Hotel Pamporovo

I have been staying at the Pamporovo hotel on and off for many years. This year was just awful and the hotel has really declined. The only good thing to say about the hotel was the rooms were clean if you don't mind your towels smelling of smoke. The rooms were very cold, the food choice was just terrible this year, the fruit was bad, the mugs were chipped.. The worst thing of all was the hotel had changed into a youth hotel with a party of 50 or so school children between 10 and 12 who had no suppervision so were running around the hotel and screaming their heads of until 2am while the adults sat in the reception having drinks. You couldn't get a table in the evening and the food catered for the children (chips and baked beans every night) - not what you would expect from a 5 star hotel. The rep told me that there were better hotels in Pamporovo which doesn't help when you have just paid a lot of money to stay. It makes a Travel Inn in this country look like the Dorchester - so beware! With terrible food and no sleep for a week, and a cold room, and everyone complaining it is interesting that the travel companies still recommend this hotel.

2 readers found this review helpful

We stayed at this hotel on a half board basis. The hotel was very clean and our room was always cleaned and provided with clean towels. The only things that let the hotel down was the manors of the staff, they were very rude and when we wanted to make a compliant, they shugged their shoulders. I wouldn't call it a luxery spa hotel, because all week we was there, we had a coach load of about 40 kids, all very young which was let loose around the whole of the hotel knocking on doors etc.. when on complaint , all we got was "yes we know"..we werent the only ones to complain, other people we got to know were very upset..also like to point out,breakfast and dinner time you will have loud music playing (dance etc) while you eat, this isnt quiet at all its really loud..and this is played all over the hotel and in the lifts..so if you like a boogie while you eat this is the hotel for you..but definatly not our cuppa tea. Also there is a night club in the hotel on the ground floor..this isnt quiet at all..we were on the second floor and you could hear every word..even went to the 6th floor and well it was a joke you could still hear it and this was at 2am...after a long day snowboarding..all you want to do is sleep and not be disturbed...so no definately not a luxery hotel..more like a kindergarden/ night club.
Also like to add..you dont get amenties in your room..so no kettle/iron etc.

1 reader found this review helpful

Stayed at Pamporovo Hotel Feburary 2010 on ski holiday. Food at tha hotel was good quality. Most of the staff were friendly and helpfull some were abrubt bordering on rude.
The hotel was clean, no ski room available for storage of skis though. The biggest dissapointment overall was that smoking was allowed at dinner tables at meal times and throughout the hotel. No allocated table was given throughout holiday stay therefore this could cause problems during meals.The Hotel was rated a 5 star but in my oppinion would be a 3 star. Beware no ski boots are allowed on ski bus the reps dont inform you of this!
Overall holiday 5/10 value for money 10/10.

4 readers found this review helpful

just got back from Pamporovo,stayed at the Hotel Pamporovo...hotel is probably 3.5* overall rating...lovely bulgarian character hotel.clean,our room was cleaned immaculately everyday;cleaners even squeezed our toothpaste tube to the top(which i dont do normally).staffs are not rude,they are quite shy to speak english and probably only been trained to say the basics.food:salads are great as well as the cakes...the supposedly warm dishes are not that warm.the hotel was very quiet when we're there which we preferred...lovely different rooms like whisky and tobacco bar,bowling bar,spa etc....good value for money..will go back next year as Pamporovo is a very nice,cute resort..

3 readers found this review helpful

Again I was worried following previous recent reviews but I'm pleased to say both the hotel and the resort exceeded my expectations and I had a fantastic holiday. I travelled with Balkan Holidays, booked a week before travel and spent 21-28th feb 09 in Hotel Pamporovo.
Hotel: Excellent standard, 3 large bar areas, impressive decoration and beautiful log fires. There was a very modern 3 lane bowling alley (£5 pp) and 2 pool tables (£2.50 a game). The hotel also had an excellent shop for groceries. The swimming pool was lovely, although only luke warm but remember to bring a swim cap as they cost £5 otherwise. Jacuzzi and sauna etc cost extra. We had a lovely room with a balcony, very clean and towels changed daily. The food was varied daily (breakfasts were similar) but a good choice each time and a mixture of bulgaian, greek and british influence. Bulgarian food is not traditionaly served piping hot, but if you go early then the food is always hot. The hotel is central which is a bonus as some hotels eg Belmont and finlandia require taxi rides back late at night.
Ski bus: The hotel is last on the pick up run around the resort but we always got on one within ten mins of waiting. There was always a bus ready to go back at the end of the day.
Ski/snowboard: We pre booked ski and snowboard packs which worked out to be excellent value for money. The equipment was of a good standard. The instructors were absolutely fantastic esp Amy (snowboard) and Mico (ski). The snow was the best for 5 years in the resort so conditions were excellent, all the runs were open and the lifts all worked well. By 10am there is a bit of a queue for the first lift but they open at 830am. Restaraunts on the slopes served excellent food esp Mouskavets by the tower, roughly british prices once converted. You have to pay to use toilets as they have a toilet tax (50p). Ski packs are 4 hours per day over 6 days but snowboarders only get 2 hous per day for 3 days.I was able to pay £30 for 3 more days with the same snwboard instructor which was well worth it.
The resort is purpose built so apart from bars and restaraunts there is not much else although there are plenty of spas, swimming pools and an ice rink.
Overall we had a brilliant holiday. I have been skiing in france(Val D'Isere, Morzine) austria (Badgastain) and italy (Dolomites) but I would go back to Pamporovo. There is plenty to offer beginners and intermedites (3 blacks and approx 4 reds). Obviously as a small resort you would eventually outgrow it with experience but at such good prices and lovely hotels and atmosphere I will be carrying on learning to snowboard in the future there.

1 reader found this review helpful

stayed at the hotel belmont staff were rude and not very helpful very misleading hotel information, we thought we were having four star food this was not the case it was cold and not cooked it wasnt fit to even feed a dog very very dangerous un cooked food of very poor quality we thought we were having food of a selected menu as stated when we booked this was not the case it is def not a four star hotel as listed oh well neilson have a case on there hands with the management of this hotel

2 readers found this review helpful

The hotel when you first arrive is impressive, we arrived late at night and a packed supper of sandwich and drink was awaiting us. That was thoughtful.
It states that swimming, turkish bath, sauna and gym are free - this is not strictly true, swimming yes but have to buy swimming hat for 10 levas. we were guests but were told had to pay for turkish bath and sauna.
Hotel is really nice - it was warm with a couple of log fires around. However, its not a hotel we would return to. The food although on first sight looked impressive and inviting, you quickly realise that it is just the same foods but different variations and for some reason they do not seem to serve food very hot, everything is luke warm. However they are two issues I had with the hotel. a) the beauty spa, such a good idea but be careful, whatever treatment you are having they pressure you during the treatment to have extra's at what they see 'cheap price' You cannot relax -alswo watch the bill at the end, they tend to overcharge and apologise afterwards when or if you notice. Also you do not exactly get the treatments stated in their booklet, so make sure you go throug it with them and they no what you expect.
The other thing which lets the hotel down is the staff. Most of the staff of very sullen, unsmiling and not friendly - I found this offputting.
Ski-ing was good however, but there are plenty of other places/hotels you would be better spending your money on.

3 readers found this review helpful

We stayed at the Pamporovo hotel in March, there was 4 adults staying in 2 rooms. There is nothing we could fault about the hotel at all. The rooms were a good size, clean and had everything we needed, including a hairdryer, TV, mini-bar. The rooms were cleaned every day and fresh towels provided.
The hotel itself is lovely with alot of very good facilitites including 3 bars, bowling, a mini nightclub, a lovely pool area with a jacuzzi which was 10 euro each for 20 mins...we used it a couple of times. There is a wide selection of massage/treatments available too which were very reasonably priced.
The buffet style breakfast and evening meals were really good too. There was always something that we all liked and plenty of choice. The only thing i would say is no drinks were provided with dinner so you had to buy them from the bar. There was a band playing in the resteraunt in the evenings to serenade meal times.
The location of the hotel was brilliant just a 5 minute stroll into the main part of Pamporovo where the shopping centres and pubs were. The White Hart pub did lovely food and was probably the best pub there. We did notice a change in prices when we attended the 'pub crawl' though so be aware!
There was a shuttle bus service every 20 minutes to drop off at the ski centre every morning and afternoon. A taxi was only 15 euros so we did that a couple of times too.
The snowboarding instructor Robbo was superb, he did a fantastic job teaching us to snowboard!!
The food shacks on the mountain were a little pricy and food not that nice really but to be expected i suppose.
The guys in the snowshack were very helpful and even let us pay the next day for goods purchased...very trusting guys :0)
All in all we had a fantastic holiday and i would definitely recommend the hotel and resort for a cheap holiday. The snow was a little scarce but enough to just about get by, i suppose that's the risk you have to take when booking a holiday to Bulgaria rather than Canada etc, very cheap but good snow conditions not guaranteed!

1 reader found this review helpful

Just got back from a week in Pamporovo & stayed at the Pamporovo hotel. After reading the comments previously written before we went, i was very dubious about what we were going to end up in. However from the moment we got there we had an absolutely fabulous time. The rooms were clean- the only recommendation that i would add is a tea/coffee making facility in the room but it didn't make any difference to the enjoyment of our holiday. The food was great & hot, with a wide variety, & service was v efficient. The skiing was brilliant & very organised, & the instructor we had was called zdrasco(not sure of the spelling). He was brilliant - a really nice guy with lots of patience!!! Would highly recommend resort/ski school/hotel & everything to anyone who is thinking of going.

1 reader found this review helpful

Where do I begin to start about what a brilliant holiday we just had.
We have been on dozens of package holidays and this skiing holiday in Pamporova is up there with the best of them.
The hotel was excellent any any problems we had were delt with immediately. The staff were v. friendly and the food was v. tasty. The buffets were second to none!!!
The instructors were very professional and spent time with those who needed the extra help (like myself). The snow was great and there was plenty to do in the resort and shuttle bus offered a very efficient service to the slopes.
Have already booked to go back again next year. Having seen some bad reviews from previous years I think they must have really improved on there customer service.
Highly reccommended!!!!