The Dobrudja Hotel is famous for many reasons. When opened, it was the tallest building in Bulgaria and is still the highest building in Albena. It was an elegant and spacious upper-class hotel for uptown guests (definately not for the working class in communist Bulgaria) and there are still traces left from these golden days. But the pride of Albena has seen better days.

POSITIVE ASPECTS
The rooms on the upper floors offer a stunning view over the town, the hills and the black sea (depending on which side your room is at). If you're given a room on the lower floors, you will still be able to enjoy the view from the top floor bar and restaurant. Arriving by car is not a problem, as the hotel offers plenty of parking space. The location is also worth mentioning, in the heart of Albena, at easy walking distance to the beach and the restuarant neighbourhood.

NEGATIVE ASPECTS
As mentioned before, the hotel has seen better days. Everything is run down, from the lobby to the rooms to the dining halls to the pool area. Cracks are common in the walls, the furniture, the bath sink and even on the dining hall plates and cups. Some receptionists speak a few words of either german, english or even romanian, but most of them are limited to bulgarian only. When entering the guest rooms, one is greeted by a mouldy smell, a stained carpet and very basic furniture. The pool area is not sanitated, the grass around the pool is not cut and as a result, no guest dears to venture into it. These are not characteristics of a supposed 4 star hotel. There are plenty of cheaper hotels in Albena with the same standard - and hotels with the same price and a much higher standard!

PUBLIC TRANSPORT
Albena has a small bus station, well hidden behind the town's football field. From there, buses run several times daily to Varna and Balchik.

IN CONCLUSION
This hotel is definately not worth the rate. The only advantage is the view, which can be enjoyed anyway from the top floor bar and restaurant.

We booked this hotel over a travel agency that had ranked it as a 4-stars hotel...The price was spicy enough (for being Bulgaria!) to fit that profile, on the pictures it looked nice even if a bit socialist so we went for it...Later we found out by checking online booking websites that it is generally awarded 3-stars...

Acces to the hotel:

The hotel was easy to find (partially due to its size) being located 5 minutes away from the bus stop where we were dropped off and 10 minutes away from the small local bus station. It is situated in the very heart of Albena, about 500 m away from the beach so that was a plus because we could reach everything very easily.

Staff:

The staff were nice and helpful even if they couldn't speak very good English, but it was enough to make the basic arrangements and ask where this and that is. We could also speak German so we managed quite well with them...most of the staff speak better German than English simply because so many German Tourists come to Albena.

Room:

Until we went up to our room we were quite pleased with our situation...but little did we know what was awaiting for us behind the door of our room. First thing that hit us was the stench of an old hotel room that hadn't been renovated in many many years... The furniture was old, painted over in black...generally in a very bad condition. The beds were somewhat ok, but in 6 nights our sheets weren't changed a single time. The cleaning lady would just come in to take the trash out and make the beds, but I suppose this is normal in some 3-star hotels. The next surprise was awaiting in the bathroom...the toilet wouldn't flush properly and there were 2 holes in the plastic sink from someone who had put off their cigarette on it. Again very old everything in the bathroom...

Restaurant:

Every morning from 7am till 10 am one could have breakfast in the hotel restaurant which was ranked 4 stars (it said so on a certificate which was hanging strategically at the entrance to the restaurant). The food was ok, although the meat products were of questionable quality, but all in all good diverse typical bulgarian food. It would only get difficult at times to find a coffe cup that didn't have a crack. So I would say the restaurant didn't come up to the standards of a 4-star restaurant.

Other facilities:

The hotel had 2 pools (indoors and outdoors) and a fitness center. Although we didn't use any of the pools because we could still batheo outside, they looked clean from afar. On the top floor there was also a cafe where one had a magnificent view of the sea and the town.

Summary:

All in all I would NOT recommend this hotel. I'm sure for the money we paid we could have gotten a much better hotel especially in Bulgaria which is maybe the cheapest EU-country. We've been around a lot in Europe and have stayed at much nicer 3-star hotels in the same price range as Dobrudja Hotel, so we were unfortunatelly very disappointed in this hotel...

Well we just got back from a one week stay in Albena, Bulgaria where we stayed at the Dobrodja Hotel. The hotel is rated on tripadvisor as a 4 star hotel and ranked number two by its members. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. I live in the US and I understand that the rating system in Europe is different than ours, but I have stayed at many hotels throughout Europe that have been rated 3 and 4 star and they do not compare to this hotel. The hotel is in need of a major renovation in its rooms, hallways, outside facade and pool area. You need to be sure to specify that you would like an air conditioned room, otherwise you will not get one. The rooms are decent in size, but needed new furniture, linens, carpet, drapes and paint job. We were disgusted to put anything on the floor because it felt so dirty. The pool was in itself nice, but the pool deck area, the lounge chairs, and tables were dirty and the deck had debris that may not have been swept all year. The area around the pool deck is overgrown with shrubbery and plants, getting in the way of sun bathers. This should be maintained everyday.The pool area compared to other hotels that were rated 4 stars has absolutely no life. We went one day to Flamingo Hotel pool area and there was activity everywhere. A waitress walked around and brought you food and drinks when ordered and there was music and it was fun to be there. In our plan we had breakfast and dinner included. Well everyday it was the same thing for breakfast. The juice was from concentrate, the coffee was horrible, the fruit was brown and the bread was hard. The dinner menu varied but the food was awful. We basically ate bread and butter and potatoes. For a 4 star hotel the cook was not very good. We left every night disappointed, especially my son who did not have much of variety to choose from. Drinks at dinner were not included such as sodas, coffee or water. I understand that you have to pay for alcholic beverages, but the other drinks, what a joke.Albena overall is a quiet, family oriented resort. If you want to use the sun chairs, umbrellas on the beach be prepared to pay. There is not much to do or see in Albena or the surrounding area. One week in this place is too much. I have traveled many places and this is one place that I would not go back to. I am disappointed in the overall image that the hotel and Albena portrays, it is very deceiving. I am telling this so that no one goes there under the wrong impression, and if you want ot know more, please write.

We recently went to Albena for two weeks.
We had originally booked the Drouzbha Hotel, but received a phone call from the travel agents advising us the hotel was not open and we could stay at the Dobrudja Hotel instead.
On entering the hotel, we were met with a foyer which is extremely spacious and opulant, with large leather sofa's.
A porter was waiting to take our luggage.
The reception staff were very polite and explained everything we needed to know about the hotel.
The room we were allocated, had a balcony, twin beds, tv, mini bar, bathroom with bath and shower sink unit and toilet.
The room was nearly one third bigger than any we had stayed in before in Albena, The only down side to it was that it needed upgrading, the decor was a little jaded. However as we only used the room to sleep and wash in, this wasn't a problem. We had clean towels every day and the room was cleaned everyday.
The dining room is large and clean with a good selection of food to suit everyone. The staff in the dining room were all very pleasant.
There are a variety of shops located in and around the hotel, and the bar inside the hotel, was no more expensive than bars outside, in fact it was cheaper than some of the other bars in the resort.
We didn't go to the night club inside the hotel, so I can't comment on it.
We did go to the Panorama restuarant/bar on the 17th floor. The music was good and the food was excellent. Once again the staff were really nice and pleasant.
There are 6 lifts in the hotel and although we were on the 11th floor we never waited any longer than 20 seconds for a lift.
There is a pool at the side of the hotel with loungers and umbrellas, free of charge.
The hotel is located a short walk from the beach, and the resort centre is only a hundred yards away, yet you can barely hear any noise from it.
As we go to Bulgaria quiet a lot, we have several friends there. And one day the front desk manager Villiana Velikova (photo enclosed) even offered to lend me her car to visit some friends in the next village. (how many people would do that for a total stranger). She is a very nice person and speaks excellent English, as do a lot of the staff at this hotel.
We enjoyed our stay at the Dobrudja hotel and extend our thanks to the staff who made it all the more enjoyable with their enthusiasm to please.