Bulgaria Ski discussion board
Hotel Pamporovo
Author:
posts : 13 (Beginner)Date : 12-31-06 09:56Hotel Pamporovo
31DEC06. Where do I start.....I went to Bulgaria with my boyfriend, parents and little sister, we just got back last week. My boyfriend and I are well travelled but we normally travel independently this time we went with a package holiday, booked with Bulkan holidays.
From the start we have had problems; our flight was under booked so we flew via Cardiff to pick up some extra passengers. We had a delay in Birmingham Airport through customs so people were starving on the plane even ...
From the start we have had problems; our flight was under booked so we flew via Cardiff to pick up some extra passengers. We had a delay in Birmingham Airport through customs so people were starving on the plane even ...
31DEC06. Where do I start.....I went to Bulgaria with my boyfriend, parents and little sister, we just got back last week. My boyfriend and I are well travelled but we normally travel independently this time we went with a package holiday, booked with Bulkan holidays.
From the start we have had problems; our flight was under booked so we flew via Cardiff to pick up some extra passengers. We had a delay in Birmingham Airport through customs so people were starving on the plane even looking forward to the plane food. I have never seen such bad food or heard so many people complain, dried out chicken and some sweet corn. Little did we know this was just ths start of things to come.
After an excessively bumping landing we arrived and were transported like cattle to the hotel. On the bus we were told by people that the hotel had building works something we were not advised before hand. To be honest this did not impact me personally as we were out on the slopes most of the day, however the night clubs do not exists that is what they are building and I could not find a gym. So do not believe what you see in the brochure. You have to pay extra to use the pool, sauna etc, in fact anything u want to use you pay extra for.
The food! We arrived latish and went straight down to the buffet. We were greated with mean staff, no drinks (they are extra even tap water), and cold nasty food. I can not tell you how gutted we were at this point. I have recently been to Montenegro and the food there was excellent, they have the ingrdients they just dont know how to use them.
The food actually got better as time went on, the best part by far is the salad bar (which lucky for me I love), the hot food was consistencly bad but the cakes are pretty tasty. Coffee and water were provided on the first few nights but when they realised people wanted them they started charging. We spent Christmas day in Bulgaria, where we were provided with a speical meal, which we now find out cost us an extra £30 supplement on our bill. Needless to say it was pretty nasty. We were bunndled in the dinning room with so many people you could not move your arms to eat, the staff were rude, the food was cold and I persoanlly could not eat it. See the picture for the main meal. I maybe a bit of a food snob but I am 100% sure that the Turkey dish served up two days later weas the remains reused that most people left. This was an experience.
If you do stay at this hotel take earplugs, they play music in the dinning room and its so loud and pretty bad, so sit near the buffet end of the dinning room and get there early before all the good stuff goes. Anyway enough said on the food.
The rooms are OK, pretty big but all have twin beds no doubles, if you have a triple room be prepared for someone to sleep on a broken camp bed. Our bathroom was nice but anything that breaks has not been fixed over time, so shower curtains missing and our bed was broken. If you need a snack the food in the hotel shop is atleast half price, the shop in the town is even cheaper.
The hotel was lined with blacked out expensive cars, hummers, BMW etc. After a time it became apart that like someother hotels this was run buy the mafia (no jokes), there are men in black suits and ear peices everywhere, the secuirty is so OTT, but its not to protect you its to protect them and the prostitues that work in the hotel. Keep an eye out as there are lots of them. I did feel safe in the hotel but my step dad complained alot and he had lots of threatening clance from the mafia clan. If you do complain go through your rep as the hotel staff could not careless. When I asked to see a breakdown of out bill on the last day I was shouted at, I felt so disrespected by the staff the whole trip. They dont understand the words Customer Service, they are just looking the whole time to see what they can get you to spend.
In regards to the skiing, I have skiied before so booked an intermediate lesson. These dont exist so dont pay for them , they resort is 100% focused on beginners and they group people in sets of about 20 and go through the basics. If you are not a beginner dont go here. I loved the skiing, even though it was icy and the slopes were not maintained (stones eveywhere), the lifts breakdown all the time and I ditched my lesson halfway through as there is not instruction just a guide to follow. If there are any probs with lessons no one cares or helps you, Bulkan holidays never helped with any questions or problems and just blamed things on the snow conditions. The slopes are tiny and as more people come each year there is not enough to cope with the people that want to ski. I know people that have been to other ski resort in Bulgaria and they say this is the worst. In my opinion it was OK but I would not go back, as from skiing in France and Italy I know how things should be done.
To make the best use of the hotel you have to be on a scheudle. Get up early as the food is better and you will def get one of the ski buses, the rest of the time you run the risk of it being too crowded and it not stopping, then you have to get a taxi. Cold water runs out by about 5, so get straight in the bath when you get back.
Avoid this hotel and anything through Bulkan holidays.
From the start we have had problems; our flight was under booked so we flew via Cardiff to pick up some extra passengers. We had a delay in Birmingham Airport through customs so people were starving on the plane even looking forward to the plane food. I have never seen such bad food or heard so many people complain, dried out chicken and some sweet corn. Little did we know this was just ths start of things to come.
After an excessively bumping landing we arrived and were transported like cattle to the hotel. On the bus we were told by people that the hotel had building works something we were not advised before hand. To be honest this did not impact me personally as we were out on the slopes most of the day, however the night clubs do not exists that is what they are building and I could not find a gym. So do not believe what you see in the brochure. You have to pay extra to use the pool, sauna etc, in fact anything u want to use you pay extra for.
The food! We arrived latish and went straight down to the buffet. We were greated with mean staff, no drinks (they are extra even tap water), and cold nasty food. I can not tell you how gutted we were at this point. I have recently been to Montenegro and the food there was excellent, they have the ingrdients they just dont know how to use them.
The food actually got better as time went on, the best part by far is the salad bar (which lucky for me I love), the hot food was consistencly bad but the cakes are pretty tasty. Coffee and water were provided on the first few nights but when they realised people wanted them they started charging. We spent Christmas day in Bulgaria, where we were provided with a speical meal, which we now find out cost us an extra £30 supplement on our bill. Needless to say it was pretty nasty. We were bunndled in the dinning room with so many people you could not move your arms to eat, the staff were rude, the food was cold and I persoanlly could not eat it. See the picture for the main meal. I maybe a bit of a food snob but I am 100% sure that the Turkey dish served up two days later weas the remains reused that most people left. This was an experience.
If you do stay at this hotel take earplugs, they play music in the dinning room and its so loud and pretty bad, so sit near the buffet end of the dinning room and get there early before all the good stuff goes. Anyway enough said on the food.
The rooms are OK, pretty big but all have twin beds no doubles, if you have a triple room be prepared for someone to sleep on a broken camp bed. Our bathroom was nice but anything that breaks has not been fixed over time, so shower curtains missing and our bed was broken. If you need a snack the food in the hotel shop is atleast half price, the shop in the town is even cheaper.
The hotel was lined with blacked out expensive cars, hummers, BMW etc. After a time it became apart that like someother hotels this was run buy the mafia (no jokes), there are men in black suits and ear peices everywhere, the secuirty is so OTT, but its not to protect you its to protect them and the prostitues that work in the hotel. Keep an eye out as there are lots of them. I did feel safe in the hotel but my step dad complained alot and he had lots of threatening clance from the mafia clan. If you do complain go through your rep as the hotel staff could not careless. When I asked to see a breakdown of out bill on the last day I was shouted at, I felt so disrespected by the staff the whole trip. They dont understand the words Customer Service, they are just looking the whole time to see what they can get you to spend.
In regards to the skiing, I have skiied before so booked an intermediate lesson. These dont exist so dont pay for them , they resort is 100% focused on beginners and they group people in sets of about 20 and go through the basics. If you are not a beginner dont go here. I loved the skiing, even though it was icy and the slopes were not maintained (stones eveywhere), the lifts breakdown all the time and I ditched my lesson halfway through as there is not instruction just a guide to follow. If there are any probs with lessons no one cares or helps you, Bulkan holidays never helped with any questions or problems and just blamed things on the snow conditions. The slopes are tiny and as more people come each year there is not enough to cope with the people that want to ski. I know people that have been to other ski resort in Bulgaria and they say this is the worst. In my opinion it was OK but I would not go back, as from skiing in France and Italy I know how things should be done.
To make the best use of the hotel you have to be on a scheudle. Get up early as the food is better and you will def get one of the ski buses, the rest of the time you run the risk of it being too crowded and it not stopping, then you have to get a taxi. Cold water runs out by about 5, so get straight in the bath when you get back.
Avoid this hotel and anything through Bulkan holidays.
re: Hotel Pamporovo
Sorry to hear you had such a poor experience. I'm sure this isn't typical - we've travelled with Balkan since the early 1990s, and yes, the in-flight service is VERY basic (although it has improved since we first tried it).
We've always found the reps to be very helpful - the only difference being that you seem to have to ask for information, rather than it being offered. Last year we stayed at the Elina, which is a bit of a hike from the centre. We booked a couple of things through ...
We've always found the reps to be very helpful - the only difference being that you seem to have to ask for information, rather than it being offered. Last year we stayed at the Elina, which is a bit of a hike from the centre. We booked a couple of things through ...
Sorry to hear you had such a poor experience. I'm sure this isn't typical - we've travelled with Balkan since the early 1990s, and yes, the in-flight service is VERY basic (although it has improved since we first tried it).
We've always found the reps to be very helpful - the only difference being that you seem to have to ask for information, rather than it being offered. Last year we stayed at the Elina, which is a bit of a hike from the centre. We booked a couple of things through the rep and found out, almost accidentally, that we could use the hotel minibus like a taxi service (but a LOT cheaper). This was something that we felt should have been advertised freely, as it was very useful.
Food in the hotel was basic too. Apparently the Bulgarians believe that hot food isn't good for you - that could explain the cold cuisine!
Our instructor last year couldn't have been better - I suppose that could have been just 'pot luck', although we didn't hear any bad reports about any of the instructors. Also snow conditions have to play a part - it must be very disheartening (and difficult) trying to instruct people when the conditions are less than ideal.
We're 'early birds' anyway, so getting up and away first thing suited us - but you're right about an early schedule. Only trouble is, you're wiped out by about half nine at night - mind you, a few beers soon gets you going again!
We've always found the reps to be very helpful - the only difference being that you seem to have to ask for information, rather than it being offered. Last year we stayed at the Elina, which is a bit of a hike from the centre. We booked a couple of things through the rep and found out, almost accidentally, that we could use the hotel minibus like a taxi service (but a LOT cheaper). This was something that we felt should have been advertised freely, as it was very useful.
Food in the hotel was basic too. Apparently the Bulgarians believe that hot food isn't good for you - that could explain the cold cuisine!
Our instructor last year couldn't have been better - I suppose that could have been just 'pot luck', although we didn't hear any bad reports about any of the instructors. Also snow conditions have to play a part - it must be very disheartening (and difficult) trying to instruct people when the conditions are less than ideal.
We're 'early birds' anyway, so getting up and away first thing suited us - but you're right about an early schedule. Only trouble is, you're wiped out by about half nine at night - mind you, a few beers soon gets you going again!
re: Hotel Pamporovo
I am sorry to hear that you had a bad holiday at the hotel pamps. I went to this hotel lasy year and i had a great time. The problem is that one bad report puts everybody off, so ill point out a few things from my perspective
Snow- O.k, no stones and the lift system was absolutely fine
Ski school- fantastic and the instructor even better.
Night club- in the basement of hotel pamps , ok but very noisey
Food- terrible in the Pamps but great at the morgavets grill and on the top by ...
Snow- O.k, no stones and the lift system was absolutely fine
Ski school- fantastic and the instructor even better.
Night club- in the basement of hotel pamps , ok but very noisey
Food- terrible in the Pamps but great at the morgavets grill and on the top by ...
I am sorry to hear that you had a bad holiday at the hotel pamps. I went to this hotel lasy year and i had a great time. The problem is that one bad report puts everybody off, so ill point out a few things from my perspective
Snow- O.k, no stones and the lift system was absolutely fine
Ski school- fantastic and the instructor even better.
Night club- in the basement of hotel pamps , ok but very noisey
Food- terrible in the Pamps but great at the morgavets grill and on the top by the snezanka tower.
Rooms- Rooms are fine , clean, comfertable and I always had hot water, even the tiled floor in the bathroom is heated. If you want a suite you can have these and aparantly they are very nice.
Facilities. Bowling ally, pool, swimming, nightclub, irish bar, foyer bar- with great log fire, sports bar, internet cafe , numerous shops, cafe, al-a-arte resturant, The best thing i found was when you return from skiing and you are welcomed by a massive log fire in the foyer, where you could sit and order a drink while you relaxed.
Must do,s - Ski show.........done by all the ski instructers, here they really show you what class of skier they are..........Lets just say I was amazed......Fantastic.
You cant go to BG without bumboarding, its awsome.
.
Staff............for the most part they were friendly and pleased to help.
Make sure you get your passport back the following morning or they will try and charge you for goods out of the mini bar at the end of your stay. They will keep your passport if you dont pay. I saw this happen to a few people who swore blind that they didnt have a thing.
Prostitutes- late in the evening they are in the disco and if you have a massage i was told that extra services are offered to the men..........if you know what i mean.
Ski bus- yes it is always full, but they are frequent and you are only on it for 5 minutes , so dont worry.
Distance to the resort centre, As you come out of the hotel, look in front of you and you will see a road , walk up the road and take your first right turn and BOBS YOUR UNCLE, its a five - 10 min walk dependant on snow
conditions.
May i say that i am quite a fussy person when it comes to holidays but i had a fab time. We met lots of great people and i dont think i have ever laughed so much. I appreciate that many people havent had the experience i have, but dont be disheartened BG especially Pamps is a great place...and hopefully you will all have a great time.
P.S I travelled with crystal and they were great and the food on the plane (First choice) was just fine.
Snow- O.k, no stones and the lift system was absolutely fine
Ski school- fantastic and the instructor even better.
Night club- in the basement of hotel pamps , ok but very noisey
Food- terrible in the Pamps but great at the morgavets grill and on the top by the snezanka tower.
Rooms- Rooms are fine , clean, comfertable and I always had hot water, even the tiled floor in the bathroom is heated. If you want a suite you can have these and aparantly they are very nice.
Facilities. Bowling ally, pool, swimming, nightclub, irish bar, foyer bar- with great log fire, sports bar, internet cafe , numerous shops, cafe, al-a-arte resturant, The best thing i found was when you return from skiing and you are welcomed by a massive log fire in the foyer, where you could sit and order a drink while you relaxed.
Must do,s - Ski show.........done by all the ski instructers, here they really show you what class of skier they are..........Lets just say I was amazed......Fantastic.
You cant go to BG without bumboarding, its awsome.
.
Staff............for the most part they were friendly and pleased to help.
Make sure you get your passport back the following morning or they will try and charge you for goods out of the mini bar at the end of your stay. They will keep your passport if you dont pay. I saw this happen to a few people who swore blind that they didnt have a thing.
Prostitutes- late in the evening they are in the disco and if you have a massage i was told that extra services are offered to the men..........if you know what i mean.
Ski bus- yes it is always full, but they are frequent and you are only on it for 5 minutes , so dont worry.
Distance to the resort centre, As you come out of the hotel, look in front of you and you will see a road , walk up the road and take your first right turn and BOBS YOUR UNCLE, its a five - 10 min walk dependant on snow
conditions.
May i say that i am quite a fussy person when it comes to holidays but i had a fab time. We met lots of great people and i dont think i have ever laughed so much. I appreciate that many people havent had the experience i have, but dont be disheartened BG especially Pamps is a great place...and hopefully you will all have a great time.
P.S I travelled with crystal and they were great and the food on the plane (First choice) was just fine.
re: Hotel Pamporovo
Mdf,
How much of that did you record with the rep at the time?...thats the key to complaining..
Thats what reps are for....If you filled out necessary paperwork/ names / incidents in the resort I'm sure Balkan will look at it for you...
Cant quite see your point about booking a package holiday though...if you would have booked this trip independently who would you have complained too?... I am travelling to this hotel in 3 weeks time and know people who have stayed and like it there ...
How much of that did you record with the rep at the time?...thats the key to complaining..
Thats what reps are for....If you filled out necessary paperwork/ names / incidents in the resort I'm sure Balkan will look at it for you...
Cant quite see your point about booking a package holiday though...if you would have booked this trip independently who would you have complained too?... I am travelling to this hotel in 3 weeks time and know people who have stayed and like it there ...
Mdf,
How much of that did you record with the rep at the time?...thats the key to complaining..
Thats what reps are for....If you filled out necessary paperwork/ names / incidents in the resort I'm sure Balkan will look at it for you...
Cant quite see your point about booking a package holiday though...if you would have booked this trip independently who would you have complained too?... I am travelling to this hotel in 3 weeks time and know people who have stayed and like it there so am surprised by comments..Dont forget you went on week 1 of the season...i would imagine the hotel is service rusty and no where near at full speed nor efficiency....(lets not forget this is eastern europe and a very young snow resort)as for the snow well they can blame the snow conditions...just look at sll the posts from p/pete its clearly an issue..but the week you went was a risk if you went for snow...this is the historical snowfall in December.
Upper Lower (In Cm's)
December 2002 7 16
December 2003 0 15
December 2004 4 10
December 2005 13 19
Bottom line is that like myself and many others i'm sure the reason we booked both the hotel, resort and even country is the price..I have only paid £410 for a week here including Lift pass, lessons ,carriage of skis etc etc this price is only about 40% of most 'traditonal' ski resorts even before the thrown in the added HUGE beer prices elsewhere....
Like many things is life you get what you pay for...for £400 i just wanna go skiing, if i have to eat out...so be it...its probably gonna be more fun..
Hoe you have more fun over the new year new...
tony
How much of that did you record with the rep at the time?...thats the key to complaining..
Thats what reps are for....If you filled out necessary paperwork/ names / incidents in the resort I'm sure Balkan will look at it for you...
Cant quite see your point about booking a package holiday though...if you would have booked this trip independently who would you have complained too?... I am travelling to this hotel in 3 weeks time and know people who have stayed and like it there so am surprised by comments..Dont forget you went on week 1 of the season...i would imagine the hotel is service rusty and no where near at full speed nor efficiency....(lets not forget this is eastern europe and a very young snow resort)as for the snow well they can blame the snow conditions...just look at sll the posts from p/pete its clearly an issue..but the week you went was a risk if you went for snow...this is the historical snowfall in December.
Upper Lower (In Cm's)
December 2002 7 16
December 2003 0 15
December 2004 4 10
December 2005 13 19
Bottom line is that like myself and many others i'm sure the reason we booked both the hotel, resort and even country is the price..I have only paid £410 for a week here including Lift pass, lessons ,carriage of skis etc etc this price is only about 40% of most 'traditonal' ski resorts even before the thrown in the added HUGE beer prices elsewhere....
Like many things is life you get what you pay for...for £400 i just wanna go skiing, if i have to eat out...so be it...its probably gonna be more fun..
Hoe you have more fun over the new year new...
tony
re: Hotel Pamporovo
that's why i travel independently. I'd rather the fault was mine,lol.re: Hotel Pamporovo
Hi,
Thought I would add my tenn'pennworth here as I too have just got back from Pamporova Hotel.
Guess I must have had too many early nights as i did not see any prostitutes and having served in the RN for over 30 years i am normally good at spotting them. The night club /disco was shut for refurbishment so they may have gone elsewhere!! Yes there were, obvious 'Hit men' protecting their bosses in the lounge but we did not feel intimidated at all.
Constructive comments:
You ...
Thought I would add my tenn'pennworth here as I too have just got back from Pamporova Hotel.
Guess I must have had too many early nights as i did not see any prostitutes and having served in the RN for over 30 years i am normally good at spotting them. The night club /disco was shut for refurbishment so they may have gone elsewhere!! Yes there were, obvious 'Hit men' protecting their bosses in the lounge but we did not feel intimidated at all.
Constructive comments:
You ...
Hi,
Thought I would add my tenn'pennworth here as I too have just got back from Pamporova Hotel.
Guess I must have had too many early nights as i did not see any prostitutes and having served in the RN for over 30 years i am normally good at spotting them. The night club /disco was shut for refurbishment so they may have gone elsewhere!! Yes there were, obvious 'Hit men' protecting their bosses in the lounge but we did not feel intimidated at all.
Constructive comments:
You are in an ex eastern Bloc country so do not expect it to be quite what you would expect in western europe. The Bulgars have not had a lot to smile about so it takes a bit of getting used to. At least you do not get a load of 'Have a nice days' with all that insincerety.
Yes food could have been better and as suggested try and get in to the restaurant early. The al la carte was empty every night but food good there and relatively cheap (not included in HB). I would not normally go for it but the Bulgarian BBq night was quite entertaining and food ok if you like it simple.
Recommend get as far away from the live music in the restaurant as it is far too loud for eating. There appeared to be only 2 water jugs in the restaurant so difficult to get tap water. We took in a ltr bottle at 1Lv from the shop every night and no one said owt. Oh! they ran out of T bags on our last day!!
Rooms were clean but i found them uncomfortably hot. i wished I had taken more short sleeve shirts than all the fleeces!! Be very much aware that if you hoped to have a room adajacent to the kids or friends then in our experience this may not happen. We had three different rooms on three floors.
Ski centre can be busy as are the buses but an empty one comes along soon. It is actually a 30minute walk to the centre (I timed it). Would agree with the comment about intermediate instruction. We were 'taught' the basics again for two days so i too gave up and did our own thing. If the snow is good then you will have a good time. No problems with lifts.
We spent a day off the slopes and went into Somlyn on a recommend. I would say don't bother. You forget what a smoke free environment UK is now and could not find an eating place that was not full of tab smoke. An hour max is all you can really spend there although we did spend a further hour looking for the museum but follwing the one sign ended up in a run down housing estate so gave up.
We went to Bulgaria because of the cheapness of the package (compared to France) and that is still good value. However we had also heard that it was cheap to eat and drink but our two families found it very much comparible with UK. I was paying 8 Lvs a pint of beer (£3) and the coffees were between 3/5 lvs so bordering on M&S prices!!
All in all very much as expected. Probably would go again but would go self catering next time and later in the season. I longed for that regular mug of tea without having to go and pay for it every hour!!
Enjoy
Thought I would add my tenn'pennworth here as I too have just got back from Pamporova Hotel.
Guess I must have had too many early nights as i did not see any prostitutes and having served in the RN for over 30 years i am normally good at spotting them. The night club /disco was shut for refurbishment so they may have gone elsewhere!! Yes there were, obvious 'Hit men' protecting their bosses in the lounge but we did not feel intimidated at all.
Constructive comments:
You are in an ex eastern Bloc country so do not expect it to be quite what you would expect in western europe. The Bulgars have not had a lot to smile about so it takes a bit of getting used to. At least you do not get a load of 'Have a nice days' with all that insincerety.
Yes food could have been better and as suggested try and get in to the restaurant early. The al la carte was empty every night but food good there and relatively cheap (not included in HB). I would not normally go for it but the Bulgarian BBq night was quite entertaining and food ok if you like it simple.
Recommend get as far away from the live music in the restaurant as it is far too loud for eating. There appeared to be only 2 water jugs in the restaurant so difficult to get tap water. We took in a ltr bottle at 1Lv from the shop every night and no one said owt. Oh! they ran out of T bags on our last day!!
Rooms were clean but i found them uncomfortably hot. i wished I had taken more short sleeve shirts than all the fleeces!! Be very much aware that if you hoped to have a room adajacent to the kids or friends then in our experience this may not happen. We had three different rooms on three floors.
Ski centre can be busy as are the buses but an empty one comes along soon. It is actually a 30minute walk to the centre (I timed it). Would agree with the comment about intermediate instruction. We were 'taught' the basics again for two days so i too gave up and did our own thing. If the snow is good then you will have a good time. No problems with lifts.
We spent a day off the slopes and went into Somlyn on a recommend. I would say don't bother. You forget what a smoke free environment UK is now and could not find an eating place that was not full of tab smoke. An hour max is all you can really spend there although we did spend a further hour looking for the museum but follwing the one sign ended up in a run down housing estate so gave up.
We went to Bulgaria because of the cheapness of the package (compared to France) and that is still good value. However we had also heard that it was cheap to eat and drink but our two families found it very much comparible with UK. I was paying 8 Lvs a pint of beer (£3) and the coffees were between 3/5 lvs so bordering on M&S prices!!
All in all very much as expected. Probably would go again but would go self catering next time and later in the season. I longed for that regular mug of tea without having to go and pay for it every hour!!
Enjoy
re: Hotel Pamporovo
you must have gone the long way around, because it is no more than 10 minutes to the shop that has a money exchange opposite the morgavets............trust me if it took longer than 10 minutes i would have got a taxi.The reason you probably didnt see any prostitutes is that they go straight to the disco, usally after 21:00, and as you pointed out...........it was closed for refurbishment
