Flamingo Grand Hotel & Spa — Hotel in Balchik

We recently had the pleasure of staying at Flamingo Grand Hotel & Spa in Albena, and overall, it was a lovely experience for our relaxing week-long vacation.

The hotel itself is nice, with clean and comfortable rooms that provided a pleasant stay. We particularly enjoyed the beautiful views from our room, and the proximity to the beach was a definite plus. Being able to easily access the beach added to the convenience and enjoyment of our stay.

Albena is a tranquil and safe resort location, perfect for those seeking a peaceful getaway. We felt at ease exploring the area, and the serene atmosphere contributed to the overall relaxation of our vacation.

The hotel's outdoor pool was great, and we were especially impressed by the amazing indoor thermal SPA. Spending time in the thermal mineral pool, steam room, and sauna was a rejuvenating experience. The SPA facilities provided a wonderful opportunity to unwind and pamper ourselves.

The rooms were cleaned daily, but we did learn that it was necessary to place the cleaning tag on the door. It's important to remember this to ensure the daily cleaning service. However, the housekeeping staff maintained a high standard of cleanliness and ensured our rooms were tidy and comfortable.

The breakfast at Flamingo Grand Hotel & Spa was truly amazing. There was a wide variety of options available, catering to different tastes and preferences. The abundance of choices allowed us to start our day with a delightful meal and set a positive tone for the rest of the day.

While the dinner spread was also nice, we did notice a lack of variety throughout the week, which made it slightly repetitive. It would be wonderful if the dinner menu offered more diversity, as it can become monotonous to have the same dishes every evening during a longer stay.

We did find that the reception staff could benefit from better training in terms of customer service. Although they were efficient, their demeanor lacked warmth and friendliness. A smile and a more welcoming attitude would have better reflected the standard of a five-star hotel. Similarly, we felt that the restaurant staff could be more friendly and accommodating. Their overall demeanor seemed tense, which slightly affected the dining experience.

One of the highlights of our stay was the presence of FunPoint Bulgaria's kids club, run by their enthusiastic staff. The in-house kids club provided a wide range of activities and entertainment for children. Our kids had an amazing time, and it was a significant bonus to have such a dedicated and engaging facility within the resort.

Note on currency exchange: It is better to carry cash of your home currency and get it exchanged at the hotel or outside at the exchange centers. Do not use the ATM at the hotel reception or WU since the charges are extravagent. In general it is possible to pay by Mastercard or Visa in many places, and this is the best way whenever available since you get the best exchange rates.

In conclusion, Flamingo Grand Hotel & Spa offered a wonderful environment for a relaxing week-long vacation. The hotel provided clean and comfortable rooms with beautiful views, a fantastic outdoor pool, and an amazing indoor thermal SPA. The breakfast was outstanding, and the presence of FunPoint Bulgaria's kids club added extra enjoyment for our little ones. However, some areas for improvement include increasing dinner variety and enhancing the friendliness and customer service skills of the reception and restaurant staff.

Despite these minor areas of improvement, we had a pleasant and rejuvenating stay at Flamingo Grand Hotel & Spa. It served as a fantastic resort for a week of relaxation. We would consider returning in the future and recommend it to others seeking a tranquil and enjoyable getaway. We aould also not mind visiting...

We travelled to Albena, Bulgaria and stayed at Flamingo Grand in July/Aug for a week on a Half Board basis. This was a family holiday, with our two young children (7 & 3) and was booked via a package holiday website. This review is totally honest and fair, to explain both good and bad points of the hotel and holiday in general. Good: • Quick check-in & polite young receptionist • Hotel looks like one of the better ones in Albena • Deluxe Studio was well laid out and good facilities • Comfy beds, large bathroom, separate toilet, kitchenette • H/B restaurant had very good selection • Small supermarket on-site • Good evening entertainment • Well located, near bars, restaurants and 5 mins from beach Bad: • Lack of leadership & experience in hotel • Poor manners, lack of friendliness but improved in restaurant when senior staff member attended (blue shirt) • Missing tiles in pool & when pool staff advised they shrugged – issue got worse with teenagers pulling more off • Old and stained pool towels, and only handed out in exchange for cards given at reception • Rubbish left around pool, poolside toilets in a mess with no soap all week in ladies • No first aid kit around pool when someone cut their foot, staff shrugged and said “no” to guest who asked • Paving and tiles not well maintained, and in many places uneven • A chicken dish bought for our children at lunch in the poolside restaurant was completely raw • Room not vacuumed all week, and found cobwebs and rubbish from previous guests under beds and behind curtains • Rubbish bags left around pool areas looking very unsightly • Waiter from H/B restaurant left toilet without washing hands • Lobby barman was incredibly arrogant and rude • Floors around hotel often not cleaned for days, with dead bugs and food being left stuck to floor • Room number barely ever taken at restaurant, and so some guest left without paying for drinks I can guess that the response from the hotel management will be to say we should have spoken to someone when we were there. However, having had a bad response from some of the staff when we did converse with them, and not actually seeing any senior staff around, this was never really an option. Also, many of the points which have been raised, should be spotted by management, without guests having to advise! Albena in general: There is lots to do in the area, depending on your age. Our kids loved the fact that there were so many rides, playgrounds and bouncy castles around the town. Some of the hotels look awful and more like a run-down council estate, but there are a couple of others that do look quite nice. There isn’t a huge choice in varied restaurants around town, but the ones we did eat in had polite staff. We found some of the staff in the shops to be incredibly rude, so much so that we refused to visit them again. The streets aren’t very well maintained, with missing and loose paving slabs across the whole area, and many uneven and unsafe pavements. If you are the type for long walks and discovering things, then there are some good places around, such as the long beach with pretty scenery and a lovely forest area too. It is very frustrating that the area seems to have been let go a bit, and that some of the staff have a chip on their shoulders, as Albena could really be a great destination.

Having spoken to people on the plane home who stayed in Golden Sands, they experienced something similar where they were, so this isn’t an issue with Albena specifically. Its safe to say that we won’t be visiting Bulgaria again, and certainly wont be recommending it to any of our...

We spent 10 nights at Flamingo Hotel in Albena. The hotel has been renovated, with a very nice lobby. The reception staff were very kind and helpful, as well as the lovely cleaning lady on the 8th floor, and also the bartenders and waiters in the bars. Unfortunately, we had to pay for several drinks we never ordered, but which were charged to our room. The surroundings of the hotel are very nice and well-kept, especially for Bulgaria.||One downside was the air conditioning – in our room it couldn’t be adjusted, and 21°C was too cold. We ended up getting sick because of it. Another issue was the disappearing towels. The staff removes towels left on sunbeds unattended, which in principle makes sense, but in reality, we were never able to retrieve them from the supposed collection point, despite checking multiple times. The first time it was a hotel towel and we had to pay a €10 deposit. The second time, it was our own towel. It was strange because our towels were never left completely alone – we were a group of five and usually spent time together. What criteria the staff used to remove them remains a mystery. When we asked at reception, they simply said we were unlucky.||Another unpleasant experience was with the restaurant manager (usually downstairs, with dark hair). She was absolutely unfriendly, could not communicate even on a basic level in English, and seemed annoyed at us for trying to speak to her in English. I understand not every hotel employee has to speak English, but a restaurant manager, dealing with hundreds of guests daily, should at least know the basics. This same lady spent most of her time peering into people’s plates, which seemed to be her main task apart from giving orders to the waiters. The Asian waiters, on the other hand, were very kind, smiling, and spoke English.||The food was very good and fresh, with a wide selection. However, the hotel allows smoking during meals on the terraces, which is a disgusting habit – smokers puffing away in the middle of mostly non-smokers. Around the pools, smoking is supposedly forbidden, but staff never enforced this rule, so smoke often blew directly into the faces of non-smoking guests.||Other than that, the hotel is a nice place, mainly for families. But entertainment is practically non-existent. In the outdoor bar, sometimes there wasn’t even background music playing. There is no place to dance or enjoy a drink with some atmosphere in the evenings. Not everyone has children and goes to bed at 11 pm, but nightlife in Albena seems to shut down at that time regardless of the day of the week. Once there was a folk group performance, but only to attract people to the restaurant-bar because they were selling steaks – the band was basically entertainment “to go with the steak.” Another time, someone sang during dinner. And twice during our stay, a lady played the piano. That was the extent of adult entertainment.||Overall, the impression was very good, but there are definitely areas for improvement: smoking during meals, the towel issue, fixing the air conditioning, and providing some form of evening entertainment for adults...