Bulgaria Ski discussion board

Have read loads of reviews about Borovets on various web sites as this and other forums appear to be self serving and therefore recieve glorified reviews often written secretly by the management and staff of the resort facilities.

This post therefore goes out to the genuine tourist/skier and NOT to the management/staff/shop hire of the resort facilities.

What is the Iglika Palace really like? Have read some real horror stories and some good stories!

What are the real costs for eating and drinking out? Have read £2.50 for a coke yet have also read 70p for a pint!

What are the slopes really like? Have heard that they are very poorly groomed /managed and often dangerous with rocks protruding, ice with stone etc.

All genuine comments greatly accepted

Blue skies

Hi Jonah

Never stayed in Iglika myself but have spoken to many who have and they have all thought it was good. Upgrading to a superior room is worthwhile as rooms can be on small side. Food seems to be very alike in most BG hotels - plenty of choice for breakfast but evening meals more limited and usually luke warm. You won't starve but most people end up eating out or snacking in the evenings. The bar is friendly and quite reasonable - it's run by Vasco who also owns Titanic restaurant with his brother and they don't believe in ripping people off.

Check prices before ordering food or drink, they do vary as well as checking bill at the end. We pay for rounds as we go and have never been ripped off. It's expensive (forBG) on the top of gondola so buy bottles and snacks from supermarket under the Rila for breaks up there. Restaurants can be cheaper away from the main drag. There are plenty of threads on here with up to date prices and recommendations of where to go.

The slopes are regularly groomed and snow cannons are used if the temperatures are right. Slopes are not managed as in the Alps and alot does depend on snow conditions. If you are with a ski instructor, they know where to avoid as they don't want to ruin their skis.

Been going many years now to Boro and still love it, even if things are not perfect.

Read other threads for hints on getting the best out of your week and ENJOY

Thanks - I too have skied all over the world including Canada, Europe and even Snowy Mountains (Perisher Blue) in Australia.

I go on holiday to enjoy myself but i dont have a bottomless pit of money to take with me.

I have paid the sking prices and enjoyed every single place i have been, regardless.

However, i have never read so much gloom about any ski resort/country as i have been reading about Bulgaria. No other forum comes close to the detrimental posts written about Bulgaria.

Part of the skiing experience is to be able to stop for lunch, take off your Helly Hansen, drop your braces, loosen the boots and have something hot to eat and drink.

I dont particularly want to be taking sandwiches and hip flasks onto the slopes but conversly i dont want to be paying extortionate prices either.

Seems that a straight answer is impossible to get on here. The responses either come from a self serving bulgarianite or from someone who hasnt been for 5 years.

We dont get the answers to current prices for anything. Just comparisons to 20 years ago.

There must be a reason for the lack of specific answers to 'how much is this and that'?

No other forum has this problem? Why ?

Jonah, The problem with most reports is that rather than being objective they reflect the likes and dislikes and sometimes the predjudices of the author. Also the stereotypical skier is a well paid professional middle-class type. The stereotypes exist in part because they are true to a degree. I suspect quite a lot of the sh&tty reports about Bulgaria are written by people who have a habit of looking down their noses. I am not without my predjudices it must be said.

As a genuine tourist who stayed in the Iglika Palace hotel last season I will attempt to describe what we had/experienced rather than just say it was crap or brilliant.

Firstly it is not a palace or palatial. For people used to plush surroundings, attentive (fawning?) staff, tasteful, understated elegance, style, presentation ready food, the Iglika is probably not for them. The hotel entrance wasn't kept ice free. I'm youngish and sporty so it didn't bother me but people with young kids and older people should take note.

As said the newer 'superior' rooms are much better. Our group stayed in them as a free upgrade. They were basic, warm, spacious, dry and cleaned daily. Although they are called 'superior' don't expect luxury. Some of the cosmetic features in the bathroom were rushed to be ready for the 2008 season but everything essential like taps, etc. worked. No shower curtains though, and no sealant between bath and wall. Water drains away through a small grate in the floor.

The food, breakfast and dinner, is buffet style, think canteen style stuff rather than something gracing the food pages of a supermarket brochure or a Gordon/Oliver/Nigella cookbook.

If you are not a fussy eater you will welcome the choices of soup, veg, meat, and pie dishes after a day on the slopes. The food is fairly basic but tasty enough for seconds. Some of the food looked like it was reheated from the previous day but for what we paid (£230 HB/flights/transfer) it was acceptable. The cooked veg was a bit bland but the salad platters were great imo, better than I expected, lots of choice and tasty. The pudding choices were actually quite good. you can have any of tinned fruit, fresh fuit, yoghurt and home made cream cakes.

For breakfast healthy cereal, yoghurt, fruit choices as well as cooked stuff like baked beans, eggs and sausages were available. If you have never seen chips for breakfast you will do.

The restuarant waiting staff don't like people taking in drinks from the bar area because I think serving dinner guests drinks is one way they earn money. Fair enough to me although plus drinks bought at dinner were a lev or two more.

The bar staff were friendly. Some of the reception staff not so as mentioned elsewhere in another thread. However she was warming up towards me as the week went by ;-). Knowing a few Bulgarian phrases goes a long way.

A meat feast lunch and bottle of 330ml beer cost me about 20-22 lev in the place diagonally opposite the Rila entrance of the left, place on the corner of two streets. I'm 'sure' they charged me more but at about £8 at exchange rates of the time it was still cheap for what it was.

Can of coke from the shop next to the Markujik 1 run was a costly 6 lev but 5 lev the previous day to my friend!!! Not many people ate there from what I saw, unsurprisingly.

'Part of the skiing experience is to be able to stop for lunch, take off your Helly Hansen, drop your braces, loosen the boots and have something hot to eat and drink.'

You can still do that, our group did. Although we usually grabbed a bit for lunch at the food van with outdoor seating so the food was warm at best but the tea was hot.

People who are not expecting the Alpes and not expecting a resort geared UP to the tastes and sensitivities of the affluent middle classes might enjoy the place. I thought it was ok, the things I enjoyed outweighed the negatives.

It should be pointed out that Bulgaria was formerly under Soviet rule so it will take time for Bulgaria to develop her identify. People who don't know this, appreciate it or consider what that can do to a people, their outlook on life and their general demeanor should really stick to the 'First' world to avoid abject disappointment and culture shock.

On check out day I went to sofia on the guided tour. Even though I only had about 3 hours to myself between the tour ending and meeting up for the coach trip to the airport it was a worthwhile three hours for seeing some historic buildings and a wonder along Vitoshe strasse. A huge slice of pizza I ordered in a shopping arcade was 1.5 lev, 2 of them could easily cover a normal sized dinner plate so yeah real Bulgarian prices are cheap by UK standards.

We stayed in the Iglika at Christmas last year and then again in Feb. I would say its fine and does the job. My critisisms (as that seems to be what you are after) were that the rooms smelt very strongly of cigarette smoke which we discovered(when popping back to get some forgotten item of kids clothing) was because the cleaning ladies sat on the bed when they thought we had gone out for the day and had a fag! Once this slight problem was ironed out we didnt have a problem. The swimming pool was great at the end of a hard day and the food was acceptable even to veggies. Any questions please ask.

We stayed in the Iglika Villas on 20th Dec and used the Hotel to eat and drink. It was clean and the facilities were reasonable. The position is really good. The food in the hotel was really good.

We us ually go to Italy (Pila, La Thuile, Crevacol) where I would say that the prices were similar or marginally more expensive.

I have to say though that the Pistes in Boro were very poorly managed by comparison and the skiing was nowhere near as good. It was the first week of the season, so hopefully they will have improved by now.

We are a family of six and did have a really good holiday. The ski school and kindergarden were good on the chidcare but less good on the instruction. The groups were very mixed ability. Would we go back? not sure, probably not but would recommend it for a family of beginners. The easier (green) runs were nice and the facilities around the town were good.

Hope this helps.