Maritim Hotel Paradise Blue Albena — Hotel in Balchik

I have mixed feelings about the hotel and I am not coming back. Here are the positives and negatives: the lady at the reception who checked us in was not welcoming, not polite. She was not helpful when I explained I paid for more people but they were not coming - it is what it is… Even though food was included. bellman was very friendly and helpful, he also helped me with parking the car and explaining the parking rates for our stay pool bottom and pool lounges (tile beds in pool) had missing tiles leading to scratches on my skin water slides were very entertaining for my kid the old server with the mustache was extremely incompetent, lacked any manners, and was rude. He didn’t bother to come to our table two evenings in a row unless I ask the host for a server or try to get a drink from the bar which I wasn’t allowed to do. He didn’t bother bringing a drinks menu so I asked him for a glass of Cabernet - next thing I know, he brings me white wine. I say - but I want a Cabernet - this is Cabernet he says. Me: but Cabernet is red. He took the glasses and brought red wine. It did not taste like Cabernet but at that point I was .. whatever. Next evening I waited for 40 minutes for him to come to our table. Upon coming he said: what else do you want? Me: what do you mean “what else”. He: everything else other than water, you need to pay for. Me: I know. You were our waiter last night. He: no, you were not in my section. Long story short - I asked for two glasses of Cabernet and then we had to wait for the restaurant to close so he would bring the check. Third night we run into a nice lady who was not local. Upon ordering the usual two glasses of cabernet she hands me a menu and explains there is no Cabernet by the glass but we could split a small 375 ml bottle that is a Cabernet blend. This is what we did and she was very friendly and professional. So this made me wonder - what was I drinking two nights in a row?! It definitely didn’t taste like what I like and what I usually order but it was not worth it ruining my vacation. /- rooms were spacious, seemed renovated, had separate shower from bath tub which was very convenient. They were dusty. This triggered some allergies but we tried not to spend too much time inside. not much to do on a rainy day. The spa area is small, the indoor pool is tiny and gets really crowded. I paid for a sea view and I got a view of the only large tree on the premises. Felt like the reception lady did it on purpose beach - open to outside ppl for additional fee; towels left on beach chairs the whole day to have them “reserved” didn’t feel very 5-starry to have to ask at the reception for cotton swabs and other basic things food - I would expect more from a 5-star hotel. Desserts were mediocre - you could easily get a better quality pastry from any food store. I really wonder where they got them from. service in general with the few exceptions mentioned above, was not up to the level of a 5-star hotel. I felt discriminated in my own country. I picked Bulgaria for sentimental reasons but next vacation will...

:-( The room was smaller than average for a 5-star hotel. When we arrived, the mini bar had not been restocked from the previous occupants, there was no phone in the room, no corkscrew for opening the wine in the mini bar, the patio door could not be opened by the room keycard. The coffee and sugar were not replenished until I asked. All these small problems should not occur when you are paying top dollar. The rule (for all beaches in Albena) to not reserve beach umbrellas was not enforced, the hotel management even admitted that they "tolerated" this selfish behaviour. For example, one morning when I went for walk on the beach, by 9.00am the front 6 rows (60 umbrellas) had towels on them, but only about 6 had anybody there. What is worse, quite a few of the "reserved" umbrellas were not used until late in the afternoon. Later in the week we were told by the two men who looked after the beach, to remove the towels and use the umbrellas. But of course this created aggravation when the "reservists" arrived to claim their place. The hotel need to impress on all guests that umbrellas are not to be reserved and if they do reserve them, then the towels etc will be removed. It is obvious which are reserved because the loungers were still folded to keep the towel in place and the umbrella was not put up. We had a room with the shared pool and a good size patio, very nice, until 8.00 pm. The room was about 20 meters from the stage area. At 8.00 the music starts for the children’s dance program, after 30 minutes this finishes and "disco music" is played far to loudly until about 9.00pm when the live music starts. On the first night, the band was excellent, good music at a reasonable level and we could relax on the patio and enjoy it. But the rest of the acts, were not so good and too loud, even when we retreated to the room and closed the door.

:-) Great staff. When I presented the receptionist with a list of problems with the room, he dealt with them all politely and relatively quickly. I found the staff in the restaurant to be very efficient and attentive both at breakfast and also in the evening during the buffet dinner. I have lived in Bulgaria for 12 years and when we checked out, the receptionist (Mr Georgiev I believe) was again very attentive and asked how we enjoyed our stay. This is the first time in any hotel in Bulgaria I have been asked this!!!! and I have stayed in at least 40...

Average hotel from Albena, great location, the food is varied and the rooms are nice, even though they are kind of small. The services from the main restaurant are terrible. There is a waiter, a tall grumpy old man, that I really don't know why is he still working there. One morning he was aggressive, didn't let me self service for the coffee, so I've asked him to call the manager - the Russian mobster Mr. Vasilev. The manager didn't come, so I went to search him, he was sitting on the terrace, watching the view. This manager last night came to me & my family& friends and asked me when we are leaving because the guests are upset because we reserved a 10 person table for 8 nights and this is not common practice, kind of rude is you ask me, it's not my duty to calm other guests and you didn't do us a favour for the reservation, where were we supposed to eat, if we had half board? A chef refused me to make an omelette without mushrooms one morning, showing me that they are already made and he left. Really hostile environment in the main restaurant, nobody is smiling there. I got the feeling everybody is waiting for a tip there, even though the services are terrible. 2 days in a row at the pool a 15-16 yo teenager boy was nude for 2-3 minutes, even though they were little kids around, nobody did nothing. The food at the pool is good, a couple of nice waiters from there are Mrs. Elena P. and a charismatic brunette man, you'll recognize him. A very good animation team for the kids, especially Iva. The difference between 5 stars to 2 stars is because of the main restaurant people and services. You will see a tip section on each bill you decide to put it on the room, just put X and tip individually, whoever deserves and you want. I don't recommend this hotel, avoid it. This was my second and...