The Best Hotel in Bulgaria: Iberostar Sunny Beach Resort! (Review)

A few months ago, I shared my Miami Hotel review and everyone loved the post. This holiday. I had the most amazing time in Bulgaria this year and just feel like I have to share the incredible hotel I stayed at.

When I look for a holiday I always try to pick a country I've never been for. I am constantly wanting to explore the culture of a new area and I love travelling. I've still got so many to see but I'm glad I've managed to stick to my goal the last few years with: Egypt, France, Cape Verde, Morocco, America and now, Bulgaria.

So I booked the holiday fairly late, I was travelling alone but I really didn't have the time nor the energy to organise the interailling trip like I wanted, so I decided the easiest thing was to go to an all inclusive. I thought this would be the easiest and also most budget friendly, but of course single occupancy of rooms adds around an extra £200 to the price of a room. Nevertheless, after lots of research and a strict 13 day window of opportunity to travel to, I found the Iberostar Sunny Beach Resort through Thomas Cook.

It was perfect.

I think a lot of people worry about food at all inclusives and while I am personally, the fussiest eater ever, I have to say, I was really impressed by the food on offer. Breakfast was amazing with so many different options of fruit, cereal, bread, muffins and cooked meat from multiple different countries. For lunch and tea there were two buffet restaurants which offered different food each day. They tended to always have a potato dish, rice, pasta and tray pizza. They then had the usual, bread, salad section, dessert and ice cream. The meat changed each day and they always had a different fish dish which my mum would love. I think the big thing letting them down was the kids corner which didn't really seem to be in use but they did always have chips and chicken nuggets each night.

After a few days at the hotel, I discovered 2 snack bars. One at the back of the pool area where they made fresh pizza by the slice for lunch (10-4) every day and honestly, they were the absolute yummiest! Then at the pool bar they did burger or hot dogs and chips!

The children's activities were amazing with an incredible children's entertainment team. There was multiple play areas outside but also a huge soft play centre and then a children's programme packed with activities.

There were so many different pool areas. There were 3 main big pools with lots of sunbeds and you never had to worry about there not being a sunbed available, no matter what time you arrived at. There were then 2 further pools that were smaller, sitting pools and finally a plunge pool for one of the two water slides. These could be opened on request so always available. There was also a lifeguard at each pool. Finally, there was a gym with an indoor pool underneath it, but that one didn't have a lifeguard.

In the middle of all the pools was a bar, huge seating area and gorgeous man-made waterfall feature. At the top of this section, was the outdoor stage where the evening entertainment show was put on. Unfortunately, it did rain a couple of times while I was there but they very quickly moved it to the indoor stage, in the games room. Amazingly, despite the last minute change, it still ran smoothly on time.

The best part for me was of course the activity list for the adults (or anyone). It was completely jam packed with multiple activities every half an hour. There is defintely something for everyone and you can totally get involved with whatever and however many you wish to. Mini golf, rock climbing and my personal favourite, archery were just a few. They also did table tennis, aqua aerobic and zumba every day and even more. 

I loved how nice all the staff were. The chef's always said hello to me, reception was always helpful, the waitress' were always so thankful for help and my cleaner was so sweet, especially leaving flowers for me each day. 

But of course, the entertainment team were the absolute greatest. They were seriously so nice, interactive and made my holiday. Especially, Tony who went above and beyond. I can't believe how much energy they all have, day in and day out. 

They also had a different show almost every night in my 10 night stay. One show was repeated but I was somewhat thankful. I really wanted to go out and explore Sunny Beach at night but I never wanted to miss a show so I was glad that I got the opportunity. They had a couple of characters, Starky and Stella, who came out after the children's evening disco and then another 'disco' for everyone after the show of the hotel's 'club' songs. The shows varied from the entertainment team to outside company's brought in. They defintely varied in quality but they were all fun and enjoyable. Feel free to head to my individual day posts to see 

Of course, despite all that, it was also a 2 minute walk to the beach which had gorgeous golden sand and for some reason, the area the hotel opened out on was literally the quietest section across the whole of the Sunny Beach coastline so it really is in a great location. 

As you can see, I absolutely loved the hotel. The only thing that let it down a little bit for me was my hotel room. I think I probably got one of the worst ones because a) I booked it totally last minute and b) I was single occupancy. But the view was crap, like utter garbage. I'm so used to waking up on holiday to see the sea or the pool so it was a bit of a disappointment to discover it was a car park and and in the distance some rides but the balcony did catch the last of the sun rays.

Also, the big thing for me was the first day when I had a shower, a lot of wires fell out very close to the water which was a total safety issue. I just keep thinking, if I was electrocuted, when would I have been found?! I wasn't with anyone and I had a do not disturb sign on the door so... Having said that I rang reception and they sent someone up after about 10 minutes and then a maintenance person came to fix it completely after another 15 minutes, which was great. 

But overall, I think my room was a bit of a fluke because the other rooms had gorgeous views and no issues. If it wasn't for my pack to never visit the same place, I would totally go back tomorrow! I adored the whole holiday and it really was just what I wanted: relaxing, fun and entertaining. If you're looking for a budget holiday that's not too far from the UK (have I mentioned it's only a 3 and a half hour flight?!) and hot, but not too hot, go...today!