Замечательный отдых Wonderful holiday

For a number of reasons, this year's vacation turned out to be earlier than usual, and we decided to go to the southern coast of Bulgaria. We are 4 people: two adults and two children 5 and 9 years old. Our choice fell on the small town of Sozopol. And let me tell you, we don't regret it at all. Sozopol is one of the oldest cities (settlements) in Bulgaria. It was founded by the Greeks before our era. About 6.000 people live there permanently, the rest are visitors: either vacationers or entrepreneurs providing services and entertainment during the holiday season. The town is small, but clean, even in places of constant congestion of tourists. On the first morning of my stay, I was very surprised, as I witnessed the cleaning of the beach. Waking up early, I went out to the balcony for a cup of coffee and saw a small tractor with attachments driving along the beach. It turns out that the beach was being cleaned from garbage. Having sifted the sand, the tractor began to level the surface of the sand, streaked with footprints of vacationers. And then, I was even more surprised, as two young boys manually sifted sand through a special si-to, near bars, stairs, edges of the beach, well, that is. where the tractor could not do it. There are two main beaches in the city: central and Harmanite beach. We went to the central beach, as the Villa List hotel is located on the first coastline of the central beach. In general, it is worth noting that the coast in Sozopol is rocky, which gives most of the hotels located on the first coastline a magnificent view. So, if you book rooms on the first coastline, take them with a sea view. You-go a little more expensive, but you will not regret it, and every morning and evening you will enjoy the charming seascapes.
When choosing a hotel, we identified several criteria. This is the presence of a swimming pool, a small distance from the beach, the presence of good reviews, the availability of apartments or two-room suites in the number of rooms and, preferably, the category is 4 stars. According to all the criteria, Villa List suited us. The hotel is located very well - on the border of the old town and Harmanite, right in the central part of the city, from where it is easy and quick to get to the old streets of the old town, to Ropotamo street teeming with shops and cafes and Harmanite beaches.
We arrived at the airport in Burgas. The host was the firm "Teddy Kam". The hotel was delivered quickly and without overlays. The distance from the airport to Sozopol is about 45 km, in time the delivery took about 40 minutes, because. drove through Burgas. We arrived at the hotel after 14.00. We were greeted at the reception by a lovely lady who took our passports and immediately gave us the keys to the room. I want to say that as soon as we drove up and got off the minibus, a guy immediately ran down the steps of the hotel, took our belongings and reported to the reception, and then, having learned the number, to the apartments. He explained what and where is located, as well as how to use the split system. Naturally, I had to part with the 2 levs that I had left from the previous trip. What struck me was that in the room, in addition to the multi-split system (in both rooms), there was also an ordinary air conditioner in the living room, and there were two external units on the balcony. Having started to settle down in the room, we got a little worn out and decided to turn on the split system. However, she did not earn. I tried to turn on the air conditioner, but it was also in vain. I had to go down to the reception. The girl immediately dispatched our acquaintance, who was carrying the suitcases, to help. After poking at the "pimps" on the wall and getting no result, the kid turned his attention to the air conditioner, slapped his head and tried to turn it on. But, it wasn’t there, it turned out that there were no batteries in the remote control, which appeared literally in five minutes. We got a working air conditioner, and the boy another 2 leva for speed. Although we used the "conder" a little, but, nevertheless, it was nice that we have it in working order. Actually, we had enough of an open balcony, we turned it on only when we went out for lunch to cool the room a little. The rest of the time we had a balcony constantly open, and the coolness of the sea and the freshness of the air did not let us fade.

By the way, about tips, do not hesitate to give them to the service staff. You relax and they work to make your vacation a pleasant experience. Many will say that money from the air does not fall into your pocket to be distributed right and left. So I don't fall. But you are on vacation, so make it even more pleasant for yourself, and people enjoy work. And you don’t need to save on vacation, in order to save, it’s better not to go anywhere at all. So, leave 2-3 leva to the maid in the morning in the room, in a restaurant it is customary to leave about 10% to the waiter, do not take the change from the bartender in the bar, and for this, always have small money with you so that you do not have to wait for the change, and then in the presence the waiter or bartender to figure out how much to leave him a tip. Believe me, all this will make your vacation much more pleasant. By the way, on our last day, right in the elevator, our maid caught us and decided to say goodbye to us warmly. Though we were surprised by this outcome, but, as a human being, we accepted her impulse and experienced pleasant moral satisfaction.
Now about the number. The room was not that excellent, but more than good, we liked it. The furniture is not scratched, the walls are not shabby. The first room had a soft corner, a table, two ottomans, a wardrobe, a small wall with a minibar (fridge in the cabinet) and an LED TV (by the way, Russian-made). The closet, however, let us down, it seemed quite small to us, but to our surprise, with difficulty, but still, we placed all our things in it. There are also two rollaway beds for our children. The second room had a double bed and two bedside tables, in principle, nothing else would fit here, and there was no need to. The bathroom is combined, but large enough. The balcony is quite big compared to other rooms. On the balcony there were two external air conditioner units (on the wall), a table and two chairs, a wall and floor dryer. However, there was still plenty of room. Please note that these balconies were not in all rooms. There were balconies where a table, chairs and a wall-mounted dryer could hardly be placed. On the second floor, in front of my block, a German couple of non-formal people, of a rather dense build, settled down, especially “she”. So, on their balcony, they looked like fat sparrows on a small perch in the cold, so they huddled together. With the location of the room, of course, the hoteliers slu-kavili. We took a room with a sea view. In fact, only the edge of the beach was visible from the balcony (on the left), the rest was covered by the building itself, and on the right - a view of the pool, bar and city. But even that didn't spoil our holiday. The room was cleaned every day, bed linen was changed once (once a week), towels were changed more often, like 1 time in 3 days. Our maid cleaned up in the morning. We crossed paths several times before we left for the beach, after which she herself asked when it would be more convenient for us to clean up. Made an appointment after 10:00. The room was cleaned quite well. The maid constantly folded some figures on the beds, butterflies from towels and sheets, folded children's pajamas in an interesting way.
The contingent of vacationers at the hotel was not too diverse. Mostly they were German pensioners and Bulgarian or Russian couples with small children (up to 10 years old). Therefore, the hotel was quiet. There were no nightly discos in the hotel, there were no noisy companies, except for the Bulgarians themselves, who themselves make a lot of noise, especially when they get together.
Meals (restaurant, bar). Being in Bulgaria not for the first time, we knew that taking an “all inclusive” tour package in this country, at least, depriving ourselves of all the pleasures and diversity of local cuisine, to a greater extent, is simply stupid. A huge number of cafes, restaurants, taverns, mechanics are located in the resorts. In Sozopol you will not find a single empty square meter. If you find one, then the next day it will be occupied by a table and benches, and next to it, in extreme cases, there will be a stall with pancakes or ice cream. For this reason, we only took breakfast in the package. I must say that I did not like the food at the hotel, it was too monotonous. No, you won't leave hungry, the staff strictly monitors that the trays are not empty, and there is coffee in the vending machines. In contrast to myself, my wife's opinion about food at the hotel turned out to be somewhat better. But judge for yourself. For breakfast it was always and every day: fried and boiled eggs, pieces of fried bacon or sausages, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, cheese, ham, salami or dried sausage, cereals (2-3 types), 2-3 types of simple salads (to be honest, it doesn’t taste very good) - it seemed to me that the chef prepared them from the remains of everything that he found. There were spaghetti twice (once they didn’t get it, because they arrived late - they took out tomatoes stuffed with cheese as a substitute), once there was rice porridge. Wonderful tasting 4-5 types of muffins, 2-3 types of cakes, fruits (bananas, cherries and something else), syrups, sauces, etc. Well, in principle, with more everything. As I already said, you won’t be able to stay hungry, but every day scrambled eggs with sausages is too much for me. The rest (cakes, tomatoes, greens) is not serious for me. Well, a few times there was something else, like fish, but terrible in taste and something like leche. I don’t know what the dinner was like, but if it’s the same limited set, then my rating is no more than 3 out of five.

Another thing is the variety of cafes outside the hotel. We always went to dinner in the same place, near the hotel. A small cafe run by the same family. I don't know the name of this cafe. I did not see a name or anything like that that stands out on the facade. It doesn't look like a fancy restaurant either. Finding it is easy. Exit List, immediately to the left, pass the Selena Hotel (adjacent to the List by a wall) and turn left (go around Selena), across the road (to your right) is a cafe. The distance is only 30 meters from the List. What did it look like to us? The owner speaks great Russian, a varied menu of Bulgarian cuisine, superbly cooked, amazingly delicious. But, the main thing is not this. The owner sees in you not a client, but in everyone - his friend and treats you like an old friend. Clients treat him the same way, make various souvenirs, up to joint photos. Highly recommend to visit. By the way, opposite the entrance to the hotel there is a stall where they make very tasty pancakes - this is in case you do not want to go anywhere. There are a huge number of cafes and mechanics in the old city, especially along the remains of the fortress wall, which rises above the sea. Right on it or in it, many small and large "cafes" have been built, and in the very old city you will find quite a few themed restaurants with a national bias, including the Windmill restaurant - located right in the old mill.
If you walk along Ropotamo street along Harmanite beach, you will find a bunch of souvenir shops and various cafes. They are right next to each other, choose any to your taste. Right at the entrance you will be called "barkers" in the form of beautiful girls or funny guys. In the evenings, in almost every cafe there will be live sound for all tastes: rock, pop, national music, etc. In this regard, the Ocean cafe stands out, it is located on the way to the old city if you walk along the central beach. There, a local rock band performs world rock hits. The cafes on Ropotamo Street are somewhat cheaper than the cafes in the old town. A typical dinner for two adults and two children cost us around 25-30 levs. The output of dishes is very large. Stomachs burst from such a volume of dishes. For comparison, in the mehana (restaurant) of the old city, we paid 100 lev for dinner. True, we also ordered expensive: they regaled us with various delicacies, including lamb cooked on a spit, a magnificent game of musicians and wine. In ordinary cafes of the old city, you will give 35-40 lev for dinner.
Separately, I want to note the lobby bar, or rather its bartender, who makes wonderful cocktails. In the evening, sitting on the terrace of the bar with a cocktail in hand, admiring the nighttime beauty of the sea and the old city is just a pleasure.
What the hotel lacks is at least some kind of entertainment for customers. Sometimes, it would be possible to organize themed Bulgarian evenings, invite musicians, etc. Those. in this regard, everything is "deaf". The hotel has a children's room where you can leave the child if you want to relax or go somewhere. Opening hours until 18.00. But, there is no children's animation as such either. In the neighboring "Selena" there is a small scene in front of the beach, where children's animation is held in the evening. Several times we got to the children's disco there, the entrance was free for everyone. But, here, the rest (games, contests) for third-party children were paid - 5 lev. List has three swimming pools. Two (adult and children) are located on the terrace of the 2nd floor. Nobody uses the children's pool, it is constantly in the shade, and it is not visible from the sun loungers - it closes the bridge. Sun loungers are located around the adult pool, as well as on the lawn under the pool, which can be reached by stairs from the pool terrace or by elevator. In the morning we always went to the sea, and after lunch, the children always asked to go to the pool. We always found places near the pool. The pool is cleaned every morning. There is a smell of chlorine, but very weak. There is a bar on the pool deck. The hotel also has a swimming pool and jacuzzi. But, they were always empty. In the hotel brochures, I saw a sauna and some kind of spa, but I did not look for the place.

There are few entertainment and attractions in Sozopol. On the central beach you can ride a puck and a banana, fly on a parachute, ride a catamaran, they will offer you a massage. In Sozopol itself, you can stroll through the old town, the architecture of the buildings is very interesting, admire the old streets, and stare at the remains of the fortress wall. You can also visit the art gallery and the archaeological museum. Various tour agencies will offer you excursions: a trip to Istanbul from 1 to 3 days, a trip to Nessebar, the water parks of Nessebar and Sunny Beach, the Ropotamo reserve, excursions to the island of St. John, sea excursions and fishing trips to the Bulgarian village. Sozopol has its own amphitheater, where various creative competitions are held. One evening we listened to the performance of children's groups. Little entertainment for children. There are some rides on Ropotamo Street, but their appearance and installation made me wildly horrified. Finding them was not so easy. We only used the trampoline 2 times. On the contrary, there are slot machines, the cost of one game is 2 leva. Along the central beach (next to the Ocean cafe) there is also a small playground, we mostly went there. There are several slides, small trampolines, tarzan-ki, fitness equipment, catching fish, drawing, pony riding, retro photography, riding electric cars. You can also try Dippin' Dots ice cream there - this is ice cream in the form of small balls frozen with liquid nitrogen, but you have to go a little further to the amphitheater area. 60 gr costs 3 leva, but very tasty. There are night clubs and discos. Not far from the List (on the square, next to the supermarket) is one of them. The sound from club music is almost not heard in the rooms of the List, at least from the sea side. I don't know from the city side.
A little about prices. On the central beach, a set of beach personal belongings: two sun loungers, an umbrella, a table will cost you 20 lev. There is a free zone where you can get a job for free. In a bar, coffee will cost 2-3 levs, a milkshake 4-5 levs, beer 2-3 levs, an alcoholic cocktail on average 6.5-8 levs. Sweet bagels, which are worn along the beach 2-2.5 leva, "the queen of the fields" - 2.5 leva. In the cafe, salads, snacks from 2 to 6.5 levs, soups (very small selection) - 1.5 - 2.2 levs. Chicken dishes 6.5-8 levs, meat 8-12 levs, fish 12-18 levs, pizza from 6 to 12 levs, spaghetti 4.5-6 levs. The portions are very large, feel free to take one dish for several people, ask the waiters to bring empty plates.
Well, summing up the whole story, I want to note that Sozopol is a great place to relax with children. Hotel Villa List raises no objections. There are, from my point of view, some shortcomings in nutrition and animation, but this is all solved and replenished from other sources. If we go to Sozopol again, we will definitely stop at List.