Jasmin, Sofia

After a long, and I mean LONG, drive through Serbia, we eventually arrived in the outskirts of Sofia just as darkness began to descend. A bit of a blessing really, Picturesque it ain't. Our hotel was just off the ring road...bit of a misnomer really. Oh, it rings the city true enough, but road seems like a far-fetched description of the pot-holed suicide-run we found ourselves bumping and grinding along on.
Not a problem. We had prebooked ...
...follow the instructions I had printed off with the booking confirmation...only I hadn't.
After several abortive forays off the 'ring road', things were looking pretty desperate but at last we got the right turn-off and found our digs. Good job really or this review would be stopping right about now.

Each road we had previously tried seem to plunge us into dodgier and dodgier areas and as I couln't really remember the details ... more

After a long, and I mean LONG, drive through Serbia, we eventually arrived in the outskirts of Sofia just as darkness began to descend. A bit of a blessing really, Picturesque it ain't. Our hotel was just off the ring road...bit of a misnomer really. Oh, it rings the city true enough, but road seems like a far-fetched description of the pot-holed suicide-run we found ourselves bumping and grinding along on.
Not a problem. We had prebooked the Jasmin Hotel and all we had to do was follow the instructions I had printed off with the booking confirmation...only I hadn't.
After several abortive forays off the 'ring road', things were looking pretty desperate but at last we got the right turn-off and found our digs. Good job really or this review would be stopping right about now.

Each road we had previously tried seem to plunge us into dodgier and dodgier areas and as I couln't really remember the details of the hotel, we were becoming somewhat apprehensive as to the quality of it so it was with some relief that we noticed the area of the hotel was much more respectable, and even nice.
The hotel is located at the foot of Vitosha Mountain in a prestigious area (according to them) 10 minutes from the city centre and 15 minutes from the airport. It has 65 rooms, some of which are luxury class...not ours though.

The hotel occupies three blocks and two of them have reception areas...choices, choices. Luckily, we chose wisely and went to the building where our room was.

The staff were very friendly and welcoming as were the public areas of the hotel with a profusion of potted plants lining the hallways and staircases (there were plenty of these as the area is steeply inclined and, in fact the buildings are split-level with 4 floors on one side and three on the other. The hotel is reasonably wheelchair friendly though as there are plenty of ramps.

As I said, we weren't sure what to expect with our room but we were certainly not disappointed. The room was fairly large with a huge window and patio doors leading out to a pretty sizeable balcony. We would've had an excellent view of Sofia but at our level, it was a little obscured by trees. Next floor up would've been perfect.
The room wasn't quite square and one wall was kind of rounded - not a fault, it was the design of the building. We had twin beds which were comfortable and lots of pillows to choose from. The usual furniture was present with a table and leather chairs. The flat screen TV had around 70 channels, many in English, so finding something to watch wasn't a problem...mainly because we didn't want to watch anything, it has to be said. We had a well stocked mini-bar and for once the prices were very reasonable. The Air conditioning worked a treat although because of the altitude, it did get a little cooler through the night anyway. There was plenty of storage space but this wasn't an issue for us as we were only going to be there for around ten hours max.

The bathroom was not to my taste decor-wise but it was spotless and well-equipped with towels and toiletries. Great shower too.

After a good night's rest, we descended for breakfast, only to find that the breakfast restaurant was in the other building, overlooking the pool. In fact, had it been a little warmer, we could have eaten on the terrace surrounding the pool. It wasn't, we didn't.
Breakfast was hearty and tasty with a choice of hot items (we settled for omelettes) and lots of cereals, breads, yoghurts and fruit etc. No problem getting the coffee refilled either.

The hotel has two restaurants (one of them in a third buidling over the road) and two swimming pools. There are also a couple of bars, a conference centre, a fitness room and a sauna. We tried none of them. They also have a shuttle service to the city centre and the airport.

Sadly, we had no time to dally as we had yet another long drive in front of us, but we certainly left the Hotel Jasmin refreshed, relaxed and ready for what lay ahead.

We paid 55 euros for bed and breakfast and thought this a bargain for the quality and ambience of the hotel.

©proxam2009 

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