Hotel California in Sofia is a nice (business) hotel located at the edge of the city centre of Sofia. A tram stop that connects you to the centre is at 200 metres, but we preferred to take a taxi (about 2 euros). Friendly staff, nice room and a jacuzzi. Quiet area. The only thing I was not so happy with, was the matress of the bed.

I stayed at the Hotel California for about a week while traveling on business. It is a fairly new hotel located in a quiet residential neighborhood not far outside the center. Taxis to the center cost under $2. There is also a tram stop nearby, but taxis are so cheap that I hardly used the tram. The buffet breakfast is abundant & excellent - muesli, bread, fruit, coffee, tea, cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. A real Balkan Breakfast. I did not have any meals there besides breakfast.

The Staff's English skills are good enough for basic communication. I had to awaken at the abominable hour of 4:45 AM for my return flight and the staff prepared a "breakfast box" for me. The desk staff was helpful & polite.

The room itself, a single, was terrific. The bedding was comfy & the room was spotless. Wonderful, huge bathrub with jacuzzi jets - just what I needed after the long flight from Newark & connection in London. Nice & quiet as my room faced the rear of the hotel, but it's a sleepy residential neighborhood anyway. The internet connection was reliable & reasonably fast - plug the ethernet cable into your laptop & you're ready to go.

NOTE re. Credit cards: The hotel charges an extra 5% for credit cards; apparently many hotels in Bulgaria pass the processing fee on to customers. Add this to the 3% my US bank charges for foreign transactions, and you're looking at an extra 8%. To avoid this, I visited one of the many ATMs in Sofia and settled the bill in cash.

Five minutes from the hotel is a commercial street where I was able to take care of all my inital errands. Tasty lunch at a decent local restaurant, completely devoid of foreigners, but with a picture menu in English & Bulgarian. Tiny phone shop where I picked up a local SIM card. Small local market where I bought some fresh fruit. Kiosks to buy tram tickets & phonecards.

All in all a very pleasant stay in a hotel I'd recommend to anyone. And, yes, there are around 10 lightswitches in the room. If you're traveling to an area of the world as complicated as the Balkans, why should anything be simple?

Stayed here with my wife for a week.
Good central location, taxi into center 2 lv.
It is in one of the most exclusive areas of sofia, but you may find this hard to belive if you have not been here before.
Sofia is being modernised and this hotel is well done.
Rooms are a good size and are well appointed.
The restaurant is very cheap but very good.
Most of the staff are freindly but the "Bulgarian shrug" can become very annoying if you are not used to it if you have a problem.

I’ve stayed here for two nights in one of their de luxe rooms. First of all, the room was great for that price level (around 80 euros): clean, very spacious, new furniture, bathroom with jacuzzi, really nice illumination options (although I sometimes got confused by all the switches). Second, the staff was very amiable. I also appreciated
the fact they let me check in at 5 AM, when I arrived, instead of the
normal 12 AM. The hotel is located in a quiet neighborhood, about 5 to 10 minutes by taxi from city center. I didn’t eat in their restaurant, therefore no comments on that.