Gavin Greenway from UNITED KINGDOM writes:
The wife and I returned from Borovets last night and got home early this morning. We had a superb time. I wanted to write this summary as prior to booking we took a certain leap of faith in selecting Bulgaria, we had odd visions that the low price meant we were settling for a somewhat decayed Siberian post communist time warp. We couldn’t get a feel for what it might be like from previous reports, so this is my effort and I hope it helps you.
Travel:
We went with Neilson, but honestly I think they are all similar. The hotels are used by all operators and there seem to be two main ski-schools, the Samokov school and Borosports.
The flight times were not perfect for us because we arrived at nearly midnight and had to be selecting skis and poles at 9am on the Sunday, so very little time to familiarise yourself with the resort or hotel. If you get a choice go on an earlier flight (to/from Gatwick). We were the last flight out on the Saturday and the last to return. It meant we arrived late and had to wait a long time in the hotel once checked out, always gauling and depressing once the holiday is over and everyone else has gone on earlier flights.
Hotels:
We stayed at the Rila which I could easily recommend, but the Samokov and the Ella seemed ok as well. The resort is small so access to the slopes is good from anywhere within it. If you are a complete beginner go to the Rila as the slopes you need literally end in the lobby bar of the hotel. If you are a little more intermediate the Samokov is just closer to the gondola and the higher slopes. Whatever you chose the hotels are only 200 yards apart anyway, but if early or late season maybe the Samokov is better because the gondola will have access to altitude.
In the Rila, we never ate the evening meal we just went out to eat. The breakfast was good every morning with identical choices. From cereals, breads to frankfurters and eggs, nothing amazing, all welcome though.
Food:
We were very impressed. We did not have any cold meals as some other reports might suggest from Bulgarian custom. All the exterior restaurants had large menus and you would be hard pressed not to find something to like. Lovely thin crust pizzas, steaks or traditional Bulgarian goulash to deep fried tongue...I won’t give too many recommendations because picking a restaurant can be such great fun and personal choice, but the exception I would make is to try the Turkish flat bread in Harry Potters steak house. Its seriously about the size of a small pillow and comes out steaming away on a hot plate……mmmmm.
Ski runs/equipment:
I was told that as an upper intermediate level skier I would get bored after a whole week in Borovets. Sorry I can’t agree with such European alpine snobbery. I was very satisfied, although the weather could play a big part in this issue. On the first 2 days the gondola (which is the only link to half the resort and the highest runs) was closed due to a pubic holiday then high winds.
When the gondola was not working the remaining (lower) slopes were crowded. It was also warm on those two days so the piste was getting dog eared. The rest of the week the gondola was working and this offered ample opportunity to most if not all levels. I really question how many people demand the kind of off slope skiing seen in extreme videos, but there were many pathways between the trees for those up for it. We had 40cm of new snow fall in one night which was fantastic. With conditions changing rapidly from strong sun, through heavy snow/fog and back to sunshine I never felt bored, and felt continually challenged.
My skis worked fine although I took my own boots; the wife hired all the gear. No problems. The ski depot where stuff was left overnight was 50 yards from the front door of the hotel. Couldn’t be better, therefore one of the potential worst bits of skiing, lugging around all the gubbings, hitting yourself in the head or shin with skis, was avoided – priceless.
The hardware (chairlifts etc) was all either new or in great condition. Apparently this was necessary to get up to EU membership for next year. No complaints whatsoever and was as good or better than stuff in France. One gondola, 3 chairlifts the remaining being drag lifts. The runs up until 2000 metres were just beautiful tree lined, covered in the white stuff. Above that the scenery was more tundra like, but no less impressive.
Nightlife:
Borovets seemed to be all things to all people and that’s quite a claim. Me and the wife are late 20’s early 30’s so we aren’t strangers to heavy noisy nights, but this time we were there as a couple only and to improve our skiing. We were worried that there would be too many families, or too many groups of youngsters out to the small hours waking us up. There were both sets actually, but we had a room at the back of the Rila away from the bars and didn’t have any problems. Every different demographic group sort of kept themselves to the themselves and did their own thing. Plenty of bars and late nights out if you want them (some in my ski group were getting home at 9.30am just in time to change back into ski gear) and others in our ski group managed to ditch their kids all day in the kindergarten in the morning and pick them up exhausted in the evening.
Ski instruction:
This was my only gripe. The wife was between groups (too good for one, not good enough for another) so after day 2 decided on private tuition. The official Borosport price was 30 quid for 4 hours which is just so reasonable. The problem was that the instructor was changed mid way through a lesson, and had to come down in the middle of a run on managers orders. After an ensuing row between us and the Borosport manager, who had double booked the instructor, we were left hours short. I tried to organise another instructor privately through my own instructor but he failed to show up for our group lesson and switched off his phone. He made many excuses and said he had run out of phone credit, but in truth we had seen him very drunk the night before. I have no worries with hy-jinks, but you don’t let 10 people down like that if you are a professional. It wasted precious practice days and ruined a great ski tutor group atmosphere.
This experience is maybe not typical, we heard other bad stories but met yet others who loved their instructors. In general I just surmise that the school is not organised that well, in comparison to European standards, maybe Samokov ski school is better.
In Conclusion:
Bulgaria and Borovets is a real find. If you are looking for a cheap and quaint place to ski this is definitely it. Bulgaria appears to be advancing fast yet retains a certain innocence. This innocence could be seen in the cosy chalet restaurants, with roaring open fires and wooden interior, or the people (the young locals are still in that impressed with their mobile phone/ringtone stage that most of us grew out of in 2002). The food is good and everyone is very friendly. I would go again even though I normally like to try different countries if possible.
Don’t think twice about going to Bulgaria, it’s great. If you have already been, you will know what I am talking about.
2006-03-12 |
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