Zornica Residence

Just returned from a holidays with 3 friends. All female. The hotel was spotless, I do agree with an early post that sometimes dirty sheets were reused when the cleaner had been in- but we did see her mop and hover the room so it was cleaned unlike the last posters. The staff were all lovely, even the ones who didn’t speak English. I appreciate being abroad you can’t expect everyone to speak English but my only criticism would be that one night, the chef couldn’t answer whether the pasta sauce was vegetarian or not - and there was no signs up to say what was in the dish unlike most of the other food available. This resulted in a vegetarian eaten some pasta sauce with a very little amount of mince meat in it. We maybe should have got confirmation from the manager and not took the word of another English couple but I still feel this to be a valid point. Other that that, there was no faults we could find with the hotel. Good selection of cocktails and the staff in The Living Room bar were amazing, Yanny and Petya from the animation team were nothing but lovely, nice view of the pool, beautiful sunsets, close to the strip, and cheap. Bulgaria, we hope to see you again soon.

Stayed for 2 weeks at beginning of September. I cannot believe this hotel has a 4* rating or 41/2 out of 5 on Trip Advisor - it is only worthy of 3 stars. To gain extra stars, a hotel usually has to have more facilities like indoor pool, spa, gym, shop etc. The Zornica only had an outdoor pool. The staff weren't very friendly except for a couple in the bar and restaurant. We found it difficult to maintain eye contact with them, therefore, could not raise a smile or talk to them. Maybe their lack lack of English didn't help. In the restaurant, the salad bar and bread were great, however, the hot food, although good quality and varied, was never hot. Yes there was a microwave, but you cannot successfully reheat all food - especially COLD fried eggs ! Bar drinks were good except the mixers were not always balanced correctly. Rooms were comfortable and very clean. In fact in the whole hotel, cleaners were always visible even sweeping up the tiniest speck. Good to have a free safe and WIFI although this did not work very well. Got the best reception in my room. My last point is on Health & Safety issues. There were no fire evacuation notices in the rooms or corridors and I did not see any fire escape stairs on the outside of the buildings. Secondly, there is a broad sweep of walk-in steps in the swimming pool which was good but desperately needs a hand rail(s) for safety Overall, this was a cost effective holiday but would I return - probably not..

I stayed at the Zornica Residence mid September as part of a Jet2 Holidays package. The transfer time from the airport is approximately 40 minutes and being an early morning flight our room was ready on arrival. The hotel is very good, the staff are a credit to the hotel. All were very helpful, especially the bar staff where service was always with a smile. Only local drinks are available on the all inclusive package, but unlike other hotels they were perfectly drinkable, well at least the beer, gin & tonic and soft drinks which I mainly drank. The hotel has an area on the beach with free sunbeds and a small bar which serves beer and soft drinks. Beach towels are provided free of charge and can be changed daily, however there is a hefty charge if you lose your towel. Sunbeds are also available around the pool, but you have to be early if you want one in a decent location. The only issue I had was that the plastic sunbeds are quite uncomfortable and would benefit from replacement. Food is generally good although choice can be limited. It can be lukewarm at times, however this is not an issue as a microwave is available if you like your food hot. It was also nice to be able to sit outside for your meal. The hotel offers free wi-fi and also a free safe and there is a fridge in the room which we made use of for our drinks (no mini bar). The hotel location is central, very close to the main street, which will either be a positive point or negative point depending on what you are looking for (it can be noisy at night). We enjoyed the convenience of the location, however the season was drawing to a close so I couldn’t comment on what it would be like in peak season. Sunny Beach is what it is, basically a purpose built holiday resort similar to Benidorm. We enjoyed it, the beach bars were nice as was the walk along the promenade. The most annoying thing is the 1 Lev charge to use a toilet almost everywhere even if you were a customer. The prices throughout the resort are very reasonable, with large beers as cheap as 1.50 Lev during the day and up to 4 Lev at night. Nessebar by contrast is very picturesque, enjoyed many afternoons there. You can get there by bus (1.30 Lev) or the water taxi from the beach (10 Lev). On my last day I asked about late check out at the hotel or a courtesy room. The late check out charges were very expensive. I was initially offered a courtesy room when the receptionist produced a file for me to book a time slot, however she chatted with her colleague, the file was closed and I was told courtesy rooms were not available. This is the first hotel I have stayed in that doesn’t offer guests any facilities to shower/change for a late departure. It also happened to other guests, however to my annoyance a couple were in the luggage room who told me that they were give a room to shower? This was very inconvenient so if you have a late flight back, you need to consider the fact that you may not have any facilities available to shower, etc. This has put me off returning to this hotel. Overall, a good holiday in Sunny Beach, but on a final note, be warned that Burgas airport is expensive in comparison to the resort