Rachev Hotel Residence in Arbanassi

We were invited here as wedding guests and stayed for 3 nights.

The furniture and room décor were quite old, but it’s hard to complain about that knowing the hotel is not a five-star property and it has its own unique style. The whole place has its own charm and looked very nice overall. The downsides of the room were the very small bathtub/shower, which caused the whole bathroom to get wet, and the cleanliness in some areas, for example behind the furniture as I dropped my ring and we had to move a table. I know the cleaning staff works hard, so I didn’t lower my rating for that. The towels and bedding were clean, and there were soaps and tea available in the room. Unfortunately, there was no hairdryer in our room (it was one in the other room).

As for the restaurant – breakfast was OK. Simple but fine. It’s a shame we could not pay for the room without breakfast as the last night we were leaving at 7am. Staff gave us a sandwich and cake but unfortunately we eat more healthy things for breakfast. Anyway, that was very kind.

The wedding itself, the organization, and the service were 5 stars. The waitress who was looking after our table spoke English and did a great job – unfortunately, I don’t remember her name. The next day, she also served us in the restaurant. The food was good, both at the wedding and in the restaurant. A bot expensive but obviously - it is a hotel. A big plus is the playground for children – although not the newest, it was fully functional. The swimming pool was also great and clean (apart from a few bees floating around).

Now for the reason I’m taking off two stars. At check-out, we were supposed to pay for one night, since the bridal couple was covering the other two. However, the receptionist tried to charge us for all three nights. My husband explained that the couple was paying for the other nights, but she kept insisting. Her English was quite poor – which I understand, as we are in her country – but I do think that someone working at the reception should be able to communicate with guests at least on a basic level. In the end, we paid only for one night, but in my opinion, this felt like an attempt to cheat us.

We had a great time in general! Thank you.

The hotel is advertised as 4 stars, but the service and the rooms do not adhere to that standard. It was difficult to get to the hotel when im Arbanasi itself, and the reception was very hard to find once we got there, as there was no staff to ask and no direction where to find it. When we found it, there was nobody there and after waiting a while, we called the phone number of the hotel to tell them we were there. The lady then came but with no apology as to the fact that the desk was unmanned.

The rooms were alright, but they could have been cleaned better. I found a whole ball of hair kn the floor, which was unpleasant. Then we had issues turning on the TV and had to call somebody to come and do it for us, as it was a very unintuitive system in place. The pool was quite dirty, and after I tried to open an umbrella for some shade, i found a bathing suit hung on it, so i gave up. The staff were lounging around the pool, and when customers asked them for the bill, they would continue having a chat unbothered.

There is a children's playground, but it seems super unsafe to me. The wooden slide is quite old, and if it doesn't fall, the children can hurt themselves on the old crooked wooden boards.

The breakfast was mediocre at best, so we did not even dare to try lunch or dinner.

We found that the best way to go to Veliko Turnovo was with a taxi and leave the car at the hotel. I don't think, however, that we are going to visit again and don't recommend it really.

On the plus side, the hotel is very clean and tidy. We booked it for a Christmas Eve programme and we were given a large room with plenty of light and extra duvets. This is where unfortunately the positives end.
The room was cold as the heater is situated next to the door and is controlled centrally. The sauna and steam room are tiny and get turned at mysterious times rather than be left on. As the hotel was fully booked it was unpleasant to have to queue in a cold room to get in the sauna.
For the Christmas Eve dinner they'd booked a DJ but the music was so loud we could' hear eachother, which didn't make for a nice experience. We complained 3 times (others did too) to no effect. Breakfast choice is small and you get free coffee but no tea ?!?
I could go on - it's probably a nice place during summer due to the open pool but it's pretty dire in winter.