Банско Новый год 2007 Bansko New Year 2007

We were at the hotel for New Years. The hotel opened on December 27.2006.
LOCATION
(+) Located almost at the foot of the mountain, 5 minutes walk from the gondola station. You can not use the bus, and you can walk to the rental or luggage storage.
(-) Back, after skiing, the bus does not pick up.
(-) Around the hotel there is a continuous construction site, a dump or a garbage dump. If it snows or rains, then it becomes impassable mud. If there is no precipitation, then clouds of dust from cement and sand from neighboring construction sites accompany you. It seems that he came to an unfinished cottage village in the Moscow region.
BUILDING.
(+) This is worth noting separately. It impresses with its original architecture. Empty space inside, along the perimeter of the gallery of balconies with numbers. In the center of the hall there is a large fireplace, with a chimney extending into the glass ceiling.

(-) In the morning, after the evening burning of the fireplace, there is a strong smell of smoke in the hall, fortunately, it is almost not felt in the rooms. You can see bad draft in the fireplace.
ROOMS
(-) In appearance, everything is solid and beautiful. Upon closer inspection, everything turns out to be much simpler. The faucets in the toilets are disgusting, fashionable, but cheap. Water cannot be adjusted. There is no bath, there is a corner cabin with an uncomfortable shower. From the outlets located on the outer walls, air blows (from the street) like a fan. It's better not to talk about windows at all. Saved by warm weather and an adjustable battery.
(-) The room has a mini kitchen with a sink and stove. But the devices attached to it were not issued. Maybe it's temporary.
NUTRITION
(+) Breakfast buffet:
Quite convincing, standard Turkish set. No complaints. Although the coffee machine could have been delivered less miserable.
(-) Dinner - buffet in the restaurant:
Luckily we didn't take it, it's terrible. Breakfast snacks. Maybe it's temporary.
RESTAURANT
(-) You can use the same restaurant and order from the menu. But next to the buffet, the appetite immediately disappears. Under the restaurant there is a "Mekhana", from which we were expelled, in connection with the holding of some kind of banquet, although there are more than enough places there. Arguments that we will quickly eat and leave, etc. didn't work. After a small scandal, with the administration called, we were asked to go up to the restaurant. It was mentioned above. It's not temporary anymore, it's forever. The menu is quite varied, but they don't know how to cook. Everything is salty, from cheap products. Chefs hands...., you know. Maybe they'll fix it. They are far from the city "Mehans". The only way out of this is to go to the city, better in all respects.
SERVICE
(-) There is no room for storing and drying inventory. Maybe it will.
(+) Sauna and swimming pool have earned. There is a very good view of the bath complex from the hall, I would tint these windows.
(-) Housekeeping comes down to making the bed and nothing more. Maybe they haven't learned yet.

(-) In the evening from 6 o'clock they can turn off the water (all). Turn on after an indefinite time. The circus itself was December 31.2006. The water was turned off at 7 pm, it was funny to watch the lathered unfortunates running around the floors of the hotel in branded white coats in search of water. The water was in the pool (20 gr) and adjacent tap. Yes, the water was not turned on this year, it was turned on only the next year. Maybe it's temporary.
(-) In addition to swearing in our native language about various inconveniences, we did not hear anything from the hotel administration. It's probably long term.
TOTAL
A certain number of stars from the facade could be removed for the sake of decency. The presence of a 10-meter puddle does not always confirm the quality of everything else. We can't advise or not, it's up to you. Count + and -, draw conclusions. While keeping low prices, you can go, solely because of the convenient location to the ski lift.
Good luck to all. I will answer questions, ask.
If you are going for the New Year, then only in Bansko. Based on last year's experience, there are no other options. Snow under new a year and after was only in Bansko, not very much, but from 27.12 to 3.01 they were not idle. At other resorts, they sat without snow, the first fell on the 3rd or 4th of January. This is where all the + in Bansko end. Get ready for:
1. On the mountain.
- wild queues for climbing, queuing for at least 2 hours at the station in the city. One 6-seater candola lift for the entire resort. Crush at the station, swearing, there is nothing for children to do there. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a photo, I couldn’t raise my hands, it was very crowded. And this despite the fact that the number of hotels is growing exponentially. Everything doubles every year.
- on a slope the situation is not better. Again queues, crush. I remember my native Caucasus in Soviet times. Perhaps this may be a positive moment, you will not get tired, there is time to rest.
- The slopes are very narrow and there are few of them. The large crowding of the skiers themselves guess what it leads to. I didn’t let the child go alone, I always went down strictly a few meters higher on the slope. Otherwise, there is a chance of being shot down.
- Slopes don't really work. Well-groomed slopes near Moscow can only be dreamed of. One plus on the slope - you can eat normally.

- Instructors are a separate song. Good guys, ours, Soviet. They took the child and wife several times in different offices. All teaching comes down to serpentine descent after the “instructor”. The descent is fast, the queues are long, you can stand all the time.
2. In the city.
- Bansko is one big construction site that never ends. Hundreds (yes, hundreds) of small and large hotels are being built. If there is no precipitation, then you are accompanied by clouds of dust from cement and sand from construction sites. After walking around the city, you find yourself knee-deep in cement dust. It seems that he came to an unfinished cottage village in the Moscow region. They want to build another gondola, but so far this is just talk. Every year, the queues for the lift will get worse.
3. Restaurants.
- I join many reviews - cheap, but everything is relative.
It is better to book a table in Metany in advance. 02.01. went around more than 10 establishments, everything was occupied, or they said that it was ordered. We came across the "Stack House" (in the center of Bansko). The most expensive establishment with a restaurant-European outfit, so there were empty seats. Served for about 2 hours, and only after the tenth reminder, and so on. Rock cafe (sort of) opposite the gondola station. Nothing to do with beer except rock. One dish was returned for roasting. When ordering dishes in the mechanics, they always warned that the dishes should not be salted. But everything is useless. Otherwise, they can't. Everything is terribly salty.
TOTAL.
If you want to get back to the "scoop", tormented by nostalgia, you have a direct road to Bulgaria. Push around in lines, sit without mountains, water, and taste other delights of the "developed... " You in Bansko. One big +, if you go with a big company, by train, don’t give a damn about various services, maybe go for a ride (there are few queues closer to dinner), then you can meet the normal budget.
You decide. We have drawn conclusions for ourselves, we have long tied up with our native resorts.