Borovets Hills – another case in which the boss has an advantage over customers
Borovets Hills rating by the 5D Sensograph of placescases.com: 3.5 out of 5.
February 2021
Seen 
Felt 
Heard 
Smelled 
Tasted 
Reading time: 7 min
You don’t have 7 min to read? Then try the fast mode, go only through bold and colored text-5 min
You don’t have 5 min.? See the short movie further below: 4:03 min.
In his latest book, published in the spring of 2020, called “Time Shelter”, the writer George Gospodinov talks about the return to the past and its specifics for each person, as well as the nostalgic bright halo in which we tend to surround it in our memories. Here I will discuss how once again a Bulgarian hotelier brings confusion to my Time Shelter in the 90s and erases the halo that I am stubbornly trying to build for it by moving away from them.
In general, everything was fine with the service and food, and also with the base of Borovets Hills Hotel, at least for the time and budget we chose to dedicate to it. But, the moment the boss called and rearranged the schedule of one of the most demanded services at the hotel for the weekend, so that only he could be served with an advantage over the customers, things fell apart. Read further what caused these judgments, with which I begin the review of one of the 5-star hotels of one of the most visited resorts in Rila, this winter season.
See ….
…. The hotel has a decent interior, without any significant accents in the design and slightly wearing-out. One of the interesting things were the chandeliers in the restaurant and tables made of some metal, made on a rough matrix, or wrought iron, which gave an interesting style;
… .The double rooms are large, comfortable and clean, and the apartments have fireplaces. There were fireplaces in the lobby bar as well as in the restaurant, and this is always a good idea for a winter hotel – they bring another coziness and feeling;
…. Interestingly, the toilets are Japanese, with buttons for heating the seat, bidet, drying, but the water flow was weak and could not be used for its intended purpose. Also, in the bathroom of the double rooms there is no toilet, it is separate.
…. The walls in the corridors are bare, there are no paintings, only the restaurant was an exception;
… .. Plexiglas at the reception, masks on the faces of the staff, disinfectants everywhere – commendable!
… There is no view from the rooms on the 3rd floor, besides the table and chairs were missing on the balcony.
Feel ….
… The hotel is relatively close to the Yastrebets 2 track,because it is approx. 60 m or 5 minutes walk from Hotel Yastrebets, which is literally on the track;
…. The staff in Borovets Hills wore masks, but at breakfast they did not remind guests to wear gloves, as a result – many people touched the plates on the buffet table;
… The hotel offers an option for late check-out for BGN 10 per hour after 12 noon, which is ok,but you do not have the option of compromise if you ask to be 30 minutes late from the slopes;
… The compliment in the room is 3 in 1 coffee, tea, sugar – infinitely uninteresting.The minibar is full and paid, including mineral water. There is also an electric kettle in the room, but we were not motivated to use it;
… The bathrobes in the room were both a small size, my husband had a rather playful miniskirt with a high belt. My robe had no belt nuts, and there were torn holes in their place;
…. The spa area looked decent, but somehow cluttered with abandoned glasses on the tables, lots of towels on the hangers, there was no place to hang your robe. In addition, the children complained that the water in the pool was muddy. I don’t know what it is due to, it may be mineral water, but I doubt it. That was not the only problem. Here’s what else happened, or rather, didn’t happen.
In the spa, one masseuse is a physiotherapist, which was a very pleasant surprise for me, because I needed just such a specialist. However, just as I was entering for my appointment, I was told that my massage had been cancelled. The man at the front desk blushed and was feeling embarrassed to break this news to me and encouraged me to sign up for the next day, Sunday, just as I was about to travel back. I decided to investigate deeper what caused this abrupt refusal. From other sources and with many constraints I understood what happened. It turned out that the boss had called and wanted the masseuse to go to Sofia urgently to massage him exclusively. I do not put any meaning and cynicism here. This only confirmed my understanding that she was a good specialist and could have been very useful to me and other guests, but my hopes were dashed.
I thought that such an attitude towards customers is obsolete, and that in the 21st century tourism in Bulgaria is already targeted at customers, but apparently some places remained in the last century, around the 90s, when the boss had an advantage over them. Well, my Time Shelter in the 90’s was tarnished by the boss of Borovets Hills, supposedly the one who should set an example of good work with clients. He allowed himself to ignore at least 6 clients with recorded appointments for EUR 45-60 each, worth a total of about EUR 250-360, in order to pay attention only to him. After all, the hotel is his, no one can tell him what to do. I hope he at least compensated the masseuse for the lost benefits.
The other such violators of the 90-set Time Shelter are the Hissar Hotel, where the client who parked in order to unload his luggage must urgently get rid of his car, because the boss leaves with his and has an advantage.
In Primorets in Burgas, even when there is the biggest crowd at breakfast, and hungry guests, adults and children, wander with the plates to find a place to sit and eat, the boss always has a table reserved only for him, which stands empty, fully equipped, inviolable for hotel guests.
As a client of Hotel Yastrebets, which is about 60 meters from Borovets Hills, nothing like this has ever happened to me. They have always looked for a way to compensate me for the slightest inconvenience and for my feedback if I am satisfied. When I check in there, I am greeted with a bottle of red wine in the room, as a gratitude for choosing them once again. Next time I plan to entrust my budget and free time to them again, when I have a trip to Borovets.
…. The people of all service sections are very kind – waiters, reception, spa.They don’t seem to be trained, they are just very kind.
The only heart in the Feeling category that I left in the evaluation is especially for them and they sincerely deserve it.
Hear ….
…. Bulgarian hits in the restaurant – Atlas, Toni Dimitrova, Tonika, Vasil Naidenov, Lili Ivanova, Mimi Ivanova, very nice and nostalgic, good Time Shelter, only the same songs were repeated and I learned their order by heart;
…. There seemed to be some chill-out music in the spa, but there were also a lot of people, so it was noisy.
Movie watching time: 4:03 min.
Smell ….
…. When I visit a spa hotel, I always write about the aromas of the spa. There is nothing to write here, because there were none – both at the reception and in the fragrant sauna and steam bath. Otherwise, I was told that it must smell of herbs there;
… The food on the breakfast and dinner buffet smelled very good — appetizing and fresh. The spices were well balanced, as in all the favorite dishes of the Bulgarians.
Taste ….
…. The breakfast buffet is rich, varied, there were gorgeous tomatoes, which is a miracle for the middle of winter;
… .Coffee is available from the vending machines, but you can also order it from the bar for a fee;
…. Very tasty dinner at the buffet – really commendable. It is not gourmet, but very well cooked, varied, appetizing looking and fresh. You can see it in the movie;
… At lunch there was home-cooked meal – wonderful tripe soup, mish-mash, small and tender ribs and many other things.
In conclusion, I would like to say that the hotel staff is wonderful and deserves to be well rewarded for their efforts. They do not appear to have been trained in special communication skills and techniques for working with clients, they just have a good attitude towards clients.
In the restaurant, the waiters are very nimble, responsive, they seem to smile, even behind masks. Great people! If it weren’t for them and house-keeping, who takes care of the impeccable cleanliness, I don’t know how this egocentric boss would keep his customers in Borovets Hills, with this aging base and such non-compliance with the promised services.
Recently I was in a very good hotel, which is about 25 km from Borovets, but which would meet the expectations of even the most demanding guests. It is named Belchin Spring, which you can read about in SPA, sports and more in the SPA complex Belchin Spring.
How to get to Borovets Hills?
Don’t worry about getting to Borovets Hills in Borovets, Rila mountain. Just use the Google map here by clicking on the red pin of its location and then select directions:
А: Borovets Resort 173
T: +359 887 773 778, +359 (0)750 / 3 24 10
Е: reservations@borovetshills.com
If you need to rent a car, you can book it here in the box of the largest booking platform.
How to book your stay in Borovets?
If you are already planning a mountain vacation in Borovets, I recommend that you book your stay right here. For your convenience, I have added a booking.com box, which refers directly to their site. I guarantee you’re going to use all your genius discounts and privileges they would offer to you. Just enter the dates of your trip, then hit the Search button and voila. In addition, booking.com are doing their best to make sure that your expectations as a customer are fulfilled. I’ve described an example about the latter in my story about our stay in Shangri-La hotel in Singapore .
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