Have you ever stayed at a Best Western Hotel? When we associate Best Western Hotels in Australia, we remember those country roadside motels with nothing around but a petrol station and salt bush. Well that memory has just been shattered! We headed into Sofia and stayed a couple of nights at the Best Western Premier: Sofia Airport Hotel.

After spending five days in the seaside city of Varna in Bulgaria we awake early to the news of a 37-degree Celsius day and the knowledge of a 7 hour train ride to the capital of Sofia (such a pretty name). The train ride is no problem! We’ve done longer ones. Unfortunately, the issue is Bulgarian regional trains don’t have air-conditioning. Hence, when we finally get to Sofia, we are exhausted, and not looking forward to the public bus trip to our next hotel stop, the Best Western Premier: Sofia Airport Hotel.

So, I break with tradition and we take a taxi to the hotel. I know we overpaid but I just didn’t care at that point. We paid 20BGN to get to the hotel. The normal price should be between 10BGN and 15BGN, so paying an extra 5BGN was no issue and the driver was so happy to make the extra money.

From some quick research, the Best Western Premier: Sofia Airport Hotel has 155 luxurious rooms available, a bar and restaurant, a fitness area and six conference rooms. It is about 12 kilometres from the city centre and within 1 kilometre of both terminals at the Sofia International Airport.

Being a brand new hotel it is located on a new road with not much around it. Therefore, it is not the easiest hotel to get to public transport wise. Fortunately, the hotel is aware of the transport limitations and has a courtesy bus available. The hourly run bus transports its guests to and from the airport’s terminals. With a Metro station located at Terminal 2, it is easy to catch the courtesy bus to and from the airport. But make sure you book in your times. Alternatively, if you’d rather stay in for the day at the hotel, you can entertain yourself using the available facilities.

On arrival at the hotel you enter its large lobby area, with the reception desk to the left and a lounge area to the right. Alongside the reception desk they have a business area, where you can sit and do some work in peace, if required. Additionally, further along the lobby hall are the elevators and the Barillon 1909 restaurant and bar.

The friendly reception staff promptly check us in and direct us to our Premier King Room. The Premier Room is spacious and clean, with a comfortable king-sized bed, a day lounge, a television, coffee facilities and a good-sized desk/workstation. As you can see below, the room is neatly decorated with large windows letting in the afternoon sun. Our room was on the eighth floor which had a pleasant view of Sofia airport, where it was nice to sit and watch the planes landing and taking off.

The rooms separate bathroom is a descent size and in pristine condition. There is plenty of room in the shower and the water pressure and temperature are easy to control. A large bench area allows room for your additional toiletries and make up. The rooms are cleaned daily with the hotel honouring its environmental promise, by only changing the towels when required by the guests. Best Western Hotels also supply a good range of bathroom toiletries if you happen to forget or run out of something.

For those of you that are fitness conscious, the hotel has a 24 hour, unsupervised gym located on the 1st floor.  The gym boasts a variety of exercise equipment that will provide you with a descent workout. They also provide change room facilities and lockers if you would rather change or shower there instead of tracking back through the hotel or are there for business.

Talking about business, the Best Western Premier: Sofia Airport Hotel, is an ideal place for local and international businesses to hold functions or meetings. The hotel offers 6 conference halls with the ability to cater for 450 guests. These facilities would be ideal for events, conventions or weddings in Sofia.

Breakfast is served daily at the Barillon 1909 restaurant and bar from 7 a.m. They also provide continental breakfast options from 4 a.m for those guests with early morning flights.

Whilst there, spend your evenings at Barillon 1909 with a cocktail at the bar. It’s a welcome place to meet some fellow travellers. Otherwise, let Ivan Dmitrov and his team entertain your taste buds by having a delicious meal in the restaurant.

Head Chef, Ivan Dmitrov has created a quality menu for customers to the Barillon 1909 restaurant and bar. His menu has a good range of Mediterranean and classic European dishes and a superb balance of local and international wines. During our time at the hotel, we tried some of the dishes available, from their standard and seasonal menus. The restaurant is comfortable and the staff are pleasant and attentive to your dietary needs. In my opinion, the quality of the food was above average and would rate Ivan’s food better than most other hotel restaurants.

Overall, our stay at the Best Western Premier: Sofia Airport Hotel has shattered our misconceptions of the Best Western Hotel brand. This hotel is worth the stay and the use of the shuttle bus to transport you to and from the Terminal 2 Metro station means that you aren’t too far from the centre of Sofia. The rooms, facilities and restaurant are impressive and the staff are friendly and helpful. The hotel gets a big tick from me. It would be especially good if you happen to have a layover in Sofia. The quality of service in addition to the comfort level is just what you desire when you want to have a good rest between flights.

This experience has opened our eyes to the Best Western Brand so forget those roadside motel impressions and stay at a Best Western hotel today. Therefore, when you’re next in Sofia, and looking for a place to stay, why not try the Best Western Premier: Sofia Airport Hotel and tell them Simon from Ourworldinreview sent you!

Additional Information for the Best Western Premier: Sofia Airport Hotel