+ Review by Jackey Bright
16.02.2009 12:57

Date of stay: Feb 2009
Type of traveller: friends/company on a holiday

Hotel rating: | 4 out of 5
Value for money: | 3 out of 5
Location: | 3 out of 5
Staff/service: | 4 out of 5
Rooms/accommodation: | 4 out of 5

have just come back from a week skiing beginning of Feb 09 with Balkan Holidays in the resort of Pamporovo. The snow was great except fot 2 days it was a bit icy. The ski school was excellent, and no problems with lifts or buses to the slopes. However, the transfer bus from Sofia airport is 4.5hrs and we were told 3 hours by the booking agent, as was most people on the trip, and we were a bit annoyed about that. Also the coach stopped at a service station on the way where the coach rep helped translate at the till and most people including me and my friend were short changed. We were discussing this all week, and we were appauled. We told the rep who tried to look concerned but did nothing about it. Balkan Airlines will offer you a mean looking, dry ham or cheese roll as your on flight meal so my advice is TAKE A FEW PACKED LUNCHES TO LAST YOU FOR A DAY. The food in the hotel was just about edible (very bland, pretty oiley, poor quality) and plentiful and you could always have as much as you want, including bread and sandwich fillers at breakfast if you need to make a lunch for yourself to save money on the slopes, so if you do this a roll of sandwich bags will be useful. Meals on the slopes were ok, nothing to write home about, bit pricey, but there was one bar at the bottom of blue run 1 where it joins the green run which is a round glass sided bar where everything is 3 leva and it's great value! I had jacket potato with cheese beans and coleslaw and a beer and it was 6 leva (£3). The rooms in the hotel were warm, small (but ok for their purpose) had no panoramic view. The spa, gym solarium etc is very overpriced and NOT FREE AS SUGGESTED IN THE BROCHURE so we did not use their facilities. Generally Bulgarians were friendly, but this is a self contained resort and everyone we met was working in the tourism industry.
The hotel reception was pleasant but lacked information. Cabs are a rip off costing double the price of london black cabs and if you want to go to the town centre and back (no buses) it will cost you 15-25 leva (£7.50-12.50) each way for a 5 min ride, making the trip not worth it. Nightlife was dead, cheesey, and a bit overpriced. Pamporovo is only good for skiing and nothing else so if you want a budget ski holiday and dont mind hours on the bus from the airport, rubbish food and quiet nights in with whomever you are travelling with, then this will be fine for you.

+ Review by Lottie James
03.02.2009 10:07

Date of stay: Jan 2009
Type of traveller: friends/company on a holiday

Hotel rating: | 1 out of 5
Value for money: | 2 out of 5
Location: | 2 out of 5
Staff/service: | 2 out of 5
Rooms/accommodation: | 4 out of 5

Well what can I say... Pamporovo as a resort is fantastic for all levels of skiers and it has a reasonble amount of apre ski activities to suit all. However beware the Hotel Panorama..... there was 4 of us in our party and we stayed in the last week of Jan, it has to be one of the worst places I have ever stayed.
The food was awful (lots of Spam and Jam!) and nothing like the travel agent had told me would be available and the service within the restaurant was not very welcoming either. The rooms were tiny and basic with just a shower but we probably could have put up with that had we not got 2 coach loads of rude and harrassing children who manged to force out our party and several more following our departure.
Whilst the hotel receptionist tried to offer us alternative rooms it really didn't change the fact that we had children kicking our doors, calling us in the middle of the night, demonstrating harrassing and initimidating behaviour. They also wanted us to pay the extra for changing our room even though we were being forced to move.
When our Balkan Holiday rep arrived to introduce himself we all informed him that it was not acceptable and that we would like to be moved. He was little help and was totally inflexible with being able to help us move with very little charge, considering we had already paid alot of money to go to the hotel we felt we should be moved free of charge as we were being forced out. He said he would contact us the next day with some options however when it got to the next day we had to call him and chase him down as he seemed to go into hiding! Eventually after several pounds spent on my mobile, London office were able to push him along abit and he arranged for us to be moved at our cost!! Even then he expected us to pay for our transfer and cancellation at the hotel - what a cheek!
We eventually ended up at the Hotel Pamporovo which was paradise compared to the Hotel Panorama, it was clean, large rooms with a bath, and really good choice of food for breakfast and dinner. It also had a bowling alley, irish bar and a lovely open fire in the lobby - very cosy after a day on the slopes! There was no need to eat out as the food was really good and it meant more money could be spent on doing other things such as Skidoo and ice skating - well worth doing!

+ Review by Claire Louie
15.01.2009 01:19

I would recommend to a friend

Date of stay: Jan 2009
Type of traveller: a couple on a holiday

Hotel rating: | 4 out of 5
Value for money: | 5 out of 5
Location: | 5 out of 5
Staff/service: | 5 out of 5
Rooms/accommodation: | 5 out of 5

We stayed at Hotel Panorama and it was great. Very clean, the rooms and beds are a good size. The staff are very helpful. The food was a buffet at breakfast and dinner. Breakfast, there was a choice of cereal, fruit, bread, toast, cooked breakfast, tea, coffee and juice. Dinner there was soup, salad, lots of meat and some veg and potato dishes. There was not a huge amount to choose from compared to some buffets I have had in the past, but in our party of 10, there was always something for everyone, and you can eat as much as you like.
There is a bar, Bulgarian beer was cheap, a bottle for £1.50, soft drinks more expensive, 500ml bottle £2.00. The hotel did not seem to have a problem with guests buying drinks from a local shop and drinking in the hotel.
There is a pool table, table tennis, table football etc to use. There is also a spa centre for massages, sauna, etc but this is an extra charge.
The location for us skiing was fine as there were many shuttle buses to take us to and from the ski centres in the morning and afternoon. We went into the town one night, a taxi cost about £7.50. It is probably too far to walk.

+ Review by MASON
20.01.2008 06:14

Hotel rating: | 1 out of 5
Value for money: | 1 out of 5
Location: | 1 out of 5
Staff/service: | 1 out of 5
Rooms/accommodation: | 1 out of 5

FOOD COLD
ENTERTAINMENT ORGANIST RUBBISH
FREE BUS SERVICE NOT RELIEABLE
TAXIS EXPENSIVE

+ Review by Kieran
05.01.2006 02:47

I would recommend to a friend

Date of stay: Jan 2006
Type of traveller: friends/company on a holiday

Hotel rating: | 4 out of 5
Value for money: | 5 out of 5
Location: | 4 out of 5
Staff/service: | 4 out of 5
Rooms/accommodation: | 5 out of 5

Spent a week here from 24 December 2005. Myself and a mate stayed in a twin room. Rooms are a good size. Spotless clean. Friendly helpful staff.....they even folded our clothes for us!! Food was a bit hit and miss but speaking to others we got the best of a bad bunch in the resort!!
Has a nightclub, lots of bars, etc.

+ Review by Anne Marie
13.05.2002 08:52

Myself & my boyfriend Liam went on our first ski holiday to Pamporovo on 9th March 2002. We stayed at the Panorama Hotel which is basic but undergoing refurbishment. We had two fabulous instructors brothers Roman ad Chris. Chris spent the first 3 days pulling me out of the snow but by the end of the week I had sampled both the red and black runs. We met a wonderful group from Northeren Ireland. Hi Eileen , Mark, Declan ,Susan, Elenor, Brian, david & Jackie. As someone who has a fear of speed and who has terrile balance and co-ordination I can honestly say this was the most amazing holiday ever. Every emotion was exposed and I went home knowing that this was only the beginning of a life long relationship with the wonderful people and slopes of Bulgaria. Were bringing a huge gang of friends and relatives next year solets hope Chris and Roman are still instructing.

+ Review by April
14.01.2002 12:10

...just back from Pamporovo . I stayed in hotel Panorama which was brilliant .our instructor Pano was lovely and hope to see him next year. The Bulgarians are the nicest people in the world . I am sayin a big hi to Genko, Costa (our waters), to our instructor Pano and every1 else we met . miss ya loads and hope to be back again with school next year . this was my first time skiing and loved it .The instructors are really great and same with the people .every thing is dead cheap and the slopes are great . Pamporovo skiing was the best holiday ever and i cant wait to go back next year (hopefully) and see every out there again .