I have been reading with great interest all the information regarding the Royal Park Hotel. Nothing at all has been written about the Royal Bay (apart from the odd snippet) has anyone stayed here recently or will anyone be staying here any time soon??

Party of 11- 6 adults 31-42 and 5 kids 3 - 10 travelling from Gatwick on 30/08/04

Thanks any info would be appreciated

Sarah

I am not changing the holiday but i do intend to contact First Choice before I go just as extra insurance.

Sarah ..... odd snippet ??? Have you not been reading our reviews ?

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/reviews/bulgaria/elenite/royal-bay-elenite-hotel/

David

hi
have a look at my previous postings about this hotel,not to good i'm afraid ,but i do think that some of the problems were caused by the under staffing of this hotel they simply couldn't cope with the extra guests from the unfinished RP of which i was one

Thanks David and wooley.

I am well "sweared" off. There are 11 of us going and i was the mug that booked this particular resort. I am all for making the best of things, but even my kids are getting downhearted.



Sarah

Awwww come on now Dave, i'm sure things have improved by now there is a beautiful beach there, and plenty going on in Sunny beach.

Hi there, just returned from this hotel yesterday morning after spending 2 weeks there.

The hotel is in an ideal location, the family room we had on the 1st floor was huge and very clean. The beach is clean so is the sea with the exception of some days alot of seaweed. (Personally I can't stand seaweed but it didn't put me off going in the sea)

Our kids had a great time our son's are 6 and 1 and they just thought it was great.

That was the good points.

The bad points of this hotel:

The food was awfull. Breakfast wasn't too bad, the kids had cereal everying morning, I had pancakes every morning (but you stood in the queue for this for about 15mins while they were being made) Lunch and dinner was unbearable we have hardly ate for two weeks, my hubby and I can cope without much grub but the kids were starving. They never put on childerns food (oh sorry they put on chips twice in the whole 2 weeks) Every bit of food had spices and garlic in it and all the meat foods were undercooked and very very pink.

The staff in the hotel were rude, aggressive (as a chef in the hotel actually pushed me out of the way, took my bowl of cereal off me, so that she could just clean a bit of milk off the counter) The staff never smiled and were very intimidating.

You could get hot dogs & bacon sandwiches from the hot dog shack. The hot dogs were cold and they seemed to never to have any bacon sandwiches left every time we went. You could also get slices of pizza's from the restraunt just next to the Royal Park but you had to walk 1mile to get these to be told there was none left....

We were very p***ed off that our kids could hardly eat a thing so we made our complaints to the First Choice who basically told me that there was nothing wrong with the food and that no-one else had complained about the food. This was a load of bull s***t as every other family we spoke to had the same moans about the food. Beleive it or not even the Germans were complaining about the food. We had to go to Sunny Beacha couple of times which is about £20 return taxi in order for us to get fed. (Defeats the purpose of being All Inclusive)

After speaking to the First Choice rep with all my complaints and getting no answers from our gripes I then asked her for a complaint form. She refused to give me one and told me "where do you think this complaint form would get you anyway"

I would advise anyone going to this hotel to get a safety deposit box as there is alot of stealing. We never got anything stolen from us but quite a few familys we spoke to got money, camera's etc stolden from there rooms.

The entertainment at night from the First Choice reps was crap. It's held at the Royal Park hotel and its the most embarrasing thing I've ever had to watch. Whereas if you go to the Animation Hall and watch the German reps shows these are absolutely fantastic. (They spoke in German and English) They have a kiddies disco from 8.00pm till 9.00pm and then the shows from 9.00pm till 10.00pm. They put on a different show every night the acting, dancing and comedy is brilliant. We went there every night (except Mondays when theres nothing on) There is no entertainment at the Royal Bay Hotel.

The overall holiday itself was great we met great family's and the kids enjoyed themselves. If the food, staff and english entertainment was up to scratch then it would be well worth it.

Would never go there again.

Thank you very much for your replies.

I am in a proper panic now. There are 11 of us going including 5 kids. My kids are good with spicy food and the like but the other kids are definately not. I dont mind the odd (every 3 days) trundle into Sunny Beach, but as budget is a huge factor i dont want to spend all my money on the essentials like food etc. Which is why i booked all Inclusive.

Can i just ask StephBilly, were you very forceful with the rep? I have fouond in the past that really becoming a pest and refusing tto move has helped in getting better answers. I dont know really what to do.

Hi sphillips03,

We had originally booked to stay in the Royal Bay. We kept pestering the rep with our complaints and it got that bad that everytime she seen us coming she would dissapear.

I have today taken into the First Choice shop where I booked the holiday my complaint letter and they will fax it to their Customer Service. I am also posting a copy myself direct to the CS as I dont know if I can trust the shop to pass it on.

Steph, i have been told now that they have no choice but to send us to this resort as they havent been informed of any problems there and the Royal Park is now fully booked. I will not tolerate inedible food or birds crapping everywhere. Being a Health and Safety Exec myself, i know what illnesses can be got just from these problems alone. My kids will not be subjected to anything that will make them ill.

I have spoken to my TA this morning and she says that there is nothing she can do. I even faxed her a copy of your report and wooleys report and asked her to forward them to FC. Nothing doing as usual.

Im stuck basically.

Download the Safe and Sound brochure available via my sig and take this with you. It is written by Travel Law solicitor Ros Fernihough and will assist you in resort, especially section 24 'My Hotel is Dreadful what can I do?'

Thank you very much xx

Dear sphillipso3,
Hi its me again being nosey! Jasmine.
How have you gone on? Dont back down! It was the manager at the Holiday Hypermarket whom pushed firstchoice into changeing our holiday and as you know it was with no admin fees. However their are now mixed reviews wereas everyone was complaining at the time so we changed to corfu. We were due to travel on the 30th august. Go with your gut feeling.
Reports seem better at the mo so hopefully will be fine when you go.
If you booked through a travel agent tell them they most argue for you not giving the soft approach! Our travel agent said to them its just not good enough when they give excuses!
If you need any help let me know!
Jasmine

Jasmine hi!

to tell you the truth i was a bit worried after the post from stephbilly. But i spoke with my friend yesterday who has just come back and she is raving about it. She does say its quiet but come on! there are 11 of us. It wont be bleedin quiet once we get there!!!!!

Karra wade also said the food was nice so i am going to make the best of it completely. Hope you have a great time in Corfu and dont forget to have a voddie for me while you are there as i will for you in Bulgaria any excuse,me!

Hi Sphillips,
Yes I am sure it will be great!
What really swayed it for me was my hubby being really sceptical and worried. Didnt want to endure another few weeks of him. We have been to different parts of greece and love it!
We are going to the Blue Bay Escape Corfu. It as excellent reviews so we are really looking forward to it! Vodka and redbull here I come!!!!!
Shame we ARnt meeting being 1000's of miles apart
I will drink plenty of vodka for you.
Have a gud un! Jasmine (Sharon x x)

Sharon.

You too. You can always message me on here.

We can keep in touch and perhaps meet next year!

Sarah

PS.. you have a good 'un too mate

**Edit, email addressed removed as per the TOU of the site - Kath HT Admin**

Hi Sarah!
Drinking red wine a t mo! Supposed to be givin up during the week! Yes will hold you to that! Nxt year!
At least your hol is looking up! By the sounds of you! You will make sure of it! Still hooked on this site! But not really much to disscuss about corfu. Im really sad Been visiting another site regarding hols! Anyway dont drink to much vodka! Look after yourself deary! Speak to you soon.

Sharon and family

FANTASTIC!!! That's how we describe our holiday.

This hotel is positioned at one end of the resort, well away from the hustle and bustle and queues of the Royal Park at the other end. However if you are looking for hustle and bustle it only takes 10 minutes at a steady amble to walk along the sea front to get there and plenty to look at along the way.

There is a guarded security gate at the entrace to the resort, no-one other than guests, staff and delivery people can get in. There is a doctors surgery on site but we didn't have to use it.

Nearly all the rooms have a sea view and balcony. Our room was clean and comfortable, cleaner in every day but we did find we had to ASK for clean towels/bed linen, otherwise it only got changed twice a week (in all honesty I only change my bed linen once a week at home so not a problem). We had a small problem with the balcony door but that was fixed within 24 hours. Take your own hairdryer ... the one in the bathroom is not very good. Take a travel kettle if like us you like a cup of tea sitting on the balcony before going down to breakfast.

I am very picky when it comes to food but didn't by any means go hungry. It's mostly Bulgarian, we did get chips once a week, but then we didn't go all that way just to eat English food, thats all part of the holiday experience. Every evening there was a choice of salads, two soups, three vegetables and three meats/fish, cakes, fresh fruits, icecream. Don't expect piping hot food, it IS properly cooked but allowed to cool a little before serving as Bulgarians believe this aids digestion.

Queues ... very rarely for drinks at the bars or at the restaurant.

The staff were all very pleasant. On our first night I thanked Nicki (the barman) in Bulgarian, after that he (jokingly) would only serve us if we ordered in Bulgarian so we learnt loads of the language as we went along. The Bulgarians everywhere loved it if you tried. We always managed to have the same waiter (Smial ... pronounced Smile ... he makes roses out of paper serviettes, even has little thorns on it).

The pool was FREEZING, only the kids seemed brave enough. However step out of the hotel door, across the path and you are on the beach. The sea was much warmer, very safe, no undercurrents and slopes out gently. The beach is sandy, lots of sunbeds and parasols. However, the Germans are there at 7am putting their towels on the sunbeds and their new trick is to take the pin from the parasol so it won't stay up ... the easy answer is to do the same, keep hold of a pin and not let them get to you.

We had two power cuts, one lasted 10 minutes and the other 20 minutes, hardly a disaster and not surprising when they only have one power plant that's only running at 30% capacity.

There is no other entertainment at the Royal Bay, but as I said it doesn't take long to walk to the Village or Royal Park and you CAN use those facilities.

If you have any problems deal with them through your rep. The Bulgarians are very laid back ... later ... tomorrow ... but the reps get things moving quicker because they go straight to the manager ... saves you the hassle.

Our rep (Shamili) was brilliant, as were the other reps.

We booked four excursions. Be sure to go to the The Khans Tent, nice food and drink, good entertainment suitable for all ages. The Jeep Safari is only available to over 16's because of insurance but its a really fun day out for the adults. The Full Monty is a 15 hour day so I wouldn't advise it for little ones but great for the older kids and adults. The trip to Varna and the Dolphinarium is good for any age.

Get a taxi to the AquaPark, not worth booking this through the rep. Boat from the pier down by the Royal Park or taxi to Nessebar, great for shopping for souvenirs, cobbled streets, roman ruins.

Ask questions. They love it if you take an interest in their lifestyle and customs, we learnt so much I could write a book.

We were there for our Silver Wedding Anniversary, we will never forget that evening. Our rep arranged a special treat for us. We had a table reserved on the terrace, flowers, proper table linen, a bottle of champagne, Smial as our waiter, a nice meal, the restaurant manager and customer relations manager made a point of coming to our table to congratulate us, and the finishing touch was a HUGE cake made for us by the Chef ... very yummy but wouldn't keep long in the heat so we shared it with some fellow Brits and the hotel staff. While we were eating we were watching the dolphins not far from the shore. PERFECT!

Remember Bulgaria is a very poor country, still recovering from the days of Communism. Take things as they come, make problems part of the adventure and you will have a great time. We didn't want to come home and will definately go back to Elenites as it is so much safer than the other resorts, especially for the kids.

To anyone going say hello from the Silver Wedding Couple for me, they will know who you mean. Have a great time ... we most certainly did.

All i can say is PHEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

counting the days now.

Sorry to all that have had their holidays spoilt recently. This site is making me paranoid!!!! Im checking it every half hour!

Im really glad you had a great time Belinda.

Sarah

PS did you go the Waterpark?? My son wants to ride the "KamiKaze" and i want to know if they have one!

PPS Did you spend much?

Sarah

We didn't go to the Aqua Park ourselves but some friends did and they had a great time. Don't know about the "kamikaze".

We took £700 in travellers cheques and 500 levs. We went mad, paid for the excursions out of this, plus taxis here and there, bought presents for ALL the family, spent loads on ourselves, gave the staff good tips (cleaner, barman and waiter) at the end of the two weeks and still brought back home £150. A family of four we spoke to only spent £200 during their two weeks but they stayed mostly on the resort. All depends what you want to do and how tempted you are by the lovely low prices.

There is a little shop next door to the hotel reception with an exchange bureau at the back of it, not a brilliant exchange rate but for a few levs difference at least you arn't getting ripped off.

Keep your suitcases light going out, you will be filling them up to come home, everything sooooo cheap.

Happy to answer any other questions.
Belinda