Hotel Sofia Plaza - Sofia, Bulgaria 

When I stayed there the Sofia Plaza was ranked the 44th most popular hotel in Sofia. It really is a good location close to the train station & the bus station (ideal for those spontaneous bustrips of a lifetime to Plovdiv). You can see both across from the derelict building site & bus depot from your 6th floor window. But let me digress-you really must read inyourpocket.com on Sofia. As ever it is so on the money in its descriptions. The train station is a splendid cold gulag of a building with not a single sign not in roman lettering & an array of different ticket offices strung across several square miles . Compare this to the jolly bus station with its food court & English departure board (albeit the Information desk is staffed by 2 ladies – 1 perfectly charming & helpful & another who only has one phrase ‘NO ENGLISH’ (somewhat disorientating if you are Bulgarian). She can do that phrase in a variety of decibel levels ranging from the mig fighter to the volcanic explosion. Truly remarkable given that every other Bulgarian under 30 I met spoke the most perfect English & they didn’t work on an information desk. Again exactly as inyourpocket.com promises Anyway to the hotel. Spotlessly clean with an army of cleaners- I knocked over a cup of coffee in the bar & within seconds there was a full professional team on site hosing down surfaces & disinfecting the area as if it was a nuclear spillage. The rooms are functional. Very function & decorated in that browny-orange hue so beloved of the cutting edge of Balkan interior design. Perhaps the plugs were a bit close to the pillows for comfort but I got no shock. The room was comfortably heated with a promising looking air con unit for summer. Good solid doors which meant that so long as ya hoo James (oh no not another boozy Brit) in the room opposite kept his door shut you didn’t have to hear him droning on about his ‘finger of Jack’ (a beverage I gather) all night- just when he held audience in the hallway I liked the fact that the staff let you use the internet for free & even let you print out a couple of sheets. I liked the fact that they served 2am drinks on New Years Eve despite not really being open but unfortunately the other reviewers are right about the breakfasts THE BREAKFAST: Its not the ingredients per se (you could see daylight through the thin slices of cheese & spam) or even the way stuff is laid out on the plate. It’s the fact that it is all prepared & plated up the previous evening’s dinner staff. So of course by breakfast everything has curled up, the eggs have hatched & the coffee & tea is frozen solid. OK so I exaggerate. But just a bit. Truly awful So would I recommend? Well not really. Just because it is a bit cheaper than more central hotels (lots of trams & only a 10 minute walk to the centre) does not make it a perfect hotel but full marks for relaxed staff & cleanliness. I reckon being the 44th best hotel in Sofia is probably fair enough

I stayed at the Sofia Plaza two nights. If you're arriving to Sofia by bus or train, the hotel is very convenient. About 250 meters from central bus station and 100 meters from train station. Room was okay, nothing special, fairly clean, average size. Cable TV has around 70 channels, including many foreign ones. There's a small bar next to the reception, but I didn't go there during my stay. From the hotel it's about a 20-25 minute walk to the center of the city, where the government buildings and major tourist attractions are, but only a couple blocks from Maria Luisa Blvd, a main street leading to the center. The outdoor market is only aoubt 15 minutes away. The breakfast consisted of a few slices of turkey or chicken (couldn't tell) with cheap sliced white bread that can be toasted. Out of the dozens of hotels with breakfast I've stayed at in the past few years, this was the absolute worst breakfast. They had instant coffee and tea in jugs that was usually lukewarm. I think they budget about 50 cents per person or less for the breakfast. I had to have an early lunch with decent coffee elsewhere both days. Up the street away from the train station there's a good grocery store that also offers ready-to-eat dishes like musaka and other Bulgarian cuisine. If you're flying into Sofia, you can probably find a better hotel. If arriving by land, it's a good location for dropping off your bags right away and seeing the city. Trams and buses available nearby and receptionist can arrange a taxi. I paid around 54 euros per night (incl tax) for a single, so compared to other hotels it was fairly good value for money.