Hotel Zheleznik

The rooms are spacious, the beds are big, and the elevator works. It’s fairly quiet, though not completely. That’s about all the good I can say, except it’s a VERY cheap hotel in a building with floors. The towels in the “renovated room” are branded but look and smell awful, yellowed from what must once have been white, and I’d guess they’re at least 20 years old. The stained sheets and pillows had what looked like sweat, blood, semen, and who knows what else on them. The floor was disgusting too, and there was a long black hair tangled on the shower. I could hear EVERYONE in nearby rooms using the toilet or having romantic time, if you know what I mean. If you absolutely have to sleep on a buck near the bus station in Stara Zagora, fine, but Zheleznik will haunt you for a long time.

Our first room was an absolute disaster, with a filthy toilet and bathroom and an awful bed. We went to reception, where a lady treated us with unbelievably bad manners. Then a really nice guy sorted things out. We paid extra and moved to a decent room. Avoid the first three floors, ever!

I’d give this 2.5 stars if I could, since two feels too low. It’s very basic, with two twin beds and a bathroom that also serves as the shower room. I had to work that out, though the pictures show it. The TV looked like it came from the Soviet bloc, or maybe the 90s. The AC worked, which bumps it up a bit. The restaurant was closed, so there was no breakfast.

The service was terrible because of a woman at reception named Tatiana, who was rude and clearly didn’t like having guests. We tried to check in using our foreign documents, but she refused and said only Bulgarian documents were accepted. We showed her foreign passports from our country’s official app, but she was too old to believe they existed. 0/10, only because of Tatiana’s service.