Accommodation

    Hotels
According to the latest data from the National Statistics Institute there are more than 3 300 аccommodation establishments in Bulgaria, most of which are hotels. A national hotel classification system is used in order to categorize the hotels. The system divides them in classes from 1- to 5-star hotels (where 5-star is the highest standard). Usually, here in Bulgaria there is a big difference between two consecutive classes of hotels. What to expect?
For example, a 2-star hotel room would provide you with a mini-bar, TV, dry cleaning, washing and ironing services, plus parking. A 3-star hotel usually includes a separate space for kids, postal and business services, rent-a-car services, guided trips to the nearest tourists destinations, room service, a mini-bar, TV and parking as well. If you book a room in a 4-star hotel, the services you can benefit from include indoor or outdoor swimming pool, dry cleaning, washing and ironing services, conference halls (that’s why they are preferred for business meetings), Wi-fi, sports center and a parking lot. The highest, 5-star hotel category features spa and gym center, indoor or outdoor swimming pools, restaurant and a café, bar, shops, TV, 24 hour room service, conference halls and a hairdresser’s saloon.
Naturally, it depends on the hotel itself, but usually those are the main services you can get if you book a hotel here. The prices are lower compared to some European countries, that’s why Bulgaria is so attractive for tourists. Services are on a good level and there would always be a staff member who speaks at least two foreign languages, especially at the seaside.
There are plenty of ways to book a hotel. One of them is, of course on-line booking on some of the popular booking websites. The other way is to make a reservation via the official website of the hotel. That way it’s more common to be offered some special services, but the prices might be different.
    Apartments
Renting an apartment is not that popular when it comes to vacation rentals, but still it’s available in many of the big cities and the little towns. Usually the prices are lower compared to a hotel, but the services are fewer. For most of the places you could book a whole apartment or a single room, depending on your needs, but for Bulgarians it’s preferable to book a whole apartment, despite being a more expensive option. Don’t be surprised to see some people sitting on a chair near the street, holding a sign with the price for a room. That’s very common during the summer season in the resort towns near the Black sea and actually very convenient if you need a place to sleep at the last moment. It’s very important to know that there is no municipal fee as in some other European countries.
You can book an apartment on-line using some of the platforms which have become pretty popular lately or you can just visit a Facebook group or page for apartment renting offers in the town you are going to.
If you are planning to rent an apartment for more than a week, you can do it by using some of the real estate agencies. There are plenty of them, especially in the big cities, so you can just google them if you need those kind of services. Usually, if you rent an apartment using an agency, the commission you should pay the agent is 50% of the monthly rent. The rent is usually paid at the end of the month, but it depends on the landlord and you as tenant. The contracts are mainly in Bulgarian, but if you insist, you contract can be made in any other foreign language. Prices vary, depending on the area, the furniture and the age of the apartment. The approx. rental price for a one-bedroom apartment in the center of Sofia is 600 BGN and for Varna – around 400 BGN.
    Guest houses for rent
Renting a house for the weekend is something pretty common for Bulgarians lately. There are plenty of guest houses in the big cities, small towns, sea resorts and especially in the countryside. The rural tourism is getting quite popular in Bulgaria in the past years and it’s attracting more and more foreign tourists. In some cases the prices are the same as when booking a hotel room, but the service is totally different.
If you want to try authentic Bulgarian meals, made by the host or if you want to see how a traditional village house looks like, then you should definitely book a guest house in the countryside. Many of the house goes with some additional services as swimming pools, a tavern (or as it is said in Bulgarian – mehana), fireplace, wi-fi, parking lot and more, depending on the house. It’s good to know that in some of the places, the host might be living in the same house as you and he and his family might invite you over for dinner or take you on a trip around the town.
Have in mind that not all guest houses are listed on internet platforms such as www.booking.com and www.pochivka.bg or other websites. Therefore, it’s best to google the place you are going to and check for any offers. Most of the guest houses have Facebook pages as well.
    Camping facilities and services
Camping is a quite popular activity in Bulgaria, for people who would like to take a break from the big city and be away from the crowd for a while. In the campsites here, you can put up your own tent, come with a caravan or book a 'bungalow' or low-price hotel room. Usually the bungalows are equipped with one, two or three beds, sometimes a TV, mini-fridge and their own bathroom.
 Most of the campsites are located in the southern part of the Bulgarian seacoast – near Kiten, Ahtopol, Sozopol. In the northern seacoast, Shkorpilovtsi and Kamchia are quite popular, Shabla and Kraptes, which are far north are also preferred by many Bulgarian and foreign tourists for the beautiful nature and desire to spend their holiday under the stars. There are many more campsites in other parts of Bulgaria and actually their number is getting higher in the past years.
It is good to know that you are not allowed to put up your tent wherever you want. There are certain places (as those mentioned above), where you can do it. Otherwise the fees are quite steep, especially near the sea coast. The prices for renting a place for your tent are not that high and usually there are some facilities such as bathrooms, grocery stores, small restaurants.
There are many websites where you can check the prices and the availability of a certain campsite, such as https://en.camping.info/ and http://camping.bg/