My wife and I, with our two daughters aged 6 and 3, spent a week at the Santa Marina Village at the end of August. We travelled with friends, another couple with a daughter (5) and son (3). We booked with Balkan Holidays and were very surprised at the cost – the same as some of our friends paid for a week in a rainy cottage in England!

Overall, we found the resort to be excellent and very well set up for family holidays. The two-bedroom apartments were very spacious, well equipped with good quality (ie not ‘rental’) furniture, comfortable beds, satellite TV and aircon. They were cleaned and serviced every day (very rare for self-catered apartments). Indeed, on a couple of mornings I had to chase the cleaner away because it was so spotless that there was really nothing for her to do! The complex itself was also very clean and well kept, with an army of road sweepers, maintenance staff and gardeners always visible. As one other reviewer said, even the swimming pool toilets were always clean – which is a good indication of the level of care taken.

The Santa Marina complex has undergone three stages of development and now comprises four pools (all with poolside bars and some serving food and ice cream), as well as a beach. Needless to say, this was great for our children – a choice of five different destinations. All the pools are very well maintained, clean and have lifeguards. The number of pools (and sun loungers) meant none of them ever got too busy and we never had any problem securing sun loungers (although we were there towards the end of the season). We did notice they had signs up saying the ‘reserving’ of sun loungers was forbidden – what a good idea!”

We hope the complex is going to be careful with the next stage of the development and they don’t spoil it completely. Already, it could be argued, it is showing the strains of overdevelopment. For example the fourth (latest) pool is the least successful. It lies very close to a main road, which gives the impression of sunbathing in a motorway lay-by. Also, despite piped music around the pool and hedge that has been planted (and needs time to grow), there is still the noise of traffic to contend with. None of the other pools suffer from this problem and are all preferable. We also found the resort’s beach to be small but clean. It was unspectacular and functional. It was very busy, even at the end of the season, and so made us wonder what it would be like at peak season or when the next stage of the development is completed. Clearly this is something they will have to address. We heard there are better beaches nearby, but with so many pools to use in a week, we didn’t investigate this.

On our first night we decided not to go into Sozopol and dine on site. Sadly, this was our worst dining experience of the whole holiday. We ate at the pizzeria. The pizzas themselves were fair to average but what really let down the meal was a very miserable and inattentive waitress. She really made us feel as if we were inconveniencing her every time we asked for something. Like I said, this was a pity – during every other meal out we received very good service, especially in the Neptune in Sozopol (very good food too) - although be aware of the Windmill in Sozopol. Again, good food and service but it was very clear that our waiter had been told to upsell as much as possible, especially where the wine list was concerned! The pizzeria experience put us off trying any of the other of the onsite restaurants, which was a pity. On our final night, when conscious of a busy day travelling ahead, we decided not to go into Sozopol. We dined at the rooftop restaurant. This was a much better experience with very good food (for children as well as adults) and friendly, attentive staff. It made us wish we’d done this on the first night!

Travelling into Sozopol during the evening was a relatively easy affair. Local taxis would take you in for 7 Levs (£3-50) and 10 Levs (£5) return after 11pm. There was also the complex’s mini train, which would take you into town for 2 Levs per person. So not only did this work out more expensive than a taxi for the outbound journey (for a family of four), it was also rather slow and a little hair-raising as local traffic whizzed past the train’s very low sides! Also, you were restricted by its timetable and often we would see a bit of a scrum as all those waiting climbed aboard.

Bulgaria is often touted as a cheap holiday destination. Yes, it still is very good value but you can see that it is gradually catching up with the rest of Europe. Saying that, though, we did come back with money left over, which I haven’t managed to do for many years! Prices on the complex were slightly higher than those in Sozopol (though not much) but were certainly much cheaper than anywhere in the UK or in the Eurozone. A pint of lager would cost about £1.20 and a bottle of wine about £8. The onsite supermarket was also reasonable – probably more expensive than local supermarkets in Sozopol but certainly a lot cheaper than other onsite versions I’ve encountered across Europe.

I’ve seen a lot of reviewers complain about the large number of steps. We didn’t find this a problem. Yes, a lot of the apartments are set on a hillside but this problem can be avoided if you walk up the gently sloping roads – a longer way round but preferable to steps. Also, there’s a golf buggy service that travels round the complex at very regular intervals. We didn’t experience any problems with mosquitoes that other reviewers encountered but we did seem to be pestered by a lot of flies during the last 2-3 days of our visit. I don’t understand why they only appeared half way through the holiday or why they picked on us. Maybe it was because our apartment was near the edge of the complex close to some woods. Our friends, with a more centrally located apartment, didn’t have any trouble.

So, overall, if you’re looking for a good family holiday with extremely good (even outstanding) facilities, at a price that won’t break the bank, you couldn’t go wrong by booking on the Santa Marina complex.

I stayed in Santa Marina with my husband for one week at the end of August 2011. We were looking for a quiet place for a week's holiday, somewhere we could rest, eat well and enjoy the sunshine - and we weren't disappointed!

I would highly recommend Santa Marina as a holiday resort - it is clean, very well maintained, large, caters for all ages and really beautiful. Our room was spacious and suited our needs for the week. The pools were great, and we loved ordering cocktails at the pool. We ate in 2 of the restaurants at the resort, really loved the new fish restaurant (though it is more pricey than others!). We made use of the little train on 5 of the nights and took the short trip to Sozopol to eat in the restaurants there. We booked windsurfing and diving via the hotel, though unfortunately the diving was cancelled due to high winds. The spa was lovely and we both enjoyed very good massages there.

Overall, I could not find fault with Santa Marina - we will definitely be going back!

My wife and I have just returned from our 1st visit to Bulgaria and either by luck or good judgement, we chose to stay at what turned out to be the absolutely fabulous Santa Marina Holiday Village.
3 Pools - 3 Top Quality Restaurants - Best Bar Staff in the World and plenty to do in the complex. If you so wished, you could have a great holiday and never leave the Complex.
Our flat had super bed, table and chairs, kitchen, toilet and shower, patio on ground floor with garden chars (for Sundowners)
This site is ideal for any kind of family holiday and totally secure. No Cars - transport within the complex is by golf buggie. The restaurant we were in were amused that we had to be back at the Breeze Bar for our Mojito and Marguerita "Puddings" before closing time so they organised a buggy to get us to the bar on time.
There was live music in the Main Resaurant (even had a dance with the Manageress!) and would advise anyone to go on an accommodation and breakfast basis. The breakfasts were stupendous - set you up for the whole day. Only had lunch twice.
There is a lift which takes you down to a private beach which has all the facilities Bar, Rearaurant, Toilets etc.
Obviously UK holiday makers are outnumbered by mainly Russian people who own holiday properties there but we found them great people to meet. Its the old story of friendships - you get back what you put out.
We are a couple in our sixties but we still managed to enjoy a Jet Ski Experience - we went Parasailing - had a Yacht Trip along the local coastline - Chairlifted down the Blue Mountains and had our prtraits done by a local artist in the beautiful old town of Sozopol which is accessed from the complex by a motorised train service every half hour at a cost of £1 !!!!
Best advice would be to take enough currency to do you for the first day and take English Notes to convert there. You get a far better rate of exchange there but remember to change your money at Reception or at a Bank. Don't entertain dealers on the street - they will give you old Bulgarian money which are almost worthless.
My biggest complain about this holiday is that ......... I had nothing to complain about!!

First of all I will say that I was not especially keen to visit Sozopol in Bulgaria, particularly after hearing friend's tales of wild holidays in Sunny Beach. However I'm so pleased to be proven wrong!

THE POSITIVES
For starters, the Santa Marina resort is one of the cleaniest I have ever stayed in (even in comparison to some Disney resorts!) and offers great value for money. The standard we received here wouldn't be affordable to us elsewhere we are sure. We stayed in a studio apartment just one level down from the second pool and found it spacious and clean. The only disappointing thing was we had no view of the bay from our room and the balcony did not get direct sunlight - but we were late bookers and lucky to get a room at all! The room had a huge double bed, couch, coffee table, tv and ample storage for belongings as well as a basic kitchenette and en suite. The shower in the bathroom was fantastic although there is no bath. Not a problem for us but be aware of this. Overall the standard of the room was excellent.

The resort itself has great amenities and looks beautiful. It is built on a steep alpine hillside (so be prepared to do some climbing to get to your room!) but there is a golf buggy service to get you from A to B if you are feeling tired. While we enjoyed exploring Old Sozopol, we spent a lot of time at theresort because it was so enjoyable. There is a great mini mart where you can stock up on supplies (not too expensive either), a pharmacy, a gift shop, ice cream shop and a piano bar which was open late into the night. Basically, there is no need to leave! There are also 3 pools, 2 of which have a bar, 2 restaurants, an outdoor 'barbeque' restaurant, a kids club, spa and gym. Phew!

We would personally recommend the second pool. Although smaller in size, it is slightly quieter and has a great pool bar which was open until 11pm. Although there was a language barrier, we found the boys serving at the pool bar to be great fun and company - Santa Marina, please look after your pool bar boys they are great! There is also an Italian restaurant above this pool which you could get takeaway pizza from too. The other restaurant is near the main reception and both have great food and atmosphere. The BBQ outdoor area opens after 7pm and this is also recommended if you fancy something different.

The staff were extremely helpful and the receptionists had good English which was helpful for us on our first visit to Bulgaria.

THE NEGATIVES
For some, the amount of steps and distance between your room and the facilities could be an annoyance. On our first night we had trouble getting into our room due to a faulty door lock which eventually broke. They quickly came to fix it (at 2am which was impressive) but when we checked out we were presented with a bill of 30Lev for this which I thought was cheeky. However, when you are anxious to catch your 5am flight, you just pay the lady! From reading other reviews this seems to be a recurring scam at Santa Marina so before they don't charge you for extra! Also, there are safes to hire for your stay but the safe is in reception so if you stay at the back of the resort you must make a huge trip to collect your belongings each time!

Overall these were minor niggles and did in no way hamper the enjoyment of our stay - I would happily visit again in the future.