Sol Nessebar Mare

“Good family holiday”

Sol Nessebar Palace (TUI) – Family Holiday Review We stayed at Sol Nessebar Palace as a family with children aged 8 and 10 and had a really enjoyable holiday overall. It isn’t a luxury resort, but it offers a very solid family all-inclusive experience, particularly if you are looking for swimming,… more

Sol Nessebar Palace (TUI) – Family Holiday Review We stayed at Sol Nessebar Palace as a family with children aged 8 and 10 and had a really enjoyable holiday overall. It isn’t a luxury resort, but it offers a very solid family all-inclusive experience, particularly if you are looking for swimming, slides, a safe beach and a relaxed atmosphere. There are some areas that could be improved, but the positives definitely outweighed the negatives for us. Rooms We stayed in a standard twin room with two pull-out beds. It was perfectly adequate but fairly basic, with limited space. There was enough room for everyone to sleep comfortably, but there was no divider between the adults’ and children’s sleeping areas. One practical issue was that if the children were asleep, getting out onto the balcony was awkward as you had to pass through the room. If you don’t plan to spend much time in the room, this isn’t a major issue, but it is worth being aware of. For our late checkout we had to change rooms and ended up in a sea-view suite. This was much larger and noticeably nicer than the standard room, although it wasn’t an option available through our TUI booking. The downside was that it overlooked the pool area, so it was much noisier. Food The food was acceptable and there was plenty of it, but I can understand why some reviews describe it as repetitive. There is a good amount of choice at each meal, but the variety over a full week is more limited than it first appears. The restaurant layout and stations stay the same, with dishes changing within each section rather than completely different menus or themes each night. For example, one day the seafood option might be squid and another day mussels, but the overall style remains similar. The strongest part of the restaurant was probably the cold selection. There was a large choice of: * Fresh salad ingredients and raw vegetables. * Pickles. * Cold meats and deli items. * Cheese. * Dips, including an excellent hummus. Hot food typically included: * A few grilled meat dishes. * Meat dishes in sauces. * A couple of pasta dishes. * Two breaded dishes. * One grilled fish option. * One or two seafood options. * One soup and one stew. Staples such as pizza, chips, pasta and toast were always available, which was useful for children or anyone wanting something familiar. Meat was generally cooked well done. Pork and chicken were the most common, with beef, veal and duck appearing occasionally. Desserts were mostly cake-based. There was some fruit and yoghurt available, but not a huge choice if you prefer desserts that aren’t cakes. For someone who is gluten intolerant (rather than needing strict coeliac precautions), there was a reasonable amount of choice. Snacks The hotel has a good range of food outlets around the resort, which gives more choice than relying only on the main restaurant. Snacks included pizza, doughnuts, fresh pretzels, paella, burgers, sandwiches, ice cream and other options. The fresh pretzels were particularly appreciated and the paella was a nice change of pace from the main restaurant food. However, the snack offering is slightly less impressive when you look at the practical reality. Each outlet has limited opening hours, so the actual choice available at any one time is more restricted. The gelateria only had basic ice cream options, and although sushi was advertised (supposedly 9–10pm), we never managed to find it. Overall, the snacks were good and useful, but not a standout feature of the hotel. Drinks The drinks were about what you would expect from an all-inclusive. * Red wine was perfectly drinkable. * Lager on tap was quite weak but refreshing. * Fruit juices from the machines tasted slightly artificial but were acceptable. * Machine-made cocktails were similar — a little chemical tasting but fine. The bean coffee machines were a positive, producing good espresso and very strong milk coffees. A useful tip is to buy a reusable mug with a handle from the bar for €5. It is much nicer to drink from than the disposable paper cups and saves a lot of waste. Pools and Slides The main pool in front of the hotel is large and attractive, with a bridge crossing over it. There are lots of loungers around the pool, although towel reserving is common. It was frustrating not being able to find a free lounger while many were reserved but not actually being used. The water slides were one of the highlights of the holiday. There are five large water slides, which gave our children (aged 8 and 10) enough variety and entertainment to keep them occupied for a long time. They were suitable for different confidence levels and were used repeatedly throughout the stay. Queues could get long at busy times, but the slides were definitely worth it. Beach and Sea The beach was a real positive, particularly for families. The sea shelves very gently, meaning you can walk out a long way before getting out of your depth. This makes it excellent for swimming and gives children confidence in the water. There is an inflatable obstacle course on the beach, which was a lot of fun. The downside is that the beach itself is quite a narrow strip of sand and the sea is extremely calm. There are very few waves and virtually no tide. This was great for easy swimming, but our children missed having waves to jump in and the fun of building sandcastles that get washed away. The beach bar was useful but had a limited drinks selection — mainly coffee, beer and soft drinks. We tried some snorkelling and saw a few small fish and crabs around the rocks, but snorkelling is not really a major feature of this resort. Kayaking was a worthwhile activity. A double kayak from the beach cost €20 for an hour and the calm sea made it easy and enjoyable. Activities and Entertainment This was probably the weakest area of the hotel. The activity schedule was disappointing. It wasn’t always clear what was happening or when, making it difficult to plan around. There also didn’t seem to be a huge amount aimed at our children’s age group. The disco was more suited to younger children. There are lots of paid extras around the resort, including popcorn, candy floss, zorb balls and bumper cars. Having these available is fine, but because they are so visible they did create some difficult moments when children wanted to do everything and we weren’t prepared to keep paying extra. Cleanliness and Staff The hotel was consistently clean. There were lots of staff clearing tables, collecting rubbish and wiping down surfaces, and communal areas were well maintained. The staff were friendly and helpful throughout the holiday. Everyone we dealt with was polite and approachable, and they clearly worked hard to keep the resort running smoothly. Wi-Fi The free Wi-Fi was one of the weaker points. It was very intermittent and only worked properly some of the time. Often devices showed as connected but nothing would actually load. If reliable internet is important, I wouldn’t depend on the hotel Wi-Fi. Atmosphere The atmosphere was one of the things we liked most. There was a wide mix of nationalities staying at the hotel, but English was commonly used as a shared language. Everyone we encountered was friendly and respectful. Despite being an all-inclusive resort, it did not feel rowdy. We didn’t experience any issues with loud drunken behaviour and it felt like a family-friendly place. TUI Experience TUI handled the holiday arrangements very well. Transfers were smooth, staff at the airport and hotel desks were helpful, and flights were on time. Our return flight actually took off and arrived early. The TUI app was less impressive. It felt much more designed for booking holidays than providing useful information once you were already away. We didn’t need to use the TUI representative during the holiday. Late Checkout and Departure We paid €70 for a late checkout until 7pm, which made departure day much easier. Our transfer wasn’t until 9:20pm. After checking out, our wristbands were swapped for plain bands so we could continue using the all-inclusive facilities, including dinner and drinks, until we left. Overall We had a really enjoyable family holiday at Sol Nessebar Palace and would consider returning. The biggest strengths are the excellent slides, good pools, calm family-friendly beach, cleanliness, friendly staff and relaxed atmosphere. The main weaknesses are the repetitive food over a week, unreliable Wi-Fi, basic standard rooms, unclear entertainment schedule and the number of paid extras aimed at children. If you are looking for a family all-inclusive with lots of swimming, safe sea access and plenty to keep children entertained, it is a good choice.

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