Sol Nessebar Mare All Inclusive

Avoid Sol Nessebar Mare Hotel – Disappointing Experience

My family and I recently stayed at the Sol Nessebar Mare Hotel in Bulgaria, booked through Tez Tours, and our experience was extremely disappointing. The hotel fell far short of our expectations in almost every regard.

First, the condition of the beds was terrible—squeaky mattresses that wouldn't stay on the frames, making sleep nearly impossible. The pillows were flat and uncomfortable, adding to the problem. For a hotel of any star rating, this is simply unacceptable.

We encountered several major cleanliness issues. The kids' pool constantly smelled like urine, which was incredibly off-putting, and the downstairs bathrooms near the restaurant were filthy, poorly ventilated, and slippery throughout our stay. Additionally, the lobby lacked air conditioning, which made waiting around with an unwell child very uncomfortable.

The lifeguard sat far from the pool, often distracted by his phone, which raised serious concerns about guest safety. Adding to the unprofessional behavior, a hotel staff member approached my brother to ask for cigarette —this kind of interaction is inappropriate and unprofessional for hotel staff.

The hotel also required an extra charge to use the in-room safe. For something as basic as storing your passport and valuables securely, this should have been included.

The hotel's changing rooms were filthy, with mold, hairs left behind from previous guests, broken taps and no hooks to place your towel on. On our last day, the towel station ran out of towels again, and staff told us that no new towels would be provided, leaving us with soggy, sunscreen- and chlorine-soaked towels to dry off. After repeatedly demanding clean towels, we were eventually given towels from the rooms, but we were required to return them to reception afterward adding an additional inconvenience to the whole process. Having basket to place used towels in could have made a big difference.

To add to the frustration, four out of five members of our group fell ill with severe diarrhea and vomiting halfway through the trip, severely impacting our ability to enjoy our holiday. The hotel staff's lack of empathy was shocking—especially in the Mare restaurant, where my child became ill again and vomited. The staff did not offer assistance, and it was another guest who finally helped us.

I also reached out to the hotel for an explanation but after a week long wait have yet to receive any response.

Given the number of issues we encountered, I strongly advise other travelers to reconsider staying at this hotel. This was far from the relaxing holiday we were promised, and the overall quality and service did not live up to even the most basic expectations.

It's so stupid that only guests of Palace can use the umbrellas on the beach even if they're empty other guests from the other 2 hotels are not allowed to use them. So you pay for food and pools not the beach. It's so stupid there where only 3 people there and we got kicked out. So all 3 hotels can use the pools ans watersides but not the beach umbrellas??

We were sold the 5 star service experience but it was so far from that. The hotel itself is a little outdated including the rooms, but I can’t fault the cleanliness of the place. The area surrounding the hotel however, is unkept and depressing to look at (the view from our balcony was trash piled up in areas of the patch of land surrounding the hotel). The food was decent but repetitive, it was the same exact food for every course, by day 4 we got a little bored of it but still couldn’t complain. The entertainment was actually quite enjoyable me and my partner had a good laugh each night. Now what I really want to share is how awful the service was. The vibe of the hotel was awful from start to finish, there was only a handful of employees that didn’t have a bad attitude. The maids and bar staff named Rada and Valentin were all so lovely and polite, it was enjoyable talking with them as they gave us the only positive interactions we had with the employees in the place. I am not exaggerating when I say every other employee gave the impression we were an inconvenience and a burden when we would try to speak with them. No smiling, no polite welcomes or thank yous or warm greetings, there was absolutely nothing. My partner described eating in the dining room as being in a prison cafeteria and I couldn’t agree more. I think the bad vibe of the employees rubbed off on the guests and it just felt like no one was happy or having a good time. On the second night I was asked by a TUI rep to speak with Maria at reception to talk about an issue I raised about the wildlife around the hotel - me and other guests were upset that many seagulls have broken wings across the resort. When I went to Maria and told her what the TUI rep said (to speak with her), she laughed in my face and said “I don’t believe you”. I thought ok maybe she’s in a bad mood, I offered to show her the messages so I pulled out my phone to which she ignored the screen and said there was nothing she could do and to return tomorrow morning. I tried to explain we were asked to come after 8 to speak with her as she was the only receptionist at that time who’s name coincidentally is also Maria, but she proceeded to say it isn’t her and me and my partner sound like a “broken record” because we were repeating ourselves. I was in complete shock by her response, so I asked why she was being so rude and she said I was being “cocky”. My partner at this point was also shocked and frustrated at the fact this woman was speaking to me so badly, so he said she needs to brush up on her customer service skills, her response to that was to look my partner up and down and say “I can also give you some advice but I’m at work” - insinuating she was going to make a comment about his appearance. I was in such disbelief, we have never been treated so poorly before and for no reason. A back and forth continued of me trying to explain the situation until Maria said “you can go now, goodbye” while smiling and waving in my face. If you want to experience bad customer service for a laugh then come to this hotel. Finally, on our door in our room it clearly stated that we had the room to our disposable till 12am, I went to reception to double check this the day before last and the man made no eye contact, laughed in our faces when we were trying to clarify the time, and said that’s an error it’s actually till 12pm and if we have a problem to speak with a manager - when all we did was ask why it said otherwise on our door. I asked what about the guests that don’t know the sign is an error, he shrugged and said they can speak to a manager or pay for the room for the day, overall he wasn’t bothered. Basically none of the staff were bothered and when we raised this with the quality manager he shoved us a bottle of alcohol we didn’t want just to get us to leave. I’m a manager in customer service and I genuinely have never experienced or seen such bad service, me and my partner had to laugh or we would cry it was awful. It’s not worth a penny when you leave feeling awful by how you were treated!

Stayed at the Sol Nessebar Resort in The Mare Hotel in August 2023. Reception area outdated, chairs were old and the cushions were dirty. Reception staff were rude and not helpful. Swimming pools needed a clean. Pool are needed a better clean. Dining room,outdated. The food was awful, cold or Luke warm and slop! Used the changing room to take a shower on our day of departure, never in my life on a holiday have I been offered such a place to shower. It was tiny, only 2 dirty showers ,a dirty shower curtain across,dirty floors and a slimy, very slippery shower. Not a nice way to treat the guests. Not a 4 star hotel by any means. A 3 star at the very most. Long queues for food at the pool snack bars, slow service. Only 2a la carte restaurants available, we tried the Chinese restaurant, it was no good either.