Taxi Drivers and commissions
The standard fee for a girl in a "bureau" as they call them here is 50lv (25euro).
The contessa agency is 100 lv (do your own math)
The taxi driver receives a 20% commission from that fee. He also gets to keep 100% anything over the top that he can get you to pay.
With regard to the strip clubs (kama sutra, Velvet, Cleopatra's, Hot girls), If the taxi driver takes you in he will receive the additional fee you are charged by the club for admittance. If you go in on your own the entrance is 5lv. I know of one taxi driver who has told an unsuspecting punter that he can get him in for 'only 30 euro' (the punter paid!).
The strip clubs in the big hotels operate slightly differently, and taxi drivers will not usually try to take you to them as they do not benefit.
Beware though of a taxi driver who offers to take you to Taboo or the gentleman’s club. If he suggests this it is time to get a new taxi driver!
These two clubs are basically clip joints and are to be avoided irrespective of how horny, drunk, or adventurous you are feeling. If you want to go 5 star in Sofia go to Pigalle (under the Radisson) or Playboy (Kempinski Hotel).
Personally I do not think it is worth it, they are significantly more expensive, aimed at the expense account budget, they do have less skanks, but the most attractive are no more attractive than the best in Kama Sutra.
Kama Sutra (on Dondukov Boulevard) is probably the best strip club at the moment. They recently doubled the price of a lap dance to 10lv and this has significantly raised the quality of the experience. The girls are good, the odd chubby one, but they have to cater to all tastes, they have a lesbian show at 1am, a beer is 5lv, the hostesses are friendly. The major downside is that since they raised the price of the lapdance more girls are only dancing and not going out (that is 100lv per hour) because they can make almost as much money without ever getting laid (strangely they view this as a good thing).
Personally I think we should all swear a pact not to take dances from any girl who does not go out, that way we prevent the cuties from milking us dry without milking us dry, if you see what I mean.
Having said that I rarely go to Kama Sutra, or any of the other strip clubs. There is a very low correlation between the quality of the experience and the price of the girl, (with perhaps the exception of Contessa, 14 Vitosha Boulevard 100lv/hr).
Once you get over the fact that in the 50lv/hr places the girls sit around like turkeys who have just voted for christmas (there seems to be a cultural problem with smiling at potential clients, or even acknowledging their existence), once you get them out of that depressing apartment, things can get better, not necessarily will, but can, especially if you are relaxed, friendly and confident.
For me, I figure if I am as likely to get a bad experience fo 50 lv as for 100, I would rather pay 50 and if it does not work out use the other 50 for a second pop with someone else. I get less bad experiences these days than I used to, maybe because of better language skills, may be because of better judgement, but I’ll be dammed if I can give you any advice on how to pick the best ones. The two best (who were truly world class) I took against my better judgement, because I was so horny and could not be bothered to look any further. Each of them turned out to be amazing in their own ways and only 50 lv a pop!
This presents what Bulgaria does best, good value for money, if you want to go for 5 star guranteed service, go somewhere else. You can pay the same mopney here as in London, Vegas, Milan etc, but you are not guaranteed that level of service.
In the event of bad service I recommend either taking them back whence they came and firmly but calmly expressing your dissatisfaction, or, just get them to give you the longest blow job, if they stop just look at them without smiling and say "oshte" pronounced osh-te, which means more. Do not just let them go, this just encourages poor performance and makes life more difficult for your fellow mongers.
But if you treat them well, whilst not acting like a pussy whipped pushover, you should reduce the odds of a poor experience.
A few closing words on Contessa, they have significantly improved the 'shopping' experience here. When you go in you will be greeted by the manageress, and invited to sit on a zebra skin couch, the girls then stream in for your perusal (between 3 girls and 8 depending on the time). Like everywhere else they are reluctant to smile at this stage, but when you get them back to your place, or into one of the surprisingly good rooms there, this should change. Like all the other offices, it is open between 8 and 6, and yes, the better girls tend to go earlier.
I guess it is worth mentioning that just about everywhere follows the same pricing structure:
1 hour 50lv 100
2 hours 100 200
3 hours 150 300
6 hours 200 400
10 hours 250 500
But note that the service ends at 06.00, there is, most irritatingly, no option to take a girl till 9 or 10 the next day so you can have her again for breakfast.
This post has gone on longer than I intended, and has drifted somewhat from the title, so one last piece of advice; street girls, if you don't know your way around this city don't do it. If you do know your way around, be very careful.
Sofia is a great city to have fun in, but it is a bad place to fuck up.
Enjoy!