Hotels in Golden Sands, Bulgaria
357 Reviews
Traveller Rating
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Excellent95
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Very Good162
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Good63
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Average23
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Poor14
Review Overview
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Eating Out
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Nightlife
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Beaches
17 years 4 months ago
Beaches fantastic. Plenty of restaurants and bars. Shopping really cheap.
17 years 4 months ago
This was our 5th time in GS so you could say we like it.
Beach as usual was different class best I have ever been on, water safe & clean, lifegaurds all along the beach front, can get a wee bit wavey sometimes.
The beach front restuarants have really put their prices up, but this is because their rent for the season has rocketed some paying 150,000 leva for the season alot of cash for Bulgarians.
The Malibu is the exception on the price front here great food too, it is next too Mcdonalds, do yourselves a favour & go to it at east once during your stay.
Worst meal we had was Mamma Mias we were in it 5 yrs ago & had a rotten meal & thought we'd give it another go this year rotten again.
Breakfast the best we had was across from the Shipka hotel on the corner at the bottom of party street, their is a Big Heavy Cockney guy outside it trying to get punters in, he's a really nice guy, Big Mugs of tea & coffee & good fry up too.
Not many Brits their this year a fact not gone un-noticed by the Bulgarians.......their are groups of young Scandanavian,Ukrainian,Russian & German's making alot of noise.....but hey their on holiday.
Beach as usual was different class best I have ever been on, water safe & clean, lifegaurds all along the beach front, can get a wee bit wavey sometimes.
The beach front restuarants have really put their prices up, but this is because their rent for the season has rocketed some paying 150,000 leva for the season alot of cash for Bulgarians.
The Malibu is the exception on the price front here great food too, it is next too Mcdonalds, do yourselves a favour & go to it at east once during your stay.
Worst meal we had was Mamma Mias we were in it 5 yrs ago & had a rotten meal & thought we'd give it another go this year rotten again.
Breakfast the best we had was across from the Shipka hotel on the corner at the bottom of party street, their is a Big Heavy Cockney guy outside it trying to get punters in, he's a really nice guy, Big Mugs of tea & coffee & good fry up too.
Not many Brits their this year a fact not gone un-noticed by the Bulgarians.......their are groups of young Scandanavian,Ukrainian,Russian & German's making alot of noise.....but hey their on holiday.
17 years 4 months ago
Golden Sands resort excellent, been there 6 times now. Would recommend this to anybody. The Lighthouse Restaurant across from the Hotel Bonita is excellent. The Krivata Lipa Restaurant at the side of Grand Marina is also excellent value for money. Really good breakfasts. Would NOT recommend the Mamma Mia steak house very expensive for Bulgaria and food was undercooked. Would definately recommend the Bulgarian Fiesta night as this is excellent for all the family and food and wine very nice.
17 years 4 months ago
We only ventured out of the hotel in the evening when it was cooler and can report that down on the beach front there are loads of restaurants to choose from together with numerous attractions for the family to enjoy.
Once you are ready to make your way back up the hill to the hotel you can take a ride on a small roadtrain service that takes you back to the bar in the hotel at a cost of about 80p per person.
Overall the resort is very nice and caters for all ages.
The beach looked to be very busy in the day and was seen to be very clean.
Once you are ready to make your way back up the hill to the hotel you can take a ride on a small roadtrain service that takes you back to the bar in the hotel at a cost of about 80p per person.
Overall the resort is very nice and caters for all ages.
The beach looked to be very busy in the day and was seen to be very clean.
17 years 4 months ago
we had been to sunny beach before and didnt think much of it till we had been to golden sands, its very claustraphobic as its all built close together, loads of shops and bars and clubs, but you really need to run the gauntlet if you are to avoid the amount of people handing out flyers. Its every few steps you take. and even if yu refuse one flyer, you get asked by the pal standing next to them lol
17 years 4 months ago
The Golden Sands resort has varying degrees of business across the full stretch of the resort. So you take you pick depending on your style.
Its pretty clean throughout and many restaurants of all types - Indian, Chinese, Bulgarian, Pizza places, Lebanese ...
The beach is good, but it is completely covered by private sunbed and umbrellas positioned across the beach. And you pay quite handsomely for using it - about a tenner a day (for twobeds and an umbrella) which gets expensive if you have to pay every day. We took a sun tent with us, so it ended up being cost effective for us.
Also, some parts of the sea shelf are rocky and you end up getting grazed every now and again. hence the rating of three - I didn't think it was as good as the marketing buffs make ouy.
Restaurant prices do vary so take a look at the menu/prices before you dive in. We got stung pretty hard the first night (paid nearly double of what we later paid in other restaurants).
Take lots of TCs or your ATM card with you. No-one takes credit card for payment, so you get through cash quite fast.
Its seemed a lot quieter near the marina than where we were.
If you are feisty, you'll love the Jeep Safari excursion. Its nothing more than being driven through rough terrain while having water fights with your fellow tourists in opposing Jeeps.
Water park is pretty good to.
Dolphinarium is OK - nothing spectacular but probably worth a visit just to do something different.
They also have a zoo nearby, which was an interesting experience - again, nothing spectacular but worth going to, if only to see how they operate.
Beware of the cheats who offer you a better exchange rate than the bank - they are likely to be selling you paper ....
Its pretty clean throughout and many restaurants of all types - Indian, Chinese, Bulgarian, Pizza places, Lebanese ...
The beach is good, but it is completely covered by private sunbed and umbrellas positioned across the beach. And you pay quite handsomely for using it - about a tenner a day (for twobeds and an umbrella) which gets expensive if you have to pay every day. We took a sun tent with us, so it ended up being cost effective for us.
Also, some parts of the sea shelf are rocky and you end up getting grazed every now and again. hence the rating of three - I didn't think it was as good as the marketing buffs make ouy.
Restaurant prices do vary so take a look at the menu/prices before you dive in. We got stung pretty hard the first night (paid nearly double of what we later paid in other restaurants).
Take lots of TCs or your ATM card with you. No-one takes credit card for payment, so you get through cash quite fast.
Its seemed a lot quieter near the marina than where we were.
If you are feisty, you'll love the Jeep Safari excursion. Its nothing more than being driven through rough terrain while having water fights with your fellow tourists in opposing Jeeps.
Water park is pretty good to.
Dolphinarium is OK - nothing spectacular but probably worth a visit just to do something different.
They also have a zoo nearby, which was an interesting experience - again, nothing spectacular but worth going to, if only to see how they operate.
Beware of the cheats who offer you a better exchange rate than the bank - they are likely to be selling you paper ....
17 years 5 months ago
The resort was very clean and the people were very friendly.
A land train ran from one end of the resort to the other and cost about 70p.
We felt the resort was almost in two halves. We were staying at the quieter end which was close to a small harbour and amphitheatre. As you went into the centre it became busier and noiser and we felt it began to resemble a mini Blackpool.
Our daughter was 8 and the resort was ideal. The beach was quiet being early June and very clean and. Sunbeds and an umbrella on the beach cost 25 leva which was quite expensive but it was the only thing that was expensive.
There were lots of places to eat at very reasonable prices and lots of small bars to have a quiet drink and watch the world go by. Alternatively you could go into the centre and enjoy live music and a more noisy atmosphere.
We are already thinking about booking a week again for next year, it was excellent value for money.
A land train ran from one end of the resort to the other and cost about 70p.
We felt the resort was almost in two halves. We were staying at the quieter end which was close to a small harbour and amphitheatre. As you went into the centre it became busier and noiser and we felt it began to resemble a mini Blackpool.
Our daughter was 8 and the resort was ideal. The beach was quiet being early June and very clean and. Sunbeds and an umbrella on the beach cost 25 leva which was quite expensive but it was the only thing that was expensive.
There were lots of places to eat at very reasonable prices and lots of small bars to have a quiet drink and watch the world go by. Alternatively you could go into the centre and enjoy live music and a more noisy atmosphere.
We are already thinking about booking a week again for next year, it was excellent value for money.
17 years 5 months ago
Next up is the location. This is the only fault we could find with the hotel. It was quite far out from the centre of golden sands, so as we were only bed and breakfast, getting a return taxi there every night was the only option!
We got the same taxi driver (booked by the hotel) to take us to and and pick us up from golden sands every night for 26 lev.
This is around £10 which doesent seem so bad for one night, but £70 for the entire week seems like £70 that should have been spent on other things.
However, we just treated this as a fact of life and got on with our holiday.
The resort itself seems to be cheaper the further you are from the main attractions. (golen sands centre) however, to ensure quality and properly cooked food, I would advise you to do as we did and pay that bit more in the centre, just to be on the safe side.
It is a 5 minute walk to the local beach which is nice, you can get a chair lift which frightened me to death the first (and most definately last) Tim I went on it! Perhaps the men would be more comfortable travelling 100 feet over forest in nothing more than a steel chair dangling from a cable, but ladies, I'm sure you'l be with me on this one!!!
Anyway, to sum up, the hotel is lovely, the pool/sunlounger area is somewhat small, so you may prefer to hit the beach like us.
The taxi ride to golden sands is worth it if you require a little more life in your evenings or if you have children (there is no daytime/nightime entertainment for them), however if you're after a quiet, laid back holiday, the gardia is for you!!
We got the same taxi driver (booked by the hotel) to take us to and and pick us up from golden sands every night for 26 lev.
This is around £10 which doesent seem so bad for one night, but £70 for the entire week seems like £70 that should have been spent on other things.
However, we just treated this as a fact of life and got on with our holiday.
The resort itself seems to be cheaper the further you are from the main attractions. (golen sands centre) however, to ensure quality and properly cooked food, I would advise you to do as we did and pay that bit more in the centre, just to be on the safe side.
It is a 5 minute walk to the local beach which is nice, you can get a chair lift which frightened me to death the first (and most definately last) Tim I went on it! Perhaps the men would be more comfortable travelling 100 feet over forest in nothing more than a steel chair dangling from a cable, but ladies, I'm sure you'l be with me on this one!!!
Anyway, to sum up, the hotel is lovely, the pool/sunlounger area is somewhat small, so you may prefer to hit the beach like us.
The taxi ride to golden sands is worth it if you require a little more life in your evenings or if you have children (there is no daytime/nightime entertainment for them), however if you're after a quiet, laid back holiday, the gardia is for you!!
17 years 5 months ago
Golden Sands can be divided into two parts ,Party street and the rest of the resort. Party street needs no explanation,the Muppet bar leaflet girls are persistent but polite.Rest of resort is much more relaxing with lots of nice cocktail bars and a good variety of eateries. There is even an Eiffel tower. Things are still excellent value,average beer about 80p to £1,Bulgarian cigs about 70p per 20 and are perfectly ok.All in all no complaints,this is my 2nd time in Bulgaria,did Sunny Beach last year,much preferred Golden Sands except for beach which is very crowded as it is relatively narrow.
17 years 5 months ago
very nice place plenty of wc but u got to pay not much so always have loose change with u and they are CLEAN
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