Bulgaria Ski discussion board

Hi All

I have to say the that it is a very sweeping comment "Do not go to Bulgaria" I worked in the French Alps for 10 seasons for large Tour Operators and can remember snowless Xmas's and New Years for about three of them. If you go at Xmas and New Year you always pay a premium and run the risk of very poor conditions.

Personally I love Bulgaria, the ambiance, skiing, people, hotels and food are great and you pay nothing compared to the Euro Zone resorts, I have skied all over in Western Europe, the States and New Zealand, but tell you what family holiday's in BG are Ace value for money and the hotels are beautiful, we have been to Pamps and Bansko, we stay 5* as we like the luxury that the hotels offer, my wife prefers to be pampered so prefers the Spa Hotels, if we went to somewhere like Val D'Isere in France we would have to sell not only our house but also my wife and camels to afford it.
I have been a big fan of Bulgaria since I was 18 when I went on my first trip the old Cold War days..............

this will be my 7th year to boro and i love the place the locals remember you year after year, the kids have gone every year and love it. I only paid £1100 for 5 half board at the iglika if there is any where else in europe that can compete let me know!!!! I drink all week and eat like a king at all the amazing restraunts its fabulous, ive been when the snow hasnt been so good but still manage to ski and have an amazing time. You dont get the arseholes from france austria ect who are full of them selves you just get fun good banter and looked after. DONT GO TO BULGARIA whats that all about.

My sentiments exactly. The original post says nothing about the time of year - but suggests that Bulgaria is a poor destination at anytime. I have NEVER had bad snow in Bulgaria when going in February or March. Some years have been better than others as in all countries but I have always been able to enjoy the skiing.

An opinion should be based on facts rather than a
single unfortunate experience that could have been avoided if a little research had been considered.

In 2009 the whole of Europe suffered very poor snow conditions almost throughout the entire season - it's the one thing we cannot be 1OO% certain of, but would that stop people booking Austria or Italy or France in the future? Of course not, so come on Des - you need to put your hand up and realize you should have planned a little better when booking your destination.

I really hope you return again later in the season one day Des and realize what skiing Bulgaria is truely all about.

To be fair to Des, he's probably just posting his gut reaction to a disappointing holiday experience with the aim of preventing others from sharing a similar experience. We all love winter sports, but whether it be due to employment, kids or both, some of us are resticted to just a few certain weeks of the season - them being Christmas/New Year, Feb Half term, and Easter. These weeks also happen to be the most expensive weeks of the season, so we do not see the BARGAIN prices that people love Bulgaria for. Having just got back from a week in Borovets, costing in excess of £4600 for 7 of us - the cheapest we could find, we were very disappointed, being resticted to 2 decent (but busy) runs all week, poor food and hospitality at the Moura Hotel and no concessions on lift passes despite the limited runs available. So we would not return to Bulgaria at this time of year based on this experience. Should the tour opperators offer holidays to places like this without being more explicit about the unreliability of the snowfall - yet still charging high prices for it - or should Bulgaria be more honest with its customers and open it's season when snow fall is more reliable - rather than just cash in on the chrismas holidaymakers and not back this up with a decent level of service? Either way, I hope you can appreciate that we all look forward to our week on the slopes, and feel disappointed if it does not live up to expectations.