Never go back again surprised it's not been shown on Holiday from Hell

Hi

Returned from the holiday Village on the 15th July. All in all, after reading reports, I wasn't too dissapointed. the place is probably one of the cleanest I have stayed at with people mopping and cleaning it seems 24 hours a day.
If you expect gourmet food then this is probably not for you, the food is in general, tasty and plentiful, although it seems like if you do not like pork or chicken then choices are very limited. There was an english Chef sent over from one of the holiday companies when I was there who seemed to take control and sort out a lot of the reported problems. Unfortunately he left on the 12 July and things seemed to rapidly go downhill for the last couple days of the holiday. The entertainment at the Village is very sparse from what I saw. Although I am not one for going to shows and playing party games aroung the pool, you generally see plenty of these type of things going on although I only saw pool excercises and waterpolo for a short time each day.
If you expect lots of nightlife you'll be a bit dissapointed, there is one nightclub for over 18's but I didn't go there, although it is quick and easy the get taxi's (about

without doubt the worst place we have ever visited. 148 steps mostly broken, from pool to room. unlit very dangerous, no handrails. anyone with difficulty walking had no chance. no air conditioning. all hotel staff encountered were unhelpful and moody. the food was terrible. children lived on mainly toast luke warm hot dogs and pizza's. beware the catering manager he does not like photo's being taken for evidence. he was very aggressive. basically eastern bloc garbage, first choice should be ashamed of themselves for entertaining this hellhole!

Glad to be home! We enjoyed our holiday despite our accomodation and tried to make the most of the best bits and ignore the worst.

The location of the holiday village is ok - lovely beach with pleanty of sunbeds. We were glad that we were able to use the facilities of the neighbouring hotels (Royal Park and Royal Bay) - this was the holidays saving grace.

Our 'mini villas' (more like shacks) were awful - the smell of mould and mildew permeated everything. The shower was useless and flooded the bathroom whenever we used it. The top bunk was too dangerous (in my opinion) for the children to sleep in because the safety bar was too low. The maid-service was ok - they did their best. The balconies were covered in bird poo and surrounded by weeds. Lots of higgeldy-piggeldy steps and unlit pathways to navigate. My Dad suffered from torn ligaments in his foot due to falling on one of the many damaged paving stones. The rep said that in Bulgaria people are responsible for their own safety and should pay more care when walking! On the second day of our holiday the key broke in the lock (obviously due to the faulty barrel which meant that the key had become weakened over time). The reception staff insisted that we had to pay 15 lev. When I refused (because I felt this was due to normal wear and tear) our First Choice rep told me that if I didn't pay the maid would be forced to pay or be sacked - i felt this was emotional blackmail.

The entertainment provided by the First Choice team was ok but very repetetive and amateurish. The children really enjoyed the kids disco and we all thought Jumping Jules was hilarious and Funky Phil was really cool. The entertainment provided by the resort Animation Team was better but the Animation Hall was always overcrowded. No snacks were available after 9.00pm.

The food was ok - typical of all inclusive buffets. I found it difficult because I don't eat meat but the rest of our group enjoyed the food - especially at the Royal Park where we chose to eat most nights. The restaurants in Sunny Beach and Nessabar were very good and reasonable priced.

The reception staff were extremely rude - I don't accept their poor English as an excuse - they definitely need some training in guest relations.

The Elenite Holiday Village is a throw back to 1960's Holiday Camps - Why are First Choice still sending people here?

this hotel and resort remined me of an open prison. rooms are very basic and thou cleaned,clean linen and towels are very rare. in communal toilets doors dont shut and cleaning staff like to congregate and eat thier food in there. food is served cold or luke warm.also birds and flies join you for every meal and try it prior to you. bird droppings in evidence everywhere in resaurant. location very remote and if you like even a small stroll forget it as no where to go. hotel staff are rude and unfriendly and will think nothing of arguing with you.entertainment is ok repative as all resorts are but adequte. drinks served in small plastic cups night and day this includes tea and coffee. i wouldnt visit an open prison by choice so there is no way i would pay to return here.

we stayed in the holiday village that sits between two hotels on the same complex. we had a cleaner come and clean everyday, we were there for a week. you need to realise that if you leave your dirty laundry on the floor in the morning , it will be picked up and replaced every time by the cleaner, very thorough in their job and very helpful.

the food was not what i was expecting as i had heard a few unpleasent stories although we found it to be tasty ,hot and varied and were very pleased. when on holiday it pays to try some of the cuisine that you dont get at home this is what we did although some peoples expectations were too high and felt dissappointed in their food. we certainly were not.

the location of the hotel is about 3km from sunny beach , we visited there for shopping ,it cost us 50p each on the bus and a return in the taxi cost us

Food was excellant with a variety on each night and good quality, if your looking for chips and chicken nuggets every day then you will be disappointed. Book one of the 3 other restaurants on sight from your room by dialling 723 between 9 and 12 noon (keep dialing for 5 mins and you will get through.

Ice creams for kids are plentiful.

The pool side were cleaned of rubbish all through the day but they did not clean the floor of algea.

The hotel is a short bus (1.5 lev or taxi ride (15 lev) from sunny beach.

first the good points. location was very isolated, but that is what we wanted. the village was very clean, the rooms were cleaned thouroughly every day. the beach is excellent and both the sand and water are very clean, we even saw dolphins swimming quite close to the beach. we tried the Sozopol and Sunshine restaurants, much better than the buffet.

now the bad points, steps, lots of them. When it rained, all the steps and terraces became very slippy, I've never seen such a concentration of plaster-casted limbs, at least five different people. Don't know how they were injured, but a strange coincedence. The buffet resturant food was awful, and the place was chaotic. This was Thomson's second week using this resort, first choice have been there for a while now. I was told that the food was so bad in the first week, Thomsons brought a team of English chefs out to show them how it's done. People have video's of existing guests trying to invade a (First Choice)welcome meeting of new guests, in order to voice their complaints, which actually led to fighting. I can't help but wonder if First Choice shouldn't have strived to improve things earlier. The standards have been raised thanks to Thomson's.

The watersports advertised were practically non-existent. I saw one jet-ski, which was used to pull the banana boat. No waterskiing, parasailing or anything like that. The staff never smile, but who can blame them when they earn peanuts. Also, be prepared to queue. Queue for meals, queue for drinks, queue for snacks or ice cream.

I would like to return to Bulgaria, but not the Elenite.

Rooms were cleaned every day, the beach and sea were both very tidy (seaweed does accumulate near the beach when the sea is rough, not a lot though so its no problem). There are 4 restaurants although 3 of them require you to book before 12 on the day you wish to eat. The buffet food was not as bad as the other reviewers make out, i've been AI before and although its not perfect it is very edible and the menu changes every day. The pre book restaurants serve a variety of food depending on which one you go to from Bulgarian, Barbeque and English and they are all excellent (We never had a problem getting a table either).
The hotel is situated about 15 mins from Sunny Beach in a nice quiet area, they hotel looks nice and although there was building work there, it had nearly finished and wasnt a problem (the new hotel looks awesome!). The hotel staff were very helpful but dont speak much english (if any). The entertainment for adults is nothing special (a disco and a film room), but for kids they have a show every night followed by a disco, thay also have an internet and games room, arcades, pool and table tennis tables.
There are queues for drinks and food, but nothing too bad (at night you will wait about as long as you would for a drink on a saturday night in england on average).
I cant comment on other peoples experiences but we had an excellent holiday and I would recommend the hotel/resort to anyone. Compared to more expensive holidays in Spain this was excellent value and if it continues to improve as much as it has done over the last year or so, could well surpass them!

This is a nice place to go if you a) like Butlins. b) dont mind being out of the way c) want a relaxing holiday d) like complaining!!!

Rooms basic but clean, no telephone in reception you have to use one in room which costs 3leva per minute. Place was clean although there was glass on beach, most of the sunbeds were broken, birds flying around restaurant,nests and mess everywhere. pools a bit grotty on 2nd week.

FOOD- we were lucky as Thomsons had sent a chef in when we were there the first week as it was so bad.Apparently the kitchen staff didnt know what a thermometer was used for with food. Choice was basic although the first week some things were quite nice, pork and chicken mainly on the menu and trout,mackeral.not much in the way of veg variety.or dessert variety. breakfast was no different everything seemed to be deep fried. only 1 toaster between god knows how many guests so quite a big queue just to get toast. getting a meal was down to precision if you all wanted to eat a hot meal at the same time! snacks on the beach were very basic, cold pizza or hot dog. No food after 10.30pm, and the endless amount of Germans doing what they do best, pushing in!!!

LOCATION- out of the way, ok if you dont want or like going anywhere on holiday except staying by the pool.No where to walk if you fancied it after tea. broken slabs everywhere although a good bus to Sunny Beach and freedom to better food!!!When we were heading back to the village it feels like a huge cloud looming, we felt trapped. Needs updating alot.

STAFF- some friendly others rude, need to smile more but does this reflect the place???

ENTERTAINMENT- we enjoyed the Animation team and found them very funny, they were better than the first choice reps, expecially Be Bop Biancas singing...the kids club reps were good and the kids enjoyed using this facility.