Review Shipka Hotel - Golden Sands resort

By: J. Kay - Cheshire  (July 28 2005)
Hotel name: Shipka hotel ***
Hotel location: Golden sands resort
Comment: The entrance to the hotel is attractive, clean and welcoming. The rooms are basic but comfortable. The restaurant - well, that's where the real trouble starts! The staff are very unfriendly and rarely smile. Their customer service skills are almost non-existent. The boy at the door who takes your room number was the only person to smile, talk to us or be polite. The head waiter and waitress regularly shouted at other members of staff and ticked them off in front of guests. The young girls were poorly trained, lazy and not up to the job in a hotel that claims to be 4 star. They dropped plates, mugs and cutlery on the floor every single mealtime. They regularly snatched dishes before you had finished eating. Sometimes they left the dishes from the entire meal on the table till you left the restaurant. The food was awful. It was stodgy, lukewarm and obviously prepared for German palates, not British. I had serious food poisoning twice and my wife had it once. On the second occasion I didn't eat for three days. After that we decided to eat out and only took coffee and rolls for breakfast. The resort is very poorly run. Everywhere you went there were young girls offering tickets for free drinks at bars and discos. Walking 100 yards from the hotel you would be stopped at least 15 times and asked to go to the Muppet Club or Papaya (a sleazy sex joint for women) which really embarrassed us, considering we were obviously a married couple! The street outside the Shipka is riddled with prostitutes plying their trade and selling their wares which were as tacky as the rest of the merchandise on offer in Golden Sands! Safety on the beach was terrible. Jet skis and paragliders mingled amongst children and adult swimmers, endangering their lives. No Health and Safety legislation here, which does not augur well if Bulgaria is serious about joining the EU in 2007. The prices for watersports were excessive in relation to the cost of other things in Bulgaria and on a par with decent resorts in Spain or the Canary Islands. The whole resort had an air of desperation about it as the locals constantly pestered you to part with your hard earned currency. They were rude, aggressive and just absolutely nasty when you ignored them or refused to enter their establishments. Bulgaria has a lot to learn if it wants to attract British visitors. If things do change then I may consider a return trip around 2099!
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By: Sue Meehan - Cheshire  (September 2004)
Hotel name: Shipka hotel ***
Hotel location: Golden sands resort
Comment : We arrived on a very wet miserable night at the very beginning of the season. It rained all of the following day which meant that we sloshed around the resort, which, with friends and 3 bored children was no fun. On the first night and for the following two we were all kept awake by groups of local youngsters staying in the hotel who were celebrating their graduation. The children were upset by this, but the rep did not appear particularly bothered and we were told that they would be gone after a couple of nights. For the first three to four nights there were pr*stitutes openly using the hotel bar to tout for clients, but the rep seemed to think that they were just friendly, provocatively dressed local young ladies! We were told by a local shopkeeper that at night outside the hotel during high season, that they are "busy" in the street.
The hotel itself was clean - but ask for a floor higher than the first - you will be over the nightclub. The indoor pool is not heated and the jacuzzi did not work for the length of our stay. The reception staff and most of the restaurant staff were surly - and when our son was sick in the restaurant gave me two tissues to mop up with. It was left to the mainly German tourists sat nearby to hand me the tissues from their tables. Having said that the two girls behind the pool bar were brilliant!! If you are going to Golden Sands stay at the other end of the resort - it is flatter and there is alot more going on. The hotels were much nicer and there are more restaurants and bars. There were very few English in the resort and if you are after the typical English pub type nightlife, you will not get it. It was low key and geared towards the German tourists. At "our" end of the resort there was a pool area and restaurant which was really nice just being completed as we came away and the resort seemed to be coming to life. Good bargains to be had in leather and gold, but not much else. The local beer is cheap, but McDonalds is roughly the same as home. Varna was a let down, the shops are full of fake tshirts and not much else. It was also full of gypsies - we were warned by the taxi driver who took us in to watch our purses and wallets and the children, who were all blond and blue eyed as they were known to snatch them. The taxi drivers we used were great and full of local information - they took no money from us when we reached Varna and arranged to come and pick us back up. The beach is clean - but don't forget to take plenty of change with you as you need to pay to use the loo! - Everywhere! The airport has no duty free shop to speak of - get rid of your leva before you leave the resort as they are not accepted at the duty free counter. There is a bar and a small shop selling sweets which does however.
Have a good holiday!!!!!
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