"We chose Cascades for our wedding anniversary as we'd visited friends who stayed here when we came to Bulgaria 3 years ago for our Honeymoon, and their apartment had literally everything they needed. As we prefer self catering (due to dietary requirements), we wanted to stay here.
The complex is HUGE but, luckily we were staying in a block next to the main entrance (good job as i have to use 1 or 2 crutches. In the evening, it is extremely dark and not well lit. The paths are crazy paving which mixed together was a health hazard for normal people, never mind me with crutches.
The receptionist who signed us in a 2am was great. We got to our room (2nd floor) and initial impressions were OK but we were tired and wanted sleep. This is where is started to go downhill.
The mattress was horrendous. We both could feel every spring and it had no support. We both had just 1 lightweight pillow with no spares. Needless to say, we didn't sleep well despite exhaustion from the travel there.
Bathroom was clean with a corner shower. The water pressure is good, but there may be a timer on the hot water as we couldn't both shower one after the other or one of us had to have a cold shower. There was a washing machine in there which worked well but doesn't have a great spin so the clothes come out quite wet.
The room itself was just a bedroom with a 2 hob stove, fridge freezer, microwave (placed on top of FF and not safe to cook hot meals as was difficult to reach safely), a toaster that had no space to put it, a coffee machine (had to buy pods from local shop - we felt the machine was a waste of effort), a kettle that we couldn't touch once boiled because the handle was as hot as the boiling water. There was a hairdryer and iron (no idea where they were to be used as it was very slim on plug sockets). No ironing board. A small tv, air-conditioning (we couldn't use it as we didn't find the remote until our last day). A tiny square table only just big enough for 2 people and 2 hard chairs.
There was 2 saucepans that were too big and could only use one at a time so that was useless. We ended up making one pan meals. 2 mis matched dinner plates, 2 small plates, 2 dishes, e forks, w knifes, 2 big spoons, 1 small spoon, 2 wine glasses (one with a crack), 2 normal glasses and 2 tiny cups. 1 wooden spatula (seen better days), 1 kitchen knife that hadn't been sharpened since it was new so cutting into items was almost impossible. No bottle opener, no peeler, no serving or mixing bowls, no serving plates, no sieve, no jug. There was no drainer for after washing pots. The space at the side of the huge sink was taken by the kettle and coffee machine.
No cloths were provided for washing or drying of pots. No chopping board so had to cut and prepare food on the 30cm x 30cm work top space to use for draining, toaster space, serving space etc. Not ideal when we buy a full chicken that feeds us all week once we've butchered it into portions.
We go self catering and cook. We do not live on convenience foods, so felt this was very inadequate. Luckily we do go prepared with tea towels and chopping board, knife sharpener and other bits. Maybe we were spoilt before in other less starred self catering places(?).
The balcony was very small with a table and 2 dirty cheap plastic chairs we had to cover to sit on. An airing rack that takes up over 50% of the balcony when opened so you can't dry clothes and sit outside with food at the same time. *make sure you take pegs, as where we stayed at, there was a constant breeze and clothes were flying off that we hadn't pegged on with our pegs*.
10 pools in the complex (painfully cold in September so I never went in). A pool bar that you have to wade through the pool with phone dangling if paying with Google pay. Prices aren't too bad as are similar to Sunny Brach beach prices.
One onsite restaurant we saw charged 15€ each for breakfast and 22€ each for dinner - extortionate!
We wasn't aware of any entertainment until we sat in the foyer waiting to be collected for our airport transfer home. There was no info in the reception or the room. We were given a map with writing too small we had no idea what was what.
Due to our return flight being 2.20am, we paid for the late check out on the room. Was initially told it was 70€ and until 7pm, but because our room wasn't needed the next day they charged us 50€ and we could leave when ever we wanted (so we stayed until 11pm which was possibly the best part of the stay).
We never had a bed change at all. The bin was emptied once only and we only had 1 fresh set of towels. We only got the towels and bin change because we asked for an extra pillow (that didn't help at all). They did want to come and do a bed change once, but we were still in bed after only arriving 6 hours earlier!
No door knob tag to say if wanted cleaning or leaving. No welcome information. Just the map which was way too small to work out.
It stated plug at side of bed. Yes there was 1 plug. There was no lighting near the bed (a lamp was provided on top of the microwave but meant couldnt plug phone to charge at the same time. 1 plug at side of wardrobe that we had an extension plugged into to charge phones and watches overnight.
No dressing table area, no where to keep toiletries and no mirror at all except above bathroom sink. There was a huge space on a wall with coat hooks at one end that would have been perfect for a mirror to check yourself out before going anywhere.
Cleaning materials provided as stated in its advertisement was a long handled dustpan and brush. Nothing else. This is NOT adequate enough when no maid service.
The way the rooms were designed to fit aside each other meant we could hear next door going to the toilet and flushing.
Lidl is about an 18 minute walk and is very good (can use lidl plus card there too!). Local supermarkets are ok for convenience stuff if you don't have dietary requirements. There are a couple of bars nearby but nothing special. Walk further afield and you find some bars and restaurants. The bus to Nessebar is about 10 minute walk away and cost us 1.60€ each, each way, so was great value.
The upside down house has been relocated as it used to be very close by, so we didn't bother to go see it.
All in all, we wouldn't return here without bringing an extra suitcase of kitchen equipment, spare work top and pillows with mattress protector.
For those who have got this far, well done. For those saying they don't go on holiday to cook, Bulgaria is a difficult place to be in if needing Gluten free food.
If you want a resort holiday to spend your time by the pools and entertaining the kids, I'd still find it a struggle, but this could be perfect for you.
We are not snobby people, we like the simple things in life, but there's simple and there's simple.
Putting a fridge freezer and a 2 hob stove does not make an apartment self catering. We've been to lesser recommended places and had travel bottle of washing up liquid, dish cloth, tea towel, jug sieve, serving bowl and plates (some folk like to serve themselves at the table), draining board, chopping board, more than 1 knife to chop with, mop and these are just basics."
