredible to believe that the reps did or are doing nothing. I wonder if any of the 'victims' made an official documented complaint to one of the reps before they left the resort which holidaymakers are informed to do whilst they are still there?
I might be being a bit thick, but how will photos help? Has anyone who has been any other suggestions about what to do to avoid being caught up in this?

Regading everything else, we too are going with an open mind. Like Dazznuts, we went to the Turkey holiday Village way back in 2005 two weeks after it opened and the reports that were coming back from that place were horrendous at the time. We still went and had a great holiday.
I am sure that we will enjoy this holiday too but In my opinion, it doesn't do any harm to go clued up on what to look out for and the best way to avoid any nasty issues.

Regards

This is a posting i have had back from another site who i asked and this was the response i got back this eases the mind a bit

Hi Darren

yes most the holiday makers are northern and scottish when I was there but the reviews are rubbish, I think its unfair to give a bad review if you have a few problems, but we didnt. There was some big northern bellys piling up the plates and drinking 24/7. Im sure you will have a great time plus the food is really good, you wait until you see the cake selection for desert, your kids will love it. There was no problems with kids clubs because mine done 2 clubs everyday. Also sun beds are no problem, of course you may have to get down the pool abit sharp but if the beds are all gone just drag a sunbed off the beach but I never saw them all taken.

you will notice around the hotel complex that all the kids get henna tattoos, DONT let your kids get them. the henna is almost pure and my son has scaring.

Enjoy the beach, pool, clubs, waterpark.

Oh my goodness after reading the last 2 reports of 2 of the familys thats just back i am not looking forward to going, if this happened in May what is it going to be like in July i fly out on the 7th for 2 weeks me my husband 2 kids and my mother my mother was not that keen to go as she is used to canaries spain ect and i said it will be fine as we were at obzor beach 2 years ago,and had a fantastic holiday, she will have a fit if something like like happens to her,i just hope she dosnt get to see any of the recent reports,i wrote to first choice last year about problems they had last year and they assured me that everything will more or less be perfect this year.We dont mind queing for food ,drinks ect and dont normally get up to later so dont expect to get beds in a good position, but as long as i get one am happy as the kids and my husband are on the go most of the day.as for the entertainment i dont think it gets into the full swing till end of June or so i was told last year .we were with first choice at the petra mare in crete last year and the entertainment was fine just what you would expect to see. and the food was also edible and that was a 3 star hotel and also £800.00 dearer.Just hope i can read some good reports before we go .

Hi Gail, I felt I should come on and make a few comments.

You should be able to get sunbeds down on the beach which is right beside the pool area, there are lots of beds at the pool side but they are taken quickly however there will be many available on the beach.

As the season progresses more beds are put out, we were in Elenite village towards the end of season last year and every night more and more beds were getting removed in to storage.

The comments about towels are a bit strange and just new, I have only seen them mentioned twice ? are the 2 reviewers related ?

We stayed in the villas not the hotels and the only complaints we heard were about the food, several people complained about it not being very hot. This I could agree with as it could on occasion be the same at our restaurant.
Some people also complained about the actual food, however I didn't have a problem with this remembering that there are many nationalities there and the hotel serves international food that might not be what us Brit's are used to.

The Animation team at Elenite work hard all day with various activities, they also put on various shows at night.
There is also a separate First Choice entertainment team, they also put on activities during the day and night.

One of the reviews somewhere commented that the activities and entertainment listed on a daily basis was never on well when we were there all the activities on the daily information board took part.
You may have to go and find the activity, it as it is a big complex and the animation team can't possibly go through the resort asking each individual if they want to attend.

As I mentioned we stayed last year in one of the villas and read some poor reviews before going. I have posted a review and some pictures of the villas and resort HERE

You may also want to take a look at some pictures that I took of the Elenite Resort, click HERE

One last point I would like to mention is that it has been mentioned about the staff being unfriendly.
The first time we went to Bulgaria (Albena) I initially thought the same thing, then I made the effort to speak to the staff and discovered that this made a big difference.
My thinking on this is that until recently Bulgaria was a communist country and it would have been out of order for people to speak openly to each other and to be seen speaking and laughing with foreigners, so there is still a bit of unease in speaking to strangers

If any company were to reintroduce decent flight times to Bourgas from Scotland we would certainly go back.

Graham

Thanks Graeme for that.

Yes tell me about it we are flying from Glasgow and the times are horendous , but i got such a good deal at the time i didnt even ask about flight times, as i was so excited as i don't often get bargains.

We go out on the 7th July and this year we are going a week later than we normally go so we are hoping it is not to hectic, as normally it starts to get really busy about 3 days before we are due home .

As you say the complex is huge and we will hopefully get some beds even after 10.30 we are all not early risers on holiday as we do that the rest of year so we like to just get up when we wake which is normally around 10 ish 0r when the maids bang on the door..

Well its 3 weeks tomorrow till we go and am hoping to get my levas this week thomas cook were doing 232 for the pound think that sounds not to bad she said the more you buy the better exchange rate you would get.

Hi Gail.

...am hoping to get my levas this week thomas cook were doing 232 for the pound think that sounds not to bad...

Pretty poor in comparison with the current rates available in Bulgarian high street banks, though.

Baldur

Can any one who is going soon or has just come back check if towel scam is still going on as have emailed first choice and awaiting a response, also does hotel reception change english to lev do they give a good rate etc. also when i was in turkey last year they seems to be more interested in the £ than lira is bulgaria the same, with the first choice kids clubs i know they take both £ and lev do you get a better deal if you pay with the £

See the blue link in my post above & my reply to you in the currency thread. Most Bulgarians will not accept Sterling, as it means that they would only have to change it themselves, probably at poorer rates than we receive.

Hotel reception rates tend to be lower than Bulgarian banks - you are also a 'captive audience' in Elenite, so I suspect that this will certainly be the case there.

Baldur

I have just had an e-mail from a friend who arrived at the hotel last Friday, she was as nervous as we are about going. Although its early days she maintains the hotel is lovely, food is plentiful,varied and while not amazing its certainly cooked, warm and edible. She says the staff are warm and friendly and that the place is sparkling clean, also reccomends the pizzas and kebabs as gorgeus. She did, however, confirm that the '' towel scam '' is not a rumour and she will be counting her towels each day.
I am going next Monday with an open mind, I will count my towels and tip the maids. I will be corteous to staff and not expect that food should be as it is in Ireland and I have no doubt that I will have a ball!!!

Will be watching this forum to see if F.C answer the e-mail re the towels, am pretty sure they will deny all knowledge of same even though the rep involved was named and shamed on another forum

Hi Baldur

Thanks for that , i will wait off till about a week before we go. Girl in the travel agents says the leve stays much the same thoughout the year unlike the euro...

Hi Gail,

Girl in the travel agents says the leve stays much the same thoughout the year unlike the euro...

Afraid that she's talking through a certain part of her anatomy which isn't her mouth!

The Lev is directly fixed to the Euro at a rate of €1 = 1.95583 Leva, so any changes in the Euro rate will be immediately reflected in the Lev rate.

You will almost certainly receive a better exchange rate in Bulgarian banks than you will from any UK travel agency/bank/bureau de change, etc.

Baldur

I was wondering if anyone that has just came back can remember the names of the kids clubs reps as we were in the petra mare last year a first choice hotel and 2 of the reps said they had requested the Royal park for this year, was just wondering if they had got it as they were great with the kids, and my kids would live to see them again.

I have had the below reply from first choice regarding the Towel issue, there have obviously been reports of this as they are saying no other report for past two weeks, these people who did have a issue should report it.

I have spoken with a team who is dealing with this situation. At this
moment in time, they have been monitoring what has been happening. We have
not heard of any reports of this happening within the last couple of weeks
and hopefully this has now been sorted.

Our Overseas Team always work closely with our hoteliers and if you do
experience any problems or if you wish to discuss anything at all, our
representatives are on hand to assist you where-ever possible.

Thank you for your email.

are the First Choice reps Bulgarian or English? Not that it matters. I'm just curious.

Dazznutts I am literally speechless and trust me that dont happen too often . After I posted last I decided to do as you have done and e-mail FC re the towel issues and the fact that people are now alleging that stun guns have been used on a 16 year old
Anyhoo, they sent me back the same reply they sent me 8 weeks ago re the food quality /food poison allegations i.e these forums arent monitored, people can say what they like and that they regularly monitor this hotel and have never had any complaints about it!!! Not quite what they said to you!!!