Bulgaria Ski discussion board

Just back from Bansko, this was our second trip having been two years ago.

Flew out from Doncaster Sheffield airport, quiet a nice airport, no delays even though there were high winds and for the first time ever got extra leg room. Due to the high tail winds the flight was around two and half hours. We landed nearly an hour early. This was the first time we had been to Plovdiv and when we were coming into land I was surprised at how small it was. There was no guessing which carousel your baggage will be on as there is only one.

We stayed at the hotel Tanne, the room was great as I had paid a supplement for a family room. This was a suite with a large bedroom and a nice living room. The hotel itself was nicely decorated and clean, some of the staff were really helpful while others were plain arrogant. Even though the hotel was full there was just no atmosphere in the hotel. Breakfast at the hotel didn’t start until 8am although if you went down at about twenty to, the food was all ready out and you could help yourself. The ski bus didn’t run until 9am so we had to walk with skis and boots to the gondola everyday. The facilities were another issue, the hot tub was broken and the steam room wasn’t left on and you had to ask for it to be started and then wait for it to heat up while you were slowly seizing up!!!.

We got to the gondola everyday before 8.30 and there were little or no queues. The first day there were high winds and all the top lifts were closed, this made the bottom part very busy. Over the first few days the temps were high and this made the conditions very slushy usually by 10.30 even at the top, the slopes at the bottom were very patchy. The skiing was limited; this was due to the rising temperatures and the closing off of the only black run due to a European cup downhill, plus a red run that was being used for practise. I would also say we have our own skis which meant we were possibly a bit pickier if the runs were ropey, if we had had hire skis we may have skied some of the other patchy runs. In general the runs at the top were fine and that’s where we stayed most of the time.

Food and drink had definitely gone up in price from the last time we were there. On the slopes last time we were paying 3 lev for a chicken kebab this year this was 7 lev. In the restaurants we also saw a hike in prices, last time we were there the most we paid for a three course meal with wine was £25 and the average was around £15, this year the average was £25 that didn’t include wine and in most cases was a salad and a main with two beers. The friendly bar was good for a stop from the slopes and reasonably priced. Supermarkets are still cheap, although if you are staying in the tanne, lion or Perun there is a 24Hr shop on the left as you walk from the friendly bar, this shop is almost three times the price of all the others, this one seems to be aimed at the tourist, instead head down from a restaurant called ‘Angel’s’ and 2 junctions down on a corner is a much better priced shop.

The place is still a building site and with no snow in the village to cover it up it looks a tip, they really need to clean some of the debris up. Would we go back? Possibly not. Reasons are the slopes were very limited and we had skied the whole available area in one day, even if the other slopes had been open we would still have done it in two days. And considering the resort was quite quiet, if all the apartments and hotels currently being built or already completed had just a small percentage of occupancy then the over crowding on the slopes would be horrendous. As it was with 2 runs closed for racing and when the top runs were closed due to high winds it was already getting over crowded and dangerous. People moan about boarders but my bug bare was skiers standing in the middle of the slopes answering their mobile phones!!! For god sake leave it at home and enjoy your days skiing. The people were not as friendly and the touts trying to get you into the bars and restaurants drove us mad. The area itself needs a lot of improvement and the areas around the new builds need finishing off before the builders move on. For us anyway Bansko has had its day.

Didn’t mean it to come across as having a bad time, actually had a good time. In two years though the development has been unreal, we couldn’t believe how many apartments and hotels have been built. If there was a small percentage of occupancy the place will be hell if they were all full the slopes wouldn’t cope. They have got to develop the ski area and fast. I can understand why the locals are not happy about it, there was a nice village there before with some charm, but there are now strip clubs and noisy 24 hour bars. May be its just me but I go to ski and there seemed to be a lot of people out there on the beer till the early hours, scary thing is some are on the slopes first thing still drunk which makes them dangerous and it was hard enough when the snow turned to slush controlling yourself without adding alcohol.

flight and room was a major bonus.

Sam - know what you mean about the drinking. Drunk in charge of skis or snow board and you have a dangerous weapon

Have seen many drunks picked up off the streets by police in early hours. Although I must say, I wouldn't have been as patient or helpful. We have now reached the stage where we like to escape Boro in the evenings. Surely going somewhere warmer to get drunk and collapse on a beach would be more comfortable.

We have had so many flights delayed etc over the years that we run a sweep stake now but have never been that early arriving.

Just got in last night, must have had the same flights to Robin Hood Airport and I feel the same confusion. Bansko was dirty and untidy, with lots of building sites and not much actual workmen building things. Very disappointing and to be honest the town is a pit. Bulgarians are not the friendliest of people and although a good proportion do make an effort to be friendly, it's normally the ones who are encouraging you to eat in their restaurants. Smiles cost nothing and are universal in any language but half the time I smiled it was not reciprocated. Hotel Bulgaria was awful. old smelly with rude staff and unedible food (I like my food and will eat almost anything and sometimes everything).
On a positive note, the skiing was fine for my level and I could probably ski another season before skiing the whole mountain. The lifts were swift and reliable with minimal queues (except for the first day which is understandable) The costs of food and drink were good and the transfers were comfortable and relaible. Plovdiv and Doncaster airports were good, clean and adequate.
On balance, if I had stayed in another hotel (we visited te Lion and the Perun) I think the whole experience would have been different. Bansko will outgrow the mountain and will become horrendously overcrowded. The vast number of appartments that are being built will go into negative equity, I just think that it is concentrating on the wrong area of development. Build one appartment at a time, clean up after themselves, sell it and then move on.
Will I be back? I don't know