Sozopol(Coral)
From June 17.2010 to 28, we rested with a friend in Sozopol, Hotel Koral ***. Reviews about it were taken from the Internet and were not mistaken - the hotel turned out to be exactly what we wanted. Located in the New Town right above the sea in a quiet place, 3 minutes to the city beach, where the lifeguard is rampant, 10 minutes to Harmonite beach. The room is an ordinary double, with a standard set of everything. The TV shows 3 Russian channels (we had 55.71, 72). We did not leave a tip, so we probably cleaned it as standard - they made the bed, wiped the floor, changed towels. Breakfast, too, did not surprise with anything special - muesli, sour milk, sausages, vegetables, cheese, jam, pancakes. I liked the terrace where we had breakfast - overlooking the bay, there was a place for everyone. The hotel itself has a small swimming pool - SPA services, a smoking room with a hookah and VERY cozy rattan chairs. The same chairs on a small terrace, where we liked to drink coffee again overlooking the sea. On the 4th floor there is a sky-bar with a gorgeous view. The staff is smiling, helpful, cocktails, coffee - at any time of the day.
The city itself also turned out to be as we imagined - ancient tiled roofs, wooden second floors, but we didn’t really walk in the new quarters - we wanted old times.
From useful remarks. On Ropotamo street, at the very beginning, there is a call center and the Internet upstairs. Calls to a landline phone in Europe - 0.36 leva (multiply by 5 to convert to hryvnia), to a mobile phone - in my opinion, 0.86 leva. Exchange rates in the bank at the corner of Ropotamo - euro - 1.93 leva on weekdays and 1.91 on weekends, dollar - 1.52.
Along the coast every 30 min. a green open train runs (there is one in Alushta), you can take a walk, it stops at the Black Sea Square (it's still the same center).
Our excursion program included a trip to a folklore restaurant where we watched dancing on coals (30 euros), an evening boat trip - 25 euros, and a day trip to Istanbul - 51 euros (with lunch). It was possible to go to Istanbul either at 22-45 (I don’t remember which days of the week) or at 3-15 on Tuesday / Thursday. We chose the latter option, because we could sleep half the night and we were also brought back at 1-30. Istanbul struck - 20 million people! A large anthill and a day to inspect it is of course not enough. (Yes, when ordering a tour, you need to take a double visa). Our missed breakfast was given to us in dry rations. Water in Istanbul - 5 euros 500g, it is better to take your own.
The weather in our “middle” season was very different (usually, it was already quite warm). There were thunderstorms, and the sun, and 15 degrees at night. So once again I was convinced that things should be taken for any weather.
We liked the restaurants. Prices - from 5 leva for a complex lunch. We liked the tavern "Rhodope specialties" on Harmonite beach - without pomposity, there is folk cuisine, waiters - their own on the board, they speak Russian. As well as the favorite cafe "Ribari" on the way to the beach from the hotel - there are few people, they serve quickly. The average price of our dinners (a salad for two and something hot for each, but without a side dish, plus a “cup of wine”) is 12-15 leva. I liked the sweet cherry - large, black, 2.5-3 leva, peaches - 1.8. Yes, I recommend to take a beer on the beach - take tsatsa - fried sprat, moderately salted, instead of Crimean shrimps.
