St George Ski and Holiday Hotel — Hotel in Bansko

My daughter and I booked 4 nights at the hotel and after reading many of the reviews on Tripadvisor didn't have very high expectations as they were hit/miss - but then it was a cheap 4* hotel so no issue with us as we were there to ski. How delighted we were to discover that our experience was so much better than expected from start to finish! Much Praise is due to all the staff||Check-in was efficient and we were given a lowest floor studio with kitchen and patio. Friendly reception staff and great English speakers. the room was large, warm, clean. Yes the modular furniture was somewhat basic but much better than the price point would dictate. We were very pleased. The wall mounted TV easily synced to our Netflix account so film watching in later evenings was dead easy. ||The restaurant is a great size, staff warm and friendly and very efficient. We were B&B but the breakfast each day was absolutely fine, good selection for all sorts of nationalities. We ended up with a cooked breakfast and pastries each day but plenty of fruits, chesses, yogurts, cereals about. ||Yes, the lobby bar is a bit small but unless your kids are tiny you'll be going out anyway and wont use it. We were also impressed that the lobby is constantly mopped and kept clean, and they don't allow ski boots to be worn. They provide slip on slippers so you can carry your boots but not damage the floor. ||Extras we liked: A little ski hire place in the building (we took our own skis) and a mini shop too selling snacks and drinks. We didn't use the spa but people we met said it was decent. ||We read a lot of comments before arrival about the poor timing of breakfast and the first complimentary shuttle to the Gondola vs the large well publicised Gondola queue... Its true you do need to be in that queue around 8am daily to avoid a longer wait, and the first shuttle from hotel is at 8 (3-4 min journey), but in our case we just got a 7am breakfast and walked with skis on shoulder to the gondola leaving at 7.45am and getting in the queue for 8. Appreciate some won't want to carry their skis 10-15 mins each morning but I've known plenty of Alpine resorts where you have to do that each day to the lift so what did we all expect? We certainly didn't mind. We did enjoy getting the free shuttles back to the hotel at the other end of the day though - most welcome! ||Only point of note, the 10 min walk to Bansko centre (15 in ski boots) is easy and pretty flat but the hotel is in an area currently under development so a lot of the neighbouring buildings are unfinished. No work being done on them in winter, just empty shells at present. This makes it an odd kind of walk the first time, but by day 2 its just normal and you adjust - no issues! ||All in all we didn't expect much and were really pleasantly surprised on every level. I would happily recommend the hotel to anyone and would definitely come again. ||Oh and if your in the early morning queue look out for the White husky type dog that waits in line with the humans, and gets in its own Gondola every day to go up to get a feed at the restaurants. We laughed so much watching it wait for the doors to open and jump in! ||Anyway a well deserved 5* review from us - well done to all the...

My daughter and I booked 4 nights at the hotel and after reading many of the reviews on Tripadvisor didn't have very high expectations as they were hit/miss - but then it was a cheap 4* hotel so no issue with us as we were there to ski. How delighted we were to discover that our experience was so much better than expected from start to finish! Much Praise is due to all the staff||Check-in was efficient and we were given a lowest floor studio with kitchen and patio. Friendly reception staff and great English speakers. the room was large, warm, clean. Yes the modular furniture was somewhat basic but much better than the price point would dictate. We were very pleased. The wall mounted TV easily synced to our Netflix account so film watching in later evenings was dead easy. ||The restaurant is a great size, staff warm and friendly and very efficient. We were B&B but the breakfast each day was absolutely fine, good selection for all sorts of nationalities. We ended up with a cooked breakfast and pastries each day but plenty of fruits, chesses, yogurts, cereals about. ||Yes, the lobby bar is a bit small but unless your kids are tiny you'll be going out anyway and wont use it. We were also impressed that the lobby is constantly mopped and kept clean, and they don't allow ski boots to be worn. They provide slip on slippers so you can carry your boots but not damage the floor. ||Extras we liked: A little ski hire place in the building (we took our own skis) and a mini shop too selling snacks and drinks. We didn't use the spa but people we met said it was decent. ||We read a lot of comments before arrival about the poor timing of breakfast and the first complimentary shuttle to the Gondola vs the large well publicised Gondola queue... Its true you do need to be in that queue around 8am daily to avoid a longer wait, and the first shuttle from hotel is at 8 (3-4 min journey), but in our case we just got a 7am breakfast and walked with skis on shoulder to the gondola leaving at 7.45am and getting in the queue for 8. Appreciate some won't want to carry their skis 10-15 mins each morning but I've known plenty of Alpine resorts where you have to do that each day to the lift so what did we all expect? We certainly didn't mind. We did enjoy getting the free shuttles back to the hotel at the other end of the day though - most welcome! ||Only point of note, the 10 min walk to Bansko centre (15 in ski boots) is easy and pretty flat but the hotel is in an area currently under development so a lot of the neighbouring buildings are unfinished. No work being done on them in winter, just empty shells at present. This makes it an odd kind of walk the first time, but by day 2 its just normal and you adjust - no issues! ||All in all we didn't expect much and were really pleasantly surprised on every level. I would happily recommend the hotel to anyone and would definitely come again. ||Oh and if your in the early morning queue look out for the White husky type dog that waits in line with the humans, and gets in its own Gondola every day to go up to get a feed at the restaurants. We laughed so much watching it wait for the doors to open and jump in! ||Anyway a well deserved 5* review from us - well done to all the...

Okay Accommodation

The positives of this place are little compared to the negative.

First of all the restaurant is nice and has a wide variety of food. Average price for a hotel in Bansko. The breakfast buffet has something to satisfy everyone. Hot breakfast, muffins, cereal, variety of drinks and cold deli breakfast. Just to name a few of the options.

The views from the room of the mountains were gorgeous and the variety of services available within the hotel itself is large. Such as spa centre which holds a decent pool, it doesn't go deeper 1.5m. Multiple suana options. There is also a market at the side of the hotel. There is a ski centre which allows you to rent equipment and book lessons. With a free shuttle bus to the slope.

Now the rooms were a bit disappointing. We never got what we booked, they provided an apartment with a hob and stove top but no cutlery or pans to utilise it. They also charge for the tea & coffee in the room. Which even in the cheapest hotels I've stayed, these are usually complimentary. The walls are also paper thin, you could hear conversations in the next room.

The reception staff were a bit rude, although the kitchen staff were very kind and accommodating. The spa centre staff excelled in kindness and help.

The Ski shop staff were a major let down. They first sold me on a 1 on 1 tuition as there were no groups going at the time. Which was pretty expensive. It's fair though. Although I have never skied before they failed to mention that I would have to book a 95 lev lift pass on top of the extraordinary price I was allready paying. They also let me rent equipment but didn't tell me that I would need to rent gloves, goggles, helmet separately at the centre. What's the point of a equipment rental service that doesn't provide all the equipment? They failed to get the guy who was meant to be meeting me at the centre to actually meet me. I phoned my girlfriend as she was back at the hotel and can speak Bulgarian so there isn't any miss communication. They said that all the extra costs were "common sense" although the knew I had never skied before. I decided I wasn't paying anything as I waited and hour for an instructor to show who didn't and they hid all the extra costs. THEN after waiting an extra hour for the shuttle bus back, I talked to the shuttle bus guy and then he got in his car and left without me. Horrible experience and a lot of wasted time.

Overall, we got the rooms on a Black Friday deal, it's not worth the full price in my opinion. Although it is close to the centre of Bansko and if you know all the ins and outs of the ski industry then I guess it would...