30 Lev = £13.50

It would appear that there are major renovations still going on throughout 2023. The hotel is conveniently located and well connected, but if you are looking for a peaceful stay, better look elsewhere.

The following three notices currently appear on their website:
For the local standards of living, BGN 30 (= EUR 15 / USD 16) per adult per day is a very nice allowance, that can buy you a lot of stuff outside of the hotel, but with the customary inflated prices in the hotel (sometimes multiple of the "normal" price), that may end up not being worth that much.

Renovations are never fun but they are a positive sign of commitment by the owners / operators. I enjoyed my stay there years ago, enjoyed Sofia in general, and would be happy to return, so good to see that hopefully this property will be a nice option for many years to come.

Ugh. Was going to make a 2-night booking here for April. Now I may have to re-think my strategy, as I use the fitness center every day. I can live without lounge access, although it is a disappointment. Any idea of what the Diamond breakfast is like during the renovations?

I too cannot live without a gym, but I'm curious about this "alternative venue offered within walking distance". A google maps search of commercial gyms in the immediate vicinity shows some pretty nice setups. If your schedule is sufficiently flexible to allow for a short walk time, it might be a significant upgrade from the on-site fitness center!

It will be flexible. If it’s a good area for walking, it might tempt me to book here even without a fitness center.

It's a great area for walking! Perhaps shoot them a note or give a call and see where they're sending people gym-wise?

EUR15 isn't going far with Hilton pricing, even in Bulgaria :D

On the other hand, if 30 lev in your pocket were an option, would make for a fulfilling visit to a local cafe/restaurant

That was what was thinking. I am guessing a pizza and a beer and you still have the 4 items from the mini bar, which for most people is probably what they would consume during a lounge visit.

Did you get more information about the gym replacement ? And is there any recent experience regarding the state of the hotel and if renovations are a problem ? I booked a stay for end of May and noticed the basic room are all renovated rooms, they look quite nice on the pictures.

I emailed them today . The executive lounge will not be open for our stay early September , so it’s taking a long time . The 30 lev is per person not per room . I have no idea what this will get you in the Hilton .

I just redeemed points here and it must be the best Hilton redemption of my life. Cash rate was a bit insane at 260€ a night, but the price on points was still only 30k. That's over 0.9 US cents per point.

But since my stay was supposed to be four nights, I've decided to throw in one extra night for free. The cash rate dropped to 250€ a night, thus I got value of 1250€ ($1316) for 120k points = around 1,1 US cent per point.

Not bad if you ask me! I will report on the actual stay later :)

That is a lot. There's no mention of a lounge anymore. The room descriptions just mention the 15 EUR credit, which seems to be per room, not per person. Perhaps they won't have a lounge having found it was too expensive vs 15 EUR that perhaps many don't use anyway and it was already a weird approach, than just offering Happy Hour at the bar and some coffee/tea.

According to the booking system, the lounge is closed for renovation so it should reopen later. The 30 BGN (15€) F&B credit is per person per day. I'll probably have more use for the credit as it's not limited to the two hours when I most likely want to be out (and I'm not yet hungry) anyway.

I didn't notice this because I was on the website booking engine. There are two messages on the App but for some reason it just shows one online, and there is no arrow to click.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...ff5de817e9.jpg

Hilton IT?