Have just got back from the Tanne after a week skiing in Bankso with Thomson. I travelled with my boyfriend and 2 other friends and we all loved the Tanne. It's a small hotel (about 30ish rooms)but the rooms are furnished to a high standard with lovely modern comfortable bathrooms. Our room was warm all the time - I note that other reviewers have said that theirs was cold, perhaps they have fixed that problem as I had to sleep on top of the duvet every night as I was too warm. The staff were all brilliant on reception. I left cash with one of them to be collected by one of those guys who films you on the slopes, which I was a bit dubious of, and he got the money and left us our dvd, no problems at all. They also went out of their way to help us with getting hold of the rep when Thomson failed to collect us on the last day (resulting in a hilarious race by car to catch the coach up!). The only thing they weren't keen on was changing pounds - they prefer Euros, but there are loads of exchanges within a five minute walk to change money, and they said if we had any difficulty they would do it and guess the exchange rate. We were bed and breakfast which was a continental buffet and had plenty of choice. The swimming pool was quite nice and is overlooked by the lobby bar. However, the jacuzzi is still not working!
As mentioned in another review there are two ski buses in the morning - 8.30 and 9am, and two in the afternoon, 3.30 and 4pm. We tended to get the 9am and then walk back in the afternoon. It is about 5 mins walk to the gondola station so it's no problems walking back with ski boots. They can take you on the ski bus at other times but you have to pay as they are a small hotel and there is no point in them offering any more runs than this a day. Overall a great hotel, tradional but with modern comforts (this may be true of most hotels in Bankso though as they are all newish - the Tanne opened in 2002).

About Bansko - lovely old town with loads of cheapish tradional mehanas to eat in. Our favourite was the Butcher's Hut. Nice Bulgarian wines to enjoy. Yes there is building going on but Bankso as a ski resort only opened in 2000 so of course there are new hotels being built. Having said that we didn't see any construction work or hear any noise. There were a couple of half built buidings near our hotel and we wondered if there was some problem due to the credit crunch, our ski instructor told us there were only about half the number of tourists as the same time last year. On the first day (Sunday) there was a HORRENDOUS queue for the gondola due to everyone arriving for ski fitting etc at the same time - be prepared to sit it out. After the first day we arrived at about 9.15 and only had a two - five minute wait. If you go at 8.30 or at 10am (or later) there will be no queue at all. We had to wait 5 mins as all the ski schools start at 10 and thus more people want the gondola from 9.15 - 9.30. The main thing I disliked about Bankso (and this is really a minor thing) was the touts outside the restaurants trying to get you to go in. It's a bit of a "run the gauntlet" type thing due to there being less tourists. However, they will leave you alone if you just smile politely and say no thank you. Or you can walk to the old town down back streets rather than Pirin Street.

Overall I would recommend Bankso for a good value skiing holiday and would definitely recommend the Hotel Tanne.

Bad things:
Noisy, elevator is old and make scary noises, cold rooms, dinner menu is consist in a poor food, one of receptionist is like all-time drunk, room cleaning at two days, restaurant is cramped, waiters attention is dirrected to tips, jakuzzi is not working, wireless internet only in lobby, no audio equipment in the room (only TV and satellite receiver), transportation from/to hotel only two times/day

Good things:
Hotel placement, breakfast, swimming pool, belle-vue

Stayed at the Hotel Tanne for a week from the 15th of March and was extremly pleasantly suprised. Yes the hotel is surrounded by other properties being build but the hotel itself is lovely, by far one of the nicest hotels I have stayed in for a long time. Unlike the previous reviewer our room was lovely and warm all the time. The rooms were large and comfortable, very clean and well furnished. The bathroom was big with bath, shower hairdryer and even bathrobes. We found the staff friendly and helpful. The buffet breakfast was great, loads of choice from bacon and eggs to pancakes and pasties to fresh fruit and cerial, couldn't fault it. There is a very nice swimming pool which I had to myself when i used it in the evening with towels provided. The location of the hotel is excellent for the slopes only a 5-10 minute walk to the gondilla and then about a 10-15 minute walk to the centre of Bansko where we found many lovely traditional restaurants which were all very reasonable (£4-8 for a main meal, a pint of beer from 80p). Overall we had a lovely time and once you are up the slopes you cant see any building work would definitly return especially as its so much cheaper than anywhere else. Would definitly reccommend this hotel it has lots of character, friendly staff, is well placed and the rooms are of an excellent standard.

Let me say up front that I was pleasantly surprised by Bulgaria and the Bulgarian people. The countryside is beautiful, the people are very warm and friendly and the food is superb. The skiing in Bansko is good, the chairlift is top-class and it wasn't busy by Alpine standards. There are great plans to develop the area, and there is a lot of development underway in Bansko, although the planners have tried to squeeze accomodation into every spare metre which leads to a feeling of overcrowded buildings and no greenery. The property developers show pictures of beautiful new developments but fail to tell you (or show in their glossy literature) about the new building directly opposite overlooking you (buyers of property in Bansko beware).

Staying in the Tanne in Bansko was extremely disappointing.

- cold room, we were told the heating was switched off out of season yet we were there at the end of March which is still in season
- jacuzzi not working
- pool closed early
- some surly staff
- staff watching tv in reception
- noise at 7am from construction workers arriving in their cars and buses and the hotel is surrounded by buildings under construction
- definitely not four star by UK standards, perhaps two star would be better description, but they are charging 4 star rates similar to other, much better, 4 star hotels (eg The Lion)

Also, as one reviewer already pointed out, Bansko is a building site.
- Old town is beautiful and very quaint with lots of nice places to eat (Mehanna)
- but the new town is a building site, looks like a bomb site in places
- lack of roads surfaced to/from hotels
- unexistent or uneven pavements
- noisy from construction; cranes, dust, lots of “dug up” areas, uncompleted buildings

We would certainly NOT recommend the Tanne and would recommend leaving Bansko for 3-4 years until the building is more advanced. We spoke with a property developer rep and even she said it would be 3- 4 years before things were complete. If you are thinking of buying in Bansko I would go and check the location and whether they are building nearby as any spare land will undoubtedly be built upon. We have friends who bought in the nearby Woodlands Spring resort and have just discovered that the Mayor has started building his own hotel next door directly looking onto their property. This is not shown on the marketing materials from Brittania.....Buyer beware !

All that said, we enjoyed Bulgaria and the Bulgarian people we met in shops, the streets and restaurants could not have been nicer so we will go back...in a few years.