Grand Hotel “Velingrad” — Hotel in Velingrad

We have come back for a second year and unfortunately there’s been an overwhelming deterioration in the service this hotel offers. It boasts 5 stars but actually corresponds more to 3. Below is just a short explanation of the significant issues, which a 5 star hotel should not have. Before I start, I’m just going to mention how wonderful their spa service and facilities are - they made our stay worth it despite all the below issues.

[ ] Staff members at reception are just not present at their desk - they all sit in a room just behind reception and peek through if you happen to be around and shout “Hello”. Not a good first impression. Check in was quick but we were not offered to be taken to our room or asked if we need help with our luggage. Not a smile in sight when we were checking out. housekeeping is inconsistent - room cleaning is just basic sheets being fixed and towels changed, the bathroom is not wiped, sink not cleaned, no replenishment of body wash throughout our 4 day stay. We were not offered complimentary bottles of water as we should have been. issues in the room e.g soap dispenser not working (and cleaners warning us that it doesn’t work rather than asking somebody to fix it), no tissues (when we asked for some they told us they’re only reserved for guests on floor 4?), tv remote does not work and no one came to fix it until we wrote an email to management (more on this later). Staff members by the pool (including lifeguard) are very much preoccupied with their phones rather than paying attention to customers - us and another family had to wave for 10mins+ at them to come and take our orders; when ordering drinks they just seem totally uninterested and partially annoyed at having to serve drinks. To a point where I felt like apologising for having ordered a coffee. Drinks are overpriced. The buffet for dinner doesn’t have enough labels on foods - especially the dessert section. It just says “desserts” with about 7 options to eat. When we asked a waiter for more information on the food he said he doesn’t know and “even if I wanted I can’t learn them because they’re so many”. Ridiculous answer. He seemed inclined to argue with us rather than apologise for the lack of appropriate labelling. If you happen to have an intolerance or worse, a severe allergy - forget about informed food choices at this hotel. The lobby bar has a very limited selection of drinks (which is fine) but when we asked for Ouzo we were told only the restaurant serves it, and they can make an exception only on this occasion for us to go and get it ourselves from the restaurant - totally unacceptable for a 5 star hotel.

After sending an email with our comments to the management during our stay, management was helpful, met with us, and responded to most of our comments. Nevertheless we are really not going to go back - it’s a shocking service. This is unfortunate as the hotel really does offer wonderful facilities (even though they are...

We have come back for a second year and unfortunately there’s been an overwhelming deterioration in the service this hotel offers. It boasts 5 stars but actually corresponds more to 3. Below is just a short explanation of the significant issues, which a 5 star hotel should not have. Before I start, I’m just going to mention how wonderful their spa service and facilities are - they made our stay worth it despite all the below issues.|- [ ] Staff members at reception are just not present at their desk - they all sit in a room just behind reception and peek through if you happen to be around and shout “Hello”. Not a good first impression. Check in was quick but we were not offered to be taken to our room or asked if we need help with our luggage. Not a smile in sight when we were checking out.|- housekeeping is inconsistent - room cleaning is just basic sheets being fixed and towels changed, the bathroom is not wiped, sink not cleaned, no replenishment of body wash throughout our 4 day stay. We were not offered complimentary bottles of water as we should have been.|- issues in the room e.g soap dispenser not working (and cleaners warning us that it doesn’t work rather than asking somebody to fix it), no tissues (when we asked for some they told us they’re only reserved for guests on floor 4?), tv remote does not work and no one came to fix it until we wrote an email to management (more on this later).|- Staff members by the pool (including lifeguard) are very much preoccupied with their phones rather than paying attention to customers - us and another family had to wave for 10mins+ at them to come and take our orders; when ordering drinks they just seem totally uninterested and partially annoyed at having to serve drinks. To a point where I felt like apologising for having ordered a coffee. Drinks are overpriced.|- The buffet for dinner doesn’t have enough labels on foods - especially the dessert section. It just says “desserts” with about 7 options to eat. When we asked a waiter for more information on the food he said he doesn’t know and “even if I wanted I can’t learn them because they’re so many”. Ridiculous answer. He seemed inclined to argue with us rather than apologise for the lack of appropriate labelling. If you happen to have an intolerance or worse, a severe allergy - forget about informed food choices at this hotel.|- The lobby bar has a very limited selection of drinks (which is fine) but when we asked for Ouzo we were told only the restaurant serves it, and they can make an exception only on this occasion for us to go and get it ourselves from the restaurant - totally unacceptable for a 5 star hotel.|After sending an email with our comments to the management during our stay, management was helpful, met with us, and responded to most of our comments. Nevertheless we are really not going to go back - it’s a shocking service. This is unfortunate as the hotel really does offer wonderful facilities (even though they are...

I want to first start this review off with that this hotel does not deserve its five stars anymore. If you are looking for a five star hotel and experience, this is not the hotel for you. The view of the room was a roof, when the hotel is located at one of the highest points overlooking Velingrad and they still didn't manage to make all the guests feel treated to a five star experience. When we addressed our dislike of the room at reception we were told all standard rooms had a view to a roof and that if we wanted a different room we could pay an extra 50 lv a night, when right next to the lady there was a price list of the rooms and the difference between the standard and the deluxe was not 50lv a night it was around 30lv. The room itself could be cleaned better. The shower door was not alright it was missing screws and did not slid properly. The matress was old and way too soft to the point of discomfort. The aircon was making a noise and the thermostat did not work, but when I called reception to tell them they sent someone immediately, at least and fixed it. You can see the condition of the room from the attached pictures. The spa was not great considering the 5 tars of the hotel. A lot of missing tiles, the walls were falling apart. The steam rooms were awful. One was too big and could steam up properly, while the smaller one had a giant gap in the bottom of the door and was letting cold air in. The saunas were nice and the water in the pools was nice, as well. The restaurant staff were mostly not open to help you and grumpy. What I noticed was that they were very helpful and smilling towards guests that they knew. There was no non alcholic beverages included in the dinner buffet and something I had never seen before, was reservations of tables at the hotel buffet. There were times where people with full dishes in their hands couldn't find where to sit because there were many empty tables that had been reserved. The food was often cold as they did not take care of the food properly to keep it as warm as possible. Overall, definitly will not be visiting this hotel again. Does not deserve the five...