Bulgaria Ski discussion board

What a fantastic week!

We are two 51 yr olds accompanied by one of our sons (age 23) and daughter (21) and their partners. We are fairly experienced Intermediate Skiiers but the ‘kids’ were virtual beginners Snowboarding.

Having set off 2 ½ hours late from Manchester Airport and got to the Samokov Hotel just before 6am and were on the slopes by 9.20am!

The wife and I had been to Boro for the last two years (and Pamps the two previous years) so we knew the drill. Neilsons would only book Ski Hire packages for begimners back in the UK, and that was at £125 & £135 which we thought a bit much. (We had booked as beginners the previous year without problems but heard that Travel companies were clamping down on this) The year before that we had been ‘ripped off’ by Inghams who would not let us book packages beforehand unless we were beginners and charged us £165 in resort rather than £115 quoted in the brochure for beginners. (we wrote and complained later and received a £50 voucher between us for a future holiday, but wouldn’t book with them again as a matter of principal)
Anyway we booked direct with Albena Ski School that we had used before and Val, one of the owners was most helpful. We faxed him with details, he phoned back with a quote and we booked it with him and confirmed by fax. We had 7 days Ski/Snowboard Hire, 6 day Lift Passes & 6 x 4 hrs tuition (6 x 2hr Snowboarding) for only £98, paid in sterling on the first morning , so no risk of having to pay in advance. As it was half term week we wanted to avoid the rush and arranged to be there at 9am, thereby getting in before the rush and getting decent equipment. My skis were Orion Race-2 Ultra Carv, the same as the Samokov Instructers use, and the rest of the equipment seemed decent to us. Both our Instructor and our ‘kids’ Instructor proved to be excellent, however just one word of warning – If you get the ‘Freaky’ the Bin-Laden lookalike Snowboard Instructor then change, he is permanantly angry and usually his groups only stay with him for a few days!
The Albena Ski School is on the main street, opposite the Samakov & Ice Rink, so conveniently halfway between the Gondola and the Slopes opposite the Rila. Vals fax number is 00359 7226 6696 and his mobile number is 00359 04877 6277 Dont forget the 2 hour time difference, speak slowly -although his English is good - and there is a slight delay.

We had snow every day and superb conditions most of the time, although we had rain/sleet/snow most of Tuesday and the Gondola was closed, the following day it was closed from the mid-station upwards for half a day due to high winds at the top but in the afternoon we had glorious sunshine up there. Top slopes were virtually perfect most of the week although the lower slopes got a bit icy toward the end of the week. It was often foggy in the middle part of the slopes which was a bit eerie sometimes but sunny at the top.

As one of our family is a Teacher we had to go during half term week, but the expected crowds simply weren’t there. The morning queue at the gondola was about the same as usual, up to about 50 minutes at peak times but if you take a taxi or pony & cart to the new 4-man lift (where the old T-bar used to be) you can jump the queue and either ski down from there or ski down about 100m to the Mid station and take the gondola up from there. Agree the fare before you start off, usually 20 levs (£7), not too bad if 4 or 5 of you share.

Night skiing/boarding on the slopes in front of the Rila is highly recommended, for 13 levs (£4.60) you can ski from 5pm to 9pm under floodlights. It gets a bit icy towards the end as boarders tend to scrape the snow off the top in some areas, a bit dangerous then, particularly when foggy and some reckless skiiers still try to race each other. Had to take the ski gear back to the hotel afterwards as the Ski School closed at 5pm but that was no problem.
At night the nursery slopes are floodlit so if you are not using the lifts beginners can practice for free. The sledging is great fun for all ages at only 7levs (£2.50) per hour.

We were very pleasantly surprised with the Samokov Hotel, facilities were far better than we expected. We had three adjacent standard twin rooms, large and with 1m wide beds, a sofa bed, armchair, separate wc,, bath as well as shower and balcony. If I had to find a criticsm it would only be that the pillows were hard!
The food was very good – and hot!- and a good selection every time. We had a fussy eater with us but he ate as much as we did. It was all self-service so you could get as much as you liked, and always a good selection inc ‘special diets’ etc. There was even a guy cooking omlettes/pancakes/crepes/fried eggs to your liking in front of you.
Although the Hotel was full there was never any queues, plenty of room everywhere and no long waits for the Bowling (7levs /£2.50) a game, Pool Tables (7lev per hr) Half-body massage was good value at 14levs and the large Swimming Pool was warm!
Staff were generally helpful, but not many smiles (long hours, poor pay, so perhaps not surprising) but instead of tipping some of the Waiters – leave them your left-over deodorant!

Shopping was the same as usual, prices had crept up a bit from the previous year but not much. Usual ranges of fake goods but good quality and most, if they were fakes, were indistinguishable from the originals. We bought a North Face Ski Jacket for 75levs (£26.50) and a Columbia Titanium Ski Jacket for 50levs (£17.75) Ski hats and gloves were from 10levs (£3.50)
Our youngsters bought plenty of pairs of ‘designer’ jeans inc Armani, Prada, D & G, Deisel etc for 49lev (£17.50) and Hugo Boss were 2 pair for 80lev (£28.50) Although this shop had the three rudest shop assistants you could find. Some of these would retail at about £120 in the UK.

Exchange rates varied a lot –DON’T USE THE THREE SMALL EXCHANGE BOOTHS NEAR THE BUZZ BAR – we got caught out by them a few times. The board outside quoted a rate of 2.84 and despite verbally checking with them before parting with any money they paid out the selling rate of 2.29! We changed various amounts before we noticed, then it was only when we changed £100 that it was obvious. When we pointed out the difference there was just a shrug of shoulders and a response of ‘too late’ . They do give you an official-looking receipt but barely readable due to faint print.
After that we changed ours at either of the two TeleBanks on the main street at a rate of 2.82 with no problems or commission. The ATM was ok too, up to 400 levs a time and I believe no commission charges by most Banks for Debit Cards and I have found in the past a favourable rate of exchange.

We were the only two English in our ski group, with a pleasant German couple, one of whom fell ill and they couldn’t join us again after the third day. The other 5 in the group were Israeli, with a superior attitude and made it difficult for the Instructor, only turning up some of the time and not letting him know beforehand. Consequently we spent a lot of time waiting for the when they didn’t turn up. We thought it was rather funny that on the Presentation evening not one of them bought a drink, consuming only the free one from the start during the two hours they were there! The All-Israeli group of 8 on the table next to us was just the same. As far as I know not one of them gave the Instructor a tip!

We tried a different restaurant at lunch time every day and had a few evening meals out and never had a bad one, again Katys Steak Bar was the star. The eateries at the top of the mountain were the most expensive and poorest value, perhaps inevitably as they have to get the stuff up there. However you cant beat sitting outside on the top of the mountain in sunshine with breathtaking views and breathing pure, unpolluted air!
On the other hand does anyone else have a problem with the Buzz Bar? Both times we went there I had a headache afterwards (despite drinking in reasonable moderation) and the same happened to me last year. They also tried to short change both me and my son and several other people we spoke to.

As we had a late flight we could ski on the last day, which was ideal, nice quiet slopes and no gondola queue. No charge by Albena for the equipment for the extra day and a half day lift pass (after 12 Noon) cost us 30 levs (£10.60) and a full day would have been 55lev.
Also extended the time on one of our rooms until 5pm for only 40lev (£14) so we were able to pack away the ski-wear and have a shower before we left.

Left the hotel at 8.45pm for the Airport and had to wait over half an hour for a drunken twit at the Lion Hotel which unfortunately meant that Duty free was closed when we got to Sofia Airport. From past experience that is a good place to get rid of left-over levs and sterling although surprisingly they don’t usually take plastic.
After about only a half hour delay we set off from Sofia (Complete lack of information, but you can see the planes arriving etc) A gruelling 3 hour drive from Manchester Airport and we were home – 8am - nackered but happy!

Cant wait for next year, and the ‘kids’ really enjoyed it as much as we did.

I think that covers most things – any questions?

Fred & Heather