Local Stay Hotel, BW Signature Collection

Dinner at the hotel restaurant was excellent, both the food and the service, and breakfast the next morning was generous and very good too. We were there over the holidays, and our room was spotless, spacious and wonderfully warm, which really matters in Bansko in winter. We made the most of the spa, especially the sauna and salt room. Sitting in the outdoor jacuzzi in the cold was a one of a kind treat. The price felt very fair, especially beside other four star hotels we’ve stayed in that were clearly worse. It’s a short distance from the center of Bansko rather than right in it, but that didn’t bother us. We had a fantastic stay and would come back.

We came in October and found it very peaceful, with only a few other guests around. The mountain views are gorgeous, and the people working there were really kind and helpful. Breakfast was served every morning. There wasn’t much variety in the low season, but what was offered tasted good. The SPA was open, and we enjoyed the sauna, steam bath and warm chairs. There are plenty of forest trails nearby if you like hiking, and Bansko is just 6 km away for lunch, dinner or a wander around.

The one thing that made our stay stressful was the room key. They give you only one, and the door locks itself when you go out. If you’ve left the key inside, you can’t get back in without help. An extra key or a better locking setup would make a big difference. Other than that, we had a good experience at LocalStay. The staff were helpful, the service was good, and we enjoyed the food. It’s also convenient for Bansko, around a 15-minute drive away.

The rooms were nice and the hotel looked good, but the service was bizarre. We waited two hours for food, then found out the waiter had written down only three of our items. Another waiter or manager kept saying it wasn’t his personal fault, which was a strange thing to repeat. The next evening the restaurant refused to serve us because it was Valentines Day. The gym was so embarrassing that even the person at reception didn’t want to call it a gym. The hot tub was cold and worked for only a couple of hours during our stay, and the steam room wasn’t working on our first day. I tried to buy firewood for the fireplace, but staff said a label limited sales to certain hours. It only showed the price. They apologized, but still wouldn’t let us buy it. The place was listed as being in Bansko on Booking.com, though it was a long way away, which made having so many services out of order even more annoying. Not a good stay.