Bulgaria Ski discussion board

Five of us, ranging from 55 (me) to 21 (stepson) spent last week in Borovets. We had booked originally for Pamps, but when Balkan cancelled the Plovdiv flights, and wanted us to go via Sofia, we haggled a Boro deal with them.

Ability-wise, we ranged from expert (ex-Army ski team) to raw beginner (never been on a real slope before)

Accomodation: Hotel Flora, on half-board. Good clean hotel, not too far off the beaten track. Overheated, so we had to leave the balcony door ajar overnight to try to keep cool. Rooms fine, if a little small, and the bedsheets didn't really fit the beds! Oh, and few more electric sockets would be helpful, so to recharge your mobile phone you don't have to unplug the fridge!


Food: Breakfast at the hotel was fine, always plenty of choice, everything from eggy bread to bacon, cold meats cheeses, etc.....the coffee from the machine was awful.

Dinner: we ate in the hotel only three times, but again, fine; three choices for each course, and some lovely soups. A microwave was provided to bring the temperature up to British tastes.

Eating out: we ate out the first night we arrived, as we got there very late, so went in search of a hot meal. Hit upon the little 24 hour pizza place just past the gondola station, good food at decent prices there.

We also ate at The Red Dragon chinese restaurant. While we had a good meal there, I doubt whether a Chinaman had ever been near their kitchens!

We also ate at the Black Cat ( an excellent meal, with two of our instructors) and on Saturday at Mama Mia's (opposite the Rila on the slopes) We went there to watch the Wales/England rugby match (although it came with an Italian commentary!). This was again a good meal, served piping hot ( great when the sign over the Rila said it was -9C).

We also took lunch on the mountain wherever our instructors took us; I know all the moans about this system, but we were happy enough to pay 15 Leva for a hot burger and a pint.

Ski-ing: Lovely! something for each of us at our different levels. the fresh snow Wednesday/Thursday really helped. We had three instructors between us, all of whom deserve a mention: Krassi, BoBo, and Gerri. All of them excellent at their jobs, and super people.

People: with one exception ( see later) every Bulgarian we met was friendly, kind, helpful, chatty.......

Money: we took some Leva for the first few days, and sterling cash for later. Usually I went to one of the Crown exchange booths - over the week I got at best 2.205 and at worst 2.09 - I had got only 2.06 in the UK before departure.

The day after I got the 2.205, I needed some more and found that the rate had dropped to 2.10. I wandered around hoping to find a better rate, and saw one place allegedly offering 2.12. In I went, and handed over £60.00. the sulky girl behind the glass asked my surname, entered it into her machine, then handed me a slip saying "sign it, please". I was about to when I noticed that it said exchange rate of 1.75 !!! When I queried it I was told that the 2.12 was their "sell" rate; their buy rate was 1.75. I refused to sign the slip, and after an nasty argument, she flung my money back at me and turned her back on me.

Moral: check what the displayed rate relates to. Some booths down the main street from the Rila to the gondola (large yellow signs in their windows) only show the sell rates.

Prices: generally acceptable, beer between 3Lv and 5lv for 500ml, food prices good, other shopping (like fresh batteries for the mp3 player, daft hats to ski in etc) reasonable.

In summary, we all had a brilliant holiday, everyone improved their ski-ing. We were impressed with the range and variety of pistes available. we never saw a gangster, we were never propositioned by a prostitute (although we didn't enter any of the "erotic show" bars!) and the much-hyped "look out for the Porsches and Beamers lording it over the poor downtrodden locals" bit just wasn't evident to us.

Yes it is a bit "Blackpool-with-snow" ; look beyond the "Real Tetley's tea" signs, laugh at the "cheap as chips, better than Asda price" banter, be positive, make friends with the lovely Bulgarians you will meet, and you will enjoy Borovets. we certainly did, and are already planning the 2010 return to Borovets, likely to be 7 adults and 3 kids then!