Hotel Pirin

No fault of the Hotel Pirin, but we arrived at 11.30pm as arranged with Balkan Travel. A packed supper had been prepared, cold potatoes, cucumber, bread and chicken, perfect for a vegetarian (pre booked). The cigarette smoke enfused rooms are dated but clean. The night was interrupted constantly by the partying Brits returning from town. Having not eaten the night before I was ready for a hearty breakfast.......all the hot items were tepid, the toaster took 10 minutes to turn fresh bread to stale! The butter turned out to be near rancid margarine, the coffee was none existent in a hot milk producing machine. Muesli was amazing, it had every morsel of taste removed, the fresh orange juice was squash. I took time to mention the terrible breakfast to the receptionist and was met with a reassuring shrug! Dinner was adequate, that's as much as I can say for that. All in all, Hotel Pirin is much more of a hostel than hotel. The 4 stars are totally misleading, this at best would be a great 2 star budget hostel.

Hotel is basic but more than adequate for a weeks stay for skiing. Its in the old town and is about 30 minutes walk to the Gondola. The hotel offers a shuttle bus to and from the gondola which operates from 0800 and times are posted. Never had a problem getting a space on it. There is a boot room with boot dryiers and ski storage, ample storage space. The hotel has a pool, a sauna and a steam room, all perfectly fine and we used everyday before dinner. The breakfast is basic, its edible but basic. Same as the evening meal limited choice and basic. We ate in there of an evening only once, the old town is very close with numerous restaurants at very reasonable prices and the ski resort is 30 minutes walk again with ample restaurants. Alot of these restaurants offer and pick up and drop off service. The bar has enough selection but i found the prices a little expensive from the surrounding areas. Rooms big with plenty of storage space, they are basic but clean. It misses a kettle and tea and coffee making facilities. Room cleaned every day. Overall it was a good hotel for our stay, it met our needs. Personally I found it a bit too far out of the main centre. A taxi is 10/15 lev so not too expensive. For the price we paid for the hotel I would stay here again. Theres a little shop opposite the hotel where you can get very cheap drinks, snacks and beers.