In this review I will tell you about my ski holiday in 2009 with Balkan Holidays London
Balkan holidays was originally formed in 1966 by the state of Bulgaria and was privatized in 1999
The company do Scheduled flights to Bourgas, Sofia, Varna, Dubrovnik, Split, Pula, Rijeka, Tivat, Ljubljana, ... Read review
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Advantages: Good value, great hotel Disadvantages: poor rep, lost ski equipment
...ski holiday in 2009 with Balkan Holidays London
Balkan holidays was originally formed in 1966 by the state of Bulgaria and was privatized in 1999
The company do Scheduled flights to Bourgas, Sofia, Varna, Dubrovnik, Split, Pula, Rijeka, Tivat, Ljubljana, Bucharest from various airports around the UK, they also do charter flights under the name of BH.
They also sell summer and winter holidays to Bulgaria, Croatia, ... ...
Balkan are members of ABTA, ATOL and IATA
I first came across the company in 2007 and was going to book a holiday in mid January. The web site was reasonably good, prices were OK and when I enquired the response was swift and polite
Ended up in Poland instead.
It was the following year I booked in October 2008 a week in the ski resort of Pamporovo, in Feb 2009. The deposit was low £50 and the ... more
In this review I will tell you about my ski holiday in 2009 with Balkan Holidays London
Balkan holidays was originally formed in 1966 by the state of Bulgaria and was privatized in 1999
The company do Scheduled flights to Bourgas, Sofia, Varna, Dubrovnik, Split, Pula, Rijeka, Tivat, Ljubljana, Bucharest from various airports around the UK, they also do charter flights under the name of BH.
They also sell summer and winter holidays to Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia, although I note Montenegro has been dropped from their winter destinations for 09/10.
Holidays sold direct as well as through various travel agents,
They also sell golf holidays, mini breaks and things like car hire, travel insurance
Balkan are members of ABTA, ATOL and IATA
I first came across the company in 2007 and was going to book a holiday in mid January. The web site was reasonably good, prices were OK and when I enquired the response was swift and polite
Ended up in Poland instead.
It was the following year I booked in October 2008 a week in the ski resort of Pamporovo, in Feb 2009. The deposit was low £50 and the balance became due early December. There was a credit card supplement of 2% or something around that mark
The total bill was under £700 for two rooms for a week in a 4 star hotel half board, including ski carriage, ski passes, taxes, transfers and single supplements
Checking was easy, pleasant and fast, my bags were taken on the desk the skis and equipment was checked in separately at a different window
The flight was OK, the crew pleasant enough, food was a barn with cheese or ham and tiny cup of coffee. The plane was obviously old, an Airbus 320 apparently most of their fleet consists of second hand planes bought from Air Canada, so I understand
A small can of Coke coast £1.40 though on the plane!
I had the unpleasant surprise once we landed, the skis did not arriving with the plane. The rep at the airport was very good, he took charge, quickly established that the skis were stil in Manchester, help me fll out the paperwork. His English was good, he promised me that the skis that also contained my ski clothes and stuff would arrive next day
The transfer time was over 4 hours, the coach was new and comfortable although crowded and operated by a transfer company, the only member of staff on the coach was the driver whose English was poor.
We stopped for a break at a petrol station which served sandwiches about 2 hours into the journey, what was required was a place that served meals, or at minimum McDonals or something similar
We got to the hotel at 1am, in the room waiting for you was a bag of sandwiches which I guess is a nice touch, there was also water, fruit and a wafer in the bag. Restaurant was closed
The hotel was new, rooms large, comfortable, tidy, warm. I can not fault the hotel or staff apart for food, it was average and for a four star hotel poor. A lot of the staff struggled with English
The holiday rep in the hotel was next to useless. He was available for a short period in the morning at the ski resort and in the evening at the hotel for a short period. He did not once come to seek me out to sort out the missing ski things, or to advice on buying or renting replacement.
When I saw him he just told me the skis will be here tomorrow, it was five days before the skis arrived
I was advised to claim insurance rather then to Balkan, so I wrote a letter to Balkan and claimed insurance. Insurance refused to pay so I asked Balkan for some compensation. Balkan have denied receiving any letters and are hiding behind their rules
I feel soooo disappointed in this company as i would happily travel with them again had they been more responsible for their actions which ruined a holiday
To Ciao
Please provide a NA option on your options. I mean how do I know how well it caters for children or how does it cater for disabled!
mark203 27.08.2009 (28.08.2009)
Ciao members have rated this review on average:
very helpful
Review of Balkan Holidays
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Quick review of Balkan Holidays
I was lucky enough not to have ever had a bad holiday untill i booked through Balkan Holidays to go to Villas elenite in Bulgaria. This was to say the Holiday from Hell Through a company in my opinion didnt seem to care less. The food was Disgusting my whole family was ill and still suffered with upset tummy's a couple of weeks after returning. The chicken they served was still bleeding! The food was disgusting and not cooked properly. The accomodation was dirty the staff were rude and unhelpful the rep was never around. Never again will i go to Bulgaria or book a holiday through Balkan. ...
TerryHaigh 18.01.2009 (10.01.2009)
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Balkan Holidays
Advantages: was as advertised Disadvantages: holiday rep was unhelpful
...are some bad hotels but my advice would be not to bok under 3 star,and read the reviews.Dont expect too much from Balkan Airlines.No inflight entertainment and horrible food,but it is only 3 and half hours from the uk,so take a sandwich and a book and youll soon be there. ...
rameses 07.07.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Balkan Holidays
Advantages: Efficient and punctual Disadvantages: Aeroplane food
...Sunny Beach, Bulgaria travelling with Balkan Holidays. I must admit that, before I went, I was rather concerned with things that I'd heard about Bulgaria in general and Balkan Holidays in particular. Well none of my fears materialised. My plane arrived on time both coming and going (admittedly the food on the plane wasn't up to much but then again airline food rarely is). On arrival I was taken to the hotel I had booked (the Globus which I heartily ...
Gina 29.09.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Balkan Holidays
Advantages: very cheap for drinks food etc once there Disadvantages: none
...else (sad). Had to use onsite doctor as my son cut chin on pool excellent service. Overall would recommend hotel and resort. Flew with Balkan AIrline. The plane was old seat belt didn't work, trays broken seats broken. didn't feel safe never prayed so much for safe arrival. ...
RADIO5679 21.08.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Balkan Holidays
Advantages: Good room cleaning and laundry Disadvantages: entrance on 'Party Street'
...and occasions so was food.
Balkan reps were pleasant but generally appeared unable to help when issues arose. e.g. theft from room and liasing with hotel staff.
Unable to book trips in hotel unless paying cash had to walk long distance to Balkan office to use visa - in this day and age a bit behind normal?
Golden Sands should be noted in brouchure for what it is which is less than family style holiday!! ...
cheznay 05.07.2007 (03.07.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: not helpful Review of Balkan Holidays
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Looking at holiday brochures my friend and I decided that we would pay a few pounds extra and have a 2 week holiday rather than just one week. We rather liked the look of Bulgaria and as neither of us had ever been there - we like to try new places - We liked the look of the 4* Hotel Ritza in St Konstantine so duly booked a half board holiday from BalkanHolidays at a cost of about £450 - bargain so we thought.
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