Bulgaria Ski discussion board

OK peeps, just back from a week in Borovets, shooting from the hip, no, we won’t be back to this resort. I have been an avid boarder for 19 years and have skied most European destinations, Canada and the USA. So for all you first timers to Borovets, here’s my ‘honest’ non-vented spleen take & advice on the place

+Points
Transfer from Sofia is quick
Rila Hotel, clean but drinks overpriced compared to that of the local village inns…
Breakfast adequate, supper average, better when you have 4 pints inside you
When it snows, it’s a beautiful scene & you’ll love what you see
Engage with the locals pulling you into their bars – 4 levs for a beer wont bust your budget for the evening nor will the 20 mins you spend there quaffing said beverage and making new friends eat into your precious time. The bars all open until dawn!!
If top of the Rila chair lift is chocker, chill for 2-3 mins, it will seem almost deserted for a short time after that…
Titanic is relaxed & romantic for early evening après by the open fire
Funky’s for the football and a generally livelier evening
Kacys for an outstanding steak
Mamachitas for an entertaining evening Mex-Tex – live bands – Top fun – But do book day b4.
Ski pass from the rep – easier and relatively cost effective
Family friendly and welcoming bars
Rila room maids – friendly and do a great job – crisp sheets daily – A dream
Knock-off DVD’s are GREAT quality!!!

Neg –Points
Rila apartments, 50% of them face the night bars
Rowdy groups until dawn – But just guys having fun on my snooze time!!!
All bars have outside speakers – which sometime never switch off
Rila Hotel senior staff, unapproachable, inflexible
Gondola shuts at the slightest chance of increased wind speed
Gondola permanently shut on Mondays
Rila runs limited for intermediate / advanced abilities
Rila runs packed when Gondola closed
Rila slopes take a beating and suffer greatly if it lacks snow for more than 3 weeks.
If it’s warm at night the snow making machines will not work – They need –2 to operate effectively.

The plus points here you can plainly see far outweigh the negatives, so if you are looking to get onto the slopes for the first time, fab, or looking to move on from beginner stages, fab – If you have my years experience you will be less than challenged and spend more time on the chair lifts than on the slopes – I averaged 11 chai lifts a day last week! I hope this goes some way to pacify readers who are coming here for the first time, though it disappoints me to say this will be my first and last visit.

I would add to PJ's -ve points though:

Ski depot not great. Begginer girlfriend given poorly fitting boots twice and skis which were far too long for her.

Ski school not great either. Very short, flat assessment on day one before chance to do any skiing at all. Result: lots of people in the wrong groups (too advanced or too slow). Ski school instructors very hung up on numbers in their groups for fear of loosing out on tips, numbers in the the bars for lunch etc. Kids kindergarten ski schools meet at 10am when their parent's ski school groups were expected to meet at 9 or half 9 to beet (very long) queues for the gondola: what were they supposed to do with the kids for up to an hour? let them roam the streets?

Gondola shut sunday, monday and friday pm leaving beginners and intermediates stuck up top! Buttons shut on friday due to wind. Very poor conditions down at Rila level. Six snow cannons permanently parked at base of Rila runs. Not used on a couple of nights when it was plently cold enough.

Stayed in the Ice Angels Hotel. Pretty good. Great location, nice interior, food a bit hit and miss but usually something decent to pick, usually hot. One old, very slow four slice toaster to put bread in at breakfast for toast. Lunch time menu very good (quality and price).

I would add to PJ's -ve points though:

Ski depot not great. Begginer girlfriend given poorly fitting boots twice and skis which were far too long for her.

Ski school not great either. Very short, flat assessment on day one before chance to do any skiing at all. Result: lots of people in the wrong groups (too advanced or too slow). Ski school instructors very hung up on numbers in their groups for fear of loosing out on tips, numbers in the the bars for lunch etc. Kids kindergarten ski schools meet at 10am when their parent's ski school groups were expected to meet at 9 or half 9 to beet (very long) queues for the gondola: what were they supposed to do with the kids for up to an hour? let them roam the streets?

Gondola shut sunday, monday and friday pm leaving beginners and intermediates stuck up top! Buttons shut on friday due to wind. Very poor conditions down at Rila level. Six snow cannons permanently parked at base of Rila runs. Not used on a couple of nights when it was plently cold enough.

Stayed in the Ice Angels Hotel. Pretty good. Great location, nice interior, food a bit hit and miss but usually something decent to pick, usually hot. One old, very slow four slice toaster to put bread in at breakfast for toast. Lunch time menu very good (quality and price).

I would add to PJ's -ve points though:

Ski depot not great. Begginer girlfriend given poorly fitting boots twice and skis which were far too long for her.

Ski school not great either. Very short, flat assessment on day one before chance to do any skiing at all. Result: lots of people in the wrong groups (too advanced or too slow). Ski school instructors very hung up on numbers in their groups for fear of loosing out on tips, numbers in the the bars for lunch etc. Kids kindergarten ski schools meet at 10am when their parent's ski school groups were expected to meet at 9 or half 9 to beet (very long) queues for the gondola: what were they supposed to do with the kids for up to an hour? let them roam the streets?

Gondola shut sunday, monday and friday pm leaving beginners and intermediates stuck up top! Buttons shut on friday due to wind. Very poor conditions down at Rila level. Six snow cannons permanently parked at base of Rila runs. Not used on a couple of nights when it was plently cold enough.

Stayed in the Ice Angels Hotel. Pretty good. Great location, nice interior, food a bit hit and miss but usually something decent to pick, usually hot. One old, very slow four slice toaster to put bread in at breakfast for toast. Lunch time menu very good (quality and price).

Just 1 point to add

whilst i was their ( 23rd of fbe 200 lifts are ment to shut at 16.30 this is the the 4 man chair lift outside the rila it was shutting in between 16.05 and 16.15 i know it does not sound alot of time to lose but i got caught out twice,they shut the lift at 16.10 i showed them 16.30 on my watch and basically that muttered something in bulgarian and let me go up once more!!!

I have never been to a resort where the BOTTOM lift shuts this early they usually shut around 17.00 to 17.30 or later