Golden Beach Park Hotel — Hotel in Varna

Just came home from this 4*s hotel where we stayed between 19-22.08.2018. We got the Yellow Badge: AI @ the restaurant/bar + sunbeds/umbrella @ the beach.

For all the amenities we paid around 100€/day for 2 persons, thus I'd like to share my review with other potential visitors about our stay at this hotel.

Pros: Best thing is the food at the main restaurant, but still don't try comparing Turkish hotels with this one, as you won't find the multitude of dishes, nevertheless the taste of the food was up to our liking (we've had some good fish and mushrooms soups there) - congrats to the Chef! ;) So even if not as varied, food was good and you won't be hungry for sure :) The rooms were nice and cosy and have been cleaned everyday The reception, bartenders and restaurant staff were mostly positive and keen to assist and help The waiters have been very careful and attentive with the dishes Beach sand cleaned in the evening, as we left late and saw the process Beach bar served simple snacks and drinks From 15:30 - 17:00 was a sweet and pleasant interval with Ice Cream @ the Pool Bar :)

Cons: Even on vacation, my wife needed an internet connection to sort out urgent matters at work. We were unpleasantly surprised that in 2018(!) you STILL DON'T HAVE free wi-fi access on the hotel territory. The wi-fi vouchers had to be paid @ the reception: 2,5€/5Levas - 24 hrs or 12,5€/Levas - 7days. The charge for 1 week @ the hotel is absurd and tops my Hi-Speed home fiber optics Internet+TV+Phone subscription/month! After buying a wi-fi internet voucher and going back to the room we were again very dissapointed to find out that only 1 person(!) could use the wi-fi at a time, plus the connection and speed were VERY POOR. For the AI Badge we were told at the bar that NONE of the cocktails were included and their cost was around 3€/6Levas for cocktail, whereas the neighbouring terraces and bars served them for less, thus for us it was a very weird AI policy. The soft drinks like cola/sprite had a specific taste - not like the original ones. Tea/coffee was NOT served in the restaurant in the afternoon/evening which was strange for us. What's odd is that not even a bottle of water was free in the room upon arrival, even if the surrounding supermarkets are indicating prices from 1,05Levas for 1,5L local tap water bottle to up to ~8Levas for Evian. The elevators have had several problems during our stay, so we had to get by stairs to the 9th floor

Important: The hotel is NOT on the 1st line and the way to the beach comprises of 99 stairs at high angle at some points till the 2nd road + a couple more hundreed meters till the promenade and after to the beach itself. It can be taken as both Pro or Con for some, as if just going to the beach with just the towels would be OK, though if you've got a beach bag + water matrass + others were taking their kids and their trolleys - it could be very tricky.

P.S. Should any of the managers of the hotel read this review, please take into account that the hotel itself has a HUGE potential, though please NEVER forget that you're not on the 1st line, so stop being so greedy and charge each service extra even for the AI. Would rethink again my choice if I had to visit and the "Cons" would still...

The Good: Built in 1998, this hotel remains in rather nice condition. It has open and closed swimming pools, gym, several outside bars. Food and drinks are quite good, but if you're in for a longer than 2-3 day stay the lack of variety will make everything taste bland.

The Bad: The Staff. The staff does not smile, does not care about the guests and may become rude if you get in their way. Upon arriving (at 10:00) the staff refused to give us a room even though the hotel was empty. They told us (a group of around 20 people) to wait until 14:00 and when asked if we can get lunch or drinks, said no. The fact that they knew about our arrival in advance, the fact that the hotel was almost empty, the fact that all of us were staying All Inclusive, gave us a shock. With 20 people escalating this issue the staff backtracked and gave us the All In passes so we could go to the bars and the restaurant before check in. The Rooms. All rooms in this hotel are flagged as having see view. The room they gave to me and my wife was on the ground floor, facing North West, with maybe a slight glimpse of the see. The worst thing about the room was it's balcony being next to the kitchen staff smoking area. With 1-2 staff members having a smoke at any given time. Upon discovering this I went to talk to the reception manager for a room change. I was told this was impossible due to the hotel being full. Even when offering to pay for the room change I was given the same answer, the hotel is full. This came about as outright lie, as during the next few days countless number of buses completely packed with tourists were arriving and starting to fill the hotel. The Noise. Don't forget to take your earplugs. During the first few days the hotel had some events taking place in the main restaurant area. It seems that the usual "no noise after 23:00" rule does not apply to Bulgarian hotels as the parties were quite intense and lasted to about 3-4 in the morning. Again escalating such issues to staff will result in false statements. Conclusion: If you don't mind unfriendly staff, don't mind steps (there are a few hundred steps to the town and beach), don't mind the slow and expensive Wi-Fi and can somehow bargain for a room on the 8-9th floor, this hotel can provide value for it's...

Spent 4 nights here .Not really a 4 star hotel more like a 3. Pros: big room, clean, no funny smells in the bathroom or from sewage, bed comfy enough, extra blankets and pillows in the dressing. housekeeping doing a very good job with daily cleaning and changing towels despite all the comments below that scared me before going there food was delicious - a lot of options from a bunch of salads, veggies, meats, barbecue for lunch and dinner with different meats daily, pancakes in the morning. Pastries not the best but can't have it all for the price. The comments bellow from fellow Romanians with "only 2 types of soup", and "food different than in Romania" - you are not at your mother's house, but in Bulgaria - different country with different food ;) . Plenty of soda drinks, water, beer and wine. In the 4 days that I stayed some food repeated yes like french fries and salads but other cooked foods were different. Also the comments with "reusing food from the breakfast in the lunch meals" - what do you guys expect them to do , throw it away? that's what every restaurant ever does. Alcohol - not sure of the quality but tasted okay and we had no issues. coffee - acceptable to good depending on what you choose on the machine pool with lots of chairs and shade from umbrellas and huge trees - 2 lifeguards during the day pool bar - nice staff, very good ice cream, good cookies during serving hours -staff pretty young and helpful, did their job very well reception looks very nice with a lot of seats inside and outside on the terrace saw there is a kids activities corner with games and stuff Cons: the fridge in the room dirty and the safe deposit box broken - didn’t need them so didn’t care hotel in general - oldish and not so clean outside the room, that is a minus from me , needs some restoration. -10 sunbeds on the beach - huge con if you come for the sand and the sea gym - very old , not sure anyone worked out there during my stay for those minding exercising or climbing stairs: around 50 stair climb from the beach to the hotel

All in all pleasant experience with good food, had a good time with my friends. Good experience...