In terms of quantity, hotels in Bulgaria occupy almost the first place in Europe, although quantity does not always translate into quality. They like to build small, family apartment hotels here, with inexpensive accommodation for about 30 euros, unpretentious design and food from the owners. All in all, a solid 2 stars.
Moreover, the most “delicious” ingredient is the food prepared by the hotel owners. Instead of oysters and shark meat, you will be offered mullet with Shopska salad, banitsa or caverma for dinner. And rest assured that everything that the hosts put on the table will be fresh, homemade, cooked in a country style, and therefore delicious and … high in calories. Like my grandmother.
Even though it is not one of the five most exquisite and distinctive on Earth, Bulgarian cuisine can be talked about for hours. Better to try it once than read it online. For now, let's get back to the hotels.
For those who go on vacation through the mediation of a tour operator, they will try to "offer" a hotel of 3-4 stars, which, in all honesty, do not reach the declared rank. Accommodation will cost 40-50 euros, which is very competitive with Turkey or Egypt, but you should not expect mountains of gold from this option. Bulgaria is an economical country, and they save on the interior first of all. Two words about the service: this soulless word of foreign origin does not "stick" to the Bulgarians. We can say that in the service sector there is no obsession or bothersomeness, and there are no well-trained stewards in white shirts either (except perhaps for high-status hotels, where "the situation obliges"). Instead of service, Bulgarians have hospitality, and tourists with the hosts seem to enter into a relationship of trust, incompatible with the concepts of "client" and "service personnel".
And yet, for the discerning: in Bulgaria there are five-star hotels at a price of 100 euros per room. There are few of them and, frankly, they do not shine with the five-star luxury familiar to Europeans. You yourself need to answer the question of the advisability of such investments (or rather, capital deductions), you can only advise you to pay attention to the date of construction. All hotels in Bulgaria, "time-tested and demanding guests", unconditionally cross out - under this sauce they attract guests to boarding houses of the times of Soviet realism with an indelible stamp of interior and ideology. If you are nostalgic for the USSR, go to Cuba. And in Bulgaria it is better to look after a modern hotel complex and not push your elbows on the beach.
Two words about the beaches: they are crowded, but at the same time they are clean and free if you come to the sea with your mat. In other cases, it is advisable to pay extra for shade and comfort - umbrellas and sun loungers are paid separately. In Bulgaria, safety is closely monitored - rescue towers are "stuck" every 100 meters. If a green flag flies above the tower, you can swim “to the fullest”, the sea is calm; the yellow flag allows swimming near the shore, while the red one prohibits swimming altogether.
If you, like most tourists, have a basic instinct (we mean shopping), it's time to buy souvenirs. And not just some magnets, where only refrigerators can attack them! Most often, cosmetics made from roses are brought from Bulgaria. Eau de toilette, soap, lip balm, hand cream and a hundred more jars and tubes for half to become really beautiful. You will not find an analogue of Bulgarian cosmetics anywhere on the planet. In second place is handcrafted Trojan ceramics, as durable as your family life and as vivid as children's dreams. Lovers of the exotic carry tablecloths, lace and woolen, wooden spoons and napkin holders and much more in suitcases to their homeland.
Why do we love this country? Obviously not for five-star hotels and not even for kilometer-long beaches (our children love them) - we are close with Bulgaria. Here we are understood. And this, as we know, is great happiness.
