Borovets, Bulgaria

Mark from IRELAND writes:

Spent first week of March in Borovets, and am so disappointed that I think I need another holiday but don't have the holiday days. I, like many others, chose Bulgaria over the Alps as a 'cheap' alternative, well never again. I could have got the same deal to the Alps for 200euro more but didn't go for it and am suffering from depression because of my decision. You can call me an Alps snob after reading this, well I am, and proud of it! I usually ski in France and Italy and have skied outside of the Alps before, in the Appenines, in Italy, so wasn't expecting a lot from Borovets. What I got was so much less than I expected.
Where to start? Snow conditions were awful. I had looked at snow reports the preceeding weeks (several websites) they all differed and none were accurate. they over-estimated, hugely, the amount of snow there. The lower slopes are in absolutely terrible condition and should be closed straight away; grass and muck everywhere, they're just dangerous!! Have you noticed how the webcam hasn't changed for two weeks, that's because there are areas of mud where the camera points at, dishonest F&*k*rs won't show you how it actually is. However, the snow up top serviced by the gondola is good and there's a lot of it BUT the acrhaic gondola was closed 3 out of the 6 skiing days I was there because of bad weather even though it was 16 degrees celcius. Apparently it was windy but that's just not good enough, considering that a ski pass here is more expensive than a ski pass to e.g Livigno, Italy where their lifts would have been open under the same conditions. The hot weather led to it raining down in the resort. I have never been to a resort before when it's raining and I have to say, it is so depressing. While it was raining down below it was snowing up top but this area only has drag lifts that service several red slopes with one black. In fairness the slopes were nice and wide with good snow but so short. As an intermediate skier, I could get down them in under a minute, no problem. This upper area is not catered towards boarders at all, the drag lifts are over a km long and seriously steep at times so the only really short skiable area in the whole resort is a nightmare for boarders.
The best run was down from the top station of the gondola to the mid station but this still failed to inspire. The ratio of waiting and queuing to actually skiing is so imbalanced. The runs from the top down to the resort are all closed so you have to get the gondola down. We waited an hour to get down one day. The best thing to do is get the last gondola up from mid station and take your time coming down. Have a drink or something so when you get back to the mid station the queue should be small or gone....no wait just don't go at all.
The ski pass is a rip off, considering the lift system is so bad and they don't seem to be developing it anytime soon. Don't give me that super Borovets development they're talking about. All that involves right now is building more hotels so I don't know how the lift system (if you can call it that) will be able to service the increased numbers.
Okay, a few positives, drink and food is very cheap in comparison to the Alps but why would you choose a resort because it has cheap drink and food unless you are an alcoholic or foodoholic. You're going on a ski holiday so it should be based around the quality of skiing, something Borovets completely lacks. I will say if the weather had been better and the slopes back to resort open, it would have been better but why go to a resort where the ski quality hangs on such a balance.
There were hookers everywhere and they seemed to be friendly with hotel and bar staff, something I found unusual. The night life was awful, we were a group of guys and I know ski resorts usually have more males but it must have been 90% guys to 10% girls and that's being generous.
Even if Borovets had been working on full capacity, all ski runs open, good weather etc, my review would not be very different. I had read hundreds of reviews before going. They seemed to devided into three categories; people who loved Borovets, people who thought it was fine and people who hated it. I'm extremely liberal. I travel a lot and don't expect a lot. I did not think I would love it but thought I would find it okay but have to say it was absolutely awful. All I can say is if you are used to the Alps or Canada etc, just don't go, it's not worth the disappointment. I think the positive reviews are from people who got Borovets with real good conditions or have never been to a proper ski resort before. I read some reviews with people saying you get what you pay for but this is simply not true because I have since done research and you can get packages to Livigno for the same price and food and drink is not much more expensive there as it is duty free.
If you have already booked a holiday to Borovets for this year in March I would pay a cancellation fee as there will be no more snow coming. How can it snow when the temperature is so high? I hate the power of hindsight and will not be fully over my awful experience in Borovets until I'm in the Alps next year, something I will have to wait 9 long months for. Another thing, all the package holiday websites glorify Borovets with phrases and pictures. Just don't believe them, really save yourself the sorrow and go to the Alps. A bit of research will get you a deal at the same price.

2008-03-11