Victoria Hotel
, Borovets
Victoria Hotel Reviews
18 readers found this review helpful
Myself and my Partner went to Borovets in February and had a fab time. We loved everything about the resort and the Hotel (Victoria).
The rep was lovely and we had a welcome meeting the morning we arrived which I would personally reccomend, they did some trips for pennies! Bum boarding was great fun!
The hotel was great, small, friendly and full of warmth. The staff were so good, my partner wants to go back to the exact hotel! There is bigger hotels there with more facilities but this hotel had that personal feel which I loved!
Borovets is so cheap and I struggled to spend money, that is saying something as I can spend money in a empty shop!
I booked with Balkan Holidays and I would reccommend them personally, they are cheap and fly from loads of regional airports! For my first time skiing I had a great all round experience, from start to finish!
- Board Basis:Half Board
- Tour Operator:Balkan Holidays
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13 readers found this review helpful
Just spent my first ever week skiing in Borovets with my husband, staying at the Hotel Victoria, and had a fantastic time all round.
We chose the hotel based on price (cheap - even in half term) and a mention that they cater for vegetarians. The hotel was clean, warm, cosy, and friendly. We had a corner room with balcony. The soundproofing could be an issue in a more central room; we sometimes heard other people returning home in the early hours, but not a major problem. The ensuite was a shower wetroom which was modern, clean and fully functional, with plenty of hot water. Take a plug for the basin if you want one, as it seems they're often not fitted. Rooms were made up daily (even when not vacated till nearly midday), towels changed a couple of times, (more than adequate) and there was plenty of storage space.
The hotel's location is about a 10 - 15 minute walk from the centre of the resort, making it peaceful and more picturesque than those closer, in my opinion. Local taxis and horse drawn taxis were always available for the journey back to the hotel (not expensive) and seemed to appear outside the hotel most mornings "just in case" anyone needed them.
Meals were fine - much better than we expected after reading a few people's comments about Bulgarian food. Breakfast was ok - a plate of cheese, some kind of egg, some kind of veg (tomato or cucumber usually), some cold meat (omitted for veggies) and as much toast as you wanted, plus tea/coffee and cold drinks. Dinner was good - four courses, waitress service, typical Bulgarian style food with at least one choice in each course (4 in main courses usually).
The bar hours were limited, true, but with only 14 rooms and many people going out in the evening it's presumably not worth them keeping it open 24/7.
Didn't take advantage of the spa / sauna, but did look at it and it seemed modern, clean and well equippped. Other residents who did use it were impressed, and in fact had to cool the spa down before they could use it! Yes, there was a charge, but they didn't consider it outrageous.
The resort was great, catered for pretty much anyone's taste, and everyone we encountered (Bulgarian or tourists) was very friendly and having a good time.
Liked it so much that we've booked again to go next year, same week, but this time taking the kids, so (unfortunately... ) staying in a bigger mid-resort hotel with more for the youngsters to do. If it was just adults going, we'd be more than happy to return to the Hotel Victoria.
- Board Basis:Half Board
- Tour Operator:Balkan Holidays
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4 readers found this review helpful
My boyfriend and I stayed in The Victoria Hotel beginning of March.
The hotel was described as 600 meters from the lifts, but this wasn't exactly true but there are always taxis waiting, if you want to pay, even though there is suppose to be a shuttle bus.
The free shuttle bus/ or 2 lev bus does work but not when you need to go into town.
The breakfast, well OK for tea/coffee and toast but not much else. The eggs served were cold and not the freshest.
The dinner was actually ok, and was served hot apart from one dish but that’s not bad for Bulgaria!!
I myself wasn’t keen on the hotel, they said they cleaned but they didn’t just came in and made the beds and we did have fresh towels most days.
But the rooms were small the beds very uncomfy and you could hear everything from the rooms either side of you. Not great when you have a bunch of young lads next door bringing girls back, get my drift....
Also the free hot tub and sauna are not free, they tried to charge us 2 lev for the use, but we didn’t use the hot tub as it was cold even though we gave it 1hr to heat up. The receptionist said she thought it was hot, but believe me it wasn't!
Its true there is a mini bar but it’s more expensive than buying from the shop on the way back and keeping our own stuff in there. They charge 1.5 lev for water the shop. Same goes for choc and beer.
The log fire was never on and the bar not 24 hrs not even some afternoons.
All in all this hotel is great for a bargain but if you can afford a little more, you're best off elsewhere in the resort.
- Board Basis:Half Board
- Tour Operator:Airtours
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7 readers found this review helpful
Have just returned from a week at the hotel Victoria in Borovets.
The hotel, an Austrian chalet type building, is a small 14 roomed hotel, situated about a ten minute walk from the resort centre, in a pine forest.
The staff were friendly and helpful. The rooms were very good, basic, but clean with plenty of cupboard space and a fridge filled with drinks and chocolate etc.
The rooms were cleaned six days a week and towels changed 7 days a week, there was always hot running water and the hotel was very warm, so much so, we had to sleep with the window open.
Breakfast was a bit limited, with no choice, we had scrambled/fried eggs seven days running, but on an evening, there was a menu with probably two or three choices. (Four courses).
Typical Bulgarian foods, salad, soup with bread, a meat course and a cake. I myself am not a fussy eater, but if you are, then you would probably be best off going self catering.
Although we had thought there was a free shuttle service to the resort, on our arrival, this was proved wrong.
However, on a morning, there was always a taxi waiting outside to take you down to the resort if you preferred (10 lev- about £3,) and on your return, there are plenty of taxis and horses and carts, which was our preferred way to travel back after a hard day on the slopes.
On our departure at 4.30 in the morning, the receptionist kindly gave us all a packed lunch. For the journey, which I have never come across before. The locals were very friendly, if not a bit pushy sometimes, waiting outside their restaurants/bars to coax you in.
There were many excellent bars and restaurants in the village, our favourites were the golden horn situated by the button lft at the bottom of the main run, and a fantastic restaurant, on the right hand side as you come into the main street, I think it was called sunny's. (With a large red illuminated pizza sign above the door). Where they serve fantastic steaks, pizza and pasta dishes. We ate here on our last evening, as wished we had done so before.
The ski school we attended was fantastic. (Samokov). Ivo, our instructor had us on the slopes by 9am every morning, and had finished by about 2.30 - 3pm, giving us time to put what we had learned into practice.
I have never skied in my life, and we were all skiing down the blue runs by the end of the week.
A celebratory evening was laid on for us with free drinks at the Samokov hotel on our last evening, where we were presented on stage with our certificates by our instructors, and photos were taken of our group classes.
We were so very lucky with the weather, I think Bulgaria is having a nightmare of a year for snow; however we had about 1.5 foot of snow fall in the first three days we were there, which made conditions ideal.
Plenty of off Piste boarding for my partner, who was a bit dubious about holidaying in Bulgaria, but was very pleasantly surprised.
I would definitely go to this resort /hotel again, but would probably book last minute next time, to save myself all the weeks of anxiety, as to whether it would snow or not....
An excellent first time ski holiday.
- Board Basis:Half Board
- Tour Operator:Balkan Holidays
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My wife and I stayed here for one week in January 2012. Not the best hotel we have stayed in, but certainly not the worst. We are seasoned travellers and travel mostly in our campervan, so we are not looking for, or used to, luxury. Our room was quite small, tired and not sparklingly clean. During our stay our bin was emptied daily and our toilet rolls were replenished, but towels and sheets were not changed and Mr Dyson was obviously on holiday in another resort with Mr Muscle and his pals! We requested a high floor room in a quiet part of the hotel but were allocated a first floor room immediately above the bar and reception area on the first floor!! Customer service was not great and the staff's command of the English langauge was limited. Food was reasonable with sufficient portions and choice, with the exception of breakfast which was 'take it or leave it'. All meals were served, often indifferently, by a young man masquerading as a waiter. Customer service and interpersonal skills were not his strong points, but he was fantastic at choosing and playing (loudly) his choice of music at every meal! If the music stopped and your soup was on its way to your table, your soup was abandoned until he had sorted the music! On the bright side the seating arrangements in the canteen were very informal and so you got to mix with and meet all the other guests. Dress is informal, so no need to pack your DJ or posh frock. Noise could be a problem in such a small hotel, but fortunately we were blessed with considerate companions. We talked to lots of other people from other hotels and mostly people had gripes about something or other and so a sense of humour is mandatory, together with an acceptance of the fact that Bulgarians have not yet quite got to grips with the idea of customer service. We booked through Balkan Holidays and I have to say we were impressed with their service throughout. Finally, BE WARNED, about 100 metres from the Victoria (on the pedestrian route to the centre) is a building site which is guarded by a security man and two dogs. The dogs are allowed to roam free and are very dangerous. I was attacked by one of them and was only saved from serious injury by a now ruined, thick pair of corduroy trousers. The hotel management were ambivalent to the problem and the police made all sorts of promises, but the dogs were still roaming free on the day that we left on 21/01/12. PLEASE TAKE CARE!!