Hotel Marinela Sofia

Hotel Marinela Sofia is a 5-star hotel located in Lozenets, near downtown Sofia, Bulgaria. It was one of the most luxurious hotels in the capital of Bulgaria. With 442 guest rooms, 10 conference rooms, 4 restaurants, 2 bars and a nightclub. It also hosts the only Japanese garden in the Balkans.[1]

Hotel Marinela Sofia
Former names	Hotel Kempinski
General information
Type	Hotel
Location	Sofia, Bulgaria
Coordinates	42°40′20″N 23°19′7″E
Completed	1979
Height
Antenna spire	98 m (322 ft)
Roof	90 m (300 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	22
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Kisho Kurokawa

The hotel was built as the Vitosha New Otani by the Japanese New Otani Hotels chain[2] between 1974 and 1979 to the design of leading Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa (1934–2007) in the upper-class neighbourhood Lozenets. In his design, Kurokawa implemented architectural details inspired by the Bulgarian National Revival style of Koprivshtitsa and Plovdiv. The 21-storey hotel was built by Bulgarian company Tehnoeksportstroy and the Japanese Mitsubishi.[2] Its Japanese garden was a large-scale copy of the one at the original Hotel New Otani Tokyo and one of its main features is a Japanese-style garden with a typical house and lake.