HVD Reina del Mar

We stayed at the hvd reina del mar in August for 1 week and were blown away, it was AMAZING. We were given room 1521 which was huge with a balcony. Overall the room was very good but there were a few minor niggles; bathroom door was worn out, shower water pressure was unpredictable, one of the 2 sinks was blocked. Positives were; cleaning service was very good, plenty of storage, comfy beds. The main restaurant was HUGE and catered for all needs, babies, children, those with dietary needs. The supply of food was endless. There was a salad station, dips, cheese, meats, breads, pizzas and then cooked foods which varied each day. We had dinner at the other 4 restaurants and were impressed, particularly by the Asian and Italian restaurants. We liked that you could visit the other restaurants (bar the Asian) for breakfast and lunch too. The resort was seriously impressive and huge. We did an average of 10000 steps each day without even trying. The walk from the main hotel to the beach was lovely, through beautiful well kept gardens and past a number of pools. The beach was well maintained and sunbeds were always available, whether at 11am or 2pm. The pools were clean and again had sunbeds available at any time of day. The evening entertainment was really good, great dancers. We even had a pool party and beach party, plus fireworks on the beach Sunday night. The children's entertainers were super friendly and inclusive. The indoor spa was fairly small as was the gym. It got very crowded one morning when there was a rain shower. Otherwise they were a great addition to the hotel and we used the gym most days. We liked that there were very few British families there so it felt like we were really away from home, but this might not suit everyone. There were no English channels on the TV but this didn't bother us too much. Overall, we would definitely recommend this hotel and would consider returning.

I had heard positive reviews about this hotel, and while some aspects are great, the service was deeply disappointing for a 5-star establishment.THE POSITIVES:Beautiful Grounds: The hotel has lovely, well-maintained facilities and a vast territory.Great Beach: The beach is beautiful and endless (though these are simply the natural perks of Bulgaria's coastline).THE NEGATIVES (SERVICE & DISCRIMINATION):The Issue: The staff includes international workers (Ukrainians, Turks, Indonesians). While there is nothing wrong with hiring foreign labor due to local shortages, these employees must respect the guests and follow local regulations.Unacceptable Behavior by Server Ozan: I am a guest who uses crutches. A waiter of Turkish origin named Ozan showed a negative attitude toward me from day one and flatly refused to serve me at both the pool and the evening bar.The Consequences: When confronted, he made poor excuses to his managers, claiming he was 'too busy'. Today is my fourth day here, and I am forced to get my own drinks from the pool bar and the amphitheater. Meanwhile, Ozan deliberately walks past me with a raised tray, covering his face to ignore me.CONCLUSION:It is unacceptable that I am forced to speak English in my own country just to avoid going hungry or thirsty in a 5-star hotel. If someone does not want to work, they should quit so that competent, responsible young people can take their place. If this type of discrimination against a disabled guest happened in Turkey, this waiter wouldn't have kept his job for another day."

A 5-star hotel with 1-star service – disappointing from the very first day This is only our first day at the hotel, and unfortunately the level of service has already been shockingly poor. The hotel itself may be nice, but that becomes almost irrelevant when the attitude and professionalism of the staff are so far below what you would expect from a 5-star property. The worst experience so far was with the bellboy/luggage attendant. Before check-in, reception explained that we should not take our luggage ourselves because we first had to park the car elsewhere, and that the luggage would be taken to the luggage room. When we politely asked the luggage attendant to help us with this, he actually raised his voice at us and complained that, since we had not checked in yet, he did not understand why he should have to deal with our luggage and supposedly “do the same thing four times.” In reality, the luggage only needed to be taken to the luggage room once, as we would collect it ourselves from there later. Whether his shift had just ended or not is completely irrelevant from a guest’s perspective. If there was an issue, it should have been handled internally or communicated politely. A guest at a 5-star hotel should never be shouted at for simply following the instructions given by reception. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be an isolated incident. From our interactions on the very first day, the general attitude of several members of staff has felt unwelcoming and poorly trained. The luggage attendant simply took it to another level. The experience before arrival was not much better. We emailed the hotel asking whether early check-in might be possible and received no reply even after approximately 12–14 hours. The arrival procedure itself is also surprisingly inconvenient. You are apparently not allowed to drive into the hotel grounds before completing the check-in/payment process. Instead, you have to find somewhere to leave your car on the street — in our case at least around 300 metres away — walk to reception, complete the formalities, and only then are you allowed to return to your car and drive onto the property. We were told that early check-in was not possible, which is perfectly understandable if the hotel was full. What is difficult to understand is the complete lack of hospitality surrounding the situation. At a genuine 5-star hotel, even when a room is not ready, you expect staff to welcome you, explain the situation professionally, take care of your luggage and perhaps suggest where you can comfortably wait or what facilities you can use in the meantime. Luxury hospitality is not defined only by the building, the rooms or the number of stars displayed at the entrance. It is defined by how guests are treated. And based on our experience from the very first day, this hotel may have five stars on paper, but the service we have received so far is nowhere near a 5-star standard. We still have the rest of our stay ahead of us, and I sincerely hope our experience improves. If it does, I will gladly update this review. But for a hotel positioning itself in the 5-star category, this has been an extremely disappointing first impression.

We had a wonderful stay at Reina Del Mar at the end of July. One thing that really stood out was the food. I don't eat meat so always worry that the buffet won't provide enough variety, but it was incredible. I could have eaten there 3x a day every day and eaten something different at each meal. The other restaurants were also fantastic. We travelled as a family with 2 children (5 and 2 years) and it was incredibly family friendly whilst still feeling like a luxury resort for adults. Our children loved the different pools and the entertainment, and there was always something for them to eat. The cleanliness of the hotel was second to none. Every morning you can see the staff meticulously cleaning ever sun lounger, floor, light fitting etc. It was spotless! I am a travel agent so look at hotels daily and my standards are high. I wouldn't hesitate in recommending Reina Del Mar to my clients! And hopefully we will come back again too.

We had a wonderful family holiday and would like to give a special mention to some of the staff who really helped make our stay so enjoyable. Kabir at the Lobby Bar, Yogi, Diva and Slav at the Beach Club, and Tatti at Belinda’s were all fantastic. Their warmth, attentiveness and hard work made a real difference to our holiday, and they are a credit to the resort. The kids’ club has also been amazing. The lovely ladies that run this are great! There is a fantastic variety of activities to keep the children entertained, with something for everyone. A special mention must go to the street dance class, which our children absolutely loved. We also really appreciated how inclusive the kids’ club is, making sure that all children can get involved and feel welcome. The food throughout the resort has been very nice, although we felt the Italian restaurant could have a slightly better dinner menu. That said, we absolutely loved coming here for the à la carte breakfast. We also think that introducing a children’s menu in the à la carte restaurants would be a great addition for families. There are a few areas that could be improved. All of the public toilets had a noticeable and unpleasant odour, which made us wonder if there may be an issue with the drainage. The pools could also be heated a little more. The main pool and children’s pool were quite cold during our stay, while the smaller, quieter pool was much better heated. Overall, though, we had a fantastic family holiday. The staff work tirelessly to make this resort a great place to stay, and their efforts really do show. It is a shame that some guests can be rude or unappreciative of the hard work that goes into making everyone’s experience enjoyable. We certainly appreciated it and would like to thank the whole team for making our holiday so memorable.