Lion Hotel

Having read a variety of different reviews about this hotel, I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived. The staff are very professional, the rooms lovely (absolutely spotless) and the facilities are great. The food is typical Bulgarian fare, luke warm but fine. The choice wasn't great and we ate out a few times instead. If you order food in the bar you have to pay extra but it's much nicer. I would stay here again.

Have just returned from from our first skiing trip and will be booking to go again. The hotel was fabulous, clean, stylish and warm. After reading some moaning minnie reviews, we were very pleasantly surprised. Shuttle bus was great and we preferred to be slightly outside the town which is a little seady in parts. The skiing was fantastic and the instructer even better...... Perhaps I shouldn't give such a good review you might all want to come and spoil it! To sum up..great value for money...excellent instruction....beautiful mountains and very cheap delicous wine. What more can you ask.

A middle size hotel just 7 minutes mini bus drive from the lifts. The Rila and Samorvits are huge and central to the lifts but are so big we have heard varying reports about staying there. The Lion has very good standard rooms with most items you’d expect for a mid 4* hotel. Cleaned and beds made each day with a spacious en suite facility. The room includes the usual overpriced mini bar but the one thing we missed was coffee making facilities. The dining hall is slightly undersized but they overcome the problem by asking you to opt for a dinner time of either 6.00, 7.00 or 8.00pm. Food was of a buffet style and although some of the dishes were a little unusual they were tasty and edible with a good choice for most diners unless you are a really fussy eater. There is a very nice lounge at the entrance with bar and a mezzanine area above with more lounge chairs. A small Internet room, shop and swimming pool make this a very reasonable hotel for anyone who wants a little extra without being in a huge complex. Although the staff appeared a little surly at times we generally found them helpful and courteous. We’d be happy to stay here again. The one down side was the heating! Hot or what? Even with all our radiators off the room still boiled. I’m not sure what size their carbon footprint is but I reckon it must be half the size of Bulgaria. Bring plenty of thin tee shirts!

My boyfriend and I have just got back from staying at the Lion and thoroughly enjoyed our holiday including our stay at the Lion. We are a young couple in our early twenties and this was the perfect place to stay. FOOD: I was doubtful what to expect as far as the food was concerened after reading the reviews other people had left. The food was fine, a good selection most nights and a hearty breakfast to get u geered up for a day on the slopes. OK so it wasn't the steaming hot food we are accustomed to in the UK but it was edible and did the job. Dinner arrangements were a little confusing as far as being allowed into different sittings, but we just paired up with another couple and ate with them or pleaded with the host until he found us a table which he always did as despite being told it was full, it never was. Breakfast was much easier as you went when you wanted to. ROOMS: Rooms are a good size, with a nice bathroom and are very clean and tidy. The room is equipped with a TV and a very cheap mini bar. Can be a little on the warm side but we found that opening the window slightly solved this problem. Rooms are cleaned every day and a throrough job is done. POOL AND FACILITIES: There is a good size pool in the hotel which is great after a day on the slopes. One warning is that the floor can get very slippery around the pool and I slipped over on a few occasions, not that the lifeguard batted an eyelid. There is a gym, hairdressers, nailbar and massage facilities on site too. I took advantage of the massage which was very reasonably priced. THE RESORT: The main resort is about a 3 minute drive away in the shuttle bus which runs til 6pm. Even after this time it costs little more than £3 to get back to the hotel in either a horse and cart or a yellow cab, so you can't complain. Borovets is a great place to stay for all. We met all sorts of people during our stay, families, couples, groups, young and old and everyone we spoke to loved it. There are plenty of bars to eat in and you will get hassled slightly to go into for a free drink. It doesn't hurt to occasionally take up their invitation, if not they soon get the message. The skiing is great in Borovets, the instructors are really good and there is plenty to do for skiiers of all abilities. I would strongly recommend a holiday here, we will definitly be thinking about coming again and would have no quarries about booking to stay at the Lion. A fab holiday!

My wife and I (aged 25 and 26) stayed in the Hotel Lion in Borovets from the 3rd Feb 07 to the 10th. We had an excellent week in the hotel and in the resort. HOTEL The hotel was top quality I thought. We stay in a lot of hotels in the UK and have travelled to many so called 4* hotels across Europe. This one has recently been refurbished and it looked a lot like a Radisson styled hotel. Lots of creams on the walls and dark wood very nice. The lounge was fantastic, with a lovely open log fire. The lounge was quite warm but hey just don’t wear a jumper in the lounge. It’s a nice atmosphere to relax in. Can get quite smoky in the evening though. The rooms were very nice and quite spacious as were the bathrooms. Had a good sized double bed, SAT TV and mini bar. It was a little hot to start with but we turned the radiator off in our room and had the window open a little when we were there, which made it fine. No coffee/tea making facilities so bring your own if you feel you want to. FOOD Before we left we religiously checked this site as we always do and found that a lot of people had moaned about the food. We were quite worried until we arrived. My wife and I arrived at 23:00 after the flight. They had the foresight to have some of the buffet ready for us. This was particularly nice as we were the only ones who got off the coach for the hotel at that time and we were quite hungry. The breakfast was what you would expect (small hot dog type sausages, fried ham, eggs, French toast, fruits, cereal, breads, pastries, meats and cheeses). Personally, I was a little partial to the pancakes. They were staked on the side and were although a little cold with help from the toasting machine soon more than edible. The main meals usually consisted of potato dishes and salads, lots of vegetables, chicken, pork in different types of casseroles. They also had some soups. These were all very nice and quite healthy. There were chips for those who miss them! The dessert went quick so get it when you get your main. Lots of little cakes, fruit and pastries. The seating arrangement was a little confusing, we never really worked it out. I think you had to book the table you wanted the night before for the main meal and for breakfast it was a free for all. Breakfast was open from 7am – 10am and for dinner 6PM, 7PM and 8PM. We found the earlier you arrive for both breakfast and dinner the better, because its less crowded, better food and the staff are not as tired. STAFF We found the staff very friendly and helpful. Our room and bathroom was cleaned thoroughly each day without fail. The bar staff were quite funny and remembered our drinks orders each night after several decent tips. The staff didn’t smile much but when speaking with our tour guide in the capital (Sofia) she said most of them are quite poor and don’t have a lot to smile about. We found out that our ski instructor only gets £250/month, not enough for putting up with amateurs like us! PRICES Two words ‘Very Cheap!’. The price of a 500ml local beer was usually less than £1. Even in the hotel the mini bar was cheap, we could probably have bought the whole contents for a tenner, that wouldn’t get you a mineral water in most hotels in the UK. FREE SHUTTLE BUS The free bus service was really good from the hotel running quite regularly every 20mins or so from the hotel to the resort and back. I think the last bus was 18:00. During busy times I think they had two vans on the go. The ‘buses’ are in fact large transit vans with windows in and about 13+ seats. The drivers were friendly. The trip takes about 3mins to get to the centre and you are dropped off near the Samokov Hotel. PICKING UP YOUR HIRE KIT On the first day you will go to the welcome meeting. We travelled with First Choice and our meeting was in the Hotel Samokov in a conference room. The presentation from the reps was good and thorough. After this you pick up your lift pass, and any other tickets you have pre-booked such as ski school and hire kit pass etc. To be honest it was a bit of a bun fight to get the tickets and wasn’t organised too well so be prepared to jump up and grab them. After that we were told to go to the BoroSport hire depot to collect our Ski gear. On the first day at the hire depot everyone had to specify their shoe size, weight in kg and height in cm. If you have this info ready before you get there, life will be much easier. It was absolutely rammed when we finally found the depot which was behind the ‘Gondola’ a stripy yellow and brownish building where the cable cars go from. Get a pair of boots your +1 size, this worked for me with the ski socks. After this you go outside and pick an instructor. LEARN TO SKI PACKAGE It was our first time skiing so we booked the ‘learn to ski’ package which included the hire of ski's, boots, poles, lessons all week and lift passes. This only cost £150 each pre booked which I thought was great value. We were learning with a family group which was great fun. The total size of the group was 9. You start your first day on the nursery slopes learning to stop (Snow Plough!) You will hear SNOW PLOUGH! all week. Our instructor was great and a good laugh (very laid back). You progress quite quickly and before you know it you will be doing the learner slopes at the top of the mountain. We generally did two hours in the mornings stopped in a resort restaurant for lunch and then two hours in the afternoon. Beware of the early morning starts (9:30) APRES SKI There was a selection of things to do after skiing. First Choice had the usual evenings entertainment selection. We choose the Skidoo adventure which is 1hr on like a jet ski for snow. I was awful at it but my wife loved it we both enjoyed it. That was only £25 each for one Skidoo and swapping over driving. The best thing we did though was the Ski Instructors Show. It was on a Wednesday night. All the instructors and the local ski team do tricks and jumps to music and fireworks. Awesome night and only £7 each! Lastly on the last day we went to Sofia which is the Capital of Bulgaria and where our flight left from. The tour was £10 each. The tour itself only lasted about an hour and didn’t really show us much. We were then left for 4 hours to explore the centre. I only recommend this if you really enjoy shopping. Otherwise you will spend your time and money sitting in restaurants waiting. With hindsight it might have been better to sit it out in the hotel and resort. Still, a nice city and a nice day out before the flight home. OVERALL We absolutely loved Bulgaria and Borovets. We found the people to be very friendly and loved the atmosphere of skiing and après ski. We plan to go again next year with our friends and will probably choose the Hotel Lion again. Enjoy. Jim & Jas

I stayed at the hotel lion with my boyfriend for our first winter holiday together from feb 3rd till the 10th, i read everyones reprts before i went so didnt expect alot when i got there but was very plesantly suprised. Hotel is very clean with spacious rooms cleaned daily to a good standard, the lounge/bar is very comfortable with lovely open fires and the swimming pool e.t.c are above average (pool could be a bit warmer). The staff are very friendly although the femail staff are rather grumpy at times!! And for all those reports about the food all i can say is stop being so british!!!! There is soup every day lovely fresh bread, always salad of some sort and always hot food, yes its not what we would make here in england but its food and there is a good variety to choose from and most of it tastes good if you give it a chance and try it!! To sum this report up all im going to say is the hotel is what you make of it, we went out with a open mind and we had a fab time made some great friends and will be considering going back next year. Just enjoy your holiday stop moaning and have fun!!!! Enjoy it.. Heather and Neil

It's not what it say's on the tin a 3* at best.. more like a motel. Unable to use a credit card to check out. Had no booking for us when we arrived found 1 10mins later. Barman very nice and helpfull food ok !!

We stayed at The Lion Hotel from the 13th to 20th Jan 2007. When we (me, my partner and a friend of ours) got to the hotel we were told there was a problem with the two rooms we had booked. They asked us if we could share an apartment for the first night and they would move us to separate rooms the night after. The apartment turned out to be OK and we couldn't be bothered to pack/unpack again, so we stayed in the apartment for the week. The hotel was SO hot inside and my biggest complaint is that there were no non-smoking lounge areas to relax in, and it seemed to us like everyone smoked in Bulgaria - disgusting. The food in the hotel was pretty awful and the hotel couldn't cope with the number of guests. People were fighting their way to the hot plates, loading up their tables with stacks of food then leaving loads of uneaten food on their tables. What a waste. On day 2 of our stay, notices were put up around the hotel saying you had to book your evening meal time. It was still chaos and the food in general was awful with next to no choice so we decided to eat out most evenings. Borovets town is sleazy with loads of strip bars and tat for sale. You're approached by people in the streets handing out leaflets to clubs/restaurants/bars - a bit annoying really. The slopes would have been good if we'd had a bit more snow and if the gondola wasn't closed for two days due to it being windy. I personally won't rush back to The Lion Hotel, Borovets or Bulgaria.

If you are just starting out, than a learning to ski package linked to a stay at the Lion Hotel would be an excellent choice. Borovets has a lot to offer and represents amazing value for money. Ski instructors are first class. The Lion is rated 4 star and certainly deserves it. Bedrooms are travelinn layout with well appointed bathrooms, excellent beds and good room service. Reception, bar and restaurants are well managed and comfortable. Try to avoid bedrooms near the lifts as sound proofing is minimal, we had noisy neighbours during our stay, but this was easily sorted out. Heating is extremely efficient. Food served in the Hotel half board restaurant is at best adequate, although breakfasts fair better. Most food seems tepid in Borovets, however I believe this to be a preference amongst Bulgarians, if not the whole of Eastern Europe. I am not sure that western style cooking and our pre occupation with hot food is understood ,as nearly all the people I spoke to, had complained, as have many on this website. That said I would recommend this hotel and the resort. General tips……be very careful when leaving the hotel and walking around the resort, little effort is made clearing snow and ice and you probably are at more risk of injury travelling to the slopes, than you are actually ski-ing. If you do have the mis-fortune to sustain an injury be aware that you will have to pay the hospital in cash, again all the people I spoke to, had to pay an additional ambulance charge, even if they walked in!……it seemed more than coincidental that the average charge for treatment, came to about 300 euros, which neatly fits just below the insurance excess. It is possible, that there is a scam going on here.

Just returned yesterday from Borovets 13th January 2006. We were a party of 6 Adults and 4 Children (Aged 5 to 12) This hotel was great ! Spotlessly Clean Very Modern Great Mini bus service which runs to bottom of the Gondola every 20 mins or so during the morning and afternoon The food was ok .. No complaints and plenty of it ! Drinks very cheap in Hotel ... Cheaper than in the village ! Serv ice very good /Nice swimming pool /Nice Sauna (Watch out you may get a surprise ...nice beaver!!) Only downside is that hotel was very warm inside ... but hey its better than being cold ! All in all a top holiday ... Don,t listen to the people slagging this hotel off (Tip : if you want 5 Star service/food/lodging what the hell are you doing going to bulgaria!) Enjoy yourselves! we did Brams x