Hyatt Regency Sofia

Opened in 2020 in a curved contemporary building on Vasil Levski Square, the Hyatt Regency gave Sofia a second modern five-star and a different flavour from its InterContinental rival: warmer, more design-forward, with lobby interiors of latticed timber and Bulgarian art and a location on the green university side of the centre. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is five minutes' walk through linden-shaded streets, and Sofia University's ornate façade faces the square itself.

Rooms are generous and softly contemporary, with marble bathrooms and windows onto the square's monument or the quieter rear; suites climb towards views of Vitosha's ridge. The hotel eats and drinks well—an Italian-led signature restaurant, a lobby lounge doing proper afternoon service, and a seasonal rooftop bar whose sunset panorama over the domes has become a summer fixture for the city itself. A spa with indoor pool, sauna and steam completes the package, edging its rival on wellness. For travellers weighing Sofia's two moderns, the Hyatt trades the cathedral view for greener surroundings, a pool and a touch more style.