Bulgaria Ski discussion board

I have been reading the emails on this website to get an in site in to bulgaria and by the sounds of it when 4 of my friends go in two weeks time and stay at the hotel pamporovo they will all be staying in the same room as the hotel over books they wont be taught at ski school properly as a paul only teaches for two days instead of four. They will get some really bad flu and get there mobiles stolen ,they will be mugged by some mafia bloke they will not be able to with draw money from a machine as there card will be read and someone will steal there money eventhough hardly any places have cash machines and no where takes bankers cheques!!!
And there bedroom wont be safe as some one will break in and steal what money they may have out of it !! You lot do moan !I think i will stay with Austria Thanksxx

Sue when you say you lot do moan. You ar refering to a very small minority on here who most certainly are not regulars to Bulgaria.

The moans and groans have not really been that bad and indeed if you have read most of the reports you will see that even the ones that do moan normally end up saying they had a great time.

The Flu thing has got absolutly out of control and I personally shall scream if I see another comment about flu on here.

People who posted about the Mafia have never been to Bulgaria and are posting because they have read or been told scare stories.

The over booking at the Pamporovo hotel was I belive an one off inccident for 1 week.

Hey if you want to be put off by some negative comments and would rather go and pay double the amount for Austria then go ahead.
But if you go with an open mind I am sure you will enjoy yourself.

Hi Sue,

It really looks like you've been reading around a quarter of all the posts here, and posts from a few weeks back if your comments about the hotel Pamporovo are anything to go by.

True, the Pamporovo had an overbooking problem during the first week, but it only affected a tiny majority of snowriders (the all purpose term for skiers and snowboarders ... despite my penchant for one piece of wood over two, I can't be biased). True there are a few cases of flu being reported, but I'd put that down to the time of year rather than the location ... everyone at my work has been affected and I'm the only one who's ever been to Bulgaria, and I haven't gone this year yet.
True there were a few postings about crime and the underworld, but I think I had the final word on that. True there have been a few postings about card cloning, but as identity crime is one of the fastest growing forms of theft in the world, I think that goes under the heading of a global, rather than a Bulgarian problem.

But what about all the postings about how good and deep and crisp and even the snow is, how about all the postings asking for instructors email addresses to thank them for a brilliant week, how about all the jokes, all the x amount of sleeps to go, all the people who come to this website to share their enthusiasm for a sport and a country with others who'll understand! There's only so many times you can show the people at work your piste map wallpaper or talk about what pubs and what runs you're looking forward too. The guys on here never get tired of it because they feel the same!

The reason I find this site invaluable is because it's real! There's no brochure gloss here, just reports from people who are honest enough to tell you the good and the bad. Away from Bulgaria I've had good holidays and bad, but away from Bulgaria the only outlet I've had was moaning or waxing lyrical over a pint in my local. Here I can tell how it was. Do a search for my reports on Pamps last year and you'll see it wasn't all good, but something has drawn me back this year!

Borovets, Bansko and Pamporovo aren't, as I've said before, utopias. They are real places in the real world, possibly even what might be described as in a 2nd world country, and therefore should be approached as such. Any resorts along the Alps (or the Pyrenees, or the Rockies, or anywhere) will have room thefts, will have locals out for the tourist dollar, will have people and places which could be described as undesirable, but the amount of repeat visits these resorts get speaks volumes for the quality of holiday you're going to get!

In 2005, Bulgaria is still cheap, possibly one of the cheapest winter holidays you'll get. We know snowriding is enjoyable, we know the places we do it in aren't always perfect, but we keep coming back!!

Anyone who is worried at all, remember, at some point you're going to be sitting with rosy red cheeks, looking up at the run you've just done with a bunch of pals you've just met, sipping a chocolate brandy, and thinking, WOW! Now, try getting the smile off your face.