We went skiing in Borovets in Jan 2005, we were a little apprehensive because of some of the reviews that we'd seen, but we were pleasantly surprised and I would recommend anyone to go there, and I will be going back as soon as I can. We stayed in the Rilahotel, and yes the room was basic, but it was clean and in good condition, I only found one tiny bit of mould in the bathroom, which is less than a lot of places you get in the UK! We had a twin room at the back, i.e. not overlooking the slopes and we were on the second floor. Checking in did take some time as there were so many people there, but you can't really expect anything less. The food was ok, no it wasn't 'hot hot' but at the same time it wasn't cold, and there was always plenty of choice, and considering Im a fussy eater I cleared my plate
every day and there was certainly enough there to satisfy my hunger, the only down side I'd say was there wasn't a great selection of desserts. But you also do have to make sure you eat soon after the restaraunt opens, otherwise then the food would start to get a bit cold.
My main complaint was my ski instructer, he didn't like 'stragglers' and there were a couple of people in the group who weren't very confident and I don't feel he helped in installing confidence in them. We also had a slight problem on one day when the instructer offered to take us on a cat machine up to an area that wasn't opened as a piste (although I do believe it has been opened up this season), it was only when we were skiing back down that he mentioned that we all had to pay 20lev, a few of the group ended up complaining about this because we weren't told beforehand and we got our money back.
Oh and try not to go to lunch with the instructer too often, cause they normally take you to expensive places (compared to other eateries).
We done the skidoo safari, which was fab! It was so much fun, even though we stacked it a couple of times, and we got a meal included for the price after, which was a really nice meal and the owners of the restaurant were very friendly to us and certainly looked after us.
We often had lunch at a little pizzeria to the left of the nursery slopes (as you look at them), can't remember the name, but the pizzas were so tasty, and quite big, as well as obviously being cheap.
We didn't tend to go out much in the evening (due to the person I was with breaking two ribs on the first day, so wasn't feeling well enough to really), but I wouldn't recommend drinking for the night in the hotel lobby bar as the drinks are quite expensive compared to many of the bars around the resort.
The queues for the gondola were quite long, but it was organised and moved along quite quickly, it was better on the slopes at the top of the gondola as there was less ice, but I think the amount of ice elsewhere was just because we'd gone a bit too early in the season (Jan), I would recommend going maybe later Feb, which is what I intend to do next year.
This isn't the sort of resort you want to go to if your a 'poser' type skiier (no offense) your not gonna get luxery here, but if you want a cheap, clean base to stay at while enjoying a weeks skiing/boarding, this this is a perfect place to go. It is very picturesque, the prettiest place I've skiid (I've been to Austria and France but they were just vaste expanse of snow covered mountains, looked quite boring compared to Bulgaria).
While we were there, we didn't experience or hear about any theiving of equipment etc that everyone seems to moan about.
Overall, I would say this a fab place to go skiing, no you don't get as much snow as maybe Austria or Andorra, but if you choose the right time of year, there will be enough snow, and they have cannonswhich spurt out snow all day long. they do groom the pistes, despite other reviews saying they don't. But as long as you keep in mind that it is a budget holiday, then you will be fine. I am extremely disappointed that I haven't been able to go back this season, so to make up for it, I should be going twice next season and I will be staying in the Rila again too, although I would probably go s/c in their studios this time, as there are so many nice eating places round the resort that we didn't get to try.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
NH Hotels, the hotel chain leader in Europe, with more than 300 hotels in 20 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Enter into our web site and find the best available tariff at all times
Advantages: brilliant skiing, alpine village prettiness,great English speaking ski school, Close to Italy and other resorts. Disadvantages: Not to great for veggies and nightlife fairly low key.
Fiona_Tims 15.12.2000 ·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Serre-Chevalier
Apr 2nd, 2006
very helpful by (53%):
helpful by (47%):
