Orlovetz Hotel

We stayed at this hotel xmas week 2007. We expected a 5 star hotel, but unfortuantely this was a "bulgarian" five star. The rooms are lovely, huge and always warm "a little too warm sometimes". No complaints about the spa area. And the views are fantastic. However whaen it comes to the food, that when it failed, the tiniest restruant for hotel with the smallest buffet area. And even with the small buffet area they couldn't heat it properly! 90% of the food was cold/luke warm. It wasn't replaced very often either. Our xmas gala dinner was little to be desired, being put up in the piano bar and having our food brought up on a trolley in a lift 6 floors, so it was cold. Bernard Matthews would have been ashamed of the turkey they served!!! Skiing was fantastic though, and really was perfect for beginners.

The Orlovetz is a brand new, modern, clean and large hotel. We stayed there in Feb 07 for a week long ski trip. The staff were very helpful, the rooms were warm, clean and the mini bar well stocked! As others have mentioned the sheets did not fit the beds very well but this did not bother us as after a days skiing (or trying to ski - very poor season, but thats not whats being reviewed here) or apres skiing we slept very well. The food in the restaurant is ok for a few nights but there are plenty of other options in the town that provide a bit of variety. I highly recommend the White Hart restaurant for a meal. The hotel has a fabulous spa, gym and pool. Massages and other treatments are at very reasonable prices and in lovely surroundings. The pool is lovely too, but be warned, the water is freezing! Overall I think the Orlovetz is a great place to stay. The Perelik hotel is just across the street and is very lively with a few bars, restaurants, shops & bowling alley. Across from the Orlovetz is the first pick up point for the ski bus, so you should always get a seat on it. And it is only a short distance to the ski centre.

This hotel is absolutely lovely, with the bedroom and bathroom being one of the best ive stayed in. Yes the rooms are warm but you only have to turn the radiators down. Definitely recommend using the sauna. steam and pool facilities and an all over body massage for under £20 was a great way to end the holiday. The only thing that lets the hotel down is the food. The breakfasts were not too bad but the dinners were poor, we ate out at least twice to break the monotony. I would say that this hotel is probably best for older couples rather than families or young groups, there is not much atmosphere compared to Perelik and Murgavets. But they are all linked underground so only a 2mins walk if you wanted a livelier bar. The resort is ok, you do have to remember that you are in Bulgaria and there are not strips of bars to visit but some of the local restaurants are very good. All in all great value for money which would be hard to beat in any other skiing resort.

As a party of 4, all beginners at the ski-ing, we chose Pamporovo for value for money and we weren't disappointed. Hotel was 5*, lovely rooms, lovely shower, fantastic views, good food (although buffet meals can always get a bit boring as the week goes on) great location and great facilities. You can't beat having a relaxing sauna and steam room after a days ski-ing. Also would recommend the massages, which were so cheap, about £10 for 30mins - heaven! Bathrobes were a great and practical touch. Different level of service at the weekends when the locals were in town as they always seemed to get priority and there was a lot more smoking in the dining room. The ski instruction was great although I would say make sure you're happy with the fitting of your boots on day one. One of our party got ill fitting boots, which resulted in blisters like you’ve never seen, and this made his ski-ing more difficult for the rest of the week. We were unlucky with the snow at the beginning of the week but had two fantastic days of ski-ing towards the end of the week when it snowed -can't do much about the weather though! As beginners we all thought this was a fantastic resort and if we were to return we would definitely stay in this hotel again -luxury! Personally I think if you are an intermediate skier or a snowboarder this isn't the resort for you - runs seem limiting and there appeared to be a lot of flat areas on the slopes which made the snowboarding look tiring. For beginners it's perfect and a cheap way to get introduced to ski-ing. You could tell most people were beginners as everyone was all togged up in the latest Aldi ski clothing!!

Just arrived back from a fantastic holiday in Pamporovo. We were there last year and stayed at the hotel Perelik which was ok but just could not compare to the Orlovetz all round. The rooms were warm, and sometimes a little too warm but last year we had the opposite problem and believe me it is better to be warm and have a door to open than be too cold and have to sleep in fleeces and socks! The shower was simply fantastic, power shower with adjustable settings and hot water any time of the day. Which again is a god send after being on the slopes. I loved the fact that you had dressing gowns it just added that little extra to the holiday. The rooms all face the mountain and runs and you have your own balcony which gets a lot of sun for the majority of the day. The curtains are nets as well as blackouts which is great as french doors do face East however we used it as an alarm clock and had the sun rising a brilliant orange through the doors - so beautiful. They also give you a complimentary safe in your room which is activated by your key card and your own personal number - a very good idea and saves running to reception everytime you want something. The beds were twin which were a little small and the bed sheets didn't really fit the bed size so you were having to straighten the sheets a fair few times but they were comfortable enough and cleaned every day. There is a lot of storage space/wardrobes, shelves, drawers etc we had room for more which is unusual for a hotel. There is a tv and a mini bar, although we did have to unplug the mini bar fridge after the first night after it woke me up coming on to cool down. However once we found the plug it was all peaceful. We only had one night when our neighbours put loud music on at 3am but after a call to reception it was dealt with straight away. Piano bar on the top floor is lovely during the day, fantastic views and the staff are very helpful. At night the blue lighting comes on and the piano man starts who is a little odd but very funny. We went every night and had a lovely time. The food is a buffet style both breakfast and dinner and is hot by Bulgarian standards who like their food luke warm. There was plenty of choice even for a fussy eater like me, although the drinks system was a little odd that you couldn't take drinks that you bought in the bar into the restaurant which were literally 5 foot from one another. We did eat out a few times, the Red Sun chinese will come and collect you to eat in their restaurant for no extra charge and the food is nice, but don't expect chinese like at home. The Italian is lovely food, good value and very tasty. Unfortunately Bulgarian people do smoke a lot and they have not yet come to terms with non smokers in fact they find us a little weird I think :o). So smoking is allowed pretty much everywhere but I never really noticed it. Be prepared for a little wait when checking out as the receptionist has to ring your maid to check that you haven't used the mini bar and this can take a while. Especially if there are people ahead of you. We were very lucky after a drought on snow at Pamporovo we arrived on Saturday 27th and it was snowing and snowed on the Sunday, Tuesday and Friday. Although because of the lack of snow during previous weeks there was a lot of ice and the main green run down to the base, where most of the beginners go, was quite dangerous so they came to the top of the mountain. However where there was new snow the skiing was brilliant - although it can get a bit difficult on the narrow runs when all the schools are up and there is just people everywhere. We did start in the ski school but our class was a little too large for us to get any benefit (18) so we went our own way and had a great time, however if you get the right instructor then they are really good. We had a fanastic week and really recommend the Brothers restuarant which is near the chicken run. They are very friendly and the food is lovely. Be warned that some places will ask for money for you to use their toilets, this is common in Bulgaria so it is always worth taking some small change around with you. I would highly recommended this hotel and if we do go back we will be going here.

We stayed here in early Jan 07 for a week of skiing (not much snow though!) and found the hotel to be top notch. The public areas of the hotel are spotless and you will see cleaning ladies constantly polishing, hoovering and sweeping but not in an invasive way. The rooms are very spacious with stunning views over the valley and mountain. Yes they do get VERY warm at times but just open the door for a few mins and you'll be fine. The bathroom was also spotless with a very nice power shower, most welcome after a day on the slopes. Location is perfect, a couple of mins walk from the main bars/restaurants and just round the corner from the free ski bus stop. Food is ok by Bulgarian standards, a little on the cold side but a good selection. The White Heart down the road does cracking food at very reasonable prices so we ate there a lot of the time. Spa facilities are excellent and very cheap compared to back home. Over all I would not hesitate to stay here again and would highly reccomend it particularly compared to some of the other hotels in the resort.

This is a fantastic hotel, we stayed here for 7 days on a half board basis. first impressions was good and this was maintained through out the trip. Breakfast was superb, lots of choices. Dinner was slightly boring, almost the same food every day. good standard of food. for some funny reason you cant take drinks you buy from the lobby bar into the restaurant. lobby bar is right infront of the restaurant area. very clean hotel. swimming pool is on the cold side, nice sauna, steam room. piano room at the top is a weird place to chill. only thing bad about orlovetz (or pamporovo, bulgaria) is that people can smoke anywhere. i'm a non smoker and i dont think bulgarians care about non-smokers. couple of hotels being built right next to orlovetz but not during holiday season. view from the balcony is amazing. there is an underground pass from orlovetz to the main resort building, so you dont have to get out into the cold if you dont want to.

Stayed in jan 07 for a week of sking or more like ice skating due to lack of snow.Hotel is beautiful with a great spa area and wide variety of treatments.Staff are very helpful and friendly.Food is buffet which is really nice with a good selection for vegetarians. Hotel is max of 5 mins walk to most of the worth while pubs in the town worth visiting and 10 min walk to ski centre one so no need for bus or taxi's. No Iron & board or tea making facilities in room which was a disapointment and the rooms are very warm at night with no temp controls in room other than that a hotel well worth staying in.

Hotel has a great location, friendly staff, who will become your local taxi service, which was great as when we visted no taxis were available untill the following week ,when the main season started. Facilities are good and clean. Breakfast is good but cold fried eggs are a experience. Dinner nothing great, but its cheap to eat out ,so not a big problem. Unfortunetly dont do just bb. Bedrooms clean and good size.

We arrived in Pamporovo after a long journey and walked into the Orlovets Hotel. We were quoted 75lev (approx £25) for a 5 star twin room with half board. The hotel has a spa with small pool, gym + instructor, spa treatments from about £10, 2 bars room service and a superb restaurant. The staff were friendly with excellent english and even free help with our badly spoken Bulgarian. I will be going back to this hotel and in the summer not just for the skiing. Only small complaint was the sheets fit the bed - just and we had to straighten the sheets frequently. The total stay covered 3 nights half board and extending the room until 6pm the final night - even raiding the mini bar and only cost just over 300lv (approx £100) for two. The location is in the middle of forests with beautiful scenery from every window.