Vama Veche getaway! Better not during the week-end

I have a long love-hate history with dear old Vama Veche. I loved the thought of it when my parents wouldn’t allow me to go on holiday to this “island of sex, drugs & alcohol”, and fell completely in love with the real thing when I finally got there. Until recently, the sense of freedom I always seemed to find only there has kept me coming back. I guess I don’t seek in a place anymore all those things I loved Vama Veche for, but in myself, wherever I go. Also, my inner party animal has been in a sleeping phase for some years now and crowded noisy places are not my cup of tea anymore.

Since everybody I know still goes there, this week-end I’ll be heading to Vama Veche, too. On the 1st of May I discovered Pura Vida Beach Bar and I’m looking forward to sipping a Frappe there. I’m also dying to see what La Pescarie is like. Plus, lying on the beach from 5-6 in the afternoon till sunset, near Stuf, is something I’ve always enjoyed.

I haven’t managed to get a swimsuit YET, buuut after 3 hours of online research and phone calls I managed to make a reservation for the week-end for a double room, at Casa Veronica. This was my first choice from the two I had managed to get, mainly because the lady I talked with was really friendly and I felt welcomed and under no pressure to stick to my reservation if I found something better. She just nicely asked me to let her know if I change my mind.

The price was the same with the option I dropped, in the end, even though it was closer to the beach – Casa cu flori. I decided to cancel my reservation at Casa cu flori because of the lack of transparency and, honestly, because of the sense of entitlement the owner or whoever the person I talked to was gave off on the phone:

• When I asked why the price I was offered on the phone was different from the one advertised on touritstinfo, I received no explanation, just the same speech: “It costs 160/night, take it or leave it”. A “We forgot to update it.” or “I honestly don’t know, I’ll check, this is the real price, not what’s there.” would have been more than enough for me – but I didn’t get that.
• On touristinfo, they say you have a parking space included in the price. Actually, you just park the car in front of the house, on the public road, just like anybody else regardless what accommodation they choose. I really wouldn’t like that if I had a car and I surely didn’t appreciate her annoyed tone of voice when all I did was check what they advertised and discover it didn’t match reality.
• I tried to get more info about the service. I received short answers only to the questions I asked and was told to make the bank transfer in 24 hours tops or my reservation will get cancelled and that’s that.

I made roughly around 35 phone calls. Long story short, most average cost accommodation options are booked on week-ends for the entire summer, but there are some available rooms on week days. The best villas are completely booked until autumn. I can only envy you if you have reservations at Vila Alex, which was, by far, the best place on the list, with the nicest most polite welcoming owners and best price-service ratio.

Here’s an accommodation list with all the villas I checked (~20 villas) + some info about available rooms. I found a room at Casa Veronica because somebody had cancelled their reservation, so give it a try. You never know your luck until you give it a shot:)

Accommodation List Preview (click on the photo to have access to a PDF verison of the list and to be able to click on the website links)

If you have any recommendations on Vama Veche accommodation, share it in a comment, it will be much appreciated.

Bonus: A bunch of memories on camera from back in the day

Before staying for the first time in a tent in Vama Veche, I set it up in Izvor Park (Bucharest), for practice. I don’t know why it would have been such an issue to be a princess in distress, since there are always many helpful people around. I guess I would have been less bad ass, so I wanted to set it up perfectly on my own.

It took me 5 minutes tops to set it up in Mrs. Whatever-Her-Name-Was’ backyard, in Vama Veche, when I finally got there.

And there was plenty of room for make-up sessions, too. Cause you obviously can’t be bad ass without dark make-up :>

In the end, it’s always the sea, the breeze, the salty sandy smell and taste of the air I love going to the beach for, be it in Vama Veche, Barcelona or anywhere else. And the peace and clarity they always bring (I still haven’t figured out how).