Rila Hotel

This is a nice hotel - not exactly flashy but perfectly comfortable, affordable, and the location is fantastic! It's easy to find your way to all the typical major sights and attractions in central Sofia from this base, and they are all a brief and pleasant walk away. The “Sveta Nedelya” Square and some other important landmarks are practically on the doorstep. There are scores of restaurants, bars and shops in the immediate vicinity. Eating and drinking out is cheap and there is plenty of choice.
Externally, the hotel is a large Soviet-era concrete block of approximately 10 storeys, which isn’t the prettiest sight in the city but it’s also not an unpleasant building to look at (or walk into). The reception area is spacious enough, calm, with fairly low lighting.
My double room was pleasantly light and spacious, with a large window and balcony. The view was to the south with the impressive Vitosha Mountain in the background. There was only single glazing and no air conditioning as far as I was aware; the early September climate was pleasantly warm and the room temperature remained comfortable. There was a bit of noise from traffic, revelers etc but this is only to be expected in the centre of a capital city and I could sleep soundly with the aid of earplugs! The furniture was sufficient, a little old-fashioned but nothing distasteful. There was a large fridge with mini-bar provisions at reasonable prices, and satellite TV.
The staff were polite and efficient, as far as I needed to deal with them, which was really only the basic checking in/out and dropping off/picking up the room key. My board included breakfast, which was in the “Vranya” restaurant downstairs. This was a buffet-style self-service affair with adequate choice of cereal, toast, cold meats, cheese, coffee, fruit juice and also some hot cooked food. I didn’t experience the quality of catering at lunch or dinner, but opportunities for eating out locally are abundant.
The hotel certainly wasn’t overcrowded during my stay and had a quiet, sedate atmosphere internally. It is frequently used by business travelers and contains conference rooms; I didn’t need access to any such facilities, but I was able to use a computer in the hotel for internet access for a very small charge. The bathroom was a little dated in its decor but functional enough, in fact I was pleased to find a nice big bathtub which I assume every room has. The daily chambermaid service provides the usual towels, soap, shampoo etc.
It's worth being aware that the main entrance to the hotel is on "Pozitano" street, but the postal address is "Tsar Kaloyan" street, round the corner. This knowledge helped my orientation somewhat when I used my map to find my way around!
Overall I can happily recommend the Hotel Rila; although slightly old-fashioned, it provides good value and is a very convenient and pleasant base for a typical tourist or business trip to Sofia.