The family-run Grifid Hotel Group is cleverly named after its owner, GRIgor FIDanov. The nine hotels, all located around Bulgaria’s Golden Sands, cater for a specific type of guest.
We were originally booked into the Grifid Arabella, marketed as ‘the perfect choice for a family vacation’. However, during our trip we were told it was closing early due to a lack of customers, and were offered an upgrade to the Grifid Vistamar ‘offering a combination of family and concept rooms with areas suitable for adults only’. Having subsequently visited Arabella, we were highly delighted – more of the reasons later.
Although we’d paid for a sea view at Arabella, room 510 had only a partial sea view. However, as it was a family room, and much larger than the regular double, we didn’t complain. The room was unusually entered through an open-plan bathroom with double sinks and mirrors, and separate loo and shower. The latter had great water pressure and temperature, but leaked under the door and had to be mopped up with the practical grey towels. There was a bamboo ladder towel rail with the usual note about only towels on the floor being changed, and despite hanging them neatly, they were regularly replaced. There was a shaving mirror with light. and a hairdryer that plugged in near a mirror. There was lots of space for our toiletries, with complimentary ones being limited to soap and shower gel. This area also had the wardrobe and safe.
The next section had two sofas on either side which could be converted into beds, tree trunks for bedside tables, hanging lights, plug points and a table. They faced a large TV above a chest of drawers and there was a long full length mirror. Bearing in mind two of our eight days had bad weather, this was a brilliant area for reading and relaxing.
The bedroom came next with two queen-size beds pushed together with individual good quality light duvets and one pillow each, with others in the wardrobe. There were hanging bedside lights, tables and charging points. There was a second TV and a cabinet with tea and coffee making facilities and a mini bar stocked daily with bottled water, two beers, a cola and a fizzy orange drink.
Our side view balcony was never in the sun, and was rarely used. The balconies lacked privacy as there were no screens between them, but there were two comfortable chairs and a coffee table.
As the hotel was all-inclusive it meant wearing irritating green wrist bands as we were able to use the facilities in the nearby Grifid hotels. The guests in the Vistamar were predominantly German and all signs were in Bulgarian, German and English.
Eating and drinking is obviously a big feature of an all-inclusive, and the Vistamar excelled. The second floor buffet restaurant, with both indoor and outdoor seating, served breakfast, lunch and dinner with a sign helpfully indicating times of ‘low, moderate and heavy traffic’. Basically, there was a cornucopia of choice, and I’d defy even the pickiest eater to not find something they didn’t like (although there was no brown sauce for a bacon sandwich!). Trying not to overeat was a daily challenge as everything looked so enticing with particularly fabulous desserts. The drinks were all help yourself – taps with beer, white, rosé and red wine, juices, soft drinks, water and coffee. It was also a treat to have a glass of fizz with breakfast and there was both Bulgarian, Italian and Gala Dinners. My only gripe was constantly finding children seated in the area clearly marked ‘Adults Only’, which is a fault of the staff who escort you to a table and put down a ‘table occupied’ card.
The ground-floor speciality restaurant alternated between Asian, French, Italian and Bulgarian offerings with the length of your stay dictating how often you could use it. Whilst we tried the Bulgarian early on, we preferred having more choice in the buffet rather than a set menu. However, it was nice to be served at the table and have a decent sized wine glass.
A coffee shop, to rival the likes of Pret, was constantly busy through the day, with more delicious looking cakes. And a casual dining Italian restaurant on the terrace was ideal for beach lovers who didn’t want to venture up to the second floor for lunch.
Drinks were available from a pool bar and beach bar and the lounge area had a 24 hour bar serving all types of alcoholic drinks including cocktails.
The beach was literally across the promenade and had a huge volume of sun beds and parasols in rows. However, there was little space between them, and we sought out the beds on the row ends, to allow us to move them in line with the sun. Towels for the beach could be changed as frequently as you wanted, both in the morning and evening.
The Black Sea in September was a little bracing for my liking and on a couple of occasions the waves were spectacular, the red flag flew, and the lifeguard constantly blew his whistle.
We didn’t use either the indoor or outdoor pools, and adult-only Concept Rooms had access to a roof top pool.
There was also a spa which offered a variety of treatments and massages, with the latter also available on the beach.
The Golden Beach area is basically a long promenade of huge hotels, along with dining options and supermarkets for those not all inclusive, and souvenir shops. Most of the fairground style rides had already closed for the season which didn’t bother us, but may have disappointed those with young children.
So back to Arabella. Firstly, it is not beach front and is one row back and there appeared to be a steep set of stairs down to the front and beach (as this was gated, we weren’t able to see further). Also Trip Advisor reviews suggest there is no hotel-provided food or drinks available near their allotted beach beds and the whole area around had closed down, creating a rather sad depressing look. Whilst it was obvious that the Vistamar had been recently renovated, again TA reviews suggest Arabella is a little dated. However, it is undoubtedly cheaper, and before booking I recommend doing your own research to ensure you choose the hotel that suits your needs.
