Bulgaria Ski discussion board

We went to Bansko on 10th of feb for a week stayed in the Hotel Bansko. hotel was ok, way too hot and to be fair the food wasn't as bad as i had expected from reports on here. On the first morning when we went to get the ski and boot hire it went quite smoothly the only thing i would say is if you are a beginner make sure they don't give you skis that are too long otherwise you will be on your backside more than on the ski's. As for the queues at the gondola DISGRACEFUL if you are not prepared to fight for your place or risk getting pushed and shoved on the stairs going up, stay well away until past 11am. Someone i spoke to said that becasue of the queues her son had been late for his ski lesson and when they got there she was told there was no room in the class even though she'd paid. The courtesy continues on the slopes no one slows down at slow signs and people whizzing about on blue runs should be on red!!! down right dangerous. The town is in ruins and i cannot see where on the slopes they are going to accomodate the people they are expecting to have in all these hotels when there is hardly enough piste to accomodate what they have at the minute. I was very disapointed in this resort and after reading this forum everyday for two months prior to leaving i was sure that i would come back and be able to say you are all wrong it isn't that bad, however, this is not the case everyone i spoke to said they would never recommend bulgaria and neither would i!! Most Bulgarian people we came accross only grunted at us and never smiled. Sorry to be so negative as i said i was sure it'd all be proven wrong when we got out there but unfortunately wasn't.

I am afraid I have to agree with most of this

We got back on Saturday and, yes I know it was half term but I would not consider returning until they open another Gondola (which I am informed by Bulgarian rep that they have had approved but will not be in for maybe 2 years)

We stayed at Lion Hotel which was lovely but food was pretty bad (try the bar food which is much better and cheap). The hotel is not within walking distance of Gondola unless you are very fit so you have to take the ski bus provided by the hotel - Which was very reliable but a total bun fight most mornings.

The same rep told me that they expect to have finished another 3000 rooms/apartments by next season - (when you see the building site you will appreciate that this is entirely likely) Multiply that by 2 (people per room) and you instantly get another 6k people trying to access the slopes up one gondola! The Gondola couldn't cope last week!

Ski school was a joke - 22 in our intermediate group & 20 in beginners - 5 of us dropped out on first day as we were made to do snow plough turns on nursery slopes which I haven't done since my first ski holiday three years ago - Bizarre and extremely unsafe group sizes/ abilities - The rep told us they don't have enough english speaking instructors - If so, the tour operators shouldn't push the package

I would not say this resort is a beginners paradise either - The progression from Nursery slope to the nearest blue (6) was too big - Thus making half the learner group drop out as soon as the rest of the group ventured up the chair lift. (There are no green runs at all apart from the one nursery stretch of approx 150 metres

Snow conditions were not good but you can't blame that on anyone - By the afternoon it was so carved up it was like skiing in sand and the centre slopes were sheet ice

Never mind - Another 5 years and it might be ok

It is cheap though - Until 2009, when they tell me they will join the Euro - Watch the prices double!

We did have a good holiday and it was cheap in resort but I for one won't be back.

I am afraid I have to agree with most of this

We got back on Saturday and, yes I know it was half term but I would not consider returning until they open another Gondola (which I am informed by Bulgarian rep that they have had approved but will not be in for maybe 2 years)

We stayed at Lion Hotel which was lovely but food was pretty bad (try the bar food which is much better and cheap). The hotel is not within walking distance of Gondola unless you are very fit so you have to take the ski bus provided by the hotel - Which was very reliable but a total bun fight most mornings.

The same rep told me that they expect to have finished another 3000 rooms/apartments by next season - (when you see the building site you will appreciate that this is entirely likely) Multiply that by 2 (people per room) and you instantly get another 6k people trying to access the slopes up one gondola! The Gondola couldn't cope last week!

Ski school was a joke - 22 in our intermediate group & 20 in beginners - 5 of us dropped out on first day as we were made to do snow plough turns on nursery slopes which I haven't done since my first ski holiday three years ago - Bizarre and extremely unsafe group sizes/ abilities - The rep told us they don't have enough english speaking instructors - If so, the tour operators shouldn't push the package

I would not say this resort is a beginners paradise either - The progression from Nursery slope to the nearest blue (6) was too big - Thus making half the learner group drop out as soon as the rest of the group ventured up the chair lift. (There are no green runs at all apart from the one nursery stretch of approx 150 metres

Snow conditions were not good but you can't blame that on anyone - By the afternoon it was so carved up it was like skiing in sand and the centre slopes were sheet ice

Never mind - Another 5 years and it might be ok

It is cheap though - Until 2009, when they tell me they will change to the Euro - Watch the prices double!

We did have a good holiday and it was cheap in resort but I for one won't be back.

its a ten minute walk to the gondola from the LIon 15 minutes max, you do not have to be fit to walk it. bulgarain people are the same as english people, some not so friendly as others, my experience of bulgarians is they are very friendly if you try to speak a little of the language you find they are much warmer even to learn good morning, thankyou, good night, we all assume they all speak good english they do not!, most know the basics and probably find it hard to understand a lot of what we are saying so then come across as ignorant when they do not carry on a conversation they began understanding which is totally wrong....

I posted a true account of bansko from my experience and roundly condemned for being negitive. The only people defending the marketing "white lie" of Bansko seem to be that of property owners or people with interests in it. I have been around this board for a few years and many of the porblems commonly raised, i was not aware of before going.

Here was my report


Just Back from Bansko........Disaster !!!!! - The Donkeywalloper just arrived back from bansko today and heres report (warts and all !). I have skied in USA x7, Andorra, Val D'sire and Bulgaria x 3, so i have a little experience. Stayed in the Guinness Hotel. Quite impressive. Rooms clean, food , hit and miss, bar in Hotel, daylight robbery by bulgarian standards. 7 lev per 330 ml bottle, shorts similar. Although hotel was only 200 metres from gondola, you had to go through a building site to access it. Gondola Itself, busy with queues, aprox wait was 30 - 40 minutes over the course of the week. Skiing was good for myself and others, however beginners in the group seen very little of mountain. Not suitable for beginners in my opinion. Food by gondola station expensive ( bulgarian standards) and often undercooked despite pleas for chicken, meat etc to be well done. Apres ski, totally non existent. Bar beside gondola, the happy end, had poeple in it for about an hour, after that empty. Only we had a large group and entertained ourselves, it wold have been a disaster. General customer service was poor to say the least. Venues to go out at night very limited. Taxi rides were totally random pricing policies with many taxidrivers taking the preverbial. One short run for one of our group cost 23 levs for aprox half a mile, and although they knew were they were going and pointed out to taxi driver, the driver decided to take a mystery tour. Having loved bulgaria, i fear the latest encounter has finished me with the country. In my opinion it have become an economic honey pot with everyone out to screw as much money as possible from as many as possible. We travelled with Balkan tours belfast, who had a rep bilko that was unreal.Common practice is to go to your rep if you needed something. In this case it was him constantly coming to us looking for money for this that and whatever. The final straw was when he conned 22 of us of of ten levs each for the karoke bar for admission/ drinks. Now its not the 220 lev but the principle. Wrote out a reciept and said to present to barman for free cocktails/drinks. When we arrived we found it was free entry for everyone and our "cocktail voucher" entitles us to one free soft drink. Thats only one story, i could go on with many more, but safe to say i wont be using Balkan Tours in Belfast ever again How the resort will cope next year with the number of developments and increased holiday makers, boggles the mind. Inadequate at the minute. In a nutshell, good skiing for intermediate and above.Inadequate for beginners. Prices from last year have trebled at least. ( That was the general consenus of our entire group who have been in Bulgaria over the last 3 years). Atmosphere in resort is non existent,apres ski is non existent. I for one wont be visitin Bansko again( Probabaly not Bulgaria again)Its not a patch on Pamporovo for charm , craic and atmosphere. No side agenda, just a true account Date : 02-17-07 17:14

I just got back from a week in Bansko & although I had a fantastic time it's difficult to argue with most of the points made above.

Food's not great, unless you get a pizza (these are generally ok). Would recommend a bit of self-catering (although the supermarket's a bit of a treck).

Bulgarians, generally speaking, are some of the rudest people I've ever met - once you get used to the initial shock, however, it doesn't really affect your trip.

Gondola is a joke, don't bother to queue as most people barge in the side entrance. They will never cope with the new hotels unless they build at least one more.

I was boarding for the first time & although the runs were overcrowded (it being half term), I thought the nearest blue run was good to learn on. After 4 days I found it very easy. It's also good to have the long blue run that allows for more boarding & less sitting in the lifts whilst you're trying to learn!

I had a 2 hour lesson to start - nice guy but didn't really learn that much. Best way to start is to get up on the blue & heel your way down - once you know you can stop it's easy to develop & start using your toes.

Night life wasn't great although there may have been more to offer in town (we only went there once). Not sure why everyone loves the Lion pub - bit pokey & an average atmosphere, not a bad place just not that good either.

I would recommend the friendly pub though - really good laugh if you don't mind singing along with the live band, food's ok too.