Bulgaria Ski discussion board

Hi Folks,

Just got back yesterday from my 2nd visit to Borovets and 2nd stay at the Iglika and thought id share some thoughts, observations and stories with y'all.

The holiday started in nightmare fashion when one of our groups cases didnt show at Sofia airport. The staff there seemed not to care nor did the Balkan Holiday rep. When the rep could be found in the hotel (she was harder to spot that a yeti in a snow storm), again she seemed not to care and it took till the wednesday for the elusive case to appear. Even when it surfaced, the girl whose case it was had to travel back to the airport herself to collect it, at a charge of about £40. Needless to say she has kept the receipt for the journey and all the clothes she purchased and Balkan Holidays can expect to hear from her very soon.

On to the hotel.

Having stayed there before we knew what to expect and am happy to say its a very nice, friendly, clean place. Infact, it also had the cheapest bar in town, charging only 2 lev a beer. In a previous post i asked about the death room within the hotel (variou taxidermy items on the walls, furs on the floor and bone shaped furniture) and was glad to see it was still there. On our first night out party of 11 went for a quiet drink in there and another group sat opposite. A loud ironic cheer went up when the place fell into complete darkness, followed by moments of sheer panic and fear when the room collapsed and about 3 tonne of ice and snow came crashing down! Amazingly this managed to happen in the middle of the room so both parties survived. Their where however cuts and bruises suffered by a number of people. The hotel staff didnt once ask if anyone was hurt and did their utmost to ignore the incident. For the rest of the holiday a curtain was drawn over the room to deny access and nothing more was said or done by the charming, caring staff at the Iglika.(Once again Balkan Holidays can expect to hear from us very soon)



Now onto the skiing.

As per the previous visit, the skiing was fantastic despite it being overly warm and not snowing all week. (cant blame Balkan Holidays for that one though). The instructor Emo (Emile) was the best guy you could hope for. Despite me slowing the group down on occasion through some spectacular falls, he had the patience of a saint and the humour of a top stand up comedian. Although the grass was showing on a couple of runs towards the bottom of the slopes, at the top of both the 4 man chair lifts and the gondola the conditions where fantastic and a great time was had by all in our group.

As however half of our group were beginers they had to have a different instructor namely Vlad (Vladamir). Unlike Emo, he had the patience of a junkie without a fix or in his case an alcoholic without a drink. He arrived late each morning and tried his very best to ensure his group didnt learn to ski, openly admitted he hated teaching beginners and showed very little interest when asked any questions. Added to the fact that he let some of his beginners go loose on their own on the red runs without his supervison and drank heavily at lunch time. Overall as a ski instructor he was a complete failure.

Were he did excel was nightlife. On one occassion he organised a coach for us to go as a group to Samakov town to the best Bulgarian restaurant for a wonderfull meal with some excellent drinking, followed by a trip to a Bulgarian nightclub, only to be fleeced by dancing hookers, extortionate prices and an annoying band who played the drums right next to your ear and only went away when you gave them five levs each.

This behaviour was typical we found of many of the Bulgarians who do their very best to try to show you a good time whilst trying to ensure you spent over the odds at their friends bars and clubs etc.

Overall the holiday was a success, many great nights out followed by great days skiing. Probably the most fun was had at the unmissable Francos Pizza, on the Monday which involved vodka fuelled semi nakedness and dancing behind the bar and on the tables. For anyone who was in there that night and perhaps taken aback by this behaviour I apologise but please bear in mind it was all done in good humour and seemingy everyone had fun, especially the legendary barman Tommy.

I would recommend Borovets to anyone who is looking for a fun skiing holiday but i have to warn that the prices are on the increase as it grows in popularity. Having been there twice now im thinking of a different destination next time such as Serbia or Romania. Wherever I end up, I'll let you know how it went. Till then.

Nic

(or Bob if you happened to be in the same group as me)

Thanks for the report - in general it sonds as though you had a good time.

One thing that confuses me though is what you say about the Iglika - in one breath you say its "a very nice, friendly, clean place" emphasis on the word friendly yet when you get hurt by falling ice "The hotel staff didn't once ask if anyone was hurt and did their utmost to ignore the incident." and "nothing more was said or done by the charming, caring staff at the Iglika"

Get my gist not sure if it's a good place to stay or not?

Ellie