Hotel Samokov

6

The hotel is a little dated and would benefit from a refurbishment, but the staff were excellent and the breakfast was great. The location is superb, with plenty of facilities and convenient parking. Outstanding value for money too, as our stay was very inexpensive. If you’re looking for something modern and stylish this may not be the place, but for value it’s hard to beat.

I have to say it was an excellent stay. Whilst it isn’t the Ritz, so don’t expect that, it was very solid and met the needs of a good base to access the slopes. Warm, big rooms, comfortable beds and adequate food. Remember, you get what you pay for - I’d stay here again.

Let’s start with a positive, it’s a good location. And that was it. The hotel itself is extremely dated, the lifts are dangerous. We only stayed bed and breakfast, thank goodness as the food was absolutely awful. There is no atmosphere about the place whatsoever, it is old, dark, and dingy. The beds are very old and uncomfortable, the pillows were like rocks. We stayed for eight days and for five out of the eight days we had continuous power cuts, lasting anywhere from between two and 10 hours. We were on the sixth floor, and when you come back from snowboarding the last thing you want to do is trudge up six flights of stairs wrapped up in snow gear. On the one morning we did go for breakfast, we had to walk down to a less than basic breakfast as they could not provide anything hot because of no power. Christmas Day, we were stuck in the hotel in the morning for the first five hours because again there was no power. We have had no apology for all this inconvenience whatsoever. On the morning of our departure, we hear that the hotel was sending emails to further arriving guests, stating there had been a series of power cuts but they apparently have a generator, to which was not used once! on our arrival at 3 am, and going straight to bed, we were very rudely awoken by an extremely loud obnoxious family in our room next door, using the most obscene language possible, and I was not impressed by this in front of my 13-year-daughter. This seem to be common throughout the hotel.

The hotel looks nothing like the photos, the cladding is falling apart and flaking with sap weeping out. Disused offices and facilities stand out. The carpark is used as charged parking for day-visitors for the slopes, guests park down a loading bay littered with potholes. For the 2 weeks I was here, the main door was broken. After checking in, you're directed to your room via the elevators. They're loud, shaky, inconsistent, some don't open level with the floor and have swastikas engraved inside. (this is specific to my room but other rooms must be similar) You're greeted with worn out and stained carpets, light switches and plug sockets hanging out of the wall, a radiator which doesn't come on enough to dry ski clothes, paint where it shouldn't be, lights not fixed in place, a toilet that isn't fixed to the floor releasing awful smells and providing an unstable perch. A shower that doesn't drain with a flickering light above you. The towel rack is half off the wall and the protuding tiles have simply been packed with filler. A large red stain down the side of the bed, I don't dare take off the sheet to look at the mattress. I don't think sheets are changed when the room is made. The walls are so thin, I could actually hear my new neighbor walk in and gasp. (seriously.) Breakfast is almost always yesterday's leftovers and is sometimes cold. The pool is dated but does the trick, the gym has been described by users as a prison gym. This is not a 4 star hotel.