AluaSun Helios Beach

We stayed at AluaSun Helios Beach, Bourgas Area, Bulgaria, for 14 nights in July as a family of four (2 adults and 2 teenage boys). Upon arriving at around midnight, check-in was quite disappointing. The male receptionist was very basic in his approach and didn't seem particularly welcoming or pleased to see us. We weren't offered a safe or given any explanation about the hotel or its facilities. Instead, we were handed a slip of paper with some hotel information and told that food had been prepared for us. Unfortunately, the late night food looked as though it had been left out for hours the bread, ham, and cheese were dry and had clearly seen better days. Our rooms were on the fourth floor, and it's worth noting there is no lift. As our teenage sons are classed as adults, we had two rooms, which I had requested to be next to each other, and thankfully they were. However, I was surprised that our room had a connecting door to the room on our left, while our sons' room was on the other side. It would have made much more sense for the connecting rooms to have been allocated to our family. Another disappointment was that, as a married couple, we were given twin beds that couldn't be pushed together rather than a double bed. The air conditioning in our room leaked badly throughout our stay despite reporting it several times, and the shower also flooded the bathroom after every use. It did take 5 days and continually reporting to reception for them to eventually fix the leaking air-conditioning, this wasn't being petty it flooded the floor making it dangerous, the shower was never fixed during the full stay. On the positive side, there are plenty of sunbeds around the pool but did become difficult to get as more families arrived, and it's great that there's always a lifeguard on duty. The lifeguard deserves a special mention, he is one of the kindest, friendliest people at the hotel. He always had a smile on his face, was welcoming to everyone, and was wonderful with both adults and children. The towel man never smiles. The beach is beautiful and right on the hotel's doorstep, although be aware that the beach sunbeds come at an additional cost. Unfortunately, there were also a lot of jellyfish during our stay, and my son was stung four times in one swim. The entertainment team also deserve special praise. They work incredibly hard, are always friendly, and never pressure guests into joining activities, which was refreshing. The housekeeping team work tirelessly to keep the hotel clean, and the staff at the pool bar and the downstairs bar were great fun, creating a really enjoyable atmosphere throughout our stay. The food at breakfast, lunch, and dinner was consistently good, with plenty of choice at every meal. I would have liked to see a wider variety of fresh fruit available, but overall we were very happy with the food. Drinks were plentiful too, with a good selection of cocktails included in the all inclusive package. However, the Coke Zero served throughout the hotel whether at the pool or the bars had a strange chemical taste that we all noticed. We've never experienced this elsewhere, and it wasn't pleasant. There was one incident in the restaurant that I felt could have been handled much better. One evening I was served a meatball that was completely raw in the middle. I took it to one of the kitchen staff, who simply said "oops" and walked away. I then found the restaurant manager and showed her the meatball. She said "oh dear" and took my plate into the kitchen. I watched as the kitchen staff disposed of my plate, but they didn't check the rest of the tray of meatballs or take any other precautions to ensure no one else was served undercooked food. There was also no apology and nobody checked in with me afterwards to make sure I was okay, which was disappointing considering it was a food safety issue. Overall, we had a good holiday. The pool is excellent, the food is generally very good, drinks are plentiful, and there are usually enough sunbeds. The entertainment team, lifeguard, housekeeping staff, and the pool and downstairs bar staff all work incredibly hard and really helped make our holiday enjoyable. I had a massage at the sister hotel after being approached by staff at our hotel, this was nice but very basic, not firm and felt rushed and although apparently was half price at 89 euros, I felt was expensive for what it was. My teenage boys did jet skiing at 70 euros for 20 mins on the beach. You can go to reception to have a private taxi to take you one hours drive away to visit the Old Town, this was well worth a visit, the driver waits for you for four hours this is priced at 120 Euros and a further 10 euros every extra hour you need there, if you need it. Unfortunately, the reception staff could be much more welcoming, the towels man could be friendlier, and there are improvements needed with room maintenance and the way guest concerns, particularly food safety issues are handled. With better customer service and attention to these details, this hotel could offer a much better overall experience.

Everything was Nice and beautiful

We came home a couple of days ago after a lovely break, the hotel is lovely very welcoming and the staff are very friendly, the food is what you would expect for an all inclusive hotel, I know people have commented that the restaurant is too small but I think this is more of the case of people rushing in as soon as it opens leading to a large queue for the food however there is no need to do this as it is regularly replenished, the snack bar in the lobby bar is also good, drinks ate lovely and the cocktails freshly made. The resort is really nice right next to the hotel is a lovely park which is beautifully kept and there are alot of shops and places to eat , the resort is busiest of a night and on a Thursday is a folk dance in the square which is lovely to see, the house on the square is also very nice and reasonable, there ate horse and cart rides outside the hotel which is lovely of an evening. If you come of the hotel on to the promenade and turn right keep walking for ten mins and there is a large inflatable pool with slides on the beach, very reqdonable at 8 euros for an hour, there is also one closer if you turn left you can actually see this from the hotel but it is smaller and a little more expensive. There is more than enough yo do if you want a relaxing break with some things to do a couple of days, lots of posts earlier in the year were very negative but if you do your research before booking its very clear its a seasonal resort and nothing really opens until June, there are some lovely ice cream places in the resort very reasonable if you want to give the children and extra treat ,having said that it is readily available on the all inclusive. As we got further in to the holidays more sunbeds were being saved early morning but you could still get some and all around the pool gets the sun, you may be thankful of the shade later in the afternoon it gets very hot. The daytime entertainment was fun to watch, the evening wasn't great but they did their best, but there are lots of places to go in the resort or sit outside the bar and enjoy the sunset over the sea. The beach is lovely the sea can be rough but there are plenty of lifeguards keeping an eye on things.

It was amazing good staff especially deniz and valentin the bartenders they called me and my friend there special soldiers as we fought people in water fights the pool was really nice and lots of activities mainly 12+ or 18+

Very kind staff,good food, very nice pool☺️