Хорошо отдохнули We had great rest

Good day. I decided to become one of the tourists who leave their reviews, stories about the hotel and the rest in general.
We went with a full complement: two adults and two children (9 and 2 years old). We traveled at night on a Bulgarian bus for 13 hours. The children slept all the way. The bus is quite comfortable, double-decker (we are on the second). We arrived at about 8 in the morning, and it’s clear that they didn’t check in at that time, but they said that the manager would come at 10 - maybe somehow it would be possible to check in early. We left our things in the storage room (free of charge) and went to have breakfast. We have not yet put on the bracelets, so we had to look for something nearby. Then we went to the beach. The beach was 5 minutes from the place where we had breakfast. I must say that the beach is very wide. We settled down near the water and went for a swim. The water is just lovely - clean and warm, the entrance is quite suitable for children. The beach, at first glance, seemed very well-groomed and clean. Then it turned out that "pigs" were also allowed into Bulgaria. Around 10 I went to the hotel to arrange an early check-in. The journey took about 15 minutes (I walk fast). The manager said that you need to wait a bit for the room to be cleaned after leaving. Thanks to the reviews from this site, I asked that the windows do not overlook the pool and the room was not on the first floor. Around 11:30 I was given the key to room 201 in building "B". My wish was fulfilled - the room did not overlook the pool and was on the second floor. There was one small "but", but more on that later. The room had 2 beds and one folding chair. The room was not big, but cozy. Air conditioning, TV. Very disappointing lack of a small fridge, but oh well. With regard to the air conditioner, I can say that it seemed that it had not been cleaned since the reconstruction - there were some black spots inside, similar to mold. But there is no way without it - they turned it on when they left, turned it off when they arrived. The toilet and bath (shower with a curtain) are combined and it is usually very hot there (I understand why) compared to the room. After the sea, the appetite broke out and we went to a restaurant to eat (they had not given us bracelets yet). In the restaurant, lunch per person costs 12 leva, but one restaurant worker told us that there is a snack bar near the hotel pool where you can eat for free. Thank you - there are kind people in Bulgaria too : ). Around 2 we were given bracelets. We dined already in the restaurant as full-fledged vacationers.
In the evening it turned out that our room was not the quietest place in the hotel: below us was one of the exits from the lobby, where small tables, chairs and !! ! mini-football !! ! were installed, which was played by both children and adults, because h. until 1-2 nights one could dream of silence.

Regarding sunbeds on the beach. If the agency tells you that an umbrella and sun loungers are assigned to you, this is complete nonsense. "Whoever came first - that and slippers. " It was forbidden to book sunbeds on the beach, but a couple of times I still managed and we were on the first line. And once I came to the beach in the morning after "early booking", but there was no towel. He, like many others, was piled up by the beach service in more than one sunbed. They fight it.
"PARADISE" is a restaurant on the beach where you can dine from 11:30 to 16:30. But we dubbed it "Anthill". If you want to eat in area 12 - don't go there, it's an anthill. The fact is that guests of 3-4 hotels can dine in this restaurant. All the tables are occupied, it is very difficult to get to the food - the crowd almost carries you. Queues for beer and 2-3 streams. And no pizza. We went there a couple of times for a sample, and stopped there.
I recommend asking at the reception for a timetable with information about what is available to you as part of your holiday. Maybe you will learn something new for yourself. For example, you have the opportunity to book a table in one of the proposed restaurants and dine for free. But you need to sign up in advance, 5-7 days in advance, because. tickets may not be enough. We slipped a little and, unfortunately, did not use it - we were offered a visit date two days later than our departure.
In the evening you can go to the center or to the embankment, so there is a brisk trade in souvenirs and other junk (in my opinion). As we were told by "experienced", Albena is not at all the cheapest resort in Bulgaria, but rather one of the most expensive. Show concerts are held in the center once or twice a week.
Exchangers are not everywhere and do not work 24 hours, except for 1-2 exceptions. The hotel operates an exchange office from 9 to 19:00.

Romanians. I want to note that I have nothing against the Romanians, I just state what I encountered. VERY noisy. From small to large. As soon as a company of Romanians comes to the beach, you can forget about calmness: children yell on a par with adults; their stay on the beach is like a picnic (drinks and food are plentiful, conversations are not even loud) with all the ensuing consequences. I have seen the situation once. A company came (6 adults and 3 children), occupied two umbrellas with four sunbeds. A couple of Bulgarians were resting nearby, who, having gone for a swim, left only a towel on one sunbed, and one was empty. So these cunning comrades “stole” this empty sunbed, and then noisily argued that it was necessary to leave something on the sunbed, since it was busy. The beach workers arrived. In the end, it turned out that the "cunning comrades" were guests of the hotel, the price of which did not include free sunbeds on the beach, and they flatly refused to pay, as well as to free up the occupied places. In general, for an hour and a half it was a noisy, but free movie.
Aquapark! This is basically what we came here for. We arrived in mid-July and the water park was (originally) scheduled to open in early June. Then the opening date was moved to mid-July. And then, due to the flood, they moved it to August. But it seems to me that they won’t make it in August either – there’s a lot of work to be done there.
Balchik. This resort town is a 20-minute drive from Albena. As the “experienced” people told us, you can take an excursion that will cost 50-60 levs per person, or you can go on your own and it will cost you 5 levs (round trip) per person from the bus station when leaving the city. There is a marvelous botanical garden. Huge territory, about 300 species of plants. Cascading waterfalls, greenhouses, huge cacti, alleys and streams, etc. There is a wine shop with tasting - very tasty wines, but the prices bite - we tried !!! Very tasty!! ! cabernet worth 130 leva. They said that there is a summer palace of the Romanian queen there, but we did not get there (we had to go down to the beach, but we were drawn up). For those who are interested, at the entrance / exit from the garden there is a street with souvenir shops, with more affordable prices than in Albena.
I really liked Albena as a whole, a quiet family resort with a beautiful beach and gentle sea. The hotel, if not for the air conditioning, would satisfy 100%. I don’t know if we will come back to this hotel, but in Albena we will rest for sure.