Bulgaria Ski discussion board

Going to Borovets on Saturday for a week of boarding with my girlfriend, mother and stepfather. Although I board every year, the others have never done it before. We chose Borovets over the Alps because it is so much cheaper for beginners.

I have read a lot of mixed reports regarding Borovets so can someone please answer a few questions to put our minds at rest?

What is the standard of tuition like in borovets? Are the boards and boots really so old and battered?
Will there be enough boarding for me and is there lots of off piste???
Has anyone stayed in the Bor Hotel? If so, is it any good and how far is it from the resort center and main ski lifts?

I see its snowing again in Borovets and they have forcast snow for the rest of the week. I have read most of this forum this afternoon and looks like you all had a great time in bulgaria....I cant wait!!!

Answers to your questions:

I was a beginner snowboarder and found the tuition excellent, instructor spoke good English, was very friendly and was amazing at snowboarding! The boards and boots aren't fantastic, but they do the job. I changed my board once which they didn't mind so its not really a problem.

There will be plenty of boarding available to you, get up the gondola asap theres loads up there to do, off piste is available but looks a bit scary!

We stayed in the Bor and was very impressed. The reception are friendly, bar is chilled out and the restuarant is ok but the food is vile. Its about a 10min walk from the action and you will probably get lost on your first day, but that all adds to the fun!

If you don't have a great time I will be surprised!

I was also a beginner but my instructor (Bobby) was great, we were on black runs by day 3 and actually turning and speeding down them by the end of the week. (And he was very patient when I got scared on a slope on day 3!) See if you can find the ski jumps and slide down on your bum! The boards seemed fine to me (from the hotel samokov, lots of hotels use their ski hire) - and you can change them to your hearts content. The boots weren't entirely waterproof, that was my only gripe... but it's cheap to buy your own if you think you'll board again. The red runs (particularly from the gondola) were actually blacks in places, so try these. I did see people going off piste but can't advise much on this... ask the instructors. Ours was really friendly, always ran over our lesson time and offered advise should we pass him later in the day.