Information
Kempinski Hotel; www.kempinski.com Tel:052 333 222
Hotel Admiral; www.goldensands-bg.com Tel 052 390 200
Purpose-built tourist resorts are not everyone’s cup of tea, but when you have two lively young boys to entertain, they are a godsend. Living on the Black Sea coast means we have the pick of the crop, but our firm favourite remains Golden Sands, known locally as Zlatni Piasatsi. The area is famous for its mineral springs and the purest quartz sand on the Black Sea coast. It also forms part of the Zlatni Piasatsi National Park and is flanked by rich green deciduous forests and limestone cliffs, which peak at the Frengen Plateau.
The resort offers something for everyone. For children, there are endless rides, trampolines, bungee jumps, bouncy castles and bumper cars. The area is interspersed with frequent play areas and there are plenty of snack foods including a vast selection of fruit stalls selling fresh local produce. On the main promenade, a colourful big wheel gives its riders panoramic views across the resort. Police checkpoints at every entrance and lifeguards at every poolside mean that children are safe here and can enjoy digging on the three kilometre long sandy beaches, or collecting crabs and pretty shells along the shoreline. The sea is clean and shallow for several metres, but its slight slope means you need to tread carefully to avoid the pebbles and shell debris washed up from further along the coast.
Teens may revel in the wealth of stalls offering hair-braiding, henna tattoos, nail painting, souvenirs and a wealth of designer fakes in all shapes and sizes. Bootleg CDs, DVDs and computer games cost a fraction of their retail price and older teens may revel the night away at “Party Street“, located on the resort’s second tier. At night-time, it gets noisy here, the area is renowned for its night clubs and karaoke bars, but there is rarely trouble. Here again, the street is lined with stalls, restaurants and bars.
Ladies may choose to pamper themselves at some of the larger hotels spa centres. My personal favourite is the Kempinski Grand Hermitage’s Ayurveda spa where you can relax and enjoy a wide variety of treatments from exotic facials to stress relieving massages. Sadly beauty comes at a price here and most prices at the Kempinski are in euros not lev.
Older and more sedate visitors may prefer a stroll down the main promenade, where there is an impressive collection of beach art, discreetly positioned amidst the dearth of cafes and restaurants. Bronze nymphs holding on to each others feet as they glide through an imaginary ocean, a series of giant hands reaching out of the ground as if to grab at freedom and my favourite piece, a simple carving of a bottle, which faces the ocean. When you look into it, you can enjoy the blend of colours from the grass, sand, sea and sky.
The resort’s layout is a distinct advantage over the other Bulgarian resorts; the beach is separated from the main walkway by a row of well-maintained swimming pools, bars and restaurants. Each attraction blends in with the resorts array of restaurants offering everything from authentic Bulgarian cuisine to Chinese food. On the third tier you can spend the day at Aquapolis, a fun, but pricey water park designed to suit all ages and abilities. There is also wide variety of water sports and boat trips on offer and the beach is lined with comfortable sun-beds and umbrellas where, unlike other international resorts, endless beach sellers will not disturb you, although this luxury comes at a price at around 9 leva a day!
The resort is extremely well maintained. It is kept spotlessly clean throughout the season by uniformed street cleaners. The water is clear, the beach is well manicured and regularly cleaned of any litter earning Golden Sands Blue Flag status, the coveted international award given to environmentally clean resorts. The only mode of transport permitted in the resort is a Disney-style train, which carries passengers along the length of the main boulevard and up to the water park.
My favourite lunchtime haunt is the Kempinski’s Sunshine Cafe, which offers a wide range of coffee specialities and snacks. It is located directly by the outdoor pool, so whilst the children play I can sip on an iced latte and admire the beautiful landscape from the comfort of the wooden chairs with soft cushions. My sons feast on an enormous home-made Kempinski beef burger, which represents relatively good value at 12 leva when compared to a kebab off the main strip retailing at 10 leva for two. The thing to note here is that beverages cost a fortune and most people buy their own from the local shop down the road. No one seems to mind this, providing you do not drink them in the bar area.
If you feel like a weekend break then the best hotel deals are found out of season, the best time being spring when the temperature is rising, but the resort is not inundated by an abundance of package holiday makers, revealing too much of their lobster tans and speaking in loud English, German and Scandinavian accents. We stayed at the five star Admiral Hotel on the main strip. An inter-linking family suite, sleeping four people in two separate bedrooms cost a mere 150 leva a night out of season, but prices rise to 600 at peak times.
Being expats means, we crave things that are often hard to come by in Bulgaria and one of our favourite evening treats is an Indian curry at the Taj Mahal restaurant close to the somewhat crass model of the Eiffel Tower. A meal for four people with alcoholic drinks costs in the region of 60 leva, but its well worth it and the chicken jalfreezi is as good as my locals back home.
Occasionally, we round off our evening watching the pool show at the Sirena bar, where there is some great dancing but none as hilarious as this summer’s Tom Jones act.
