Ivory Tower Hostel — Hotel in Sofia City

We booked it because it is cheap, with a decent location and all we needed was a comfortable bed, clean surroundings and a/c as it's 37 degrees outside. We arrived and the owner was sitting smoking on an upstairs balcony. Instead of letting us in he started a conversation about where we were from and how long we had been in Bulgaria, which was weird, but eventually he came downstairs to let us in. The first thing that hit me was the smell of cigarette smoke. People, including the owner were smoking inside which made me feel sick, but I thought I could deal with it if I just kept our room door closed. The reception area wAs very dirty and cluttered, but again, I could just close my door. Tne owner seemed very friendly and helpful. We had booked a 4 bed dorm as a private room for 3 people. There were 4 beds, but 2 of them were broken. As in it was impossible to lie in them without hurting yourself or falling out. I found it bizarre that a hostel, would take bookings for broken beds. My husband went to make a coffee and came back saying the kitchen was grubby. We were deciding what to do, when the owner knocked on the door and asked us to turn tne a/c off. It was 37 Celsius, we'd booked an a/c room and he's telling us to turn it off? We pointed out the broken beds to us and he said, he was unaware it was broken and he'd fix it. But as he was saying it, I was reading some reviews from May this year that said the beds were broken. I decided that the a/c issue was intolerable, so we said that unfortunately we were not going to stay. He said ok, take your time, find somewhere else then he stood outside our room and started shouting that maybe I should try a 5 star hotel if it wasn't good enough and that we thought we were too good for his humble hostel and that he had only come from Brazil 2 months ago and we were being unfair. I was livid and shouted back at him that you couldn't expect people to sleep on broken beds, that you couldn't rent rooms with a/c and then tell people they cant use it. And that maybe I stead of sitting around smoking all day he should actually clean up. He shouted that I didn't own a hostel so knew nothing about how to run one, I retorted that neither did he as was evident from the state of this one. It was seriously like an episode of Fawlty Towers!!! 🤣🤣 A couple of other guests witnessed all this and looked shocked and amused in equal measure. His partner came and apologised to us, but we'd had enough. |Ironically, we had tried to pay for all 3 nights when we first arrived, but even the card machine was bust, so they couldn't take the payment, which meant that at least we didn't have to argue for a refund 😂|We ended up spending just £15 more per night for a spotlessly clean, beautiful 2 bedroom flat, just of British Boulevard, which at just £5 each was...

We booked it because it is cheap, with a decent location and all we needed was a comfortable bed, clean surroundings and a/c as it's 37 degrees outside. We arrived and the owner was sitting smoking on an upstairs balcony. Instead of letting us in he started a conversation about where we were from and how long we had been in Bulgaria, which was weird, but eventually he came downstairs to let us in. The first thing that hit me was the smell of cigarette smoke. People, including the owner were smoking inside which made me feel sick, but I thought I could deal with it if I just kept our room door closed. The reception area wAs very dirty and cluttered, but again, I could just close my door. Tne owner seemed very friendly and helpful. We had booked a 4 bed dorm as a private room for 3 people. There were 4 beds, but 2 of them were broken. As in it was impossible to lie in them without hurting yourself or falling out. I found it bizarre that a hostel, would take bookings for broken beds. My husband went to make a coffee and came back saying the kitchen was grubby. We were deciding what to do, when the owner knocked on the door and asked us to turn tne a/c off. It was 37 Celsius, we'd booked an a/c room and he's telling us to turn it off? We pointed out the broken beds to us and he said, he was unaware it was broken and he'd fix it. But as he was saying it, I was reading some reviews from May this year that said the beds were broken. I decided that the a/c issue was intolerable, so we said that unfortunately we were not going to stay. He said ok, take your time, find somewhere else then he stood outside our room and started shouting that maybe I should try a 5 star hotel if it wasn't good enough and that we thought we were too good for his humble hostel and that he had only come from Brazil 2 months ago and we were being unfair. I was livid and shouted back at him that you couldn't expect people to sleep on broken beds, that you couldn't rent rooms with a/c and then tell people they cant use it. And that maybe I stead of sitting around smoking all day he should actually clean up. He shouted that I didn't own a hostel so knew nothing about how to run one, I retorted that neither did he as was evident from the state of this one. It was seriously like an episode of Fawlty Towers!!! 🤣🤣 A couple of other guests witnessed all this and looked shocked and amused in equal measure. His partner came and apologised to us, but we'd had enough. Ironically, we had tried to pay for all 3 nights when we first arrived, but even the card machine was bust, so they couldn't take the payment, which meant that at least we didn't have to argue for a refund 😂 We ended up spending just £15 more per night for a spotlessly clean, beautiful 2 bedroom flat, just of British Boulevard, which at just £5 each was...

TLDR bed bugs, filthy, alcoholic host. Not worth the central location.

I am beyond words at how amazingly bad this place was. I do not even know where to begin with this review, as I do not know whether to mention the host's weird advances towards me, my cousin, or the host's general insistent attitude, the bed bugs, or the general filth of the place.

First of all, upon arrival, he greeted us from the balcony, reeking of beer and wine, and went on several different rants completely unrelated to the amenities of the place or, where we will stay. He was completely unprofessional and delulu throughout our stay, inviting us out to a club with him, even though we had two minors with us. Whenever we tried to leave or to get anything, he would butt in and try to talk to you for an hour.

Anyways, apart from the host's derangedness, the place was generally filthy. The so-called reception was filled with random books, leaflets, and clothes everywhere. The rooms smelled of bleach and feet mixed together. Even when we arrived, he told us the place was clean, even though it clearly wasn't.

Last but not least, the beds were infested with bed bugs. Some of the bed bugs ended up getting in our bags, and we had to thoroughly clean everything after. We stayed up for most of the second night killing bed bugs and protecting ourselves from them. It was quite the experience.

Finally - a funny detail - when we asked where to put our belongings safely, as in a locker or something, he presented an ancient treasure chest filled with papers and other filthy things, that we would not have the key to.

DO...