Grifid Foresta

I'm not sure if the 5 star reviews on here are merited and it was not what we expected of such a highly rated hotel so i will give an honest review to help you understand what to expect if you stay here. Positives ; Spotlessly clean hotel, rooms cleaned every day, free safe. Soft drinks and beer in the room fridge are free and replaced every day. Some of the staff are friendly, others not so much but that might be due to the language barrier. A short 10 minute walk to the main resort down the steps by the road opposite the hotel. A free minibus to and from the beach, free sun loungers and umbrellas on the beach. The all inclusive drinks are included at the beach bar. Drinks from the lobby bar are good, surprisingly good whisky and brandy. Plenty of room to sunbathe and relax on the terrace by the pool. Now the negatives; There is no proper bathroom in the room, its open plan so the sink & shower are integrated in the room with no door. The toilet has a door but its in a glass enclosure, so If you want privacy to shower and dry/go to the toilet there is none. The food although ok is not hot enough, the dining room could really do with a microwave to heat up your food. The swimming pool is very small, six people in it at the same time would make it crowded. The terraces are very bare and could do with some plants to brighten it up, there were some planters but everything in them was dead as they were not watered. There is an open self service bar by the pool but i wouldn't touch the soft drink machine. Large wasps (twice the size of wasps we see in the UK) were crawling up the spouts of the drinks dispensers, not only does it look nasty but is very unhygienic. There is nothing to do at night, they made an attempt to put some entertainment on when a couple of local acts, dancers/singers came in for an hour on 2 nights but not really good entertainment. At 4pm the staff bring spirits to the pool area to mix cocktails along with a few baguettes and some cakes. On one day the waiter brought out empty bottles of gin and vodka, rather than go inside to get more he just said there was none left. Unfortunately the food is kept in an outdoor fridge which was not clean. We witnessed the manageress supervising the cleaning of it after about day 5 of our holiday, I suspect it doesn't happen often. There was also an ice cream freezer outside which disappeared on the same day the fridge was cleaned, no explanation was offered as to why. What the photographs don't show is the hotel is situated next to a busy road and is not the "tucked away location" claimed in its description. Also right next door is a large arched corrugated iron shed which is some sort of car storage facility. They have tried to disguise it with army camouflage nets but its still an eyesore. All in all we enjoyed our stay here, it was relaxing, the weather was great but would we return? --- the answer is a no from me, we have stayed in far better places at a similar price.

Myself and my partner have just returned from a lovely peaceful week at this hotel. The hotel is very clean and modern and is set away from the noise and crowds of the beach front. You can walk down to the beach from the steps directly opposite the hotel which takes around 15-20 minutes. The walk back up is quite steep in places. There is also a free shuttle bus which goes to and from the hotel and beach several times a day which we used when our legs were not quite up for the walk. The food was lovely and different each day. We were worried that a small hotel might have become a bit repetitive but this was not the case. The staff in the hotel are all very polite and friendly. Our top marks go to Philip/Philipe on the reception desk. He both checked us in and out and was nothing but smiles and polite. The hotel manager (lady with blonde hair, we didn't catch her name) really makes sure everything is run smoothly and efficiently. Pavel who worked on the bar inside and the pool bar was also extremely helpful and friendly. He was working very long hours but always served with a smile. The only real downside to this hotel I would say was the evening entertainment. One night you would have a performance by local dancers with loud music, the next there would be nothing at all. The hotel is definitely one for relaxing and chilling out however for the younger crowd I am not so sure it would please everyone. In the evening most people sat outside in the dark saying very little to each other which we did find quite amusing. We were aware of this though before we booked so knew what we were expecting. It was our first trip to Bulgaria and if we do return we would be happy to stay in this hotel again.