Bulgaria Ski discussion board

Theres always two sides to the coin, so before we harp on about rip offs and men in black coats, just remember how exactly the food gets to the top of the mountain, same way you do in the gondola, then its manhandled to the restaurants, secondly and its not the fault of the people running the restaurants, the rents are very high, now thats down to Borosport in Borovets, who in turn are responsible for running the lifts and putting in new lifts, do some simple maths, ie cost of new lifts against amount of people, most of whom buy week passes and youll get some idea of why the prices are high.
If you want decent grub eat in the village or even down in Samokov itself, theres some nice restaurants there now, or if its still a problem go elsewhere in europe and stop carping on!!

Spot on there Pete, if the place is kept a secret it won't develop , more tourists means more investment and unfortunately higher prices, we can't alway have all the cake and eat it. Some people don't know what they want.
As for prices up the hill, its a captive audience so they can charge what they want. It a different story down in the villages competition drives prices down. Shop around there is alway a bargin to be found.
Many of the countries in the former Soviet Bloc see us as rich westerners prime to be ripped off, so if you think your being ripped off move to another bar/cafe etc there are plenty of good honest people that will give you good service at a good price.

Gogs,The bulgarians dont see the western tourists as rich at all.
Please, from the journalists to even the grannies in the villages everybody knows that the majority of tourists doing BG are well below the average in their country even some of them on a dole.
so many articles are constantly in the local press about this.The best tourist at the moment are the russians(former soviet bloc ones) not the westeners.Everybody in the BG resorts is queuing to secure them in their hotels or bars.Even Bulgarians themselfs are more in demand from the hoteliers because they spend more, dont question the prices all the time and are not professional complainers.
As for prices they will go up and up until they reach the alps ones (sooner rather that later) and there wont be any skiers going there and then they will be corrected very accordingly.In any ski area in the world you will find cheaper bars or cheaper eating places.The harder you look the cheaper you will find-if you want to spend holiday time looking for that though rather than ski for the days you are its another matter.

Mikey, I was lucky enough to be living in Eastern Europe in the late 80's early 90's during the fall of communism and back then the people I talked to looked to the west wih envy.
I have continued to travel extrensively through Eastern Europe and although things are slowly changing most of the people I talk to still regard us as rich and would like a lifestyle simialr to us.
Admitted they only see the glossy bits on TV or our tourists splashing their cash. The fact is the £ goes a long way in BG at the moment but when it doesn't I don't think so many people will go. The majority of people ski in BG because it is cheap and value for money.
Its fact that many countries are targetting the Russian tourist because they spend more per head than anyone else, but presently only about 5% of Russian holiday abroad.
My rule when I go abroad is respect the country your in, respect the people and hopefully you will get the same in return, If I feel that I'm being ripped off or taken advantage of I take my custom elsewhere.

What twaddle!!!!!

I do not wish to 'boast' about my lifestyle but I own a £600,000 home, have a brand new £30,000 Toyota, play golf off of 10, and have travelled to every continent in the World.

I do not consider myself 'rich' but I do enjoy a fantastic life and could afford to ski in any country in the World.

I go to Bulgaria because I love the place, the people, and the atmosphere.

So stop trying to wind people up - whoever you are yet too embarassed to give your true identity.

With your childish remarks and attitude - I'm sure all Bulgaria would hope you go elsewhere.

And stop trying to pretend you are Bulgarian!

PP