Bulgaria Ski discussion board

Hi everyone, I have just returned from my annual visit to all 3 resorts, so here is my report

Borovets - Stayed at the Rila, rooms were clean & warm, food was ok, found something to eat at breakfast & evening. The snow conditions were very poor (but it has snowed since) Out & about a few of the group members found the prices of the bars at the bottom of the nursery slope in fornt of the Rila to be a bit pricey, 1 of them paid 6 lev for a 500ml bottle of coke. which is a bit steep, but come the evening the Black Tiger led the way with what felt like a never ending happy hour 5 lev for 2 beers. Buzz Bar was lively & BJ's bar on the cross roads between the Samakov & the Gondola station was a non smoking bar!!!
The group had a good time their but that was down to Apres ski not the skiing.

Bansko - Stayed at the Pirin Hotel, I like this hotel it has a warm homely feel to it, nice pool food ok not a huge selection but close to the main sqaure. The mountain was excellent, although we were there on the national holiday everybody spread out & it didn't feel to busy. The snow conditions were excellent. the only thing I noticed this year was that a few bars were being dedicated to Bulgarians only, which did limit the choice of eating options, but still very resonable. Apres down in the town we had a couple of wild nights in Amigo's & the Karaoke bar (opposite hotel Bulgaria) we also had a nice meal in the Happy Village restaurant with a floor show. I did find a few Mexhana's selling beer for 1.5 lev

Pamporovo - Stayed at the Pamporovo hotel, good room, good service & very good food. The resort was alot quieter than the other 2 & we spent our nights in the White Hart or in the bowling bar in the hotel. We ate lunch in the white hart which was good value & we took full advantage of happy hour there too for example 8 large beers, 4 small 2 glasses of wine 26 lev not bad in my book. It snowed overnight & we woke to fresh powder & it continued to snow until lunch time making this the best snow conditions I have seen in the last 6 years I've been travelling to Bulgaria & to top it off the sun came in the afternoon it wasn't busy at all & I actually sat halfway down red 11 looking at the views for 10 mins before another skier/boarder came down. I think this is why I prefer Pamps to any of the others, I'm by no means a beginner but I still feel that pamporovo offers me something different everytime. The return transfer to the airport only took 4hrs & that was with a 30 min stop at Mcdonalds (where I have never seen so many excited brits!!! sad really).

Overall this year has been a very good year for Snow in Bansko & Pamporovo but not a good year for business as I spoke to a few tour op's who told me that there season is being cut short due to lack of demand. For us to still enjoy Bulgaria & have a wide choice of travel options we need to support it & book early so the hotels, airlines etc will commit to a full season.

Hope this helps any of you travelling out this month, enjoy