 Poster: A snowHead
|
Resort: Borovets
Country: Bulgaria
Ski and Boots Hire and Lift pass: 6 days €200 per person (adult prices).
Date: 29/12/09 to 5/1/10
Our group: Myself, my wife and our 14yr old son
Executive summary: Borovets will never be described as smart but it's an interesting and fun place if you go with an open mind. Prices are cheaper than the Alps but not as cheap as they used to be. The skiing is limited but should be good enough for learners / beginners if all of the runs are open.
The skiing: Some snow had fallen in mid December however by the time that we had arrived it had nearly all gone. Temperatures were way over freezing meaning that the Snow Cannons were not viable. This resulted in just the nursery slope in front of the Rila being open and one or two Reds (accessible via a 5 min bus ride).
Off-piste: Green fields!
The town: Borovets is a little primitive and a bit tacky / scruffy particularly when there's no snow. With snow, it's obviously more attractive. Sure there's three or four places advertiting Sex Shows but nobody will force you to go in them. Some people will tell you that you'll see prostitutes on the street corners, we didn't notice any but to be honest we spent most evenings in our hotel. Most of the bars allow smoking but there is a restaurant (Hunters) and also a really nice modern bar (BJ's) which are smoke free. A round of drinks (large beer, glass of wine and a coke) will set you back about £5. There is a little hustling to get people into bars but they weren't agressive and we felt perfectly safe. There's a wide variety of restaurants, Mexican, local, Pizza, etc to suit most tastes.
Shopping: Lots of cheap ski and other tat. Interesting range of tazers, throwing stars, flick knives, etc! Some pukka / posh ski gear available too (prices unknown).
Kit hire: I'm no expert but the kit (from Hunters) looked OK. Staff appeared to be friendly and competent. Helmets available for kids but not adults (took my own).
Accommodation: We stayed at the 4* Lion (no.1 hotel on Tripadvisor). The hotel is a pleasant 20 min walk downhill from the town. I wouldn't advise anyone to do this at in the dark (it's through some woods with no pavements). There's a free shuttle to town that runs every 20 mins from 9am to 6pm with a break for lunch (drops off at the Gondola).
Hotel has a two storey lobby with a couple of bars and an open fire. This is a pleasant place to sit and have a drink (prices similar to those in town) apart from the smokey atmosphere (it seems that ALL Bulgarians, Poles, Russians, Romanians chain smoke without exception). Good priced bar menu available serving excellent pizzas, salads, etc. Note that BG is banning smoking in public places in June but nobody knows how effective this will be. There's also a little shop selling essentials (newspapers, etc) and an a la carte restaurant that we didn't try.
Our room was large and functional with a decent size TV that we could plug our DVD player into. Bathroom nice and spotless with a good bath/shower.
Hotel has a nice pool (not cold) with bubbles at the side. Pool area is nice and warm so again a pleasant place to lie and read a book.
Dining room (non smoking) very smart and food typically Bulgarian with eggs, fried ham, pastries, fruits, cereals. Evening meal was a buffet with fairly limited choices but perferctly edible (served hot not warm). A la carte also available in main dining room. There were some other English guests but mostly they were dodgy looking (but friendly) eastern european types!
On New Years eve there was a massive Gala Dinner with good food and inclusive drinks (half bottle fizzy, half bottle wine, shots, etc each). Entertainment was Bulgarian and latin dancing which was good. Fireworks at midnight in hotel car park.
All of the staff in the hotel were friendly and helpful. Most spoke excellent English.
There are some PC's available in the lobby for internet (£1.50 for half an hour). We got free Wifi in the room but I don't know if this was accidental.
Having looked at the other hotels in the town I'd say this was the nicest.
The Hotel cost £850 (including £200 for Gala Meal) for the three of us (HB). We spend another £200 on drinks in the bar, mini bar and laundry.
Fashion: Behave! Lots of cheap UK gear (Trespass and Dare2B). No Fart Bags spotted.
Travel: Flights with BA LHR to Sofia (paid for with BA Miles). Private transfers were €30 each way (for the three of us) and took about 90 mins. journey is quite picturesque once out of Sofia.
Tips: Don't use the first bureau de Change in the airport after getting off the plane (rubbish rate of exchange). Don't pre-order lift pass until you know there's snow. If staying at the Lion then rent equipment from the hotel or some other place near to the Gondola.
Shall we go again? If we had got some snow then £1600 for a 7 day ski holiday over Christmas (including hotel, spends, passes) would have been good value. We had a good and relaxing time (mainly due to the excellent hotel) but were ready to come back after 7 days. My wife was suprisingly complimentary about Borovets but I think we'll try somewhere more snowsure next year.
|
|
|
|
FAQ