City Avenue Hotel by HMG

Love the removal shower instead of the fixed one.

Hotel is well located and short walking distance from a metro station. While the reception is quite nice, rooms unfortunately very dated, dimly lit and quite depressing looking. Unfortunately nothing quite like the official photos. Plus side - minibar is very well stocked and very reasonably priced which is unheard of, breakfast consists of a good selection of dishes but you do get what you paid for. Minus side - noisy rooms depending where you’re located, breakfast room really dark I nearly couldn’t see my plate - two days in the row - cold and dark breakfast room. Guest rooms really need some TLC, the carpets are dirty, wallpapers peeling and bathroom has seen a better days too. TV although working fine could also use with and upgrade and WiFi was unusably slow.

There may be better rooms, but I don't recommend room 103. The carpet is very dirty and has damp stains. The shower floods; it's like a swamp. There was only one hand towel and one bath towel. The tooth-brushing cup was filthy enough to catch an infection. There is a kettle, but it's very dirty. The bed is very low; people my age have a bit of trouble getting up from it. On the other hand, I have to say that the room has five power outlets, enough to charge my phone, tablet, e-reader, etc. I've had so many in few hotels. Other positives: good connections to the city center, which can be reached on foot in 15 minutes. The breakfast buffet is perfect, at least for me.

On one hand, the hotel is located very conveniently near the centre of Sofia, very close to Opaltchenska metro station and tram lines nearby. Room was generally quite spatious. The staff was generally quite nice. There is plenty of facilities like ATMs, shopping centre or pharmacy nearby. Room was equipped with a kettle and the tea/coffee set. AC was working quite well in rooms.

On the other hand, pictures of the rooms are quite 'deceitful' to my mind - the interior looked much worse than it was supposed to look like (but it is possible we got a bad room). The fitted carpet was stained on the floor and so was the mattress. The bathroom is very poorly planned (water leaks through mixed type shower cover and from the sink) and has seen its better days (some damages to tiles). Also the room was very dark, the lamps provide very weak light. Overall, the interior needs a refurbishment asap.
Nonetheless, the 'worst offender' is the breakfast food: there were some moldy olives, tomatoes had seeds sprouting (sic!), scramled eggs with greenish-brownish parts and some filodough puff pastry was very rubbery in taste. Here I would specify it was not the fault of workers who were quite welcoming but rather the management exposing guests to food hazards.

Great price, reception is good and the guy was nice and answered all my questions well, breakfast is ok. Rooms are old and some of the amenities are broken, but for the price it is not bad.