i am going to iberostar sunny beach on the 29th of july and i have been watching this discussion closely. could anybody e-mail me any pictures? my address is naomiholder at merseymail. com.
we are fgoing with balkan holidays who are apparently sending letters to all clients this week detailing the current situation, although i won't hold my breath

I am so sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I emailed Mariana at Iberostar regarding a few queries and unforunatly I recieved a shocking reply:

Unfortunately we have to relocate all the arrivals staqrting from
14th June,because the hotel is not compleated yet. The second
building is not ready and there is no possibility to accommodate the
clients in the hotel.

I'm realy sorry for the inconvenience .You will receive information
from your Travel Agency .

Best reegards
Mariana Kostadinova
Sales manager
Iberostar Bulgaria

Having recieved this I contacted First Choice as this is who i am travelling with who basically told me I was talking rubish, so I contacted Mariana again and asked her to confirm to me that FC had been contacted which she confirmed. Anyway to cut a long story short FC eventually admitted that this was true, so I am sorry guys but they say that we wont be staying at this hotel and so will be given an alternative.

I am very annoyed about this as I am sure many others will be and it makes me wonder when FC were planning on telling me this if I hadnt contacted them with my info! I advise everyone travelling at least on my date 17th June or even tommorow to conatct your Tour Operator.

Little Jem,

That is shocking and I was worrying about the noise inconvenience we might have in the Helios because of building works in the area. At least our hotel is up and running. I feel really sorry for all of you. I've booked with eclipse direct (FC sister company), and to say the least they haven't been very forthcoming with their information. I'm going to relax and look forward to my holiday in August now and thank my lucky stars that we've got a decent hotel to go to. I hope that it all works out well for you and you have a fab time.

shirley h,

Thanks hope you have a fab holiday too, First Choice have been absolutly terible and I was so affraid that this would happen and so have been calling them for an update most days prior to departure after comments on this forum. I was affraid that firstly the hotel might not open, secondly if it did it might not be up to standard and eventually if they only opened one building it would be over booked! FC ignored all my concerns and now the worst has happened! Feel sorry for all those that dont know about this and imagine people that havent even seen this forum. I wont be booking First Choice again

Thanks, Debbie, for the fotos! They look really great. I hope everything will be allright until 30th of July, when my family and I are going to travel. I hope they won't relocate us, beacuse I rally would like to stay in this nice hotel.

Flippin don't believe it.

Just phoned FC, but got thru to reservations who say they don't know of any probs......

They gave me the Customer Service number, but surprise, they are shut!

I am fuming, with only 2 days to go and don't know where we will end up and no communication from FC, it's just not on. I don't want to go anywhere else, which is why I booked this hotel in the first place.

Now I feel very stressed.............................

Lisa,

know exactly how you feel I dont want to change hotels but if there is no way people can go there what can we do, I feel so bad that FC havent contacted people and really hated having to post this as I knew what stress it would cause people, but felt it only fair people should be aware of the situation. Get onto FC first thing in the morning and then post on here to let us know what they have to say for themselves! it is absolutly awful.

Just hope we all get sorted, good luck
Jem

what a bombshell
just when we stopped worrying this happens. we will be contacting FC first thing in the morning.They had better sort things out or there will be trouble. I will be contacting watchdog and letting them all know what exactly has been going on.
Any one with us.

can someone post the e-mail address of the iberostar person, mariana on here ?
thanks.

Sorry to hear that Jem,hard to believe.
Hope you get something sorted soon.Can`t believe how bad FC have been all through this.
Hopefullt they will sort something out that you are satisfied with and at least have the decency to offer you some sort of compensation.

Jem

Cheers! I suppose what will be, will be...

Oh well, look forward to spotting you out in SB on Saturday!!! That's if we end up in SB!!!!.....

Lisa

Mariana email address is : mariana.kostadinova@iberostar.com, for those that want it, but personally would contact your Tour Operators to see what they say.

Lisa,

Completely agree what ever will be, will be. To be honest I have been through most emotions today reagarding this news from upset to angor! but have come to the conclusion that unfortunatly FC have got themselves covered left right and center when you read there terms and conditions, it is very annoying but think you will find that you can either accept the alternative they offer or cancel your holiday and get a full refund and £25 compensation each. Now personally the money I would lose on not going on this holiday due to changing currency back etc.. would cost more than £25 so I would lose out plus have my heart set on Bulgaria, so lets just hope they offer some good alternative!! so fingers crossed will see you in Sunny Beach. Think tommorow could be interesting as soon as FC customer services opens!!

Regards Jem (trying to look on the bright side!! )

Anyone managed to contact their Tour Operator yet or been contcated by them? or even heard anything from the hotel? regarding what I heard from Mariana yesterday.

hi there everyone following our letter to a.b.t.a we received a letter yesterday from balkan stating that they have been contacted by the management of the hotel who have advised them that all facilities are available for this summer season these are listed ie:two main restuarants,lobby bar,jacuzzi etc .although the letter is signed balkan are not actually commiting themselves and after i contacted mariana this morning the e-mail i have got in reply simply says that the second part of the building will be finished in several days time and i should contact my tour operator , it is starting to look like iberostar with such a good worldwide reputation may not be telling the truth about the state of the sunny beach hotel as this is the 5th e-mail i have received and each one contradicts the other, i think it is time to contact a.b.t.a again will post when i find anything out.

Been onto FC this morning.

Funnily enough she said that today they were phoning all customers departing tomorow and Monday to say that they were changing hotels!

I have been offered the Marvel Hotel and now off to find out whether it's a dive or not!!

I need a holiday to get over the stress!!!!!

Lisa

hi,we are family of four with two boys, very concerned after looking at
messages rang tour operator this morning (thomson).
she was very nice and rang balkan for us,they explained that iberostar
sunny beach is now fully open!! the first customers arrived on 9th.
still very concerned just have to wait until someone arrives home!
could anyone get hold of any up to date pics please?we are due to go on 10th july,balkan have said can move but will have to pay for alt accm!

Good job you called them Lisa, I was starting to wonder if I had some how got it all wrong but am just so pleased I had that email from Mariana otherwise would never have known probably until the last minute, wouldnt suprise me if they tell people tommorow! Am suprised they
have offered you the Marvel as I aked for this but was told I couldnt go there cus was no room and what about compensation? they wont give me any!

Yesterday they offered me a hotel in Goldon Sands with a 3hr+ transfer as you are meant to flt to Varna for this resort, but they seemed to think it was reasonable. I told them no way and went through every hotel in the brochure in Sunny Beach and told me they were all full!

Hi Contacted our tour operator (Thomas Cook) today and told everything is ok for us going on monday as the hotel is a Thomas Cook partner hotel and that they get priority over the rooms. I have also had this confirmed from Mariana that we will be staying in the Iberostar Sunny Beach hotel as of monday.

Hope this helps any Thomas Cook guests sorry to the rest but who knows this could change by monday!

Hope we finally get to Sunny beach on monday, Debbie

I have emailed Mariana and she says the hotel will be completed by 24th June.

Heres hoping...

Toddy