On arrival to the hotel the outside is very impressive and as you walk in it is even more impressive.

The staff were always cleaning.

The rooms were huge my only complaint is we booked are holiday over a year before we travelled and we were all on different floors we requested a low floor, sea views and a balcony and we never received any of them. We were on the 5th floor and the 7th facing another hotel and none of us had a balcony.

The location of the hotel is right on the beach front which is an excellent location.

This hotel is not suitable for people with young children with a double buggy there are no ramps just a lot of steps.

The staff were friendly when they wanted to be on when night we all went for a drink in the hotel bar by the spa and the service was awful. The waiter said we did not pay for my husbands large whiskey which was silly as you don't pay for your drinks till you leave the bar at the end of the night, and he took the drink away from my husband, this caused quit a fuss as you can imagine.

There is no entertainment there, they could benefit by turning the casino which was never open in to a disco and games room with pool tables.

The hotel food was awful breakfast and the evening meals were warmish a lot of the plates and cups were chipped and cracked and trying to find a knife and folk was a nightmare. We only ate in the restaurant twice as we could never find a table you will have to learn to run very fast before you go as if you see an empty table which is not very often run to get it quick. When you are at the table you have to clean it yourself as it is dirty from the last people who ate there. The food is not 5 star service more like a 2 star

An absolutely excellent hotel, location on the sea front and just far enough from the centre of the resort to be quiet and pleasant, excellent staff especially reception and domestic, other staff needed a few smiles and a bit of respect, i.e. please and thank you, to respond happily.

Hotel rooms spacious and very clean, fresh towels and sheets every day. Food was the same, in my opinion, as any half board hotel in any resort in any country. There was always something that you could eat as the choice was very good.

No entertainment but not a problem for our party.

Would recommend to family and friends.

We have just returned from Bulgaria, staying in the Victoria Palace, and I would say that this is the worst hotel I have ever stayed in, the staff were extremely unfriendly to the point of being rude.

The food was always cold and the same selection every day, you have to find a table, clear it and set it with cutlery before you can start your breakfast or dinner.

I have never been to a hotel where you have to set and clear your own table. The crockery is dreadful, chipped plates and cups, no saucers.

Our holiday was totally spoilt by this experience and I can categoricaly say that we will never ever be back in Bulgaria.

Gob smacked on arrival, as we normally get put in a corner. We had a corner room, which was more than a suite, with panoramic views. Room was furnished in leopard print carpets and furnishings, and very clean. Maid service was excellent, clean towels every day, the only problem was lack of hot water in the mornings. l was very impressed being my first time in Bulgaria.

The food we thought was great, such a variety, hot or cold, breakfast or evening meals. The desserts were of plenty, even had a children's selection,

The hotel staff were very friendly and helpful.

the location was ideal, at the end the shopping strip where there wasn`t any noise, and yes l would come back again. We enjoyed it.

First impressions was excellent but after staying there for 2 weeks you could see the cracks appearing.

Public places in the hotel were always being cleaned when you used an ash tray they were changing and if you opened a door they would be cleaning the glass.

As for our room first impressions were oh what a nice size but the beds were just made up with sheets not what I expected for a 5* we had a leaky toilet for 4 days until they got sick of us complaining (I'm not the complaining type) but when you have stand in you own mess to go to the toilet it's a bit much so we used their towels to stop it which meant we didn't get any clean towels until they fixed it. As for hoovers don't think our room was ever hoovered in the 2 weeks well that's the bad stuff.

Hotel food was alright like I said I wasn't a fussy person so we did manage to find something to eat everyday but it is so cheap to eat out anyway. Kebabs, jacket potatoes, pancakes. You must try breakfast was just fine can't get a good cuppa coffee/tea anywhere but I think it's something to do with the milk they use.

Hotel staff were nice like anywhere if you're nice to them they are nice to you. When you get to know them they are quite funny so they do have good sense of humour.

Entertainment First Choice did try to get the kids to play swing ball and other games as for the adults they had water aerobics, couple of quizzes, volley ball on the beach and as we were going they were trying to organise bingo/quizzes upstairs on the mezzanine bar didn't find out what it was like as we were going home.

I wouldn't stay there again as there are too many places to see in this world.

The Victoria Palace was fantastic. Beautiful looking hotel. Great location to the beach and town.

Staff were very helpful and courteous.

Some people winging about the food but I thought the food was great. Considering they are catering for over 1000 guests of all nationalities the standard and choices available were very good.

To get a sunbed you need to be down at 7.30am and sit there all day. (As with all holiday resorts)

Trust me if you go there you'll love it.

First impressions on entering hotel were very impressive.

Cleaners polishing all daykeeping the reception aera spotless.

The food we found was good. You could have a choice of about 4 meats fish or there were salads. Breakfast was a similar choice.

There were people moaning about the food as usual but there were loads more eating it. The staff we found helpful. If you were polite to them they were courtious in return. Even the girls on reception were friendly.

The only gripe I have is the lack of hanging space in the very large room we only had one wardrobe and three cabinet drawers. I was amused watching security remove towels off sunbeds when they were left for ages unattended,by Brits mostly.

We found that the prices were a lot dearer for the safe and drinks than other hotels.

I just can't believe the mixture of reviews for this hotel, I suppose that's life!

Anyway, I had read reviews prior to going to the Victoria Palace and decided to dismiss the negativity, I'm now disappointed with myself as my family's experience in this filthy pit was horrendous.

Please remember that this hotel is promoted as 4 Star Plus.

The exterior and reception are very, very impressive.

My teenage children had a room next to my wife and myself, this was joined by a balcony not wide enough to place a chair forwards, I had to turn sideways to pass the supporting pillars. The rooms were small with very little storage or hanging space, we had to live out of suitcases.

The beds were made up with sheets too small to tuck in so each morning we awoke in a tangled mess on the stained mattress (not our stains!). On several occasions the 'clean' sheets also had stains on them. The 'fancy' bed throws disappeared after the first day, we found them in a linen box, presumably this is to economise on cleaning. All four of the 'quilts' were also stained.

My wife and I had a bath with shower over and the kids had just a shower. The showers were positioned so that the water sprayed horizontally, useless in the shower cubicle, and the loose fixings made the situation worse.

The shower, bath and both toilets leaked which explained the disgusting damp smell in the rooms (and many other locations in the hotel). As the week went on the damp patch in our bedroom reached over one third of the carpeted area. The corridor and 'wardrobe' in the kids room flooded whenever the shower was used in the next room along. The bath and sinks built up a nice crust of scum which we refused to clean ourselves.

On one occasion we returned from a day out to find no clean towels, all but one of our towels had been removed. I phoned to have towels brought up and our 'maid' appeared at the door, stomped into our room and demanded we 'exchange' towels, pulling the only towel from my wife's head!

The food in the restaurant was bearable but too similar each day. I like meat, protein and salads and from that point of view I enjoyed most of the meals I had there. It's cheap enough to dine elsewhere or grab some of the fast options outside, Kebabs, Jacket Potatoes etc. (I can't believe there's three bloody McD's on Sunny Beach!).

The restaurant itself was a fiasco, a constant fight for cutlery and cracked mugs. It was not unusual to take 25 minutes just to get the required combination of food, cutlery and table - then at 'shut off' time the staff appear and start filling their own plates!

The hotel has three irons to service 600 rooms, it took four days to get one.

On our last day I had the misfortune of using the lift when the power went off in the hotel, I was stuck in total darkness with a very frightened elderly couple for over ten minutes. There are no safety lights or communication system within the lifts.

I complained to my Airtours rep on the first day and on several subsequent occasions. I also conversed with the hotel reception and their customer representatives. Nothing was put right in our rooms and the service did not improve. We were offered alternative rooms after four days, these were a slightly better size, a worse location and smelt worse than our existing rooms, we declined them. (We were only booked in for seven days).

The bars in the hotel and by the pool were pretty unexciting and relatively expensive.

The pools and pool area are far too small for the size of hotel. Yes, the sloped bridges are daunting initially but surprisingly non-slippy, except when they are cleaned at peak time each evening, in darkness!

I do have some photographic and video evidence which will accompany my official complaint but, in hindsight, I wished I'd collected more. This is the first time we've experienced anything like this and I certainly didn't expect to have to endure it for the whole week which is why I didn't record more.

You can make your own minds up about the real purpose of this hotel but the fact that it was built so quickly, has a very 'bling' exterior and the black Hummer, black Cadillac Escalade and two very impressive black Mercedes in the security guarded part of the car park, and the shaved headed, tight tee-shirted heavies who rode in them might just be a bit of a giveaway!

We stayed at the Victoria Palace for 2 weeks in August 2005, and were certainly impressed when our cronky old coach pulled up outside a palace, with smartly dressed porters and a MASSIVE chandelier. Check in was easy, and the porters took our bags up to the room. We were allocated a HUGE room with a balcony at the front of the hotel, but wanted a sea view, and so moved 4 days later after repeated requests to the rep!

Unfortunately, the holiday was probably the worst we have had in a long time! We went with an open mind, having read mixed reports, but found the resort to be souless and felt it could have been anywhere in Spain, Greece, Cyprus etc. The beach had rows of sunbeds and brollys which cost an extortionate 18 lev a day (&8), so we bought a couple of lilos and a brolly and bagged a space on the free part of the beach! The weather was hot, but a strong wind meant that you kept cool! Beach also has several hawkers, including the petrified seahorse/shell lady, the bra lady, the melon & donut lady and Gilbert Grape, who managed to sell me a buch of grapes on the first day for 12 leva! (

Hotel Victoria palace is a very clean and well presented hotel. The hotel is in a good location and is in quiet surroundings.

The hotel staff are great and are very helpful when needed. The entertainment is very poor, there is only one game for the children everyday and nothing for the adults.

The food is okay occasionaly, sometimes it can be quite poor and cold! while I was there someone got food poisoning !!