October  2023

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Hospitality means welcoming travelers or offering a home away from home, and the word is derived from the Latin word “hospes” meaning visitor or foreigner. The hospitality and tourism industry is a broad sector that includes all economic activities that directly or indirectly contribute to or depend on travel and tourism. This sector includes hotels, restaurants, bars, transport services, event management, spa and wellness, cruises.

Source: EHL Hospitality Business School, Switzerland

I always return with great pleasure to Hotel Lucky Bansko! Every year we have stayed at least 2 times during the summer because our children regularly attended the Lucky Kids camp. They felt happy there and wanted to extend their stay every year. We, on the other hand, enjoyed relaxing on the weekend, hiking in the mountains and swimming in the pools. We decided in warm October to go there again and this time we found the hotel changed – new management, new employees, renovated rooms. Read on to see what else has changed and what else impressed us in Lucky Bansko’s hospitality.

 See Lucky Bansko ….

…. Upon entering, we immediately noticed on the left a very pleasant and cozy corner with wooden stumps, Christmas trees, glowing lights and a photo wallpaper with a snowy forest. A nice done IG selfie zone that looks like it’s well thought out. I wished it was Christmas, despite the 30-degree temperatures outside, uncharacteristic for October.

…. Renovated comfortable delux rooms – large snowy photo wallpapers with a black and white filter, a pleasant corner for rest in blue, soft carpet in chocolate – the colors of peace and relaxation. A ligh spot for reading, above a comfortable armchair, and in front of it a small table with compliments – fruit and a bottle of red wine;

… Smiles on the faces of the employees we meet on hotel grounds.

Feel Lucky Bansko ….

…. To the welcoming smiles of the employees, I also add their polite “Good moring” or “Good evening” – from the bellhop at the entrance, through the reception, the waiters in the restaurant, house keeping with the carts in the corridors of the rooms, to the managers who can often be noticed around, following the processes and feedback of the hotel guests.

What is impressive about the hospitality of Lucky Bansko is the energy that has captured the employees, their desire to show that they are proud to work in the hotel, to impress the guests with small details that will make them come back again. You always feel like you are in good hands. That’s why I titled the article that way – hospitality in good hands!

…. Assistance for anything the guest needs – service information, problem correction.

For example, we didn’t have a corkscrew to open our wine in the room. Immediately the bartender went down to the restaurant and brought it to me. There was a problem with the phone system, we could not dial reception from our room – a technician immediately came to check, identified the problem and asked when it would be convenient for him to come back to fix it. Everything was done according to our arrangement and the phone was working soon. Also, I had left my backpack with all the documents and money in the lobby bar. The bartender personally kept an eye on it and greeted me with a smile when I came to look for it.

Good service is evident not in the fact that situations and problems do not arise, because that is impossible, but in the adequate reaction when it turns out that way. Here we encountered professional behavior in every aspect. Decisions are made quickly and on the spot.

…. The small details:

… Although the available pillows are very comfortable, you can still order others of your choice from the pillows menu. There is an extra duvet in the wardrobe, in case the common one in the bedroom does not satisfy you.

… Special equipment and services for children – bathrobes, slippers, for babies – crib, toy, milk bottle warmer, changing mat, walker, toilet board and potty, stepladder, children’s cosmetics in the bathroom, children’s chairs in the restaurant. In the spa area – children’s pools, shallower and with a higher temperature, an attraction mushroom spilling water, special massages for children. The kids’ club has an animator and all kinds of entertainment for children.

There is absolutely no need to load up the car with loads of gear just because you have a baby or toddler. Everything will be provided here. Ask in advance just in case by phone before you go, some of the things are provided upon request.

… Service in the spa area – availability of hair bands and pool caps for the pool, in case you forgot yours. Everything you ask about, they tell you and show you kindly. The massage therapist, apart from being friendly and answering any questions I had, was quite good, using a combination of techniques to relax every tense muscle and tissue. The oils and cosmetics for the procedures are of high quality.

The Spa of Lucky Bansko has a cryo chamber. In it, the client is briefly cooled to -160 degrees Celsius with liquid nitrogen, which has a very beneficial effect on the body at the cellular level. The experience is pleasant, not scary and very energizing. See proof in the video.

… Lindor chocolate sweets and tidying up the room before a night’s sleep – these pleasant sweets with a liquid center are a wonderful surprise – in the morning when you get up early and have a coffee, from the complimentary one in the room, prepared on the espresso coffee maker, the start of the day is super cool and energizing. Then I do a cryo-chamber or swim in the pool and have breakfast a little later.

Breakfast is served until 11:00 a.m. on the weekend, and until 10:30 a.m. during the week. This gives you the opportunity to eat without rushing and even if you miss the last hour, they don’t close the bouffe in front of  your nose, as is the case is in other hotels, rather they give you the opportunity to get something else.

… If you rely on highly ecological technologies and drive an electric car, you can charge for free at the station in front of the hotel. There is no danger of any diesel or petrol stopping at this place because it is specially marked and restricted by a sign. Otherwise, there is plenty of parking space, which is also a great comfort.

… Option to watch Netflix on the TV in the room – another treat I appreciate.

Hear Lucky Bansko ….

…. Favorite hits from the 70s, 80s, 90s (Earth Wind and Fire, Stevie Wonder, Grace Jones and many others) are played in the restaurant in the evening;

… At breakfast, energizing but not too loud music for good morning.

… In the spa area, pleasant relaxing music, silent enough not to interfere during the massage, but still audible.

Movie watching time: 7:21min.

Smell Lucky Bansko ….

…. When I first entered the room upon check-in, instead of the standard hotel smell of stuffy and stale air, it smelled like lavender, just like in a spa – super nice and surprising.

…. The L’Occitane cosmetics are my favorite, especially the verbena scent, which is exactly available in the bathroom.

…. The aroma of sesame oil and thyme in the massage oil, and before the massage itself, the feet are refreshed with a hot towel smelling of tangerine peels.

Taste Lucky Bansko….

…. The breakfast at Lucky Bansko has always been impressive and now it is as well. The block table is piled high with all kinds of sausages, charcuterie, cheese, fish, my favorite traditional Bulgarian eggs and cheese pie, vegetables, 3 types of eggs, pastries, fruit, and as if that wasn’t enough, omelettes and pancakes are also prepared separately. There is a special buffet for younger children with sandwiches and noodles, and purees for the little ones.

… In the hotel’s restaurant, Le Bistro, the menu is tight, which speaks of fine cuisine made of fresh products. Nothings is missing, even vegan options and special offers from traditional Bulgarian cuisine.

The food is delicious and fine, the plating is impeccable.

One recommendation I would make is to have more light spotted to the tables in the restaurant, because the wonderful food cannot be seen in its full glory on the plates.

Why more light is needed when we have a visual masterpiece on the plate can be read in the post of the 5D Sensograph page – What is fovea and what does it have to do with gourmet?.

… We had the pleasure of having the attention of the F&B (food and beverage) manager. He recommended a leaves salad with homemade duck pastrami. The combination with poached pear and beetroot was very interesting. They were all dark red wine in color, but each with a different taste and aroma, complementing each other. Again, on his recommendation, we paired it with a red wine from Midalidare – a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot, which was a very good combination.

… Unconventional appetizer, smoked salmon cheesecake – crispy biscuit topped with Philadelphia cream, smoked salmon, arranged as a rose, red caviar and asparagus. Very beautiful and delicious!

… Aniseed salmon with black rice and fennel. Perfectly baked, with a light crust on top, on a canapé of perfectly cooked black rice and fennel slices. Again, on the recommendation of our host, I supplemented it with Pernod, whose anise aroma went into combination with the fennel in the dish and it turned out quite well.

… The confit duck leg was nice with an even nicer side of sweet potato puree and sweet potato chips.

… Grilled chicken steak with potatoes was also a good choice, as well as from the Bulgarian section Katinoto meze, with its wonderful aroma of red pepper and tomato puree.

Katino meze is a traditional dish from South Western part of Bulgaria, made of meat strips, red pepper, mushrooms and onion.

… A wonderful crème brûlée ended the evening, accented by a caramelized walnut.

But the most impressive thing for me was the well-chosen wine list, by their sommelier.

Unfortunately, there are still few places in Bulgaira using the service of a sommelier, and here he has taken care to surprise in the most pleasant way even demanding wine lovers like us. We are all used to seeing in wine lists wines from New Zealand (Sauvignon Blanc), Italy (Pinot Grigio), Bulgaria, some French wine, from the sparkling- Prosecco, and as the only representative of Champagne – Moët & Chandon. And that’s it.

Here, however, my attention was immediately drawn to Albert Bichot’s Cremant de Bourgogne, interesting representatives from Southern Rhône, Languedoc, Loire and Burgundy from France, Austria, Germany, Portugal, USA. Champagne was far from being exhausted by the traditional offerings, there are also other representatives of the area.

The only thing is that it is still difficult to offer a glass of these wonderful bottles because the restaurant needs more traffic, i.e. more active season. You can order 375 ml bottles, but they are not as interesting as the big ones.

However, the F&B manager made up his mind on the spot and offered me a glass of red wine to pair with the salad he so warmly recommended.

How can I not come back to Lucky Bansko again! Everything has been thought of. Even of a private club – a cigar and whiskey bar, with quality drinks – aged scotches, bourbons, brandy, cognac – all tempting things.

Regardless of the fact that our children have already passed the age for the Lucky Kids kids’ camp, which the hotel organizes every summer, we intend to continue visiting Lucky Bansko hotel. We feel cozy and comfortable there and we know we are in good hands!

How to get to hotel Lucky Bansko?

Just use the Google map here by clicking on the red pin of its location and then select directions:

T: +359 879 111 222

E: res@luckybansko.bg

Check-in: 15 Check-out: 12

How to book your stay?

I recommend that you check the packages that the hotel offers on their website because they are very affordable. But for your convenience, I have also put a box on booking.com. Compare the prices and choose an option.

Booking.com

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Do you ever wonder how some places differ so much from others in service, environment, as an overall experience? This means you are also interested like me in the topic of The Experience Economy by Joseph Pine and James Gilmore. I constantly add to my collection reviews about those of them, which practice its principles, regardless of intentionally or accidentally. If you are curious to understand which they are, explore category The Experience Economy.

The post is made at the special invitation of the new management of the hotel, for which I express special thanks for giving me the chance to enjoy a wonderful weekend break. I will gladly come back to Lucky Bansko again!