Park Hotel Asenevtsi in Veliko Tarnovo

We have stayed here twice before, but sadly, on this occasion, it was really disappointing. The apartment was amazing, clean and spacious with a lovely balcony. BUT the food was not as good as usual, maybe because they were so busy. The pool did not seem to be very clean, with an oil slick of sun cream from people not taking showers before entering.

We stayed here for only one night while travelling from one side of Bulgaria to the other so this review will necessarily cover only the things we used. Also since it was late December, the outdoor facilities (swimming pool etc.) were not in use. The price of this hotel is on the higher side for a 3-star hotel in Bulgaria and as such I don't think it's inappropriate to expect the overall experience to reflect that. We arrived in the early evening and the welcome was functional rather than warm. No words of welcome, no smile even, which was a little disappointing. We were pointed towards the lift to reach our room on the second floor. The lift seems quite slow in general and in reality it will accommodate no more than 2 people with their luggage. The room was very clean and comfortable although not all that big. Fortunately it had a balcony but given the cold weather we didn't use it. The bathroom also seemed very clear and everything worked as it should. The shower has plenty of water pressure and hot water but the screen doesn't really extend as far as it should, and it's possible to get a lot of water on the bathroom floor. The hotel is not generous with its toiletries: all you get is a small bottle of shampoo per person and a small soap. The room had aircon and a radiator. It was very warm in the room on our arrival and we had to turn off the radiator and open the door for a while to make the temerature acceptable. The bed is a reasonable size and very comfortable but the pillows are unpleasant, rubbery and probably very cheap. There are spare pillows in the room but they had no pillow case on them, and they were no better. If there's one thing that needs improving, it's the pillows. We were meeting a friend in the town in the evening so we didn't use the hotel restaurant for dinner, but we did have breakfast there, which was plentiful and biased towards Bulgarian tastes. The only thing that I felt was missing was some ready-cut fresh fruit, although some fruit (apples etc.) was available. Also the "orange juice" had only a passing acquaintance with oranges, as is so often the case in Bulgaria. It was instead an unpleasantly sweet and artificial orange-coloured thing that I decided I wanted none of after tasting it. Checkout was again functional rather than friendly. It was a bit disappointing in general or maybe our expectations were too high, but in any case, although I wouldn't be against staying here again, it wouldn't necessarily be my first choice in the area.