Food in restaurant was terrible, cold food and service was poor. Staff were ok. Resort for skiing was ok but every day you had to wait in a que for the gondola. Swimming pool was cold and so was the jacuzzi.

this was our first ever ski holiday which is why we chose bulgaria due to it being cheap. After a lot of research we decided to go for the guinness. On the whole we were very happy with a few exceptions. The main problem was the half board food, it was awful. We are talking cold hospital food bad. Seriously, breakfast was edible, but not enjoyable and dinner was no better. Luckily the restaurants outside were fantastic and very cheap as surprisingly was the room service. The rooms were very good, large clean and well furnished. The bathroom was stylish with a hot powerful shower which never ran cold. The cleaner was very good and came every day. We did find it quite noisy in the evenings from the bar until about midnight so you may struggle for an early night if your a light sleeper. it took about 4 or 5 minutes to walk to the gondola each day and very few hotels are closer. We used bansko express transfers and found them to be a very professional set up at 19 euros each way per person. The self catering kitchenette was useless as no pots plates or cutlery etc are provided which was a disappointment. In general I was impressed with the hotel and the skiing was great, especially for beginner to good intermediate but I cannot stress enough just how poor the half board food was. Enjoy!

Never cleaned the room for 3 days. Food and restaurant was terrible cold food and service non existant waitresses were more interested in listening to the constant club music being played. Internet only worked at the bar in reception very slow service. Resort for skiing was ok once you got up the hill but the que was very long for the gondola. Swimming pool was cold and so was the jacuzzi. worst hotel i have stayed in for years

We arrived back from Bansko yesterday, and I've never been so relieved to come home from a holiday!

The hotel is advertised as 5*, and yes, this may be the case by Bulgarian standards, but I have no idea how Balkan Holidays have the audacity to hold it in such high esteem....where do I start?? We had no hot water on any of the mornings of our stay, and when we approached the receptionist staff to question this, we were met with a large sigh and much shrugging of her shoulders. Upon taking this up with our Balkan rep, he informed us that he had sorted out our problem for us and that we would have hot water....not the case, unfortunately.

Our room was generally dirty; the bathroom had a large gathering of dark hairs and other dirt around the perimeter of the floor (neither of us have dark hair), the shower was never cleaned for the duration of our stay, and although our towels were changed "most" days, we often only received one bath towel in replacement, so had to ring and request another. There are no baths in any of the rooms, which I find quite strange for a ski resort hotel. Our mistake being, that although our tour operator's website did not highlight this, other websites advertising the hotel, actually stated that each room had a bath. This would not have been such a problem for us usually, as the hotel does have a jacuzzi within the pool area, but during our stay this was not working, so we had to live with our aching muscles!

With regards to the kitchen area of our room, even though we had two electric hobs, a sink (with no plug), and a fridge, there was the grand total of 3 drinking glasses in one of the cupboards...not a kettle, cutlery item or pan in sight!

Food at the hotel is typically Bulgarian, which is not a problem, but we found the selection quite poor for a hotel that rated itself as 5*. Although we were half board, we ate out every night, which I think speaks for itself.

Generally, we found the hotel staff to be very rude and not at all helpful. Upon checking out on our last morning, we were accused of consuming the peanuts, chocolate, mineral water and beer from the "mini bar" in the fridge in our room. We informed the receptionist that these items had never even been present on our arrival, which lead to a rather elongated discussion,delaying our departure from the hotel...not the best memory to leave with. Our advice to avoid this situation would be to have the porter who first brings your cases to your room on arrival, list the items in the fridge and agree them with you.

We spoke with others, also on holiday in Bansko, who were staying in the Kempinski Grand Arena and the Lucky Bansko, who appeared very satisfied with their accomodation...given that I chose the Guinness over the Kempinski from Tripadvisor recommendations, I would really beg people to think twice about choosing this hotel.

Bankso itself is a lovely resort, the skiing (which is ultimately why we were there of course!) is fantastic, and the Victoria Restaurant (opposite the Kempinski Grand Area hotel) is to be highly recommended not only for both quality of food and service, but is also great value for money.