Hotel Festa Chamkoria

Stayed here for a 1wk ski holiday. Having read previous reviews we weren't too sure what to expect. There were good bits and not so good bits but from listening to comments on other hotels in the town it sounds as if our experience was fairly typical when compared to others. When it says 4 stars this is not equivalent to UK or western european 4 stars. Felt like a hotel emerging from communist era which still hasn't quite made it yet. The room was a good size, clean and very warm. It is advertised as having tea/coffee making facilities in the room - there was indeed a tray with cups - but no kettle and no tea or coffee. On enquiring at reception, the response was 'no kettle' delivered in a manner which didn't invite any further discussion and suggested that no further explanation was needed. The food was fairly sameish at the buffet but with reasonable choice - especially good are the salads and cold meats/cheeses and good variety at breakfast although baked beans were consistently tepid. Drinks were cheap but no water provided at the table in evenings. Mini bar in the room was v reasonable £1.50 roughly for a beer, but didn't have half the items listed on the back of the fridge door. On the first day we tried to use the sauna (both out of order), the steam room - which soon ran out of steam and the pool which was ok temp for swimming but the 'jacuzzi' was too cold being same water as the pool, with no seats and just a bit of circulating water in the centre. Several of the mosaic tiles were missing and the overall feel of the whole hotel was that it was in need of a 'refresh'. Although the restaurant says open all day (and , true, the doors were physically open) it was not possible to get food at lunchtime when I stayed in the hotel due to an injury. All I could get was a bag of crisps from the shop - no sandwich or soup or anything else. The shuttle bus to town did struggle to keep up with demand and often we had to wait for the next one (or even the one after that) even at a time when there didn't seem to be that many guests in the hotel. A larger mini bus would have been good. But then being out of town meant the hotel was cheaper and away from some of the noisier areas. Safe deposit box in the room - but extra charge. TV in the room has option for films - but again extra charge. Overall a fair price for a budget skiing holiday.

The worst hotel I have ever stayed in. The temperature within the hotel is oppressive. We had to turn off heating in room and sleep with our window open. The pool was the only place where heat would of been nice and this was cold. During our stay many things were out of order. Including the majority of the games room and more than half of the spa area. We ate in the restaurant most mornings although there was plenty of choice the hot buffet was cold. The evening buffet was of a very poor standard and we chose to get a taxi into resort most evenings for 15 lev each way. Within Borovets a short drive away there is lots of choices of restaurants with entertainment to suit all. The staff within the hotel are very unwelcoming. Our room was small, beds very uncomfortable. The whole hotel is dated and in need of refurbishment. There are many broken tiles in the pool and jacuzzi which is not a jacuzzi just a small area within the pool. If you have a room with the three mirrors above your bed. Be aware friends of ours had one drop from above and injure their nose resulting in stitches. Said mirrors are attached by the tiniest of screws and should never be positioned above a bed. Borovets resort was fabulous and we really enjoyed the skiing and overall atmosphere but would recommend staying anywhere but this hotel.

Spent the week here on a skiing holiday. The Hotel is basic and clean. The food again is very basic and the same most days. The receptionist when we arrived and checked out was a very helpful and polite lady. The receptionist in the evenings, Uncle Festa as we affectionately call him, is a rude, arrogant and very unhelpful man who goes out of his way to be unpleasant. The best we got was a shrug of the shoulders when we asked him anything. When we needed help one evening due to leaving our phone at one of the hotels in the resort, he refused to try and help us by ringing the hotel we had left the phone in, and then pretended he didn't understand any English (more shoulder shrugging). I had to get a cab back to the hotel who had my phone and then get another cab back to Festa who then just wanted a staring match with me. Horrible Individual. We found the resort very nice with some good snow. Just watch out though for the Instructors from Boro Sports Ski School. We had a nice guy who then turned quite nasty on the last day when the group didn't tip him the 'normal' amount of £50 per person!! He made the group feel very awkward and even called a colleague over to add weight to his displeasure of what we had given him. Bearing in mind we paid £3500 for 2 people to get here, we didn't expect to have to in effect pay for the ski lessons twice. If these instructors don't like the salary they are being paid and then need to shame people into giving inflated tips then clearly they should look for a different job.