Hotel Lion - Sofia

The Lion offers a good location, only 10 minutes walking from the historic center. The value of the hotel is the excellent staff, willing to help, knowledgeable, friendly. They will go out of their way to find what you are looking for.

Unfortunately there is extensive building work going on around the Hotel at the present time, and even though I had contacted the Hotel to advise them of an early morning arrival time, and the desire to have a 'day room' to relax in, this was not mentioned. Hence there was no 'relaxing' to be done when construction began at about 7am each morning. Had I been made aware of this I would not have stayed at this Hotel at this time. Breakfast was a little basic, but as the cost of the rooms was very cheap this was acceptable. Apart from this, the location, room itself and general service (including early morning collection from the airport for a very reasonable fee) was very good.

The location of "Lion Hotel" is very good. But, the atmosphere in front of this hotel was not so good at night. The room was very large and the security inside hotel was very good.

Been to Sofia many times and used the Lion Hotel on several occasions, because of it's location and price.

Large room, clean with Internet and breakfast included. Walking distance to city center.

It was a nice hotel nearby city center with a reasonable price.

Hotel Lion is a very good choice for anyone wanting to stay in the centre of Sofia and not wanting to spend too much. The rooms are spacious and nice, at least in mine that was facing the backyard noise was no problem. I did not ask for a non-smoker room and was automatically given a smoker one, which was a bit disturbing. On the other hand, I stayed for five nights so I had my chance to have the windows open for quite a while. The staff was alright, some of them were more communicative than others but the avarage was good. The breakfast lacked fantasy and remained exactly the same throughout the period. The public areas are not very large. The neighbourhood seems to turn to a part-redlight area at certain hour in the evening. However, in general I was very pleased with stay at Lion.

Wir waren zum zweiten Mal Gäste im Lion. Trotz geschlossener Fenster gelangt noch viel Straßenlärm ins Zimmer, so dass bei jemand wie mir, der nur einen oberflächlichen Schlaf hat, immer wieder Wachphasen auftreten. Das sollte man unbedingt berücksichtigen. Was die Sauberkeit des Zimmers angeht, sollte man nicht so genau hinschauen. Alles nur sehr oberflächlich geputzt. Die Betten waren sauber, aber leider immer sehr lieblos gemacht, deshalb würde ich die Note 3 – 4 vergeben. Verschlechtert hat sich unser Meinung nach eindeutig alles, was mit dem Frühstücksraum, dem Frühstück selber und dem Personal zu tun hat.. Dürftige Auswahl und eine nicht akzeptable Präsentation der angebotenen wenigen Speisen und Getränke haben uns geschockt. Der Gipfel war am ersten Morgen eine Hilfskraft vermutlich aus der Küche, die sich an den Tischen mit Abräumen / Abwischen zu schaffen machte. Bei näherem Hinschauen mussten wir feststellen, dass die "Dame", die so um die 50 oder etwas darüber war, sich uns in einem nahezu durchsichtigen Zweiteiler präsentierte, der von oben bis unten verfleckt und schmuddelig war. Also ehrlich gesagt, meine Frau und ich haben uns geekelt. Der Gipfel war noch, dass man den roten Tangaslip, der mehr als knapp war, durchschimmern sehen konnte. Wirklich eine Zumutung. Meine Frau, die perfekt Bulgarisch spricht, hat die Bedienstete dann bezüglich unserer Wahrnehmungen angesprochen. Danach wurde uns ihre Anwesenheit Gott sei Dank nicht mehr zugemutet. Aufgrund dieses Erlebnisses haben wir dann am zweiten Morgen auf das Frühstück verzichtet. Na, ja, alles in allem ist das Beste an diesem Hotel das Preis-/Leistungsverhältnis. Bei durchschnittlich 60 Euro pro Nacht und drei Sternen, darf man wohl nicht mehr erwarten. Wir, die wir Freunde in Sofia haben und uns ein- bis zweimal pro Jahr dort aufhalten, werden sicher nicht mehr Quartier im Lion beziehen. Ehepaar Mitte fünfzig.

Suprisingly good, go for a quiet room at the rear, Good value for money, will stay again. Breakfast is abit spartan.

The immediate vincinity is not fantastic but just walking 5-10 minutes would take you to nice places. The rooms are fine. When I stayed there (April '09) the hotel restaurant closed and changed owner. Hence some problems with breakfast. Hotel operator and employees managed to provide some improvised breakfast and I am grateful for the effort. My ratings do not take this incident into account. Additional info: the hotel offers a 5% discount if you pay in cash!

El servicio muy bueno.Hotel cerca del centro. La experiencia ha estado bien .En el hotel habia parejas,hombres de negocios...

Good rooms, the rooms facing the backside are quiet. The kafe on the ground floor is ok, some staff is nice, some more reserved. PC with internet available for small fee. Good service in the reception. Overall, good hotel for the money. Only negative comment from me is the area, which is not so nice atmosphere. You need to walk further up the Maria Luiza Bilv. towards Sveta Nedelya to get to nicer neighbourhoods.

Good position near to the city center, kind staff, staisfactory breakfast, non-smoking room reservation recommended in the case of non-smokers, would stay there again

The rooms are old, noisy and with and not clean. the personnel very unpolite and the rooms with no air condition!!. the bed is very unconfortable and the floor carpet dirty. the only thing not so bad was the breakfast. the personnel does not have a remote idea about service!! I never see a smile or a welcome word

The hotel room was in a very safe and central location. The room was very clean and good. Toiletries were provided but not tea/coffee. Staff very helpful. Breakfast was taken in an adjacent restaurant and the choice on offer an quality of food was poor. Despite this I would be inclined to stay at the Lion Hotel again if I ever visited Sofia.

Excellent! The hotel looks just like it is advertised on the web. Our room was fine and had many more TV channels than the four star near the airport. The shuttle still only took half an hour despite early morning traffic and roadworks. The only flaw was no breakfast. The staff were late and we really needed a 07:30 breakfast. Took it at the airport at great expense...

It was our first (and only) stay at the Lion Hotel. The staff are under trained, their "double-room" means a "twin" and vica-versa, the carpets (throughout the hotel) REALLY smell, they're obviously not washed....ever. However, the Lion is centrally located and 20 minutes walk from any place of interest in downtown Sofia. The hotel rooms are very quiet considering its proximity to the main road. Also, there are many bars and restaurants nearby. Overall, for the amout of money you spend it is certainly not worth the stay as the staff are incompetent, the rooms stink and the breakfast is pretty bad also.

Mainly very helpful - they got our departure time wrong however and failed to call us at the correct time for our flight

Travelled with my 20 year old son. Staff was good and location was good. Breakfast included was very good. Lots to see just walking the main drag that the Lion is on.

The hotel is situated close to the center. We had a room at the backside and therefore it was not very noisy. The room was very large and clean. The personnel was very politely and helpful! Only breakfast was a bit poor. If I go to Sofia once more, I'll take Hotel Lion again!

Due passi dall'Hotel Lion c'e' una strada di mercato aperto che e' molto interessante.

As we travelled by coach from Varna, the hotel was only 500 meters from bus station. We still took a taxi because of large luggage and was charged only 1.70 leva by a very helpful taxi driver. The hotel was very close to the main shopping/tourist attractions (5 mins walk). The hotel reception staff were understanding, helpful and courtious. The room was on a 'no smoking floor - no fumes drifting from other rooms. The maid was excellent: friendly and extremely efficient. The breakfast had 3 choices with no blend or mix - a buffet would have been more to our taste, but it was still a cut above other 3 star hotels we have been to in Bulgaria and Europe. Attention to detail for the little things that matter was the outstanding memory of the stay - very unusual in 3 star hotels. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Sofia and the hotel contributed a great deal to that enjoyment.

It is better to speficially book a non-smoking room - the smoking rooms are on the lower floors and a bit smelly and it does make a difference. Also, avoid the 5th floor if you can as the windows overlook the chimney of a restaurant and the stink comes in

Hotel well located, good relationship between price and quality. Good Restaurant

We stayed at the hotel from Dec 29 to Jan 2, during these days the staff were not very polite except from one very nice boy whose name I can't remember. To begin the day the breakfast has nothing to do with the chosen one, they didn't bring one plate.On Jan 1st they didn't open the cafeteria until 10.15 a.m without notifying it, this same day they didn't clean our room or change our towels, when we came back at around 22.00 we could only get to small towels after trying to explain what has happened, because the English they speak is not well enough.To finish when we paid, they charged us 8 euros as "tourist taxes" they said.To sum up, the hotel is nice to see, well located, good coffee, but the people working there and the facilities made me wish not to come back any time.

For one night our stay was suitable however room 21 suffers from traffic noise. Shower in room 26 was not very good. As we were leaving early sandwiches were ordred instead of breakfast but were forgotten to be prepared. Restaurant was more of a coffee shop standard but we enjoyed spending the evening sitting in the window and watching the world go by. Staff were friendly

Simply percect. Reception open 24h per day. Price slightly less than quoted on site (wow!), but probably only due to the exchange rate euros-levs. Personnel talked good English. I was told I took a beer from mini-bar (wich I didn't) I complined, and did not pay that one. Probably some of the staff took, direction excused with me for asking, and gave me a good bye. Breakfast is not really top-quality (you may have better in the surroundings). Everything is cheap everywhere in Bulgaria! Hotel is well placed, you may walk the whole city centre, wich is not as big as other cities, from there. Of course, for as cheap as they are in Bulgaria, you may also taxi everywhere, there's always a taxi or two parked just at the hotel :-) You feel like a rich person there, even if you're not. It's the exchange rate euros-levs.

This is my third time at the Lion Hotel. It is a five minute walk to the bus station and the markets and shops are just up the street. The front rooms are great value with excellent views of the Lion Bridge and the people milling around. It is on the main cross roads and the traffic can be heard early morning through the double glazing but that is more than made up for by the cleanliness and comfort of the rooms. Receiption is always really friendly and helpful and the restaurant/bar downstairs always has a good mix of people. For being a medium size hotel in the centre of the city I always feel safe staying there. Try the chicken kavama, wonderful. Wonderful value for money.

In non smoking rooms smoke could be smelt not a good feeling. The Hotel should be a no-smoking one... esp in the bedrooms. Other than that the staff were very helpful..

The breakfast is typical bulgarian, means less and not so good. You can choose between 3 different breakfasts. If you are 7 minutes to late you will get nothing. The room was very well and clean.

If you have the possibility to choose, book a no smoking-rooms, because the other rooms for smokers are not so perfumed... Good position near down town, good enough the breakfast, kind service

It was a week-end in Sofia, with an excellent accomodation in the LION Hotel. On the next our visit in Sofia, my family would stay again in this hotel, which offers an excellent rate "quality vs.price". (Gabi and Romeo)

It's certainly worth recommending. The surroundings may be a bit discouraging, but the hotel is clean and close to the centre. I stayed in different hotels in Sofia and this one offers the best price/quality ratio.

Service from the management was very good. Public internet was not working. Hotel manager let us use his office for internet.

La struttura e' ottima e situata in una zona centrale dove in pochi minuti si possono raggiungere i principali monumenti e musei di Sofia. La stanza abbastanza grande, con il bagno molto pulito. Unico neo la colazione. Sul sito c'e' scritto Buffet e invece si puo' scegliere tra solamente 3 opzioni che alla fine risultano veramente scarsi. Se dovessi tornare a Sofia non esiterei nuovamente a prenotare questo albergo.

Large, clean room with small balcony. Excellent value. 10-15 minutes walk to city centre. Only complaint was breakfast - it is described as a buffet but in reality was served at your table with very limited choice. Option was cereal (only one type) with yoghurt/fruit OR egg with bread roll...you couldn't have both. Had I stayed longer I would have paid to eat elsewhere. Overall, a good hotel in convenient location but let down by it's breakfast service.

Geat hotel, 5 minutes walk from centre. Would definitely recommend this hotel.

Hotel is on a busy crossroads and in an area that was formerly a red light district (upon arrival, I was still asked if I'd like a 'female companion' for the night). Hardcore porn channels openly available on in-room TV. Hence I wouldn't recommend for prudes or families! Hotel itself recently renovated and room very spacious and clean.

Good, spacious, clean rooms. Welcoming staff. Decent breakfast. City centre is within 15-20 minutes comfortable walk. The only negative thing is the location in the middle of a busy crossroad and, if you are a light sleeper like me, expect to get woken up by the morning traffic. All in all, I'd book the hotel again (providing they offer the same competitive rate of 35 euros/night).

No parking available at all. There is a parking accross the street but you have to pay. Helpfull staff, but very bad breakfast (no buffet), very good room and the hotel is located in the centre of Sofia.

I found this was an excellent place to stay. I had a corner room and was very impressed by the amount of space in the room. There is some traffic noise, but I did not find it was at a level which was annoying. The hotel is well located for all sights. The staff were helpful.

The main advantage of this hotel is its location, in the heart of Sofia (very easy to walk from the hotel to visit downtown). The hotel is correct and the employee at the reception very nice but I noticed a few problems: (i) I have not found any internet connection in the bedroom (no wifi and no apparent network plug). I have not ask for a connection, nevertheless (because I didn't need it really). May be I have missed the plug (??) (ii) In the evening, when I tried to pull the curtains one of them (two windows both with two curtains) one them came down at once. I didn't manage impossible to fix it and the employee at the reception was sorry to tell me that noone could fix the problem at that time. (iii) When I checked out I learned that the machine for the credit card was damaged and I was obliged to find an ATM outside in order to get some cash and pay the bill.

I felt the Lion Hotel offers well-presented, clean and comfortable accommodation with the main places of interest within reasonable walking distance. Staff were amenable and helpful. My only slight reservation was the hotel's location on a main intersection, so the traffic was somewhat audible at times. Also, at the time of writing, credit cards were not accepted (contrary to what the web page states) and I was required to pay in cash, a minor inconvenience which should be prepared for. Overall I felt the Lion offered good value for money and I would consider returning.