Hotel Samokov

This hotel is advertised as a 4-star property, but in reality, it BARELY deserves 2 stars. The staff was incredibly rude and dismissive. When I brought up my concerns about the state of the room, they just shrugged and offered no solution, as if it was normal for guests to deal with filth. My room looked like it hadn’t been updated since the 1980s—worn-out furniture, stained carpets, and a musty smell. Clearly, this place hasn’t seen a renovation in a long time. The bedspread had visible stains, and the carpet looked like it had never been cleaned. The bathroom shower head was broken. The entire room felt unclean, and I couldn’t wait to get out of there. Oh, and don’t expect a good night’s sleep here. The walls are paper-thin, and I could hear everything from the neighboring rooms and the hallway. The elevator felt like it was on its last legs, creaking and shaking with every ride. Overall, this hotel is an absolute nightmare. If you’re looking for an overpriced, dirty, outdated hotel with unhelpful staff and zero comfort, this is the place for you. Otherwise, stay far away!

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.

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.

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 treatments 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 $.