Elenite, Royal Park Hotel Review

Overall Rating

Location excellent, next to sea, great pool
Very clean, polite cleaners/maids
Spacious rooms
Kids clubs and entertainers great

Restaurant disappointing
Food and drink poor
Illness is still a problem

After 2 weeks of worrying about the Royal Park and all its bad reviews, our family party of 10, ranging from age 4 to 70 left for Bulgaria on 4th August.

I promised myself that I would write my own review on my return to portray my honest view. Whilst I would have liked to tick excellent in all the boxes (as First Choice said on numerous occasions if your rating was 66% or above!), there were some aspects that prevented me from doing so.

To help you form your own view, I thought that it may be helpful to break down my report into the good aspects, bad aspects and things that you should be aware of.

What was good?

Hotel location : " Situated in a remote location , a stones throw from the beach. Complex made up of 3 hotels and lots of villas in the hillside. Grass and flowers were lush and watered every morning.

Hotel cleanliness:- Constantly cleaned morning, noon and night. Yes, tiled floors were mopped and wet at times, but warning signs were put up and you just had to be a little careful.

Hotel rooms :- Clean and spacious, bathroom and shower was good. Our party had 3 rooms in a row on the 6th floor, all with fantastic sea views. Some rooms were obviously situated at the back of the hotel but still had some views of the gardens and water park. There did appear to be a few badly situated rooms but you would be unlucky to get these.

Room maids :- Although our maid did not speak any English we got by with sign language. She was lovely and looked after us during our stay. No problem with towels. We tipped her 2 Levs a day and she was over the moon. Even had photos taken with her before we left.

Pool :- Yes it was cold but the sun was also very hot and it was refreshing once you were in. Water was clean and treated every day. TIP the pool is quite deep throughout so you need to keep an eye on children who are not strong swimmers or take armbands.

Beach/Sea :- Right next to the pool was white sand and the black sea, which was much warmer than the pool. Sea was quite shallow for the first few days of our stay but after a rough day from then on got quite deep fairly quickly.

Kids Club Reps :- Worked very hard from 10am right through until 11pm most days. Clubs run 6 days a week at various times and with different activities. Mostly in an air conditioned room but were occasionally taken outside. Proper procedures were carried out with children signed in and out.

Entertainers :- If you are one for poolside games, there was always something to do for adults and kids from 11am until 4pm from dancing to quizzes to skittles etc. Then it was the evening entertainment from 8pm starting with 45 mins for the kids, bingo, then usually a show at 10pm put on by the entertainers (quite professional).

What was bad?

Restaurant :- Although the restaurant area was constantly swept and cleaned there was still tables that were left dirty (some of the blame however can be put on the holidaymakers who surely do not leave that kind of mess at home!) and the table cloths and chair covers were badly stained. Long handled dustpans were used to sweep the floors and handled dustpans to sweep the tables, which is contradictory to some previous comments stating that short handled dustpans were being used for the floors and tables. The smell in the corridor leading to the restaurant was awful, like a combination of bleach and fat.

Food :- The hot food was very unappetising and badly presented in large metal trays. Similar food most lunchtimes and nights which is to be expected on all-inclusive, but if you don ' t fancy it the first time, then you are in trouble for the rest of the holiday. Meat was always some kind of stewed pork or chicken and veal was popular. Fish was served with the head and tail and there tended to be more bone than fish and it was difficult to separate. There were chips served everyday and usually some form of nugget, always labelled as chicken but sometimes contained a form of sausage (hence the pink colour). Pizza served on random nights and being popular was difficult to get, as it was not frequently replenished. Rice and long pasta was served on most nights but was overcooked and salads and rolls were abundant. You had to be patient for the deserts to be served but this was due to people being greedy, as many would take large quantities before their main meal, only to leave it uneaten on their table. At breakfast, croissants often had unusual fillings and few were plain.

Hot drinks :- The coffee machines were constantly broken and any coffee served in the urns was almost undrinkable. Therefore when you queued for a coffee, you never knew what you were going to end up with. Also hot drinks ended when the bar closed at 12.30am and you could not get another until 7.30 the next morning, not what I would call 'all inclusive ' .

Illness :- Although the food was not good, I can quite safely say that it was cooked properly and there were no problems with food poisoning. But 8 out of 10 of our party did get sick over the course of the holiday. My theory was that the virus that had struck the hotel 3 weeks previous had not been completely eradicated and was still being passed around which you can sort of expect when there are guests arriving and leaving almost daily. In saying this, any illnesses did not last more than 48 hours and did not mean you were driven to your bed.


What to be aware of

Wasps :- From sunrise to sunset there were plagues of wasps which was a nuisance. You could not leave any food or drink exposed as you quickly had at least 4 buzzing around you. I was unfortunate to get stung on the tongue (you have to be very careful when you are eating outside) and my daughter and father were also stung. But you really have to feel for the poor poolside barmen. The wasps by the soft drinks machine were horrendous and they apparently got stung at least 5 times a day. TIP drink and eat quickly when outside. Interesting also to note that the restaurant was not plagued by wasps, only the odd 1 or 2 from time to time.

Sunbeds :- If you need a bed (especially with a parasol), then it is an early start with your towel. We found that you had to be down at 6.30am to get a decent spot on the beach (adjacent to the main pool) and 7am for the poolside (high season, so may be quieter off peak).

Water Park :- Adjacent to the hotel with free entry. There is however a 5 Lev charge for each sunbed and parasol.

Mini Golf :- Quite a good crazy golf course, there is a charge of 12 Levs per person per hour which is not to bad however be prepared for the 30 Lev deposit per person. I know that the deposit is refundable but it made me chuckle that it initially cost £35 for a round of crazy golf for myself and my son!

Local Bus :- There is a bus service which starts and terminates at the hotel and runs to neighbouring Sunny Beach and Nessebar once an hour. It is 3 Levs to Sunny Beach The journey to Sunny Beach takes around half and hour however it is on a very bad road and the bus seemed to be always overcrowded and very very hot. On the night that we ventured to town for a good meal, we found that we could not get on the bus on our return and ended up taking a taxi which is around 25 Levs.

All-inclusive facilities :- On your arrival, you are not told about the full all-inclusive facilities that are available. We found that we were almost 10 days into our holiday before we knew exactly where all the facilities were either coming across them by chance or being told by other guests. TIP use your first day to explore the whole complex instead of heading to the pool or beach, this will prepare you for the rest of your holiday.

A La Carte Restaurants :- There were 2 other all-inclusive restaurants to dine in however you do need to book in advance from 10am on the morning that you wish to dine. Note however that you need to be in the queue 1 -2 hours before to stand any chance of getting booked in (this was high season however so maybe not as bad off peak).

Daytime Snacks :- Choice of hot dog, panini, kebab or pizza. Do be aware however that you have to time it right. Time it wrong and you will be waiting for 20-30 mins for your food.

Power Cuts :- Does happen very occasionally and only once during our 2 week stay. The power was however back on within 10-15 minutes. You were unfortunate if you happened to be in the lift.

Lifts :- Sometimes had a mind of their own and skipped floors. Also very busy at breakfast and around 5pm when guests were leaving the beach and pool. Better to use the stairs at these times.

Overall I would rate the holiday as 'good 'but no more than that. I hope that the bad points will improve as there are many positives for the hotel. For anyone leaving for the Royal Park soon, I hope that you have a great time and that my review has been helpful.