Hotel Princess: 131, Maria Louisa Blvd
Phone: 02933 8888

http://princess.pc-link.net/english/english.htm

Massage: 35 leva; Pool: 10 leva

MY expectation of a four-star hotel was to view and experience a four-star health club. At first sight the grand swimming pool caught my eye, a 20 metre, 26 degree Celsius swimming pool with fulltime lifeguard. The new pool is ideal for swimming training and it is mandatory to wear a swimming cap at all times. I was told that the hotel likes to encourage not only guests to use the facility, but also local Bulgarians to come along at the weekends. The area is suitable for bringing the whole family for a day out in a relaxed atmosphere. There is a small children's pool at the end of the main pool and the management promotes bringing the kids along by providing swimming lessons and lifeguard supervision. The children's pool is connected by a large jacuzzi to the main pool and it is not safe to leave young children unattended until the plans to erect a safety barrier have been completed.
Undeniably the pool is impressive. There is a recreation room with table tennis and some games for the children to play. For the adults, a full bar is available to quench the thirst, and there is also a full menu.
The fitness hall (free of charge for guests) has a small range of modern equipment, including computerised devices for measuring your pulse, the duration of the training and calories burned, and the option to choose the level of pressure depending on your will, age, weight and current health situation. There are also some weights machines that allow an elementary programme. Adjacent to the pool is a grassy area that is ideal for lying about in the hot summer sun, improving the suntan, or having a drink with friends. The hotel staff encourages the use of this area for social gatherings and parties.  A flat bed solarium is also on hand to give a quick shot of ultra-violet rays to prepare the winter coat for the intense Bulgarian sun. The older style bed rests next to the massage rooms and swimming area provide easy access in-between therapies.
The changing rooms are large and clean, each fitted with a large single-sex sauna just in case you'd rather sweat with a 200 pound stranger than your wife or girlfriend. But on the other hand the Turkish steam room is mixed and falls in the same category as the pool. It is well finished in a traditional style. Steam is a fantastic therapy for cleaning the skin's pores and refreshing the lungs without the intense dry heat of a sauna.
One of the great pleasures in life is a massage, and one of the greatest disappointments in life is a bad massage - it was time to test what a Princess four-star rub down was all about.
After leaving my valuables in one of the many available safety deposit boxes, I was given a key to a locker, a nice towel, and a  pair of disposable slippers .
The massage was a professional one, although I was left with more oil on my skin than I would have liked.

This is the second in a series throughout July in which Hugh Fraser checks out some of Sofia's leading health and fitness clubs' vital statistics to see which measure up to your summer workout needs.