Orient Express Hostel — Hotel in Sofia City

High risk stay - Obnoxious & rude owner to deal with, dirty and smelly rooms

The good: The only good thing about this property is Jordon, a staff who speaks good English, well-travelled and was extremely pleasant and understanding. He helped us a lot during our stay and managed the other guests in our apartment who were very noisy and smoking all the time. There is also a lady who sits in the reception (seems to be her bedroom as well) who handles guests’ registration - speaks little English but OK.

The bad: While the hostel is situated near the ladies’ bazaar, we heard from locals and observed that this area has a high concentration of refugees and migrants and prone to high crime rates. Hostel is very run down and dirty, stinks of sweat, decayed food and cigarette smoke, and I had to open all windows and doors numerous times to ventilate the area as other guests were constantly smoking inside even though there was a non-smoking sign. Walls are not soundproof so if you have noisy or inconsiderate neighbours who blast music late at night (we did), you’ll suffer.

The ugly: THE NASTY OWNER (RUMIANA) - Oh god, I’ve never come across such an obnoxious, rude and unhelpful hospitality staff and more shockingly, the owner herself. First, I told her that guests were smoking in the apartment and she said she couldn’t do anything because she’s not the police - not helpful at all. Second, she was very rude and nasty when I made a second booking at her hostel on booking.com as she wanted me to pay her directly to avoid paying commission. I stayed here for 3 nights and needed to extend for 3 more days as much as I hated this place - but I had no choice as my motorcycle was being serviced and my belongings were all here. I asked Rumi whether she could give me a better price than the online rate but she insisted multiple times that I pay her the same as what I paid on booking.com - absolutely no benefit to me. She just didn’t want to pay commission to booking.com. So I took the chance during the 3.3 Sale to book a private ensuite room in the the same hostel (I was in a twin room w shared bathroom at first) and got a good cashback from it. She was SO FURIOUS and RUDE that I booked on the website and confronted me. Given her poor attitude, I couldn’t be bothered to educate her about booking.com’s cashback policy and asked which room I should move to. Then she claimed that no rooms were available and I had to remain in my twin room w shared bathroom. This was a COMPLETE LIE as booking.com still listed at least two ensuite rooms available! I also knew for a fact that there were available rooms on another floor. I hope Rumi gets barred on booking.com for trying to evade paying commission. Finally, I want to highlight that there are MOSTLY poor reviews from international travellers on booking.com and Google - many of them relating to Rumi. You can also see on Google that Rumi herself replied to some reviews and appeared to be very rude. The only good reviews that are driving the hostel’s score up are from local Bulgarians - and I suspect these are people who personally know Rumi and hence helping her with...

I would love to tell you about my stay at Orient Express Hostel, but I didn't stay there. I booked days in advance and received confirmation of my reservation (through hostelsclub.com). When I arrived, there was no one at the hostel. The door ringers did not work, and no one answered when I knocked on the door. I called the listed number many times, but no one answered. Finally, after an hour of waiting in the dark, an employee happened to come and asked if I was part of a large group that was staying there. I explained that I was traveling alone and had booked one bed. She called her manager, who said that she had not checked hostelsclub.com for two years, and that they would not honor my reservation because a large group had booked all the rooms. I had traveled on a flight between three countries and was in a city I had never visited, in which I did not speak the language, in the middle of the night. The manager offered me nothing more than to use their WIFI to try to book another room somewhere or to call some hostels she knew to get me a room at a higher rate. Based on other online reviews, in which the same happened to other travelers, I am skeptical as to whether she was honest or whether she decided to overbook my room in favor of a larger group, but I suspect the latter is true. In any case, the manager didn't do much at all to make the situation right, and I do not consider this an honest business. Please book elsewhere if you can, or be very cautious if...

I arrived at the hostel at around 22:00 at night. A man in the front room said that my booking had not been recorded (despite booking through hostel world and never having this problem before). He then proceeded to walk me to a very dark and dingy building with another male at night in the dark about 5 minutes away from the main building (which I found extremely intimidating and felt very unsafe). I was put into an all male room with older men despite asking to move rooms and paying for a private room. Apparently this was not possible even though there were spare rooms on the same floor. I had also been overcharged for my stay compared to what was stated on hostelworld. Although I raised this to another male member of staff, he was having none of it and was so rude and abrupt. He also did drugs in the communal space on the evenings with his friends. An incident involving one of the male guests also happened, which resulted in me having to shorten my stay in Sofia. When I reported this to a female manager on the phone, she simply laughed and stated there was nothing she could do. I also failed to get my deposit back which she ensured would be transferred back to my bank account. This hostel has been the worst hostel I have ever stayed at and really spoilt my time in Sofia, which is now sadly associated with bad memories. Please, for your own safety as a male or female, do not under any circumstances stay at...