Bulgaria Ski discussion board

Just got back from two weeks in Pamporovo in the hotel of the same name... I just want to say to anyone considering staying there in the future, go to the Mourgavets or Orlovetz.

I've never met such rude people before. The restaraunt staff will barely look at you, and will never speak to you, even if you ask them something. You'll be lucky to get clean cutlery as well. The staff at the desk are awful as well, and one actually laughed at us when we phoned to complain about something. When I tried to ask for plain toast in the paying restaurant, she charged me 4.90 leva and brought me the wrong thing because she couldn't speak English. When she finallly bothered to find someone to translate, I still got the wrong thing- bread- and she refused to give me my money back. I threw a fit and demanded it, and even then they only gave me 4 leva. This alone is enough to convince me never to return to Bulgaria, but the staff in other hotels, while stull ruder than you'd expect, are nowhere near as bad as they are in the Hotel Pamporovo. I realise they have different standards of conduct and politeness in Bulgaria, but Pamporovo is a British resort, and the staff need to change their behaviour to fit in with that. They can't expect thousands of visitors to do it instead. This behaviour just isn't acceptable in Britain, it just doesn't happen.

You may be lucky and get a room with heating, but ours didn't have any. It was warmer to sit in the corridor. After we'd complained several times, the heating was turned on for a few hours, but then back off it went and didn't come on again. Even the doctor told us our room was too cold. We were also told a room change was not possible.

It was also incredibly noisy- all we could hear was the noise from the bowling bar and the restaurant below, and some sort of weird loud hum that would come on for about 20 minutes, then off for a few, and then back on again.

We weren't given any clean towels for the second week and I had to resort to getting them myself from the maid's trolley, but even then they were only hand towels- no larger towels were available. The maid also didn't like giving us any shower gels, shampoos, soap or toilet roll. The sheets weren't changed and the floor wasn't hoovered for two weeks. We had to ask for dressing gowns because they weren't in our rooms and then they disappeared a few days later and weren't replaced.

The food is absolutely inedible. I don't expect the food to be the same standard as it would be as in a 5 star in Britain, but I honestly couldn't eat it. We tried to eat in the hotel buffet every night and most nights (around 11 out of 14) couldn't stomach it and went elsewhere. One of the nights we did manage it was because my boyfriend came down with the bug that was going around and could only eat dry toast. It's worth going down and checking what's there every night though, because what doesn't get eaten in the night is served for breakfast the next day. You'll regularly see lasagne served for breakfast. The breakfast is not bad but it's nicer in the Mourgavets (stayed there last year).

Be careful when you go to the bars, particularly the one in the lobby- the bloke there invents the prices and the price of one round is different to the next, exactly the same, round. It all depends on whether or not you tip him.

The lobby, bars and main parts of the rooms are plush and really nice, so it's the rest of the hotel that lets it down.

I went with 14 other people and talked to countless others I met out there who said exactly the same thing. I will never go back and strongly recommend no one else does. I also intend to write to my travel agent to strongly urge them not to recommend this hotel any more. I'm annoyed that I spent so much money on what was supposed to be a 5 star and got a week of lazy, rude staff and terrible food.

Unbelievable post,

So Pamps is a British resort "NOT", i have stayed in the Hotel twice and have never had a problem, rooms always clean, if you speak to the maids themselves they will always replenish things like toilet paper etc and to say barmen make up their own prices is rediculous, everything is computerised with a receipt for everything, spare a thought for these peeople in resort, imagine having a load of ignorant Brits moaning about everything, if their was snow everywhere nobody would give a i have left a space because Pete wont accept any naughty words here so read into it what you will, so behaviour is not acceptable here in Britain, ok agree so why don't you go to Tamworth next year, about £20 per hour

Ok here is the maths

slopes open 9-5 = 8 hours per day

8 hours per day x £20 per hour = £160

£160 x 6 days = £960

Food,lessons, hotel, beer etc are not included............ok im exagerating a bit her but if you want Brit prices and service then go to Tamworth,Bg is a hell of alot chepaer than good old Blighty, also even when their is virtually no snow in Pamps you can bet that you can get more meteres of skiing for your £££££££££££££££££

Enjoy

I never once complained about the lack of snow. I know that's no one's fault.

I shouldn't have to ask a maid to replenish things in my room. They should do it, it's their jobs.

I never got a receipt for my drinks, and the rounds did vary in price. Why would I make that up?

I already go to the snow dome in Milton Keynes, but the point was that I paid to have a holiday in a 5 star hotel and didn't consider it quite up to scratch. I'm not sure what exactly you're giving me maths for. I didn't say anything about the actual snowboarding conditions or how much I paid for a lift pass, just the hotel.

I wouldn't consider myself an ignorant Brit, I learned some Bulgarian to go and went into the hotel with no preconceptions. I've also been to Pamporovo before and the staff at the Mourgavetz were lovely, so it's just the staff at the Pamporovo who have the attitude problems. Besides, if they don't want to work with tourists then they should find other work or move away from a tourist resort. It's not going to stop being tourist orientated just because they don't like it. I'm not sure how you can say it's not a British resort (in the sense that most or all of the visitos are British) because (apart from Bulgarian, obviously) I didn't hear a single other language.

Maybe you had a better experience with it but all I can report is what is was like when I was there. Why in the world would I make this up? What benefit would that be to me?