I think we can establish that I’m not particularly brand loyal when it comes to travel. In fact, I’m much more likely to try a boutique hotel, or book an Airbnb than I am to build points or nights with any one chain. While Hubs and I do travel on a frequent basis, for many of the places we go, I never feel like I want to be tied to a specific brand. Enter, the Intercontinental Sofia. To start, we were fortunate to make the booking via our friend Dan (who you might know from the Emireati). He also happens to be the Ambassador level with the brand. For more of the perks, read here (and no, this is not an affiliate link). So, how did the hotel wow me? Double upgrade. Of the (many) benefits that being a certain level of Ambassador with the brand gets you, for certain…
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]]>After a bit of a disaster that was our meal at Cosmos, Hubs’ stomach had properly recovered, and we went to our second scheduled meal on our final night in Sofia at Secret by Chef Petrov. We started our night from a must visit location in the city, that of the rooftop bar at the nearby Sense Hotel. We were unfortunately required to leave as there was a wedding reception starting (not that we could blame them, the view is stunning), and thus arrived at our reservation at Secret a bit early. I’ll use the term reservation quite loosely, as NO ONE else entered the restaurant for the following two hours (7-9PM, Friday evening). I can’t be bothered to go into too many details, but here’s a breakdown of the highlights and lowlights of the visit. Quite possibly the most poorly designed restaurant I’ve been in this year. I’m talking…bad. Overly…
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]]>As we approached one of the top rated restaurants on TripAdvisor in Sofia, I was initially impressed. Even from the street, Cosmos is the kind of venue you would walk by and think, ‘What’s that all about?’ As a passerby, you might be tempted to step in for a drink. I only point this detail out because, in a compact city like Sofia, foot traffic could add a relatively decent amount to the overall profit (and other restaurants don’t seem to realize this). Strolling in for our 7:30 reservation, the interior of Cosmos was a large, loft-style type space, with a lounge upstairs, and dining room downstairs. Natural materials are utilized, and the large open windows at the front add to the inviting atmosphere. We were seated downstairs, and immediately, I was a bit distracted by the decision to include large, bizarre, and distracting light installations across the brick walls.…
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