Azalia Beach Hotel Balneo & Spa

I chose this hotel to spend 1 May and Easter Holiday for this year. Location: The location of the hotel is good, is not far from the small city center, there is an ATM next to the hotel. Parking: In front of the hotel there is a parking space for maximum 10-15 cars. We paid around 10 leva/day. Is good to park near the hotel, we saw some cameras next by because the parking is not guarded. If you do not find space near the hotel, they will redirect you to another parking with whom the hotel has agreement. Room: We got room 207, on the same floor with the restaurant. First I was upset, thinking that the smell will come into the room but no, it was ok. The room was amazing, front sea view, 2 balconies. It is amazing to sleep in the night and to hear the sound of the waves. The room is big enough, equipped with everything, even bathrobe. Cleaning: On this chapter, the hotel is not so well. I was disappointed about the cleaning, when we entered the room it was not very well cleaned, there were stains on the wall, on the carpet. During our stay we did not let the housekeeping too often to come into our room. Beach: The beach is large, is amazing, clean but with small stones. In some parts of the sea the entrance is deep, in other is ok. The staff should step in when they see the clients bring on the beach portable speaker and put lowed bad quality music! It was disturbing for us and we needed to take our things and move to another part just not to hear that music! The restaurant, bars & food The restaurant in the first days, when the hotel was not crowd the food was at a very high quality. Not so many choices but tasty. After 3-4 May, when the hotel stared to be full, the option for the food became larger but lower quality. The beach bar offers just French fries and some meatballs. The ice cream was very good. The only bar that serves alcoholic drinks is the lobby bar, even if they sell as Ultra All Inclusive, most of the drinks are local ones. Only some gin is international brand, beside this, Bulgarian drinks. The bartender is not making cocktails, he gives you the alcohol in a glass and you need to go and add juice and make yourself a cocktail. This is the first time when I experience this. For the Easter Celebration I expected more, on the Easter night in the reception there were eggs and sweet bread but for the lunch or dinner nothing special. Swimming pool & Spa In the rainy days the indoor pool was so crowded, they said is with mineral water but I doubt that, I smelled a lot of chlorine. We enjoyed the sauna. Overall, I can recommend this hotel because of its position, right on the beach. The view from the room and the balcony was amazing.

We stayed at the azalea hotel for a week with their all inclusive package. We mainly had a great time however there are a few things you should consider before booking this resort. Firstly, the staff are not the friendliest people you’ll find, if you are English communication will be difficult as the majority do not speak the language. Occasionally they are rude when asked with small requests such as sending the technician to the room to fix a tv problem or moving to the other side of the bar when you are waiting. The room is quite nice with the majority having a lovely view of the sea. However the air conditioning is pointless as only blows hot air. If you are in the room past 10am and the cleaners attempt to come in they will leave and not return, it happened on several occasions leading to our room not being cleaned for 3 days. Food has a decent selection however if you are a picky eater you are going to struggle, the food is most times quite cold and if you do not come early fruit etc will be finished by the other guests and not replenished. There is a hot griddle which is unique and provides fresh food if it’s attended, such as fresh pancakes in the morning and vegetables in the afternoon/dinner. The soft drink dispensers are almost impossible to drink from sometimes they will be running out of flavour or just taste off, for example the ‘cola’ does not resemble coke at all. We booked massages and found it difficult to communicate with any of the staff however the treatment was good, the games room and gym are also ran by the spa which closes at 19.30 so after 5 pool and gym are unavailable. This can be frustrating as a young couple as there are little to no activities in the hotel or in surrounding areas, therefore it would have been nice to play pool in the evenings. Due to this we travelled from the hotel in taxis to surrounding cities as we would be bored due to the lack of activities which can be costly if it is done every night. All in all, the view is amazing and the facilities indoors/outdoors are great, however would be nice for more activities and less of a language barrier with the staff. Ps when ordering from the bar you will need to stand on the right if you would like to be served and specify that you want a small amount of spirits or else you will come away with a full glass. If you do have any technical issues it’s best to find the younger man at reception instead of the technician himself and be aware when asking the lady receptionist as she will be fed up of your request and usher you away.