Ski-ing in Borovets - any tips?

dubchik2000

Going ski-ing in Borovets, Bulgaria, for the first time with wife and daughters. Does anyone have any particular tips or advice specific to this resort?

Thanks in advance

Hotspur

Hi dubchick,

Get over to http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/ register and ask the same question and you'll probably get a reply from a snowhead who is based there or has been over in Borovets recently. Its a great place to find out about anything ski-ing or boarding.
H

cazziebo

Where are you staying?

I'm not a fan of Borovets but then I was spoiled by having skied in some cracking European resorts. Borovets is very cheap.

The ski schools seem to have huge classes - my niece and nephew (both under 10) had around 30 kids in each class. However, my two girls and I got a private instructor from the hotel (Samokov) to take us round on our first day and it was really reasonable. We all ski reasonably well so didn't have any more lessons but I'd certainly recommend it. And if you are a family of four who have not skied before you'll all be at the same level- plus brilliant fun way to bond! Might work out cheaper than ski school.

Hotel food is awful - my sister stayed at the Riva which was just as bad as mine. Very cheap restaurants round about. Alcohol is very very cheap - beer is cheaper than water!

Take good shoes for walking about, they didn't clear the ice from the main walking areas and there were quite a few broken wrists from falls that didn't happen while skiing!

There's a good website that will keep you updated on weather conditions etc

http://www.bulgariaski.com/borovets/index.shtml

Have a great time!

SwissLe

I agree the hotel food is really poor. Think school canteen serving odd meat combinations. We ate about 4000 crepes each per person per week. The beer is cheap, the ski passes are cheap, the flights are cheap and the '5*' hotel was cheap. Can't really complain.

sputnik69

dubchik2000 wrote: »

Going ski-ing in Borovets, Bulgaria, for the first time with wife and daughters. Does anyone have any particular tips or advice specific to this resort?

Thanks in advance

I have just come back from Borovets yesterday after having had the worst holiday ever. Had I skied with friends it would have been ok. However, as a single parent, I had an awful time. My son is 5. We booked into the Olymp Hotel which would have been fantastic for anyone who could already ski as you could ski virtually to the door on an evening. However, my son could not ski and I had to lug a tired little boy up a steep road approx 1km back to the hotel. The food in the hotel was passable and the rooms were very basic but clean. Revamped with lots of wood effect sticky backed plastic! I took my son to kindergarten at the Samokov. The lady instructor there was a nightmare and never smiled. I went back to collect my son early on the first day, he had spent most of the day colouring pictures indoors in a room that looked out onto a stone wall. The outdoor play area was minimal with a rotating gadget that the children could walk round pushing, similar to a gadget pushed by donkeys to pump water out of the ground. My son hated skiing and the lady was not encouraging. She was off-hand and hard. On day one there were about 11 children in the ski lesson, by the end of the week I saw one little lost soul being escorted by the straight faced lady, shuffling along on skis still on a flat piece of snow. In tears, I complained in resort and I warn in advance that if you get a negative feeling on arriving at the kindergarden not to bother booking. The reimbursement was a very convoluted affair which left me out of pocket even more and worked in favour of the Bulgarians and I was charged extra for drinks each day ontop of what I had already paid. Even when I changed my booking to half days in the kindergarden my son remained very sad and did not want to return. There was no time for me to go in ski school and return in time for collecting him at lunch time so it messed up my own ski package. I do not recommend at all and I would suggest paying more where kindergarden is good, say Austria etc. I thought I was saving by going to Borovets but prices were high and by the time I paid for additional private lessons for my son, I may as well have booked a more expensive holiday nearer to home. Even the private instructor did not turn up to teach my son on the last day. We stood about in the cold for 45 mins waiting after I had paid him £30 plus tips on the previous two days. BUYER BEWARE!

shoppaholic_returns

I'm afraid I'll have to agree with all of the previous posters.

It genuinely is the WORST place I have ever been to,albeit many years ago,infact I mentioned it on the best and worst places I have ever been to!

Sorry,don't wish to pour water over your fire,but we found most things to be very poor,no good restaurants,bars or hotels.no food or drink choice.

Lovely scenery,but I like a bit of luxury and comfort on holiday and this place had none of it!

It was so bad,that we prayed for it to end,and then our coach to the airport forgot us,so we spend a scary hour worrying that we might not get out of this place for another week:eek: :eek:

I might of known, to begin with my plane food???? A PIECE OF HAM AND A GHERKIN, HAD MOULD ON IT,obviously the sign of things to come!

They did fantastic pizzas on the mountain top,but it was over 12 years ago,commercialisation doesnt seem to have improved it though, by the sounds of others,I'll stick to France/italy and america for skiing,good luck!!!!!!

Lolly1968

Sputnik 69 - you poor thing. There is nothing worse than a miserable child on a ski-ing holiday. I may even know the instructor you are talking about. She is a miserable cow, yet is always allocated to the children. I point blank refuse my children to be put in her class.

In defence of Borovets: we have been for the last 3 years, staying each time at the Hotel Samokov. But we have never been at half-term always during school time. We have always had a great time,and there have only been about 6 kids in their ski group. My daughters are now 11 and 8 and were 8 & 5 when we first went. They want to go back again but we can't afford to ski this year.

Admittedly, if we could afford it we would go to France, Italy or America. But we can't afford it so we go to the Samokov Hotel. We find the food very good in the Samokov for the money.