HOTEL IMPERIAL – SOCIALIST LUXURY, WITHOUT ADDED VALUE, RIVIERA HOLIDAY CLUB, VARNA
Last visit with family July 2016.
Evaluation by 5DSensograph of placescases.com:
Seen 
Felt 
Heard
Smelled
Tasted
5D rating: 3.2 of 5.
Check out …
…. Socialist-style hotel with huge luxury spaces, repaired, but without even slight modernization, worn without any lacking originality, except for the pretty paintings on the walls, overrated and overpriced- I expected much more;
…. A gorgeous garden with huge palm and other interesting trees, preserved from past times;
…. Maisonette number 402 with a large living room on the first floor, plus bathroom and small kitchenette, two bedrooms and two bathrooms on the second;
…. Dirty, murky Black sea-reality- nothing to do about it;
…. Huge indoor pool, Olympic size.
Feel …
…. Incredible dissonance between expensive charges (250- 400 EUR per night) and the level of service;
…. How on every step of the way you have to pay for any extras like Jacuzzi, fitness, or canopy on the beach, and they even refuse to change your beach towels during the day-what a bore!
…. Despite of your expectations that you will be served perfectly in the scarcely visited restaurant of the hotel, you will not be even noticed after 10 minutes of waiting for the menu; it happened to me, I just got up and left;
…. The jolt of signing statement at check-in and providing credit card authorization if you want to consume on the bill of the room- as if you are getting a statement right from the door “we think your thief”;
…. Irritated because you drink one type of tea from the mini bar of the room and when it is over, housekeeping supplies the other type– normally one should supply the kind which is off!;
…. Tranquillity everywhere and well preserved private space, we were not bothered by housekeeping, they cleaned while we were gone.
Listen …
…. Club sounds of Golden Sands and roaring Black sea at open window at night, at least in the apartments facing the Northeast.
Smell …
…. That smell of an old hotel– that smell cannot be compared, it is felt only in all these old hotels;
…. The spices in the meat of the “Princes sandwich” at the morning breakfast- this sandwich was quite delicious.
Taste …
…. Rich by quality and variety breakfast-the best thing that happened to us during our stay there;
…. The food at the fish restaurant of Riviera, located south of Hotel Oasis and the restaurant of hotel Oasis, La Terrasse, which is something of a gourmet- quite good but had some shortcomings in food preparation.
It seems to me absurd to take from customers EUR 250-400 per night and the only thing to offer for that money to be a big space and a nice breakfast. I was expecting a little more attention to detail and respect for the guests.
The first thing that irritated me was that after we paid the whole stay with a credit card at check-in, they required to sign a declaration and provide an authorisation for the same credit card, to be able to consume on the bill of the room. When I asked why they had such absurd requirement, they replied that last year, some customers left with without paying their EUR 10 000 bill. Instead of improving the procedures for tracking the consumption of customers and prevent such cases, they used this dumb way. In other hotels of this scale, you find welcome fruit and wine as a complement in the room. Here they declare from the door “all guests are potential thieves”.
The beach is nice and comfortable, with simple lounge chairs. There were canopies as well on the first line with better sun beds, however you have to pay EUR 25 for each. For the high price per night, they could provide it for free or at least, hide this extra price it in the cost for accommodation and provide it for free for hotel guests. Instead, customers remain with the impression that you pay high price and you continue to pay extra high for such options.
Beach towels were of the cheaper cloth, not nice and fluffy as they are in other expensive hotels.
The only good things are the garden and the breakfast. The former is from the 80 ‘s and has lost some of its shape, but still it is very nice.
The restaurant of the hotel, as I already described above, did not care to notice and serve me, despite of the scarce presence of customers. No comment!
We had meals in the fish restaurant of Riviera, close to hotel Oasis.
By the way, hotel Oasis is more expensive than Imperial but with a notable style and better service. Some time ago I stayed there and I was extremely pleased.
The restaurant of Hotel Oasis, La Terrasse is also remarkable. The service is much better, though, there’s the usual for the Black sea problem with underpayment of staff. As a result, the waiters lack motivation and training.
The owners of Riviera Holiday Club should hire more professional managers or just sell the business to someone who knows it better.
Address: Riviera Hlidej Club, Varna
Tel: (+ 359 52) 386 811
Mail address: info@rivierabulgaria.com
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