Hotel Samokov

Some of the negative reviews are well exaggerated. I have been to this hotel at least 8 times and look forward to arriving. It is in the centre of the resort, near the gondola, bars and restaurants. There are many facilities such as swimming pool, spa, bowling a gym, games rooms etc. The rooms are dated but warm. The breakfast is adequate buffet food with a large selection. The evening meal, if it is included in your package deal has a good selection. It is not of a high standard but there should be something you like. It is buffet food, so not as good as an individually cooked meal in a local restaurant. There is a microwave should you want your food hotter. it is more of a Bulgarian idea to serve the hot food warm, so you could get this in other hotels. I ate out on certain nights, where we were going to an event like a live group with a meal. There is the Panorama restaurant, where you can pay more to eat, which has good reviews. On balance with the negatives there are many positives to this hotel. If you want a better hotel, in the centre of the resort, you will be paying a lot more.

A centrally located hotel , local restaurants and bars are a few metres away , ski school and ski hire is located in the basement, the gondola to the top of the mountain is across the road . Perfect. It is budget hotel . Quite tired , but clean and safe . The rooms are basic , no kettle , there is a fridge , beds are low to ground but comfortable. The bathroom however is something else , the bath is flimsy , no silicone sealant so any shower water splash spills out! Towels get changed everyday , hairdryer gets very very hot , bring your own. The pool is warm and large , showers in changing rooms good , so wash there . Food in restaurant is ok , basic pub grub , breakfast perfect Good sports bar (all major sports shown)with continuous Happy Hour , massive spirit measures Local supermarkets nearby

I didn’t book the Ritz, I booked a great budget hotel and this delivered in spades. Great facilities, warm pool, 10 pin bowling, pool tables, bars etc.. yes, it’s dated, yes you need to bring your own plug adapters - hair dryers will fry your head. No facilities in room so don’t forget your shampoo. But actually, for what we paid - it’s a fair deal. Oh food - it’s shockingly bad so eat out!

The room has a lovely view but had an unpleasant smell because I think there was some damp / something rotting in the bathroom. There is no tea/coffee machine in the room. The Panorama restaurant has a lovely view. The member of staff working there was quite disinterested, so we stood around for a while before we were offered a table. The food was very tasty! The hotel is located very close to the gondola station which is convenient. The pool is enormous and a good temperature. Bowling was fun. Don’t bother paying the fee to use the gym because most of the equipment is broken - I tried to use two treadmills and a stationary bike and all three were broken.

Reasonably priced, hotel which was warm clean and also had plenty of hot water. Location is excellent for access to the gondola which is opposite. Over looks the main ***** which can be noisy later in the evening so be aware of this if you are a light sleeper (maybe look for a room at the rear of the hotel) Breakfast was fine, there was always something available that we would all eat and there was plenty of it. Used the Ski hire in the basement, I found them very unfriendly and they had an overall very poor attitude to their customers (they only wanted cash so be aware of this) On my next visit I will be getting the equipment elsewhere. Pool was clean, bowling Alley was reasonably priced, main bar in reception was welcoming and had plenty of choice. There is a good sports bar above reception who show most sporting events in English. I would have no problem returning, you get what you pay for, the rooms are basic, but clean, warm and ideal for a short stay.

I came here 20 years ago and thought now we have skiing kids, Let's try it out! I am a travel agent and sell Balkan, so I wanted to come on one of their weekends and try Samokov after their not great reviews! So we arrived to an interconnecting room which was the same price..we didnt upgrade for this..we have 2 kids 11 and 15 with us..it meant we had 2 bathrooms..2 seperate loos and loads of storage..it gave the kids a bit of privacy too. The hotel is dated yes , but we are in Bulgaria and it was cheap for a skiing holiday! I've been going to the french alps for 20 years, and paying well over the odds for tiny studios so this price was a bargain! The hotel is clean and warm..beds were comfy..maids cleaning every day... lots of facilities, including spa and pool, great value! Tbh i did prefer the apres here, restaurants and nightlife even with the kids..more upbeat..themed restaurants, and sports bars with stuff for the kids... compared to france, which is a lot more subdued... Ski hire was good priced.. we used mountain bros and had good gear. Lift passes weren't that cheap, but we were only there for a weekend..6 days were better value Food was good priced..roughly £10 for a meal and a drink pp...apart from the themed and tout bars..double the prices but still reasonable compared to home. Like i say, it is a bit rough round the edges..(there's a couple of dancing bars but its not in your face or intrusive...i dont think it even gets going until after midnight ) not in a bad way at all but if your a bit fluffy and precious it may not be the resort for you...give it a go...culture is good for us all!!

I read some terrible reviews on this hotel so was not expecting anything palacial, however for what we paid through crystal ski I am very happy with what we got. The location for the slopes is ideal, opposite the main cabin lift or a short interesting walk (6mins) through to the main centre. It's an old hotel and in its day I expect it would have been 4* however it remains the same without modernisation. The reception areas are all clean and spacious. The swimming pool was very clean and hotter than my local David Lloyd centre and free to use. Jacuzzi and massage trea**ents were cheap although we didn't get around to using them. The food was OK. Breakfast had a fair selection of cereals,fruit, bread, cheese, ham etc. The cooked breakfasts which were also self service were luke warm at best, so I used the microwave to heat mine up. The evening meal had a good selection of salads and a meat or veggie soup. The main food was also tasty enough and warmer than breakfast. We actually had some reasonably good meals and were happy to eat there 4/5 nights. The 5th night we went out for a change. My son is a vegetarian and was able to find choice each day. The covid protocols for staff were fairly poor like the rest of the resort, waiters had the classic uncovered noses and one felt it was a chin warmer. My biggest gripe with the hotel is the paper thin noise insulation in the bedrooms. 5/6 nights I was woken up, and kept up for ages by loud guests coming in drunk and that was with me wearing ear plugs as I had read the reviews before arriving. The ski and snowboard hire centre on site was fine for beginners but could do with some upgrade options for intermediate or advances. Would I go again, yes, but only if I got it again at a good price. Value for money was spot on. The Rila hotel up the road is better placed and looked like 2*s ahead of the Samokov but will cost you more $.

We booked with Crystal Ski for 7 nights at Samokov hotel. Like a lot of reviews have mentioned the hotel is a bit tired and rundown. Could do with refurbishment and painting. Lifts are always level with the floors. Breakfast is okay, typical continental breakfast. The ski/snowboard school is on the basement floor and you get your equipment from there as well. It’s about 5 minute walk to the slopes and there is a range of shops and restaurants and bars within a few minutes walking of the hotel. In terms of facilities, I felt like I was finding out new areas every day. You have a sports bar with darts, pool and football showing on tv. Good prices and they take card payments. You have bowling, Arcade area, shooting range, swimming pool, gym and spa. I’m sure there is more but I haven’t found it yet. The gym is actually really good and I thought there wasn’t one so didn’t bring the right clothes. Apart from the swimming pool everything else is paid but we are talking the equivalent of £3. Spa cost depends on what you want to do. Hotel rooms are spacious. The bath tubs aren’t actually sealed against the wall so water runs on to the floor. Water pressure is outstanding. Door to the room are a bit funny to lock but nothing major. The beds are very soft. Personally I liked them but once you start skiing and you are sore you would prefer a harder mattress. The blinds are ok but they do let a lot of light through. I was facing the town so you could hear a bit of noise but nothing that would prevent u from sleeping. At least from the 7th floors, maybe lower down it’s louder. For the week we were here with friends we all joked at some of the negative aspects of the hotel but we would happily come back. It’s not at the same standard of other hotels in more popular destinations but you can’t forget this is Bulgaria, it’s very different standards. If you are the kind of person to let a bit of imperfection spoil your holiday then this isn’t for you. If what you care about is a decent place to sleep and then go hit the slopes and have fun at night then Samokov is for you. You have better hotels in borovets but when you consider what they charge Samokov is the perfect place to stay.

If you are staying at the Samokov you are probably on a budget ski holiday like we are, if you are looking for a luxury ski holiday you are In The wrong hotel but you would have to pay a lot more , it’s location is excellent as the main gondola lift is a stones throw away , the hotel itself is dated to say the least , ot feels like it’s probably built int he 50s / 60s and barely been touched since, but it’s clean and tidy , beds are extremely comfortable , food is ok , if your a fussy eater and one of those people that compare everything to uk then you should never go abroad , it is what it is there is plenty of choice and it’s reasonable. I found plenty of choice and it’s ok not amazing but ok , drinks are cheap , local beer aprox £2.40 a pint in the hotel and it’s really good beer, to me there seems to be a lot of wasted space in the hotel and even if just the reception area and bar was updated so it’s a nice a**osphere to sit and have a drink instead of the dated feel it has it would make a massive difference, we went into the Rila hotel up the road and it’s a different level, just the lobby and bar is so nice but then you would pay an extra £1500 for four people for the same week , so as I said at the start you get what you pay for , we were here to ski and the hotel is perfectly ok for a place to sleep and fill your belly , the pool is warm and ok , my daughter tells me the gym is terrible , the jacuzzi was rank and had to pay for it.