Hotel Marinela Sofia

Bulgaria , Sofia
SOFIA, James Bourchier Boulevard, 100
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100 reviews shown

2/10

Poor

04 Mar 2026

Bedros

Absolutely terrible, Hotel I will not stay there anymore. The service is horrible. It’s dirty everything it’s out of date.
The only nice thing there was a nice Ferrari 4x4 and that it is nothing else,
After I went I stayed in Hilton and Hilton. It’s hundred percent better Cleaner brand-new, excellent service, the stuff it’s very communicative. You cannot compare between Hilton.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

21 Feb 2026

SEAN

Great room and amenities, excellent restaurants, gym and the decor!

Self

10/10

Exceptional

11 Feb 2026

Claudio

Fantastic …

Business

6/10

Pleasant

18 Jan 2026

Noshaab

Room is ok condition nothing special

Business

6/10

Pleasant

16 Dec 2025

Nisan

overall the stay was nice, but the stuff and the parking area responsible are not friendly at all.
the room was very good and the entire facilities.
but need to check very deeply the stuff and the responsible of parking area

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

10 Dec 2025

Shinka

AMAZING PLACE TO STAY .

Business_and_leisure Family

4/10

Poor

22 Nov 2025

Martin

The window in the room was extremely dirty and underneath it there were cracks on the very “countertop” under the window. There was some kind of heating convector in the room, but no change, it was extremely cold in the room! I expected more!

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

16 Oct 2025

CLAUDIO DAVIDE

All good but the breakfast is not good for this important hotel … orange juice must be fresh not in cartoon bag… and others particularity …

Business

10/10

Exceptional

04 Oct 2025

Ross

Atmosphere

4/10

Poor

21 Sep 2025

Dogu

They have a unprofessional services. Also their staff are arrogance.

10/10

Exceptional

17 Sep 2025

Vincent

Hotel Marinela -- Truly a Unique Experience!

The Hotel Marinela is truly unique, perhaps resembling a huge boutique hotel. The decor is unmatched, and maybe not to everyone's taste. But that's what has given the Marinela its special character all these years. The restaurants provide excellent offerings, the staff was extremely courteous, and my suite was outstanding!

Business

8/10

Excellent

02 Sep 2025

James

Good

Leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

02 Aug 2025

Verified traveler

Excellent hotel. Very spacious facilities. Beautiful garden. Unique design.

Business Friends

6/10

Pleasant

28 Jun 2025

Diana

They didn't warn people that the air conditioners weren't working in the hotel and it was terribly stuffy,the bathroom was terrible dirty it wasn't cleaned well around the corners the joints in the bathtub. The reception staff were great.

Leisure Family

8/10

Excellent

04 May 2025

Aymen

Great garden and good options

10/10

Exceptional

28 Feb 2025

Yurii

Very posh hotel if slightly dated, superb pool and other facilities, conveniently located on the metro line three stops from the center.

Business Self

2/10

Poor

19 Nov 2024

Jamil

This was the worst hotel I have been to in years. My room phone 1624 was not working for the whole 5 days I stayed there. I could order anything from the room. If I needed anything from toothpicks to an emergency kit, I had to go downstairs from the 16th floor. I reported it every single day, sometimes twice a day. They wrote it down on papers and never did anything about it, like never. It was the worst trip and stay asides the gym facility and friend staff that bit was terrible considering I paid more than $1k for 5 nights in a junior suite that was broken. The hotel is not worth it at all.

Business Self

8/10

Excellent

17 Nov 2024

daniel

Good value for price

Cleaning room was terrible , did not wash coffee cups , did not clean well

Business Self

10/10

Exceptional

16 Nov 2024

Yurii

Excellent pool and gorgeous lobby.

Business Self

4/10

Poor

22 Sep 2024

daniel

i know this hotel many years , in last few years condition of property has gone to very bad one ! maintenance not really existing , very poor service , cleaning room service bad - they simply dont clean anything , asked for wake up call they forgot ... only good thing we were upgraded to bigger room but aircon was not working ...parking extremely expensive

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

05 Jul 2024

david

The public areas are lavish but service levels for a 5 star international hotel were dreadful. It felt like a load of concessions rather than a joined up business. I was told I couldn’t sit in the bar area by the spa as I had bought my drink at another bar. That’s absurd. A few weeks of training could solve a lot of the problems.

4/10

Poor

22 Jun 2024

prakash

The staff around the hotel do not acknowledge the guests. House keeping do not come around every day and i had to make a complaint to have my room cleaned, and only got a sorry from the manager. The restaurants and Japanese garden within the property were the best parts of my trip.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

04 Jun 2024

AKIYO

ビトシャ山とアレクサンダー　ニエフスキー大聖堂の屋根が金色に光るソフィアの街が見渡せるお部屋でした。

このホテルは紳士的なレセプションの方が何時もサポートしてくださいました。　
有難う御座いました。　

Self

8/10

Excellent

31 May 2024

daniel

Worth the price

Service of all staff very poor
TV channels do not work nor telephone to reception

Only good thing is room and Burrata restaurant

Parking very expensive 40 leva per day !!!

Self

10/10

Exceptional

20 May 2024

Ross

Stylish luxury and very convenient location

Business_and_leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

14 May 2024

Ross

Excellent and beautiful

Leisure

6/10

Pleasant

03 May 2024

Noshaab

Average hotel,

Business

10/10

Exceptional

31 Mar 2024

Nicholas

Only place we will stay in Sofia

10/10

Exceptional

18 Oct 2023

Rossana

Beautiful hotel and amazing restaurants

10/10

Exceptional

22 Jul 2023

Paul

Excellent.

8/10

Excellent

17 Jun 2023

Paul

Right in the middle of everything and yet comfortable.

2/10

Poor

30 May 2023

Albena

I don’t recommend this property - the bathroom was not clean, we found dirty socks near the curtains, the door card reader was reading that needs housecleaning service (it was in red) but the front desk told us it should be like this. On top of it the morning of the check out someone enter our room (not a housekeeper I think it was a guest of the hotel) while we were trying to leave. Absolute disappointment.

The hotel has plenty of good rated restaurant we wanted to try. The coffee bar/garden area didn’t seem to welcome anyone and made us feel uncomfortable. Not knowing what type of espresso they serve, not knowing what desserts they offer, and served us warm water - 10 min later the ice came but it wasn’t needed anymore.

The Italian restaurant was good - atmosphere great, cocktails very presentable, food was just ok.

I’ll be contacting the manager of the hotel to address my complains about the stay itself.

Business Family

6/10

Pleasant

06 May 2023

Athanasios

Not bad but it doesn't deserve the price.

Too overpriced. Also a renovation/repair is needed to the hotel's rooms and a couple of the staff to be polite.

Business

2/10

Poor

26 Apr 2023

Mantescu

I have stayed in a huge old furnished apartment smelling and not having heating for a huge price.

Business Partner

6/10

Pleasant

23 Jan 2023

Sophie

Menage de la chambre tres decevant

Notre chambre a etait bacler la propreter reste a desirer reste de dentifrice dans le lavabot lit pas fait nettoyage de la table pas fait rangement pas fait ou vite fait tres decu de l etat de notre chambre apres le passage de la femme de menage et pas du coup Aimable domage d avoi un si
Belle hotel mais pour l etat des chambres tres tres decu coordialement mme brulet sophie

Partner

2/10

Poor

08 Jan 2023

Shirlynne

This was my second visit to this hotel. The first time I stayed there, the receptionist at the front desk was rude. When she checked me in the room she sent me too was not even cleaned. This stay, I accidentally left my kindle. I went back after they told me it was found and the same rude receptionist from the first visits told me it was not there.

Leisure Friends

2/10

Poor

05 Dec 2022

RALICA

No heating, when there is heating, the electricity goes down

Business

10/10

Exceptional

27 Nov 2022

William

close to shopping and best of all the restaurants.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

28 Oct 2022

Karen

OMG this hotel is freaking amazing! I love the breakfasts!!! I love the Italian restaurant and the Japanese gardens with ….black swans! For real? Black swans! Then the last day we found another garden next to the Japanese garden….what?! Nine peacocks….are you kidding me? Some were albino peacocks….what a fabulous place. I can’t wait to come back to Bulgaria just to stay here again.

Business Family

10/10

Exceptional

21 Oct 2022

Simon robert

Really enjoyed my very short stay. Welcoming front desk staff, awesome gym, great breakfast and cool decor, like the Japanese Garden AND it’s close to the main part of town - I would really recommend this hotel for a business stay or a romantic getaway.

Business Self

6/10

Pleasant

11 Oct 2022

Magdalena

Great location and lots of good dining on site. Friendly staff. However the hotel is quite old and the rooms are outdated.
I was disappointed by the breakfast. Lots of options but food quality was poor. Definitely expected more from a 5 star hotel.

Leisure Self

2/10

Poor

05 Oct 2022

Nikolay

Carpet in room stained, AC not working, terrible check in, overcharged for upgraded room but many issues inside. Mimi bar half stocked.

Business_and_leisure

4/10

Poor

20 Sep 2022

Shirlynne

I went to check in and the staff member asked me for my ID. I gave her my military ID, she scanned it and I guess the scan did not work and she asked me for another ID. I gave her my driver’s license. She scanned it and apparently the system did not take it either. So she asked for my passport. As a Soldier we don’t have to travel with passports we travel on our orders. So I told her I did not have a passport for her. She start yelling and arguing with me about the ID. I politely tell her that I have two IDs which is more than most Americans. I can not help that her system is not accepting them. She stated she would have to register me under her name but I had to get out first thing in the morning. I told her absolutely not and to get me the manager. Which she did not do. Eventually she gave me the key to the room. When I got to the room, the bed was unmade, urine was in the toilet and there was a cup of coffee there. I went back down to the desk and showed her pictures of the room she sent me too. She then gave me a new room key with a discount card for a massage. She never apologized for her behavior. The next morning I came down and requested and extension to stay in the room because my meeting was going to go over, the gentleman at the desk said I was good to stay until 2pm. Housekeeping shows up at noon and says they thought I checked out. So I just left. I would not recommend using this hotel unless you have a passport.

Business Self

2/10

Poor

18 Sep 2022

Mario

Terrible stay in hotel Marinella

Don’t even think to stay in this please not friendly personal the rooms are disgusting food is terrible it doesn’t work even one star stay away from this place I will upload some pictures to see what kind of conditions are the rooms. we wait I 2hr to check in… in the middle of the night we come back to the hotel we have to wait for hour and a half for someone to open the room. The key was not working. on the checkouts I have to wait another two hours because they told me that my booking was not complete and they want to charge me additional $150 I have to stay on the phone for hour and a half with Hotels.com and with the hotel representative the clear what’s happening in one that way they want the double charger.. all the hotel representatives Treat us like we going their home not in the hotel like we’re going there home without any notice to stay there. Complete disappointment disaster never go back to this place

Friends_and_family Family

2/10

Poor

21 Jul 2022

Irina

When me and my partner arrived in our room it looked liked it wasnt even clean our bathroom was filthy, the mini bar fridge was broken and also was disgusting, there was wine stains all over the floor as well as that i called reception to get a cleaner to come and clean the fridge and bathroom and they barely even did the job so me and my partner took it upon ourselves to clean the bathroom and fridge, personally think the whole house keeping side was just poor as an overall, in a hotel you usually get new towels we didnt get clean towels and the fact everything had an extra charge to it i personally wouldnt consider this as a 5* hotel and i would never pay the price for an “executive room” like this again, the breakfast was terrible all the food was dry and bland the only thing i could say that was decent was the orange juice.

Leisure Partner

8/10

Excellent

21 Jun 2022

Stanimir

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

01 May 2022

daniel

good value for money

overall i like the hotel
parking is too expensive 30 BGN per day !
breakfast is good
restaurants on site
close to center

i was upgraded with room due to the fact that i return

Business

4/10

Poor

20 Apr 2022

Oleg

Keep your money out of hotel reception. My credit card was charged twice. An it was big story and takes long time to get reimbersment.

Business Self

8/10

Excellent

20 Feb 2022

Mite

The hotel is good, on a good place, and is a lot of restaurant and bars in the hotel.
The room is ok but they need to start rebuilding it.

Business_and_leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

20 Dec 2021

Irina

Amazing

Fantastic hotel - my favourite preference every time I visit Sofia.

Business

10/10

Exceptional

02 Dec 2021

Tanya

The property was sparkling clean, staff was friendly, we had an awesome experience and will come back again!

Business Self

10/10

Exceptional

18 Nov 2021

Latif

Very nice hotel
Beautiful
Staff helpful
Clean hotel
Everything was fine

Self

8/10

Excellent

13 Sep 2021

Verified traveler

Nice hotel, emblematic of the city. There is a very beautiful view if you are on a high floor. The purity is at a satisfactory level

Friends_and_family Family

2/10

Poor

30 Aug 2021

Bob

Sorry was the best place

From a Perfect one to a terrible !
No Piccolo, waiting on Reception check in to finish their conversation.
Left Credit card for consumption / expenses - not informed nobody!!!
Poor old breakfast. TV eith 9 working channels ?!?
Poor Internet.
This place is gone..
Sorry

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

23 Aug 2021

Verified traveler

Sofia stay

Hotel is nice. The staff seems unhappy about being there. Someone please cheer them up 😁

Business

10/10

Exceptional

18 Jul 2021

Verified traveler

Great and comfortable

8/10

Excellent

08 Jun 2021

Verified traveler

Nice lobby and restaurants, rooms and beds in needs of renovation...

Partner

2/10

Poor

31 Mar 2021

Verified traveler

Not satisfied

The rooms very old
The house cleaning was not so good
The breakfast was not available most of the time even though I paid for breakfast
Overall I had checked out two or three days earlier then expected due to the smell in the room and not so much staff available to even attend to my needs
Waste of money

Business

2/10

Poor

31 Aug 2020

Verified traveler

The rooms are dirty. Dust everywhere in the room. Other than that you have to pay for parking.

Business Family

8/10

Excellent

06 Mar 2020

Salvatore

Birthday weekend in a resort like hotel

Great new hotel, beatiful decor, I celebrated my birthday there. Wonderful resort like hotel, close to everything in Sofia, our room was great, we had a suite.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

24 Feb 2020

Verified traveler

I liked everything about this hotel.
There is nothing to note about the hotel's abandonment, staff, service and / or location.
Perfect!

Business Self

2/10

Poor

07 Feb 2020

Verified traveler

Not a great experience. I had to wait 2 days for 2 extra hangers. Dry Cleaning is outsourced and cannot be some the same day. Asked reception and they said they will come take my clothes. No one showed up nor called me back. Where is the service element? Staff does not smile - depressing.

Business Self

6/10

Pleasant

10 Jan 2020

Verified traveler

Only the lobby looks like a 5 stars hotel. The rooms are poor.

Business_and_leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

03 Jan 2020

Ventsislav

The property has a unique design and perfect location! There is a large choice of cuisines offered and also a great health club. 11 out of 10, would definately visit again!

Business_and_leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

21 Oct 2019

Verified traveler

Beautiful hotel great restaurants. Very nice atmosphere

Business Self

8/10

Excellent

09 Oct 2019

Kay

Superb hotel

Amazing hotel with nice restaurants, excellent food and superb rooms. Quiet and with a nice view from the top floors. Service was overall good, but sometimes less than desirable regarding the attention level and friendliness. Rarely have I experienced such difference between very friendly and forthcoming staff and the few that was not up to the job.

10/10

Exceptional

07 Oct 2019

RICHARD

Marinela in Sofia

Beautiful decadent place with super attentive and professional staff!

Friends

4/10

Poor

28 Sep 2019

Williammeyer

It got colder outside so management decided to turn off the air conditioner for the whole property. My room was hot. Maintenance said you can open window. Very loud outside and you cannot control temperature with window open. I paid for a room with Air condition

Leisure Self

4/10

Poor

15 Sep 2019

Verified traveler

no thanks

Not friendly staff, location not great for walking, restaurant food just ok. Wouldnt stay here again.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

08 Sep 2019

Verified traveler

I love this property. I stay there every year when I come to Bulgaria for the last 6 years. It has everything you need and more for amenities, restaurants, fitness, bars, ect.

Business_and_leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

02 Aug 2019

Verified traveler

Nice Hotel

Great

Family

8/10

Excellent

12 Jul 2019

Alexander

Comfort and cleanliness super star hotel.

An amazing hotel - with superb cleanliness and comfort. However, the ridiculously strict rules for use of the pool was very antisocial and prevented me using the facility. Furthermore the low quality of room service was frustrating; with orders consistently missing items due to a language barrier.

Overall though it’s a great hotel with the comfiest beds I’ve ever slept on.

Self

10/10

Exceptional

09 Jul 2019

Verified traveler

Perfect resturants (variety of food, excellent atmosphere, excellent food) very nice garden. Room of the hotel is good but I think not five stars rooms. All the restaurants are perfect except the one on the rooftop, expensive and bad food. Anyway I enjoyed in my trip and in the hotel.

Leisure Family

6/10

Pleasant

07 Jul 2019

Verified traveler

Carpets in hall and rooms are dirty. Bed looks very old. Needs updating in rooms

Leisure Friends

10/10

Exceptional

23 May 2019

Verified traveler

Excellent bars and restaurants, spacious rooms, helpful staff

Business

8/10

Excellent

05 May 2019

Verified traveler

The place to stay

Great hotel

Friends

10/10

Exceptional

04 May 2019

Ahmed

Windows are not soundproof other wise all is well
Lcation clean staff services food all are very good

Business_and_leisure Family_with_children

10/10

Exceptional

05 Apr 2019

Verified traveler

everything was clean and the service was very good

6/10

Pleasant

22 Jan 2019

Alex

The rooms need to be updated ! The room services is horrible in terms of quality of the food...Just horrible ! I don't think I ever had such a bad food. On positive note staff is ok and location is great.
You pretend to be a 5 start hotel but you have a long to go.... Just a though

8/10

Excellent

16 Dec 2018

Verified traveler

Although the hotel is quite old it has a unique interior design _ glass, marble and lights with a Japanese gloss. The staff are friendly and the breakfast is excellent.

Friends_and_family Family

6/10

Pleasant

15 Jul 2018

vanessa

The location of the hotel is very convenient, however the hotel rooms are resembling a motel .
The furniture is outdated, the once white chairs are dirty and old.,bed was uncomfortable. There was a strange smell in the room,although we've booked nonsmoking room. You can fully open the window (14th floor)-this is a safety hazard especially for family with young children.
Interesting fact-only floor 9-10 was renovated and the rooms are similar to the picture on the official website.
Two of the elevators are not functioning well.

4/10

Poor

03 Jul 2018

Johannes

Awful service

Awful service. Staff more interested in texting and phone calls even when customers waiting.
Went to Candy Club in hotel to watch football. Only customers on 2 tables and 4 young waitresses there. Service bad to non-existent. After finishing a beer I had to wait 20 minutes just to get somebody's attention. The young girls working there are more interested in chatting and laughing amongst themselves. Very unprofessional!! I will not use this hotel again and I will advise anybody in our company travelling to Sofia to avoid this hotel!! Very disappointing :(

10/10

Exceptional

03 Jul 2018

Verified traveler

Hotel with a difference & good restaurants

Good beds with nice breakfast - omelette s to order.

10/10

Exceptional

10 May 2018

Tam

Short Stay business trip

Great stay

4/10

Poor

11 Apr 2018

Avoid

This hotel claims to be a 5 star, it is far from it. On arrival in my room, instead of unpacking and beginning some work, I needed to call reception. The safe was locked, the air conditioning wouldn't work and my room key worked for 5 minutes and then the electric cut off. To be fair the safe was unlocked for me and they replace the room key but the air con was never resolved. I gave up asking (was there on business) so kept out of the room during the day (25 degrees !) and opened the window at night and suffered from the mosquito bites.

The restaurants in the hotel were good, the gym a health hazard. Tried to run on the machines and all the belts slipped and I would imagine have never been serviced.

Avoid this place. For less money you could get a much better experience at the Sheraton or the Holiday inn in the business park. Will never be returning.

2/10

Poor

18 Mar 2018

Verified traveler

The room was not ready when I arrived
And it was dusty and un-clean.

10/10

Exceptional

03 Feb 2018

Verified traveler

The hotel lived to my full satisfaction and I wish I could visit again.

4/10

Poor

21 Oct 2017

Costa

Average

Bad breakfast, noisy reception, rufe staff talking to each other aloud, AWFUL rooms service food.

4/10

Poor

23 Sep 2017

samer

Old hotel only lobby and restaurants in lobby good

It's not comfortable hotel, so many buddy Gard around. Not all room are upgraded. Bed were really not comfortable. The hotel has nice facilities but open for people from outside the hotel such as swimming pool,gym etc..

6/10

Pleasant

30 Aug 2017

Old

Outdated room
Nice view

........

I do not recommend it

2/10

Poor

10 Aug 2017

Sandra

Bed bugs found in bed

Bed fleas found in my bed not happy considering it's supposed to be 5 stars !

Family

4/10

Poor

28 Mar 2017

Polvarkis

1 star room in a 5 stars hotel.

i really hate it. Ac wasn't working in the whole hotel, they said it's not the season yet, the room was really bad and hot, i called maintenance he said open the window, now it's noisy and i couldn't sleep. worse stay ever, can't believe it's rated 5 stars hotel. at the check out they charged me an additional $22 because i have guest for 15 min, they said it doesn't matter 1 min or the whole night all same.

8/10

Excellent

23 Dec 2016

Verified traveler

Very nice common areas.\nThe bedroom has problems.

I had a very good time.
Also very good restaurants.

4/10

Poor

28 Nov 2016

Ian

Recommended for convenience to airport.

Room rate was reasonable and acceptable when pre-booked. On arrival, was asked if I wanted to upgrade my room for an additional charge of 20 Euro, but I declined the offer. I entered my room and then realised why the upgrade offer had been extended to me. The room was extremely dated and obviously hadn't been refurbished. It was dark and some of the lights were not working, there was an unpleasant odour, the shower was just about staying fixed to the wall and there wasn't a safe in the room.

6/10

Pleasant

20 Nov 2016

Nicholas c

Fantastic entrance foyer - the rest was just old and tired - tv signal poor internet poor ! Good views from room though and breakfast was good with helpful staff

10/10

Exceptional

27 Oct 2016

Geno

Great experience

Best breakfast ever. Nice and friendly staff.
Clean room and restaurant

8/10

Excellent

01 Oct 2016

Verified traveler

GOOD BUSINESS HOTEL

NICE BAR AND RESTAURANT ANNEXED TO HOTEL.
MATTRESS WAS OUTDATED, PILLOWS WERE NOT COMFORTABLE.
AT BREAKFAST YOU'LL HAVE TO FIND YOUR SEAT, ROOM IS VERY CROWDED AS EARLY AS 0730.

6/10

Pleasant

20 Sep 2016

KR Gres

One has the feelings like being in two Hotels

The lobby has been renovated a la a Las Vegas hotel with lots of Japanese touches and looks very rich and glamorous- attracting the Sofia It crowd - guest rooms are old and shabby - understand they will be renovated next - also very Japanese

4/10

Poor

13 Sep 2016

Verified traveler

Feedback

Room and bathroom interior and fittings are outdated, amortised and neglected.
The room was booked for two people but only one bathrobe was provided.
Consumables were missing on the first day.
At checkout we were told that we had used the mini bar, which was not true.

8/10

Excellent

31 Aug 2016

Hugh

Sofia Trip

I visited many places of historical interest. Also the staff were friendly and helpful.