Bulgarian hotel terms explained simply: the official category is the star grade recorded on the national tourist register, the board code tells you which meals your rate covers, and labels such as spa, family-friendly and adults-only describe facilities and who the hotel is set up for. Check all three before you book.
The official category and the national tourist register
Bulgaria grades its hotels with an official star category, recorded on the national tourist register. Star icons on travel sites and in adverts may not match it, so treat the register entry as the final word.
Entries are in Bulgarian. The register calls the grade категория and lists each hotel under its Cyrillic name: Hyatt Regency Sofia appears as ХАЯТ РИДЖЪНСИ СОФИЯ, and Kempinski Hotel Grand Arena Bansko as КЕМПИНСКИ ХОТЕЛ ГРАНД АРЕНА. If an English search finds nothing, try the Bulgarian spelling.
Each entry also gives a room count, a quick guide to scale: 157 rooms for the Bansko hotel and 439 for Helena Resort in Sunny Beach. Both hold the top official category, as do all six hotels.
Board codes: Bulgarian hotel terms explained
The board code is the short label for the meals your rate includes. Two hotels can use the same code for slightly different things, so treat these definitions as a guide and read the hotel's own description of its plan.
- BB, bed and breakfast: your room plus breakfast each morning. Lunch, dinner and most drinks are paid for separately.
- HB, half board: breakfast plus one main meal a day, usually dinner. Drinks with meals are often extra.
- FB, full board: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Drinks are often charged separately.
- AI, all-inclusive: meals plus a set range of drinks and snacks, within the outlets and hours the hotel names.
- UAI, ultra all-inclusive: an all-inclusive plan with a wider scope, such as more drinks, more outlets or longer hours. What is added varies most from hotel to hotel.
On Bulgarian-language sites you may see нощувка със закуска for bed and breakfast, полупансион for half board, пълен пансион for full board and всичко включено for all-inclusive. Ultra all-inclusive is often left in English or written as ултра всичко включено.
Hotels often sell more than one plan, and the plan can change with the package or dates you choose. The code is a summary; the hotel's own list of what is included is the detail.
The codes in practice
Six hotels show the codes in practice, each paired with the plans it names on its own site. These are worked examples, not a ranking. Where the Board cell says ask the hotel, request the plan in writing before you pay.
| Hotel | Location | Official category | Board | Suits | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kempinski Hotel Grand Arena Bansko | Bansko, Blagoevgrad | 5-star | BB | Ski trips, families | View hotel |
| Sol Nessebar Palace | Nessebar, Burgas | 5-star | AI | Beach holidays, families | View hotel |
| Wave Resort | Aheloy, Pomorie, Burgas | 5-star | UAI | Families, pool days | View hotel |
| Arte Spa & Park Hotel | Velingrad, Pazardzhik | 5-star | HB | Spa breaks, families | View hotel |
| Hyatt Regency Sofia | Sofia, Sofia City | 5-star | Not published | City breaks with spa time | View hotel |
| Helena Resort | Sunny Beach, Burgas | 5-star | HB, UAI | Sunny Beach stays | View hotel |
Not published by the hotel
None of the six lists FB, so if you want three meals a day, ask the hotel what it can arrange.
What the spa label covers
A spa label tells you the hotel has a spa or wellness area, not its size, which pools you can use or whether treatments are included. The hotel's own spa page holds those details.
Arte Spa & Park Hotel in Velingrad lists an indoor mineral pool of 25.3 by 7.8 metres, an outdoor pool of 22 by 9 metres, children's pools and mineral jacuzzis. It suits couples and families who want a pool-led spa break. Check availability
Hyatt Regency Sofia, at 1 Vasil Levski Square in Sofia, lists Ortus Wellness with an indoor hydrotherapy pool, a hammam and saunas. It suits a city break with spa time more than a long pool holiday. Check availability
Kempinski Hotel Grand Arena Bansko in Bansko lists a spa of 1,200 square metres, four pools including a kids' outdoor pool, a jacuzzi and a snow room. The hotel describes itself as ski-in/ski-out, opposite the gondola. Check availability
Family-friendly and adults-only labels
Family-friendly means the hotel lists facilities or services for children, such as a kids' club or children's pools. It says nothing about ages or hours, so check those.
Adults-only means the hotel does not accept children as guests. An adults-only area inside a family resort is different: you share the hotel with families but have a space set aside.
Wave Resort in Aheloy, part of Pomorie municipality, shows the difference. It is family-friendly, with seven pools, a mini water park and a kids' spray park, and it also has an adults-only area for guests aged 16 and over with its own infinity pool. Check availability
Sol Nessebar Palace in Nessebar is family-friendly and not adults-only. A tour operator puts the beach 50 m away, and the hotel lists a private beach among its facilities, along with outdoor pools, a heated indoor pool, a spa, kids' activities and an aquapark. Check availability
Helena Resort in Sunny Beach states that it is not adults-only. For pools and children's facilities, ask the hotel. Check availability
Tourist tax on the bill
Tourist tax is a municipal charge for every night of your stay. The hotel collects it and shows it as a separate line on the bill. Each municipality sets its own figure, and the rate rises with the official category, so the table gives the rate for the top grade.
| Municipality | Top-category rate per night | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Sofia | 1.53 EUR | In force from 1 January 2026 |
| Bansko | 1.20 EUR | Set per person; one category lower 1.00 EUR |
| Varna | 0.72 EUR | One category lower 0.46 EUR |
| Plovdiv | 0.61 EUR | Converted from 1.20 BGN |
| Nesebar | 0.61 EUR | Covers Sunny Beach, Nessebar and Sveti Vlas |
Ask the hotel how it counts the tax for everyone in your party, children included.
Prices checked October 2026.
How to read a hotel listing before you book
Work in order: confirm the category on the register, read the plan on the hotel's own site, then check the labels that matter to you, such as a spa, a kids' club or an adults-only area.
If anything is missing, ask the hotel about meal times, drinks, spa access and transfers in one message, and keep the reply. For more practical advice, see the Bulgaria hotel booking checklist, the all-inclusive vs half board guide and the rest of the hotel guides.
When you are ready to compare, start with the top-category hotels across Bulgaria.
Questions
What does BB mean on a Bulgarian hotel listing?
Bed and breakfast. Your rate covers the room and breakfast each morning, and you pay separately for lunch, dinner and most drinks. It suits travellers who plan to eat out in town or spend long days on the slopes. Check breakfast times and the format with the hotel, because both vary from place to place.
Is ultra all-inclusive always better than all-inclusive?
Not always. Ultra all-inclusive usually widens the scope, with more drinks, extra outlets or longer hours, but each hotel decides what the label covers. Compare the two written lists side by side. If the extras do not match how you like to holiday, the simpler plan may suit you just as well.
Where can I check a hotel's official category in Bulgaria?
On the national tourist register. It lists each graded hotel with its category, its official name in Cyrillic and its room count. Search with the Bulgarian spelling if the English name returns nothing. Treat star icons on travel sites as a rough guide only, and the register entry as the official answer.
Does family-friendly mean there is a kids' club?
Not necessarily. Family-friendly means the hotel lists facilities or services for children, which may be a kids' club, children's pools, a play area or organised activities. Ages and hours vary between hotels. Ask the hotel which of these it offers on your dates and how old children need to be to join.
What is the difference between adults-only and an adults-only area?
An adults-only hotel does not take children at all. An adults-only area is a space inside a hotel that also welcomes families, such as a separate pool or terrace. If you want a child-free stay throughout, choose a hotel that states it is adults-only, and confirm the minimum age before you book.
