Pop Bogomil — Hotel in Sofia City

Absolutely dreadful. I'd give it one star, but half of the time the staff was nice and helpful; also the place is pet-friendly, which is a plus (although if you read this review further it may turn out to be the only plus I could find).

First and foremost - do not expect an internet connection, even though it is included in the price. Do not expect a compensation or even an apology either, only endless, out-of-place sob stories about how unlucky the management is with their internet providers (in a country that is consistently ranked among the top in internet accessibility and speed?! And you are a business on top of that? Sure, sounds legit -__-).

After being told that we are all victims of fate together after you've seek assistance from thr administration, you would be wise not to complain to the manager/owner about it either, as you will be met with extreme disdain. I had to jump through hoops with him to get what I have paid for and the connection was stable for a total of one night out of my eleven-day-long stay.

It may be 2019 outside, but in this hotel the murmur of a dial-up modem locked in some dusty cellar, agonizing to load your altest e-mail, beeping its last beeps of exhaustion can almost be heard in the quiet of night.

The location is alright, as long as you don't plan on walking around too much after sunset, as this is a notoriously dangerous part of Sofia. As I've mentioned most of the staff is professional and friendly,with the occasional exception of this one administrator, who didn't even care enough to pretend that she isn't irritated by everything and everyone. I was foolish enough to ask her for assistance dealing with the millionth internet blackout only to be told the next day how she had complained to her colleagues over me basically asking her (very politely) to do her job. This may seem like a petty thing to point out, but it can sour your stay, make you feel unwelcome and generally contradicts any principle of the hospitality industry.

The lobby is clean and so are the rooms, however housekeeping is pretty rare (I had my towels changed twice during my 10 day stay), so you better keep it that way yourself. The towels themselves, the bedsheets, blankets and pillow cases are visibly old, faded, mismatching, never smell fresh and honestly have no place in a hotel.

I'd share pictures, but than again that would be just cruel to you as a viewer.

(posted via 3G, as the internet is...

Stayed here with 5 other male friends , on an organised stag weekend . We are all 37 to 65 year old professional men and seasoned travellers. Our package also included a guide , plus transfers to and from the airport and to a couple of pre planned events in the owners 8 seater mini bus.Now you need to bear in mind you are 15 mins away from the city centre in a country where beer is a pound a pint and the average monthly wage is about £400. Soooo , be honest and consider that when you are paying around £25 a night for a room , incl. breakfast ( boiled egg , meat , bread , coffee etc ) then it works out it's more expensive for me to live in my house than it is to stay here. You simply cannot grumble about that. The staff were friendly and helpful and spoke good English. The owner was a really nice chap - sorting us out some wine glasses etc and giving us some recommendations . We weren't expecting to spend much time actually staying here , given the nature of the visit , but did sit in the courtyard and have a few beers ( cans from reception for a quid ) and coffee etc is available in the day from the desk . The rooms were ideal for our needs and nice and clean. Yes the decor is a tad tired and odd here and there ( we had doors all over the walls and ceiling ! :) The slightly odd wet-room / toilet set up was a bit shabby around the edges , but what we needed. In the top back triple room ( room 11 ) there is an odd roof arrangement on a kind of extended bit overlooking the courtyard and rear apartments , which is basically some poly-carbonate garage roof sheets with pigeons living in the roof above. Some noise from the birds , but we weren't bothered. The suburbs of Sofia are a little run down but there were local shops and a nice bar around the corner. To be honest , I wouldn't probably use this place for a romantic break or young kids unless you are on a proper shoestring budget BUT as far as we were all concerned for the price , this place is perfectly alright. If I wanted to arrange a similar lads weekend away , i would DEFINITELY re-book here. Oh and don't pay more than a Lev per km...

1st Time: The staff was really friendly and helpful. My partner and I were able to leave our bags there much before check in. They even helped us store some things in their freezer! The room was clean and welcoming and there were no strong smells, but one bed side lamp did not work, and the door of the bathroom/shower did not have a handle and lock. In late September the room was rather warm, perhaps too hot in summer. I saw no air conditioners. I did not use the TV but we were given remote controllers. The shower was hot and had good pressure. We could only find one plug to recharge our phones with and it was not close to the ground but mid wall. At night the neighborhood was quiet as well as the other guests, but the airplanes noise forced us to close the window, again something that might be an issue in summer. We paid 83 leva for this double bed room in 2023. All in all a positive experience.

2nd Time: Again staff very very friendly and helpful. Love the ladies. However this time, in winter, we found the reception full of cigarette smoke when we arrived, and the smell continued into the room we had been allocated. I addressed the issue and the staff immediately changed my room. We actually ended up in the room we had been in the first time. The room was clean, and did not smell of smoke. However about an hour later, some smoking smell started reaching our room again due to the neighboring room heavily smoking. 🚬. I addressed the issue again but the staff did not feel they could address this. We had to sleep with the window a bit open, which was fine with me, but for my girlfriend, it was cold. The blankets were thin and there was only one spare blanket. The room was heated though, and for me it was enough. In the morning, my girlfriend woke up sick. Again, staff was so kind to give me some...