Rila Hotel & Studios

Had a fantastic holiday in Borovets, staying at the hotel Rila.
We read many reviews before going on holiday about the poor state of the Rila. Many of these reviews stated that the food was poor and the rooms unclean.
Our experience was the complete opposite. The food was lovely and the rooms were clean with fresh towels left each day.
Breakfast was fantastic with lots of choice. You could have: pancakes, cereal or full English. Fresh fruit and bread were also available.
Tea was basic but with a different choice each night. A choice of two soups each night (different kind each day and it tasted delicious) or salad for starters.
For the main course, there was usually a choice of two meats and a vegetarian option. Wide choice of desserts and fresh fruit.
There is a microwave provided if you feel your food could be hotter.
Borovets is a great place for beginners. The nursery slopes were very busy during our stay, due to the Rila mountains been the only place nearby with snow. For more advanced skiers, the gondola has a lot to offer.
The ski school wasn't what I expected. They placed beginners and people who had a weeks skiing experience in the same group. This wasn't fair on the beginners and many dropped out from the group after the 1st day.
I think we were just unlucky with our group. The lifts do need updating where the gondola station is.
Unfortunately there wasn't much snow about when we went and some of the runs were dangerous. The gondola station was closed one day due to high winds.
However, Borovets is a great place to ski. I think we were unfortunate with the ski school and the non existent snow fall!
I would return to Borovets and to the Hotel Rila.

The Rila hotel is a very high standard in Bulgaria with a large bar, lounge, restauraant and a pool.
Right at the bottom of the nursery slopes with ski hire shop and gift shops. The hotel also has a creepy sports physio, which I wouldn't recommend to any ladies.
Meals are buffet style with lots of choice.
Borovets is ideal for those on a budget/beginners-intermediates and wanting lively après ski.
Opposite you will find plenty of bar's and restaurants but also lots of beggars of all ages and PR staff, shouting 'asda price', 'cheap as chips' and so on.
Resort facilities available include many lap dancing clubs/bars, skidoo's, bar crawl, horse drawn carriage rides, tin pin bowling, folk nights, etc, the usual.
The Rila Hotel and Borovets in a nut-shell. Hope this helps you to have a wonderful holiday.

We really enjoyed this holiday. There were three couples who went for New Year and we really enjoyed it! We flew out on the 30th December for a week.
The hotel was nice, the rooms were clean and we had a great view of the slopes. We really liked the hotel bar - the staff became more friendly as the week went on and the table service was welcomed!
The hotel nightclub was good on New Year's Eve. They were not helpful at all.
The buffet dinner was OK - breakfast was pretty good, and I wasn't expecting much having read other reviews, but the evening meals were average - they did have some nice dishes.
The New Year's gala dinner took forever though and a lot of people got fed up waiting - the kebab stand opposite the hotel at the bottom of the nursery slopes is great!
In terms of bars outside of the hotel I would recommend Francos, Karoke bar and Buzz was OK. We ate in most places for lunch - we rated Chilli Peppers and the Mexican meal we had at Marmacitas was lovely - we paid £9 each for a main and wine with the meal and some nibbly starters.
If you want to learn to ski would advise that you get private lessons - we were taught by someone called George who we really liked.
Our Inghams rep booked it up for us and it cost 65 lev for 2 hours, which is well worth it. A lot of people dropped out of the ski schools as they found they had too many people in them and everything took ages.
Due to a lack of snow we found a lot of the runs weren't open the first couple of days, but then everything started to open so there was more choice.
I would definitely recommend Borovets and The Rila - it is good value for money and in a great location.

The resort is good, the snow and skiing was brilliant. Not a huge choice of runs, but enough if skiing for 1 week only. If skiing for any longer I suggest another place.
Accommodation at the Rila is good, but basic. The food at Rila is poor, the food is cold, tasteless and strange. The restaurants around the resorts are very good and very cheap. You can eat out for less the £5 and beer is about 80p per pint.
Be aware, that if there is any wind they close the gondola which reduces the number of runs dramatically.
Overall a good holiday had by all, but not a resort I will be returning to.
Enjoy.

This was our second trip to the same resort and within a year the standards have dropped incredibly. So much so, that we will not return to this hotel.
The room we were allocated was very damp and cold and thanks to our holiday rep, we were able to get it changed after two days to something more comfortable but without a view of the slopes.
The food at the hotel was nothing short of horrible! The food was not hot (a cultural thing) and the same food appeared in different disguises day after day. There are so many restaurants on resort that it is a much better option to go room only if you can. The studios have a kitchenette which is not very well stocked, there is one pot to use to boil water, no teaspoons or any other cutlery and one is advised to take a picnic type set to be able to have breakfast cereal and coffee in your room.
The hotel was clean, the staff pleasant enough but there seems to be an element of greed amongst the locals who exploit tourists at every opportunity which is a shame.
The ski school is superb, the slopes are overcrowded though and on one day there were 15 stretcher case accidents.......not a great record at half term!

Snowboarding holiday in Bulgaria was the best holiday I’ve ever experiences, the hotel is basic but we didn’t need more, the only bad thing about the hotel is the food! The slopes in Borovets are amazing!
It is not the best place to learn but for intermediate or advanced boarders would love it as there is lots of red and black routes.
Met really nice people and had a wicked time would recommend any one to go!

Borovets and the Rila will be the Ski Holiday Aiya Napa of the world before long.
The sad thing is that the holiday was spoiled by the couldn't care less attitude of the staff. Ask a question and the answer is a shrug or 'I don't know' before they walk off. Couldn't help feeling they were worked like dogs and were depressed.
Many scams, one that I had read about on a site like this, after I had booked: if you get a safety deposit box pay at the end of your stay because if you pay at the beginning and they don't give you a receipt they will make you pay again - I saw them withhold someone’s passport until they paid up again- in the review I read, the receptionist got some of the security guys over -of which there are many all over the hotel.
Don't expect change - they never have it and its a scam. I always tip but was never given the choice.
I too had a bad stomach (previous review) as did some people I met - who is monitoring this.
I have never seen so many walking wounded. So many accidents - wrists, hand, knee legs - mostly I am sure done in the town where the floor streets are not treated and it is impossible not to fall - who is monitoring this.
The excursions made people feel ripped off and the reps were only interested in pushing them - changing the subject back to them continually when you wanted to talk to them about something.
In some of the rooms the heating wouldn't turn down or off so my friends felt ill every morning.
The ski groups were large - twelve or so. This means if you are not waiting for your turn - you are waiting in the queue to go back up the slope. Arrange private lessons when you get there- about £20 for two hours- much better value for money.
Never any information on which lifts were open or closed.
The Ski Depot was robbed while we were there - another half a day lost as we couldn't get our equipment. Trust me - the hire skis / snowboards weren't touched - you can imagine why not!
The food was just like school dinners. No 'canteen' management and my guess was that the bread that ran out every morning just after nine was probably slipped out the back door and sold off.
Had to vacate areas when VIP with bodyguards were around. Told to clear corridors and go into your bedrooms.
Last but by no means least had to listen to house/ disco music morning noon and night - at breakfast, in reception everywhere. Its not about the guests at all.
Prostitutes and Go Go bars discos unsuitable for a family resort.
What a waste of what could be a lovely resort.
The tour operators are either ignoring all this or don't care. They are responsible for not encouraging and condoning all the above and mis-selling the holiday. They should be insisting on improving standards for both guests and staff.
Its all totally unprofessional and they should be ashamed for not helping the Bulgarians retain their culture and encouraging them to take advantage of each other and us because they have no choice but to join in.
Swimming Pool was nice though!

I went on a weeks snowboarding holiday to Bulgaria over the Christmas period and stayed at the hotel Rila in Borovets.
This hotel is perfectly situated right on the edge of all the mail ski slopes in Borovets, you only need to walk outside door and your on the slopes. The hotel its self is very comfortable with nice size rooms and friendly staff that are willing to help, most speak some English and nearly all speak good German and Spanish.
The only point that let this hotel down is the food, which is just a basic buffet that leaves a lot to be desired. The best bet for this hotel is to go self catering and eat out at any of the many restaurants and bars in Borovets and the food and the prices are wonderful.

The Rila hotel is the best in the area, as we knew people that stayed in other hotels and wished they hadn’t. For our holiday we had a skiing instructor and you go in a group depending on your ability.
The ski instructors are very friendly and have good English. They can help you with the local area as they obviously know a lot about it. When you are skiing I suggest you buy food at the bottom of the mountain as when you go up to the top the food and toilets go up in price. Its good to go with a skiing instructor as you meet new people and new friends with the same ability as you. I would recommend this holiday as there really is something for everyone.