Metropolitan Hotel Sofia, a member of Radisson Individuals — Hotel in Sofia City

I have just checked out of this hotel after a five night stay.

It’s just below average as a hotel.

Service ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Nikolay was very friendly, polite and helpful on my arrival. The room was cleaned to a good standard by the cleaners. As you come and go no one says hello or looks at you to signal a welcome. No one engages with you in conversation.

Two days into my stay I made a request to book therapies in the ‘Relax Centre’. The welcome book in the room states it is open from 7am to 10pm and has a huge list of different treatments. Reception states the ‘Relax Centre’ is not open until 1pm each day and closes at 9pm. I asked for them to call me so I could book some treatments. No one called me.

Bar ⭐️

My first night I had a beer and it was lovely. I returned two nights later and there were two staff members who did everything to avoid eye contact. I stood at the bar for five minutes (there was no one else at the bar) before leaving without getting a drink. (Not the end of the world but terrible service). If you don’t want my money that is absolutely fine!

Relax Centre ⭐️

I went down to the ‘Relax Centre’ spontaneously as I had free time. The lady told me that the thorough list in the rooms are incorrect and showed me a list of around 5 treatments. When I asked about the facial she said ‘it’s not for Man’. She said this a few times. I asked to use the Sauna and Steam room (15 lev each) and she told me to return when it’s warmed up. That was fine. I returned and the steam room was so hot my skin was burning within seconds. Anyway I sorted out the temperature. There was no spa, the beds to ‘relax’ on were wood and no comfortable cushioning. No music. No nice smell, no candles etc. The bathroom in the hotel room was more of a ‘Relax Centre’ than the Hotels alleged Relax Centre.

Food ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The breakfast available is very good. A good range of healthy, cold and hot options with pastries and decent coffee. It was substantial to start me off for the day. The staff themselves all looked depressed. I’m not sure if the male is the ruler with an iron fist but no one was happy.

Bedroom ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Standard Single)

Nice size. Very clean. Bed was OK, not the most comfortable. The duvet and pillows were dreadful. The duvet was paper thin and flimsy. Wasn’t great or good to be honest. The minibar was complimentary; two bottles of water, a can of beer and a bottle of juice. This was a nice touch and unexpected. This was refilled daily (assuming you have your room cleaned).

Hotel itself is modern but be warned it’s about a 15 minute taxi ride outside the city. It appears to be more for business than travelling people. Which is why I think I wasn’t given attentive service or experience or perhaps they don’t like the English?

BA holidays selected this hotel and I wouldn’t choose it for myself necessarily. Although staying outside the city isn’t always a bad thing. If you stay here be sure to go to El Barto Street Food for some unexpectedly inexpensive food! Phenomenal.

Checking out the receptionist didn’t look at me, or say hello. He took the key card and subsequently asked how my stay was? He was shocked when I said about Average. He made his excuses for the above when I told him and I said “or it could just be...

I stayed at this property for 40 days on twin sharing in the month of December.

The property is at walking distance from The Mall and it has a McDonalds,petrol station and supermarket (Слънце смесен и кулинарен магазин) close by.

The reception staff were cooperative, they helped us with our transportation everyday without any hiccups.

The twin sharing room was of a decent size,with two seperate beds and two seperate table counters,a TV,one wardrobe with a partition and a standard size bathroom-with a tub and a heating rack. The window opened to the main road and a building so not much of a scenic overview. The central AC was always kept to a very warm temparature as the winters had kicked in-we weren't very comfortable with it but the hotel staff let us know that most guests preferred the warmth over cold air blasting in the hotel as well. The corridors are capreted and dimly lit. There is an ironing board at one of the top floor levels and our floor had an attached balcony for people to smoke.Laundry service is available at the hotel which we had not availed.

The rooms were cleaned twice a week,and a bottle of water + an apple juice was provided along with milk powder and coffee sachets during these times;there is a water dispenser on every floor offering hot and cold water both.

Our package included morning breakfast buffet everyday which started at 630am and went onto 10am. The spread was continental and didn't change in the 40 days of our stay. It included meat cuts like salami,beef and pork,toasted bread,scrambled eggs,pancake,sausages,cereal,cut fruits,yoghurt and dessert included baklava(WHICH WAS AMAZING) and bite sized pieces of cake.There was a beverage counter offering orange,mixed fruit and apple juice along with hot milk and a dispenser for tea and coffee.The dining area is of considerable size and most patrons were business professionals and by 8am the place would be filled. There is another restaurant inside the hotel and a bar as well which remained unexplored by us. I had ordered room service just once which was dinner of risotto and noddles and it was disappointing-the noddles had grated cheeze on top and it was dry and bland and the risotto was mediocre.

The gym was a small room fitted with very basic amenties-a treadmill,dumbels and two other machines for upper body and one for leg workout.It was always empty,be it early morning or late evening.

I got a Swedish spa session booked for an hour and 30mins and the masseuse was really sweet to talk to and was good at her job. I had booked the spa(and the in room dining) from their website and it was a seamless experience.

Its a good property all in all,the only reason I've reduced one star is because we weren't provided with towels or bathrobes during the whole stay and we had to time and again ask the housekeeping staff to refill our bathroom amenities and she seemed to be angry all the time for no reason+the breakfast menu needs to be changed once every two weeks and have more vegan options (my room partner was vegan and she had a hard time eating just fruits every day). Also since we were put up here at the time of Christmas just being around the corner,the decoration was very minimal which could have been more festive...

In a true Radisson fashion - this is an incredibly dated hotel. The lobby is nice and flashy but that is just smoke screen. The hallways to the rooms are dim with burgundy carpets and dark accents. Rooms are no different.

Right from the start - no bell man to be found. We had 3 large suitcases, 3 small ones, and 3 personal items - no help from the staff who were looking at us in amusment, but did not offer assistance.

We booked a room with "king-sized" bed - we got two twin size beds joined together. The bedding, specifically the comforters are so tiny they were made for kids. I had to request a "full human" comforter which is annoying.

Even more annoying is that the big towels are tiny, they can barely wrap around your body. The bath ceiling has leak stains, the shower controls are awkward, and the tub walls are way too high to climb over.

Dinner service was also mediocre at best. Every cultured person knows that spaghetti is eaten with a fork and spoon - you stick your fork in the pasta and twist it in the spoon so that you don't have to slurp like a kid.

Of course no spoon. The pasta was saturated with so much grease it was inedible. The desert was good - "cookie cake with Nutella" but this time no fork. The risotto and the salad for come with utensils though. However the salad was spicy and the menu had no mention of that.

Overall - this hotel does not deserve even 2 stars. Not at this price point. They get 1 star because the toiletries at the time of writing are nice and smell good. They are probably the best thing this hotel has to offer!

The second star is because the lobby had a nice vintage Porche which is eye candy any time of the day. They also get thumbs up for the shuttle survice, but this is a given for hotels near...