Sofia Hotel Balkan a Luxury Collection Hotel

"We stayed for 3 nights in The Sofia Balkan Palace. We booked room 411 and it was spectacular. The room had a view of the city and the magnificent church. The breakfast was huge. The reception staff were very friendly and polite."

"5-star rated hotel without 5-star service. This is a stunning palace building and could not be more perfectly located; however, services and amenities within need refinement and fine-tuning to meet the expectations of what 5-star means to international guests. The breakfast was beautifully displayed and abundant, but food was cold and there are only three self-serve coffee kiosks for the entire large space - long lines just for retrieving coffee. Housekeeping was less than par. We stayed four nights and all three days our room was skipped. We had to call for clean linens and emptying of trash daily. Hallway carpets were not vacuumed until we mentioned the heavy crumbs and debris that had been there for two days. Front desk personnel do not communicate with each other. Messages were not relayed for airport transfers and others requests. It seems the left hand did not know what the right hand was doing. These small easily-fixable things would have made for a more comfortable stay. Until they can iron out these inferiorities, expect 3-star service in a 5-star hotel."

"You can feel the history of the hotel inside its walls! Great experience overall, helpful staff, especially Dimitris at the reception!!! On the downside, the hotel needs refurbishing"