Super large hotel. Cannot go wrong. Lovely people. Great Food.

Entertainment was available every night but was mainly for small children. The 'Animation Team' tried their very best and were always smiling!

During our stay our water was not available from 4pm until 8pm, which was a bit of a pain but the hotel managed to fix this problem on the fourth day.

Our child fell from his highchair as it came apart but I think the hotel have checked them all now for safety reasons. So be careful!

But overall we had a brilliant holiday and would go back.

I've just got back today, 28th June 05 and the hotel facilities are still not complete. No internet room, no indoor entertainment centre, so if it rains it's all cram in the lobby for a quiz. You will have to fight for a seat as we did as it rained twice.

Also the sauna and solarium weren't finished so as we paid for all the facilities they weren't complete. On the 2nd week there was also no snack bar so it's a trip down to the beach with the rest of the hotel to queue up for lunch.

If you're still going when you check into you're room check all appliances like items in mini fridge that are down on the list but not in the fridge. Air-con: a few people I spoke to there air-con didn't work and bathroom seals weren't glued down properly so they leaked and you might end up falling and slipping like i did.

Directly opposite the hotel another hotel is being built say no more!

We stopped for 2 weeks arriving back on Saturday 9th July.

We were due to stop in the Meridian however were informed upon arrival that they had suffered a burst water pipe - mmmmm, and had subsequently been allocated the Iberostar - shame.

Hotel Cleanliness

No issues at all as far as we can remember - maid service fine, dining area spotless (any mess that did occur was cleaned straight away), common areas spotless.

Pools cleaned every night - kiddies pools looked a little messy occasionally (not surprising) but certainly nothing to worry about.

Hotel Food

First class help yourself eat as much as you like buffet for both breakfast and dinner, something for everyone. All items were regularly replaced so no need to worry about freshness.

Breakfast (7.30am - 10am quieter before 8.30am) - selection of (deep breath) fruits peeled and unpeeled, cold meats and salads, selection of cereals, cheeses, Hot buffet with proper beans, potatoes of various natures, bacon / ham, eggs whichever way you want them (except poached I think) sausages of varying kinds, hot vegetables(!), omelettes cooked to order, pancakes, croissants, plenty bread (brown / white) with toaster (they only had one left at the end which caused a few queuing problems). Sweet fruit juices orange apple etc., lion brand teabags and other flavoured teabags, coffee, milk the lot. Take a bottle of HP if you are an addict only tomato sauce on offer. Oh aye and two choices of cake as well.

Dinner (6 - 9 pm) - three soups, plenty bread again, cold meats salads, normally 4 hot main courses and a roast and a grill offering plus four choices of veg. Also pizza, pasta cooked to order, chips. Huge selection of desserts ice creams cake etc. And a cheese board to finish off.

Put it this way we put on a stack of weight and tried most things and were rarely disappointed.

Waiters/tresses served drinks at the table 3.50 for large bottle of local beer 1.50 for small bottle of water. Make sure you get your change - tip what you want not what they want. Expensive for Sunny Beach I know but you don't stop there all night if you don't want.

Hotel location and facilities

Situated opposite Neptun Beach and Helios Palace just couple of minutes walk from beach and Kuban strip. Location ideal. They are constructing another hotel behind it but building work is not ongoing except for some interior work but no noise was noticeable.

By the time we left I think most things at the Iberostar were complete. It is split into two wings each with its own 24 hour reception with an archway in the middle between wings to ensure the sun shines on the pool for most of the day (clever construction)

Wing 1 (to the right as you look on the impression) seems to be mainly British and wing 2 (to the left) for Germans, Finns, Scandinavians etc.

We had a room with sea view on the seventh floor which was ideal (come onto rooms in a bit).

The pool area is split symmetrically into two areas with each of the following in each area - main pool, whirlpool (not working while we there), kids pool, 4 showers. In our opinion there are not enough sunbeds to service the hotel. In total according to Iberostars publicity there are 652 rooms across the two wings which if 2 people share a room (minimum) gives over 1300 people and there are nowhere near that amount of beds or the space to put them in. To secure a sunbed we would recommend towels out before 830am. However their own literature does state that you are not allowed to do this and personal belongings reserving loungers will be removed (not enforced while we were there). In addition there does not seem to be much to stop guests from other hotels thieving sunbeds.

There is a poolside bar although they could improve the poolside service which was pretty much non existent (although head chef seemed to be kicking a few backsides on this point). There is an indoor pool which is a fair size.

The indoor animation hall and bar is now complete and open - in addition to the outdoor facilities. The gym is operational bikes, rowing machines etc. Don

The hotel which was more or less finished when we arrived, was lovely and spotlessly clean, some poor woman swept the foyer every working minute of her shift bless.The bedrooms again spotless,cleaned every day,usually with fresh bed linen and towels,my only complaint when the maid wanted to do your room and you where in, it was one knock and in, nearly caught us in the buff a couple of times as changing out of cossies etc!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

Hotel food was alright, lots of continental breakfast, not to much choice for the "english breakfast" brigade, but cereals and toast would see you through till lunch.On our first week snack bar not open (so all our cash) was spent at the local bars and eateries across the road on the strip.Food there excellant espesially at the Neptune bar amazing peppered steak.and the baked spudss at the kebab place beautiful. so where ever you ate you couldnt/woundnt starve and prices excellent.

Dinner was hectic if you went down early (6.00 till9.00) but was much easier to get table later food o.k. and we had, had better in lower star rated hotels but there was was always the "kebab" run on the way home

The bar was situated in the foyer and whenever and no matter how many of us wanted to part with our cash for drinks,only ever one serving, which lets face it when youve gone all inclusive and they had had your money up front you expect but when you are paying you would think they would be grabbing you hand off for the Levs

Reception was always well staffed, it was such a pity that the staff where so unhelpful and sometimes quite rude.I also asked four times during the course of our stay for a late check out, fobbed off each time being told ask another day, when I did ask on the morning of our departure I was told in no uncertan terms 1) I should have asked before 2) even though hotel not full there where no vacant rooms as our was to be relet,so spent 12 hours plus without a room. while awaiting our flight home. One shower room for departing guets that you could use, but no matter how many times you tried to get in you couldnt.So, so glad we met a nice couple who allowed us to use there room for shower and changing, or we would have been minging by the time we got to the airport.

Hotel staff all nice ( with the ecception of reception)

Entertainment!! virtually non existant water polo and 12oclock cocktail!!. Needs some help there and quick.

Overall enjoyed the break, the people we met where lovely and made the holiday but wouldnt go back to this hotel.

We were the in the first group of holiday makers to arrive at this excuse calling its self a hotel.
We had holidays at Iberostar hotel complexes in other parts of the world and their standard was fitting to their ratings.

I don't know if it was the Bulgarian culture or just greed on behalf of the holiday company who told me a week before I left that the complex was completed , or maybe Iberostar thinking once their here their moneys ours.
Reading the previous reports it would seem the problems we had have not gone away.

We arrived at the hotel with pallets blocking one entrance and another 600room hotel under construction where the artists impressions said there would be green grassland. On booking in we asked to hire the room safe, the receptionist pulled out a bucket full of keys from under the counter then explained to us the persons fittng the safes had flung all the keys in there without marking them, for the two weeks we were forced to endure there we never got the keys. We stopped asking after a week.

Next the room clean and tidy everything ok until we went into the toilet only to be confronted by live electrical wiring hanging out the wall where a light switch should have been, this made the shower and bath unusable also the shaver socket and the hairdryer did'nt work. We later found that the air conditioning system was not yet functional. (It took 3day and a written complaint to the holiday Rep to get this fixed.)

All reported and got on with our holiday.

To our dismay on walking round the following morning we were to relize that less than 40% of the complex was complete. Before I list the worse let me tell you that I work in Health & Safety back in the U.K. so you understand where I'm coming from.

1..Glass in the one swimming pool that was operational, you had to come out early before anybody had disturbed the to see if there was any shards of broken glass glistening on the pool bottom. The pool attendants had not been shown how to use the pool broom, instead lifting the pieces that were to large for the brooms suction to lift and end up just pushing them from one part of the pool to another.

2..While lying sunbathing I noticed a man on one of the balconies of the unfinished part of the hotel photographing the pool area with a telephoto lens. When I went in later I asked the at reception if anybody had been given permission to photograph the complex, they knew nothing and not been informed of anybody due to take further photos. He came back the following day photograping from a different vantage point, moving from balcony to balcony with the lens always directed at the pool. On the third day I took my camera to the pool and as sure as the sun rises he appeared again, this time I walked towards the balcony he was on aimed my camera at him and whistled. He turned on his heels and sprinted off.

3.. Fire precations were dire the further up the stairs you got the less you seen extinguishers, the mid corridor fire prevention doors were fitted 4 days after we arrived, the evacuation procedures were not post on the room doors until the middle of our second week. The information was incorrect as they had failed to list not to use the elevators in the event of fire. I seen disabled & wheelchaired persons at the hotel but there was no evac-chairs on any landings or signage to tell the disabled or infirm where to wait for rescue. The two weeks I was there I never heard the fire alarm being tested nor was there a sign in the entrance area telling you when this would happen.

4.. The poolside toilets had not been fitted out you therefore hadto walk through the main foyer to get access to a toilet.

5.. A childrens play area was built with rough chips as a landing if they fell off a swing or chute. In the U.K. landing mats are compulsory relative to the height of the appliances. So much for the holiday companies making sure your child has a safe holiday, or then again maybe that why they push insurance so much.

I could go on listing other technical things that were wrong but you would not read it.
Lets just say this hotel was not ready as advertised and because things were rushed the problems will take a long time to iron out.

I am currently pursueing the holiday company for a refund, and Iberostar have washed their hands of the matter saying they kept the companies up to date.

In my opinion this hotel was not ready for safe use.

The Hotel is part of the Spanish owned Iberostar Chain I would describe it as a medium sized hotel located on the Southern side of Sunnny Beach (Nessebar end)approx 200m from the beach and 20 minutes walk to the resort centre.

The Hotel is well worthy of its 4 star rating for a holiday hotel.

Looking forward to a return visit next year.