Spa Hotel Dvoretsa

The food was good, but not quite good enough, and the pools are never clean. I’d give it two stars by worldwide standards, though compared with other Bulgarian hotels, it’s more like four.

The breakfast and dinner choices were generous and tasty, though the breakfast service was rude. The room looked quite alright, but underneath the bathroom sink there was a lot of mold, which is a health hazard in any hotel, let alone a 5-star one. I’ve added pictures to this review. Hygiene doesn’t seem to be part of the hotel’s core values, and that’s reflected in my two-star rating. The pools were also very dirty, with sediment and algae in the big one and dead skin particles in the smaller one. Many amenities weren’t working or were closed, and guests weren’t told before booking.

The pools were great, and the location was amazing. Staff were friendly, breakfast was good, and dinner was very good. My room was clean and comfortable, though a bit small.

For our 3.5 year old son, the setting was lovely. He enjoyed the slides, the playroom had lots of toys, and we could easily walk into the surrounding forest. The location was gorgeous, peaceful, with beautiful views and fresh air. The pools were lovely too, all filled with therapeutic mineral water at different temperatures, and the staff were really friendly. But for a 5-star hotel, I expected better standards. The rooms were dated, humid, and smelly, the carpet had a strange odor, and the mattress was hard and uncomfortable. We had half-board, but breakfast had little variety and the eggs tasted off every time. Dinner wasn’t good either, so we kept eating the same thing because the other dishes weren’t nice. The meat was overcooked and the salads lacked seasoning. It’s a shame the hotel hasn’t been renovated, given its fantastic location.