Park Hotel Gardenia в Банско

The receptionist was very kind and welcoming upon our arrival. The room was clean and the beds were very comfortable. The bathroom was spotless, with clean towels and bathrobes provided. Breakfast was fantastic and very enjoyable. The hotel’s location is a bit farther from the ski center, but it is a quiet and peaceful place. The spa center, swimming pool, and sauna are excellent and left a very positive impression. The only downside was the lack of sufficient parking spaces. Although Booking stated that parking was free, we had to pay 20 euros for a parking spot located about 50 meters away from the hotel.

I stayed at Hotel Gardenia in Bansko and unfortunately the experience was very mixed. The first and most noticeable issue was the smell. The entire hotel smells strongly of cats. I want to be clear — I have nothing against animals — but hygiene must come first in a hotel. There are around three cats inside the property and, sadly, it is obvious that nobody properly cleans after them. On the hallways you can clearly see the places where they urinate, and the smell is persistent and unpleasant throughout the building. The food was actually good. It was varied and you always had options to choose from, so this was one of the few positive aspects of the stay. The staff, however, was a major disappointment. Most employees seemed bothered whenever you asked for anything. The biggest problem was a man at the reception desk, an older gentleman wearing glasses. Besides the fact that he does not speak English (which is very problematic in an international ski resort), his behavior was extremely rude and unprofessional. I had issues with my room key card four different times. Each time I went politely to ask for help, he reacted as if I was disturbing him. He raised his voice, had an aggressive tone, looked at me with irritation, and at times barely acknowledged me. On one occasion he was focused on his phone and didn’t even bother to properly address me while I was standing in front of the desk asking for assistance. Instead of helping, I felt almost scolded for a problem that was clearly not my fault. This is absolutely unacceptable behavior for reception staff and created a very uncomfortable atmosphere during the stay. The only friendly person was a young woman at reception, also wearing glasses, who spoke politely and tried to help. Another strange rule is that guests are not allowed to take fruit from the dining area to their room — staff will actually stop you. The swimming pool water was cold. On the positive side, towels were changed every day and housekeeping did come regularly. Overall, the hotel has potential because of the food and basic services, but the hygiene issues and especially the behavior of the reception staff seriously affected the experience.

Hotel has thought about it all. Nice lounge, good restaurant, cosy spa, beautiful rooms, confortable beds, play space with billiard, football table. They greet pets, have very helpful ladies on the reception. Winter garden, massages. We dont do skiing but they can help with transport to the gondola too. Although it has some marks of usage its not important when the experience is good. Well done.

Pros: - It is close to the old city center. Cons: - Everything is dirty or worn out, the hotel needs a massive renovation - walls in the rooms are dirty, light switches barely hold on the walls, AC is very noisy. In the pool - around the draining holes there is rust etc. - The thing that frustrated us most is the poor communication. We did a reservation on Booking around NYE for 2 rooms (and 2 persons / room). Later the hotel noticed we had only 1 person / room in the reservation (our mistake) and that we’d need to pay an extra 100 euros per room for the additional persons. I checked the price on Booking at that time and it was cheaper than when we did the reservation - for 2 persons/room we would have paid the same amount as we already paid for 1 person/room. Flagged this to them and asked to get a better discount for the extra person charge. They said to send screenshots to them with the offer I was seeing and did this. Did not say anything after that. At check-in the receptionist told us the rooms are PREPAID and did not mention anything about the extra charge. When we did the checkout we had to pay for a still water. The person who was at the reception told us we have only a still water. We paid by card and left. After we left we noticed we were charged 200 euros! Called the reception and they said there was a mistake and will refund us the difference. Later when we called they said that actually there is no mistake and besides the still water we needed to pay the 100 euros per room. This behavior is similar to a scam and under no circumstance is suitable for a hotel. They barely deserve 2 stars - claiming to have 4. Avoid this place at all costs.

The furniture is outdated, and the service was acceptable. We were placing our luggage in the car and intended to return to the reception to check out properly and have a coffee. However, the reception staff approached us as if we were leaving without checking out. This was highly unprofessional.