Penelopa Palace Apart Hotel & Spa

We stayed in Penelope Palace, Pomorie for a week in mid June. First impressions were very positive. We were met at the taxi by a porter who took our luggage to reception and then to our room. We were pleasantly surprised that the room/apartment was so spacious. It was immaculately clean and tidy, as was the whole hotel. There was complimentary tea/ Coffee. Breakfast in the dining room was excellent. There was a choice of 8 different breakfasts. All served to us by very polite and helpful waiters/ waitresses. Daniel, in particular, went out of his way to make our wedding anniversary dinner special. The bar staff were also very attentive. I must give Teddy a special mention. The hotel itself was situated straight across the road from a beautiful white, sandy beach. Our only slightly negative point was that the hotel is located slightly out of the way, meaning that it was necessary to get a taxi or bus ( not expensive) to go to the town centre. All in all, we had a brilliant holiday.

Having never been to Bulgaria, this was bit of a leap of faith! The hotel is not luxurious but it is super clean, friendly, good value for money and in a nice spot by the beach. We stayed in the double/twin room option (ie not an apartment). Although no sea view, it was comfortable, extremely spacious, with a balcony, fridge and kettle (bring your own tea/coffee). The pool is very nice although relatively small and I'm sure it would get busy in high season. It is also unsupervised and the only downside of our stay was that some children were left to their own devices, with little consideration for other guests. We visited at the end of May which is low season, and restaurants and bars around about were mostly closed. I gather things pick up from June. However you can easily travel into old Pomorie , Nessebar or Sunny beach by bus or taxi (check the price before you get in!!) where there is more choice. We mostly ate in the hotel restaurant, which had plenty of choice. Breakfasts were a highlight, being a la carte rather than a buffet, which was a nice change. We appreciated a warm and sunny short break, and would return to explore more of the area. At the time of writing, the going rate for a taxi transfer to and from the airport was 30 Liev.

The only reason i leave this hotel a one-star is simply because of the management and hopefully something change for the better! We stayed there last year and we loved it ,but this year,sadly, they just became like everyone else - hungry for money. All the prices are even higher compared to last year ( have in mind you are in a very small, village-like town ). Have in mind that in this price you only get an average breakfast and that's pretty much it. Their "private beach" is a money laundering machine , they kindly ask you to pay 30 leva for 2 sunbeds and an umbrella ?!? Like ,are you serious people ? The majority of their staff is excellent, especially the waiters around the pool. However the other part talk to you only in Russian like you are on of them, although you are residing in BULGARIA. The prices in their restaurant - oh boy, oh boy ... For example if you are to eat in a luxurious restaurant in Sofia ,Bulgaria, it would cost you half as much, you do the math... Last but not least , they guarantee no free parking and if the street run out of spots you'd be basically forced to pay 10-20 leva per night to park in a facility owned by the hotel, yes, as a guest ! This has been the cherry of the cake and most probably if not certainly my last time on the Black Sea coast. For the amount of money i spent there i could've gone for 2 weeks in Turkey, Greece and other much greater places. I am really disappointed and by leaving the lowest grade possible i really hope this will open the owners eyes and make them fix some things or the future of this hotel will definitely, definitely not be bright !