8 1/2 Art Guest House — Hotel in Plovdiv

This hotel was lovely. EXCELLENT location just off of the Stefan Stambolov Square, and the pedestrian avenue that runs through it. You are very, very close to some of the Roman Ruins (some starting literally 20 feet across the pedestrian street, and more a 5 min walk to the left, near a large, pretty park) and Basilicas in one direction, and the Mosque and stadium ruins in the other direction. There are many places to eat, drink, or grab a gelato in the area (including one decent-looking restaurant right across the little pedestrian street). It is also a quick walk uphill to "Old Town" and the Roman amphitheater. The hotel is equally close (less than 10 min walk) to Kapana, which is the cool, hipster bar/eating/artsy district. In short, this place is close to everything. Yet is on a quiet side street, with minimal noise, allowing for a great night sleep. It's really pretty perfect in that respect.||||Though it is a "guest house" without 24 hour reception, I never felt that it was an issue. An emergency number was provided and though I never had occasion to use it (entry to the building and your rooms is simple and unlikely to cause any access issues) I feel quite certain that the managers would have been responsive if I had to call. It was clear that the management cares about the guests. They were available and working even on Easter, we saw them in reception. If you are worried about arriving to an empty place, don't be - management contacted us in advance of our stay to see what time we would be arriving, to make sure that they would be there. ||||The rooms themselves were quite nice, and well appointed. Everything was immaculately clean, and taken care of. The bathroom was very modern, with a big shower with great water temperature and pressure. A lot of good towels were provided (and replaced by housekeeping each day). Beds were comfy and I slept very well. I liked the extra pillows provided. The balcony in my room was lovely. Be aware that the safe is large enough for a wallet/passport and maybe some jewelry, but not large enough for a computer. So if that bothers you, know that in advance. Even so, I felt my stuff was safe in the room. There is a decent amount of clothing space if you want to unpack, and there is a small fridge with some drinks (for sale). The AC works surprisingly well, even for my spoiled American standards :-). Overall, this place has an unusual level of modernity and convenience for an old city accommodation. It's impressive, really, how nicely they renovated the space and fitted it out. It felt like a comfy home away from home. ||||Breakfast was included for us, and while I did not partake (I don't usually eat breakfast) it looked pretty good. It seemed like a decent amount of food/options, and my friend, who did eat it, said it was good. Especially the yogurt. ||||My only complaint would be that it was somewhat too dark in the room. It could use more lights. (Also, my room seemed to have a short where one or two of the small lights didn't always work?) It wasn't a huge deal at all, but it made it a bit hard to put makeup on during the cloudy days - so just one small thing I would say could be improved. ||||This was not a problem for me or my friend, but you should also be aware that there is no elevator so you will need to bring your luggage up stairs. They do curve, but they are not steep or at all narrow (in my opinion). It was not that hard for me to bring a carry on and a maximum size checked bag up/down in one trip (and I am not what you would call in shape). Also be aware that you are in a pedestrian-only area so if you have drivers/transfers coming for you, you will need to coordinate with them in terms of where to pick up - they can't pull up right in front of the hotel. However, it is not a problem - there is a street that you can drive on just a little to the left of the hotel (like a block if not less), and we did not find it hard at all to get dropped off there or picked up there when arriving or leaving. I am sure the folks at the reception desk could help coordinate with a driver, if that if it was needed. We did not find that it was. It seems to be a well known place. ||||Overall, a very nice stay at a very welcoming and modern, well - appointed place. The welcome truffles were a very nice touch. I would definitely stay again, and...

You can read the full review and see a short movie about Guest House 8 1/2 on the only blog for reviews and ratings refracted through the 5D Sensograph of the 5 human senses placescases.

Guest house 8 ½ has an extremely good location in the center of Plovdiv, with very cozy rooms, with a nice design, good breakfast and very pleasant service.

See .... …. Central location directly on the main pedestrian street Knyaz Alexander I; …. Nice interior design, cozy soft furniture and a comfortable bedroom.

Feel …. …. Cozy rooms - possibility of heating/cooling with air conditioning, heater in the bathroom for quick warming in the winter; .... Excellent service, everyone is very kind and polite - reception, pastry shop, where breakfast is served; …. Regular cleaning of the rooms like in a hotel, which is not typical for guesthouses in general.

Hear …. …. Although the house is close to the very center of Plovdiv, with the windows closed it is very quiet and peaceful.

..... You can read the full review and see a short movie about Guest House 8 1/2 on the only blog for reviews and ratings refracted through the 5D Sensograph of the 5 human senses placescases.

Smell .... …. The coffee, orange juice, freshly baked croissant in the morning for breakfast; …. Nice fresh sausages in the complete breakfast.

Taste .... …. One nice detail that many hotels/guesthouses still don't take into account is the compliment they leave in the rooms for their guests. ........ You can read the full review and see a short movie about Guest House 8 1/2 on the only blog for reviews and ratings refracted through the 5D Sensograph of the 5 human senses placescases. .................. …. A delicious English breakfast that can be slightly varied on different days - freshly baked croissant, toasted slices, cheese, honey, jam, yogurt, oatmeal, granola, boiled egg and fruit - one time tangerine, the second time a green apple that no one eats, however. More attractive and diverse fruits can be considered. Typical Bulgarian elements can be added to the breakfast - bread, mekitsa, buns, not a croissant every time.

The place for breakfast is the famous cafe in Plovdiv Dolce Fellini. In the morning, you can order instead of coffee, cappuccino tea or another hot drink if you want to go with the set. You can also add some other offers from the pastry shop, which are very worthwhile, but everything will be paid.

I would happily stay at Guest House 8 ½ again. I recommend them 100%, we...

Location is in a good central spot, easy to walk to all the tourist sights and quiet at night. |We had the top room, on the fourth floor, all stairs so only book if you can carry your own luggage up and down and don’t mind all the stairs each day. |The mattress was comfortable to sleep in however it was an old spring mattress so every time one of us moved the other person could feel it and would wake up. |The duvet was too small for the bed. |The shower had very weak pressure and the bathroom was cold whereas the room would get hot and we’d have to open the windows. |Breakfast is in the cafe next door, a preset tray with the following per person: one boiled egg, one slice of prosciutto, two cheeses, two croissants, two slices of bread, two tangerines, one hot drink, one juice. |The quality of the items were good however we don’t like this breakfast set up, prefer when we can select what we want to eat as we try to avoid bread and would have preferred another egg and yoghurt. |Prior to arriving we asked the hotel to reserve us a parking spot at the hotel Ramada, they said it wasn’t necessary. On the day of arrival the Ramada hotel parking was full and we spent over half an hour trying to find somewhere else to park which was difficult when we can’t read Cyrillic so unsure if parking is allowed in certain street spots. After finally finding street parking with a meter for the night we walked to the hotel, we suggested to the receptionist they should organise with the Ramada hotel where they reserve parking spaces in advance for their guests but she said this wasn’t possible. We went out for dinner and on our way back we found an indoor parking lot one block from the hotel! The next morning we spoke to the parking lot owner who was very helpful and able to find space for us to park there for two days (BGN35 per 24hrs). It turns out the Stay Hotel around the corner have made arrangements with this parking lot for their guests! We told our same hotel receptionist of this parking lot around the corner that could be reserved but she was not interested and didn’t make any note of it. |Based on the price (high for Bulgaria but guess you are paying for the central location), things about the room, breakfast and their lack of interest with parking we would not...