"Remember that song from the 90s - ‘if I hadn’t seen such riches I could live with being poor’. I really think what Tim Booth of James meant was that some things are fine… it’s just hard to take if we know there is better. Of course, it is crass to suggest being here is being poor. Far from it. It’s just not quite what the money ordered. Many of the other reviews here will be people for whom (and I know this sounds privileged) this is the best all inclusive they have seen. For me it is a criminal rip off. This is a lengthy review but fair.
Ultimately, this is not a five-star hotel on quality and service (but, of course, the star system is based on facilities not quality for some reason so it gets all five). In a nutshell (more detail below), it’s missing the 5-star elements. Buffet is cold and limited, staff are not interested (though the Philippine staff in general are far more smiley and helpful), all drinks at dinner are self serve which means queues, concierge is rarely open, the only towel swap (with towel card) is in spa… miles back from pools/ beach, minibar is limited, no bath robes, strict limited food hours, it feels like the guests are a nuisance to the staff. Real lack of training for staff - not knowing how to make a mimosa, three or four chatting in dining room whilst we try to find a bowl (three food stations away from the cereal).
In detail:
Room was great - one door leading to two rooms, two bathrooms, two balconies. There’s not many of these rooms though- only 2 on our floor for example, one per wing (the space this provides allows for the fire escape). You walk through the first room to the second which is where I felt the beds were the wrong was round and if you have very little ones who get up in the night this will matter. For some reason the biggest room with the door to the corridor (and the walk in wardrobe and the minibar) had the twin beds. You walk through this to the double room with no minibar and a smaller wardrobe. It feels like the beds are the wrong way round as the adults should sleep nearest the hotel corridor for safety… right?
Hotel is isolated. There is a free shuttle bus to the nearest town but you have to leave there (Pomorie) by 3pm. You can go to Nessebar for €25 in a taxi - Nessebar is UNESCO site and has much more but it is only 12 minutes away - for €25 each way. There is a two lane highway outside the hotel and nothing either side so no strip of shops or life to wander. Building work nearby suggests this may change but I doubt it - next door is a half finished abandoned building site with no signs that construction teams will return. I think this is the crux of it all - the culture of the hotel is arrogance - a belief that they are the best hotel in the area because they are (because they are the only hotel) which is what leads to incidents such as a rude staff member switching off the orange juice machine mid-use, one bottle of Prosecco for the whole dining room (truly! How many times we asked for another…), life guards on phones, badly made cocktails, etc etc.
The hotel buffet is ok… if you are ok with a very limited choice, pouring your own wine from the unlabelled bottle every wants a piece of, very limited choices, and very very limited gluten free choices. The hotels I have stayed in in Turkey have salad bars the size of your first flat. This salad bar is the size of your first baby. If you have intolerances, allergies, or preferences it is difficult. I asked one member of staff not to use the cheese tongs to rearrange the salami - she just said she didn’t speak English. I imagine her Food Hygiene training and cross contamination training were in her mother tongue though. The gluten free options (cornflakes, bread) were out when we arrived and slowly got more stale as the week progressed. There were gluten free labels on food that looked anything but - barley in the gluten free soup in the buffet, proper pasta in the only gluten free option (gluten free lasagna, apparently) in the à la carte. For my husband, this is horribly uncomfortable. For many, this is downright dangerous. Otherwise the À la carte is promising… you just have to book… when Guest Relations is open… for 4 hours a day in two hour blocks that you missed because you were on holiday. Seriously. Hotel Guest Relations is open 9-11 and 3-5 daily. Heaven forbid you need them outside of these times.
The lunch is ok… if you like going to an American Mall food court in your swim wear. The food is served from counters in cardboard trays. Not served, of course. Collected. If what you have is popular (chips) it might be hot. If not, then less so. A fair amount of choice here but the food is cold and in some cases uncooked (see photo of my chicken burger). One actually wants to find the Food and Beverage Manager (if there is one, we didn’t see one), sit them down and fetch them cold pizza, raw chicken burger (see photo), or cold hard fries. NOTE the brilliant member of staff Zeyneb who has God’s own job to keep the place tidy but always does it with a smile.
The evening balcony bar is ok…. If you are ok to walk the length of the hotel for a refill or for a wee. Limited toilets outlined later. The balcony part looks across the complex, including the fountains which dance in time to three or four songs at 9pm, Vegas Bellagio-style. This is a nice touch.
Inside the foyer/ atrium most of the space has been nicked by new temporary walls to make offices for the very important people who are not helping you. The bar is miles away. The toilets further.
This is true for toilets generally. Almost none outside. One set outside in the entertainment area. Sat at the beach bar? Walk back to entertainment, past the front of the stage, to queue. Or against the flow (hu-hum) if the show has just finished. Same by the pool. Same outside set of toilets tucked behind the entertainment. The one lady cleaning cannot keep up with the use of these. There are simply not enough.
The beach bar is ok… until the ‘live’ entertainment turns up. For some reason they planted a line of fir trees blocking the sea view (see photo) then invited a singer to sing songs no one recognised to a backing track at top top volume. There goes the family chat/ uno/ card game/ cocktail hour. So so loud - and NO ONE clapped. No one. I genuinely don’t understand why they blocked the sea view with a line of fir trees. Or why they cannot make a mojito to save their lives. We didn’t go to the main entertainment.
The breakfast is ok… limited but fine, but ends at 10. This is 8am UK time, so if, like me, you are filling a glass with orange juice at 10:01 a staff member will switch off the orange juice machine whilst you are using it. Yes, he did this. We landed late, kids were late up, we got to a very busy breakfast at 9:40 and, despite a full dining room, turned the orange juice machine off when I had poured into one of the two glasses in my hand. This was the moment I was most fed up - it just felt so rude and it is clear this the the working culture of the hotel staff. Guests are a problem. They don’t see a full dining room at 10am and say ‘maybe breakfast should run later’, they say ‘how do we kick the guests out’. I eventually worked out why - there is a ‘Premium Breakfast’ until 11am for €15 pp. Advance booking is of course required with the concierge who is available… at the very limited times previously mentioned. (See my photo of the rules given by reception. The poor photocopy is an example of how everything is sloppily done here).
The games room is… actually, I don’t know. We left when we learnt you have to pay for each. It is tiny and chargeable. Unlike any of the Turkey hotels I have stayed in with their all-inclusive bowling lanes, all-inclusive bumper cars, and all-inclusive arcade games. We have stayed in one with included high ropes, another with included laser quest, another with a cute included fun fair.
The pools are pretty good and not too busy. One is heated, as is the indoor spa pool. Pool is long so I could get a good swim in. I got the impression- and I can’t be sure but some of the reviews echo this - that day visitors are welcomed. You see them in the lobby at 5pm in swimwear waiting for a pick up or going to their car. This fills the pools somewhat. See previous reviews from others that mention guests with Bluetooth speakers taking over the pool areas. There is a day time bar near the pool - but the day guests make this an uncomfortable experience. Very big groups of men who have moved seating to the bar itself make approaching the bar unpleasant, not least in swimwear. See photo.
Bars in general.. fine. 5:45pm. Pre dinner cocktail? Ok, but when my husband asked for nuts as well he was told (somewhat sheepishly), nuts are after 6pm. For real. This is real. Oh, take me to Antalya.
Indoor play area - climbing wall is fenced off at the top so only access to top of slide is up the slide. So the children has enterprisingly gathered cushions and are leaping from the top of the slide onto them to make it fun. Accident incoming. See photo.
As an aside, the power cuts are frequent. No idea what happens with the lifts but our last afternoon was spent in the lobby due to rain (see photo) and the power cut out several times.
I have stayed at a few really lovely hotels in Turkey - Maxx, Regnum, Liberty, Voyage, Titanic Deluxe, Barut Lara, Lara Liberty, for the same price… I don’t think it’s unfair to say that the bosses of The Wave Resort should have visited the competition to see how it’s done well. We won’t be returning."
