Taxis are cheap in Sofia and it's only 12-16 leva (6-8 euro) in a metered taxi from the airport to the hilton. The key is to use ok taxis which have a contract with the airport and don't (most of the time) rip you off. You can either go to the ok taxis desk at the airport who will give you the cabs number or just go outside where the taxis are waiting and just make sure you get in one of their cabs. Id definitely go for this option over the subway which involves a change plus a walk too.

It's definitely better at Sofia airport with the regulated taxis and although sometimes you might get a taxi driver either taking a longer route or asking for a higher fixed price, in general I've found ok taxis to be fine. You still might be approached by more expensive taxi drivers but just ignore them.
taxis in Bulgaria have their name and licence number displayed on the dashboard so if you feel you are being cheated, write it down and ask for a receipt so you have some comeback.

very nice

Bad neural net, bad. Go sit in the corner.

I arranged for my taxi at the OK Taxi booth in arrivals. Nice lady gave me a slip of paper and pointed out the doors- where I met my driver and off we went. I let the hotel get me my ride on the way back and no problems that way, either. Nice Hilton. The lobby bar glows blue.

I stayed here in June and was upgraded to a suite.

I travelled by metro, buying a day pass at the airport metro station for 4 leva. As mentioned elsewhere on FT, the signs to the metro are on the floor of the terminal. Ticket machines only dispense singles, so I had to wait for the ticket office staff to return from the toilet. Only cash was accepted.

The website states that metro stations sell a 3-day smartcard ticket, but the staff member said this was only available at the city centre transport headquarters.

The day ticket is a paper barcode that must be scanned by ticket offices immediately before each use. This seems to be necessary because the date is hand-stamped upon purchase and not recorded electronically, so tickets could otherwise be reused day after day. However, nobody ever checked the date, not even the roaming ticket inspectors who I was told are very unforgiving.

IIRC, board the train at the end closest to the airport station entrance. At Serdica station a long walk brings you to the other line; choose the platform for Lozenets (a bit confusing as this place name is not on any metro map) walking the entire length of the platform to the back of the train. At European Union station there are arrows to the Hilton. Go past the Earth and Man Museum through a park (this was the view from my room, in my final photo) and this takes you round to the front door.

It is possible to walk from the hotel all the way through the city centre in about 20-30 minutes on a pedestrianised route. First cross a bridge (on the right as you leave the front entrance) to a huge square/plaza containing the National Palace of Culture, leading to Vitosha Boulevard, the Palace of Justice and St Nedelya Cathedral.

I arrived at 11am and was initially told that they occasionally charge for early check-in, but after locating my reservation they noted my Diamond status and that my room was already ready and waiting for me.

I had booked the cheapest prepaid rate (€97.95) several weeks in advance, but they had not charged my card. Therefore I opted to pay €100 in euro cash. As the Bulgarian lev was pegged to the Deutsche Mark, €100 is now precisely BGN 195.583. My rate converted to BGN 191.57 so I was due BGN 4.01 in change. But they didn't have any 1 stotinki coins so I was "short-changed"

I mention this because it means the Hilton converts euro banknotes into lev at the exact exchange rate (at least when you are paying for something), which is unheard of at most hotels in the world. So if your rate was €120, you could pay €200 and exchange €80 into lev at the best possible rate. (Even the Bulgarian Central Bank charged me a 0.5% fee, though their website indicates that they shouldn't for small amounts.) In contrast the IC Sofia, where I stayed the following night, charges a 5% commission if you want to pay with euro cash, despite advertising their rates in euros only.

I received several helpful cards indicating the opening times of the lounge, restaurant and premium wifi code. The blue key card holder was stamped with "Hilton Honors upgrade". Photos of the room are at the end. There was a lack of plug sockets except by the desk and on top of the fridge (where the kettle is). The wifi was decent.

The hotel is filled with cheesy ads for their restaurant "Seasons", like "Why waste time looking for a good restaurant, we've got one on the ground floor". Unfortunately it was closed for dinner on the day I was there, so I made do with the lounge offerings.

The food was not particularly memorable but there were the usual vegetable sticks with dips, cheese and crackers, some pots of rice with corn and deep-fried hot items including a small pie. There was a range of wines, spirits and bottled juices.

The lounge attendants came by regularly to clear empties and replenish the food, but otherwise stayed in the service room and didn't really interact with anyone. This also meant that they did not police the many guests who came in for all of 10 seconds to take a few bottles of beer back to their room. Access was by key card, but one person left the door open after which the rate of guests entering and removing bottles increased.

I was allowed to have breakfast in the restaurant and did not visit the lounge in the morning. Items of note were a huge banitsa, maybe 2 feet/60cm in diameter, and fresh cherries (first time seeing these at a Hilton breakfast). An elderly Asian-American woman was meticulously photographing every single buffet item as though this was the highlight of her Bulgaria trip. There wasn't much in the way of service, but I prefer to make my own tea anyway.

I was happy with what I got for my €98, but they wanted €165 for the following night so I moved to the InterContinental which was selling a Club room for €140.

Thanks for the review - I had meant to put in a few words myself about my stay during the same time frame. We may have been neighbors! Looks like you had the mirror-image suite of what we were given.

I had the same general takeaway as you - a perfectly inoffensive business hotel in a decent location. I enjoyed my time there, and appreciated the fact that they did seem to make an honest effort to take care of elites.

Regarding the lounge, I noticed that there was a serious difference between the weekend and weekdays. Since it's a business hotel, they clearly had their "A team" staffed on the weekdays. I mean these guys were on top of things and carried themselves like wait staff at a top-tier restaurant. I didn't notice too much shenanigans from any of the other guests, which was somewhat surprising since World Cup matches were on in the lounge...

Agree on the very large banitsa - that was actually really the only breakfast item that impressed me. I found myself taking increasingly large pieces each day, to the point of comedy. And also those Bulgarian cherries...I was just longing for them the other day; the fancy organic cherries in season here in the U.S. right now are about $10/kilo and taste like rocks...

I stayed here last week and really loved it. I was upgraded to an executive corner room with views of Vitosha Mountain. The breakfast buffet had an extensive offering and I was also able to finally taste the banitsa everyone is talking about (before it was gone from the buffet). I took the metro which was very easy as I only had hand luggage. Thanks for all the tips



Executive Room


View from my room


The Banitsa

Has anyone stayed here recently? Umming and aahing between the intercontinental and here for a weekend for me and my mum for my fortieth birthday. It is pretty cheap at �76 for my dates and I would have the diamond breakfast and exec lounge.

Intercontinental is 86 for a basic room but I don't have status and would need to pay ��20 for breakfast or � 35 for lounge access. And it doesn't have a pool.

Any recent feedback on either would be good. Especially if anyone has info on the lounge hours here as I think we might arrive too late, which takes that out of the equation!

As a demoted Royal Ambassador I've largely dumped the IHG family and moved over to HH and Bonvoy. But Sofia is one of the very few IC properties that still gets me through its doors.

On a sort of "special" weekend I'd absolutely pay a little more for the IC. It's in a delightful location and the option of club access is certainly better than just adding on breakfast: and booking club should get you a room upgrade. If you have to, play the birthday card to ensure a terrace room/suite overlooking the cathedral. Maybe cosider Ambassador membership if you have occasional IC stays. It's quite new to the IC brand (ex Radisson Blu), and staff work hard to make the upgrade and renovation work.

The club lounge is a small but elegant and well-managed space, and IC access rules mean that it never gets anything like the crowds of Hilton executive lounges. The regular breakfast room has a wider spread, but it's a bit of a zoo and I'd always prefer the lounge.

Thought this would be useful for others with lounge times.

Is the lounge open in CORONA times?

Apparently , the lounge is currently closed due to refurbishment. However , they offer eligible guests, 30 Lev and 4 items from the mini bar per day. Not sure how much the drinks or food at the bar/restaurant are to see if 30 Lev is adequate.