The renovation is quite massive, basically the entire lobby is walled off except a narrow corridor with a reception. It seems that the hotel will look pretty good when it's done, although for now I'd be kinda pissed if I paid 250€ per night for this (at 30k points it's quite alright ).

Anyway, the compensation for the closed lounge is 30 BGN / 15€ credit per adult per day and four items from the minibar per adult per day and "free mineral bottle of water". Pretty good if you ask me. The credit can't be accumulated, and it excluded tobacco (it's been quite a while since the last time I stayed at a hotel that sells it).

Got an upgrade to exec room (i.e. high floor), but the hotel seems to be actually full with no suites on sale, so it's acceptable. They currently also offer earplugs in the room due to the renovation, which I hope won't be necessary.

Reception is fully open now, no narrow corridor in place.

The construction workers seemed to be active creating a surfaced outdoor area near the bar (to the left of the main entrance to the hotel).

Was upgraded to a newly refurbished Park Executive Suite on floor 9.

The lounge remains closed and the daily BGN 30 F&B credit and the daily allowance of 4 items from the minibar is still in place.
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​​​​​8 lv for a glass of draught Zagorka beer in the bar. I hope this helps you calibrate your expectations.

I did manage to buy the 72 hour ticket from the airport metro ticket office. It took a while, the lady didn't speak any English. But eventually got it, on the Ultralight card rather than the plastic Sofia City Card that I really wanted.

BGN 15 for the 72 hour ticket plus BGN 0.80 for the smart card itself. The plastic card would be BGN 3 if you can get it.

The ticket office is still cash only, but there is an ATM right next to it, which didn't levy any stupid fees or DCC (for me anyway - used a Wise card).

I'd recommend to just use contactless, which is capped at 4 BGN per day, so 3 days will cost you 12 BGN. Cheaper and much easier than having to deal with ticket offices, cards etc. There is also a calendar week cap at 20 BGN.

Thanks - I looked at the fare structure quite a bit before my most recent visit.

The 72-hour tickets covers the recently reinstated night buses, whereas I understand the daily caps don't?

Great point. Frankly, no idea, since I visited in October when they weren't operating yet, so I just walked. Looking at the rules, I'm not sure about price caps. There is a different fare for single tickets, but 24- and 72-hours tickets are valid. Since the daily cap is equal to the price of 24-hours ticket, it would make sense for the cap to include night services. I can't find any source confirming it, but I can't find any exclusion either so I guess the default is that caps apply to everything?

Agreed. I paid 145€ for one night, which okay, but flight schedule change meant I needed a second night which was 180€, which was less okay.

Breakfast in the brand new restaurant is fantastic. The hotel has a deal with a third-party gym which is just in front of the NKD, a 5m walk across the busy road out front; it was full of local gym meatheads which is a plus or a minus depending on your point of view
However, it is 55 lv for one large vodka and tonic, as I discovered after ordering two (I gambled on the price being close to 30 lv each, and lost ) so order carefully. Similarly, dinner in the restaurant is priced for convenience rather than location; just about any restaurant in Sofia will be better value.

Also the minibar deal is not as generous as it sounds. The only drinks in mine were three whisky miniatures, two mini-cans of full fat Coke and a bottle of sparkling water, so unless you're in the mood for snacks or a whisky and coke it isn't much use. A glass or two of Bulgarian wine would have been appreciated. The bar is currently only accessible by walking out of the front of the hotel and around the construction area to a separate entrance on the side; it was empty both times I went in, except for a handful of brand new staff who didn't really know were anything was. I bought a glass of wine in the afternoon (can't remember the price, think it was about 20 lv) and took it up to my room; on check-out I asked if the hotel would take care of this since there was no wine in the minibar and we never took anything else, but there was a firm refusal.

I clearly had a slightly better stocked minibar than you, as the attached photo illustrates.

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Oh you also had vodka! 🤣 Still no other mixers though, so … unless you like spirits and Coke or water…

There's some orange juice in there and a couple of (very short dated - BBE Dec 2023) Heineken!

Identical to ours

Any recent stays? Wondering about lounge status as I'm considering an early April 1 night stay. How's location for a first timer? Are there better, similar-priced alternatives within other chains or independent?

I am staying two nights shortly. I will report back about the lounge status for you.

I am just completing a two-night stay. I can't comment on other alternatives as I didn't shop around. I was very impressed with this hotel. The refurbishments are excellent with a very comfy bed and pillows. I was upgraded in the app a couple of days prior to arrival to an Exec room. Here are some pictures of the room and the Exec lounge.



The TV has some apps on it including YouTube but no mainline streaming brands and a method for connecting an Android device. Not entirely helpful for the other half of the planet.

Bed was really comfortable

Cute towel creature 1 of 2

Cute towel creature 2 of 2

Walk in shower was good.

Entrance to the Executive lounge which is just to the right of the front desk.

Inside the lounge.

I was offered breakfast in the lounge or in the main restaurant. The lounge offering was meagre so I went to the main restaurant.

Lounge breakfast offering was limited.

Main restaurant buffet breakfast