London, 26 February 2006, The Sunday Times By Peter Conradi

The mountains of eastern Europe offer potential bargains for winter holiday homebuyers. Peter Conradi of The Sunday Times checks out the options
The reaction among fellow diners at the London dinner party was one of amazement mingled with mild disdain. “You’re going to Bulgaria to ski?” said one, his lip slightly curled, as the conversation turned away briefly from the relative merits of Klosters and Lech. “My brother went, and said it wasn’t bad, considering... ”

The rest of the sentence was left hanging — but considering what? That Bulgaria was run by the Communists for 50 years? That it is almost twice as far away as the Alps? Or maybe that the country has recently acquired something of a reputation as a cheap-as-chips destination for holidaying on a shoestring?

The reality is rather different. Bansko, Bulgaria’s prime ski resort, is not about to challenge Chamonix, Verbier, St Moritz or any of the other established alpine resorts for the title of Europe’s most exciting, or indeed, most glamorous, destination. Yet suddenly, this Slavic Ivan-come-lately is racing up on the outside, bidding for the 2014 Winter Olympics and expanding at a prodigious rate.

So is Bansko the kind of place that a self-respecting skier or snowboarder can be seen in these days? Harry Handelsman, chairman of Manhattan Loft Corporation, seems to think so.

Handelsman, who made his reputation in London with a number of ambitious warehouse conversions starting in the 1980s and 1990s, has teamed up with Bulgarian Dreams, one of the biggest British agents and developers, to create The Orchard, a new project about 300m from the lift.

Designed by Barbara Holzer, a Swiss architect, it stands out from other developments with its unusual, modern style. It also boasts the only skating rink in Bansko — and possibly even in Bulgaria — that cleverly converts into tennis courts in the summer.

“What impressed me about Bansko is that the village is very atmospheric. Unlike some European resorts, it really has a history,” says Handelsman (in an interview conducted rather inappropriately from Courchevel, where he rents a chalet for the season). “But I wasn’t very impressed by the other buildings that I saw there.

“To me, it’s a little bit like virgin territory. When we started with the scheme I was interested on one condition: that we got an international architect who was going to come in with a concept. The fact that Barbara is Swiss means she understands the nuances: that there are certain things a ski chalet has that are different from a summer home.”

Despite the unusual design, prices are not expensive, even by Bulgarian standards: they start at £24,000 for a 24sq m studio and go up to £190,000 for a 168sq m flat. The first phase, much of which is already sold out, is due for completion in July next year.

The Orchard is only one of a number of developments being sold by Bulgarian Dreams in the resort, many of them with marble entrances and state-of-the-art spa complexes that feature saunas, steam rooms and rather alarming shower-like contraptions that douse you with crushed ice at the touch of button.

From an office down at the other end of resort, meanwhile, its arch-rivals, estate agency Bulgarian Properties, is also avidly marketing Bansko. Its current flagship development is the Redenka Golf & Ski Club, which boasts a spa and sports centre as well as discounted green fees at the nearby course under construction. One-bedroom apartments start at £32,730. For Adrian Musgrave, 58, a Briton who runs the company’s Bansko office, the Olympic bid — backed by the 1980s ski legend Marc Girardelli, the only man to have won five world championships — is a symbol of the resort’s determination to put itself on the map. “These guys don’t put their reputations on the line lightly,” he says. “Bulgaria is very much a country in transition, and the rate of transition is phenomenal.”

The village at the heart of Bansko is a surprisingly pleasant place, with a selection of homely mehanas, traditional Bulgarian restaurants where you can eat — and drink — to your heart’s content in front of a blazing fire for next to nothing, even if the roving bands of gypsy musicians are a little overenthusiastic. Although I spotted a Lions Pub, with draught English beer and Sky Sports, it is clear the resort caters more for families than gangs of young males. Despite the intense British property-buying interest, you are more likely to hear Greek, Russian or Bulgarian than English on the slopes.

Louise Perkins, 34, a fitness trainer from Nottingham, has been pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere. She and her husband, Jon, also 34, bought a small one-bedroom flat in a development called the Bell Tower near the centre of the village for £38,000 that they are living in for the season during a career break. They will probably let it out once they return to Britain. “It’s not just because it’s cheap,” says Perkins. “Bansko’s picturesque and a bit like an Austrian village rather than one of these places they just chucked up in the 1970s.”

Not that the Bulgarians aren’t doing more than their fair share of construction. Although the historic village centre is untouched, the scale of buildings both along its outskirts and elsewhere in the surrounding valley is staggering — much as it is along the country’s Black Sea coast, several hundred miles to the east.

The infrastructure is coping — for now, at least — although permanent residents complain of the occasional power cut. There is not much traffic compared with some alpine resorts. There are also plans to build a second main ski lift up from the village. The council has yet to decide where it will start from, prompting a frenzy of speculation among people who own plots of development land.

The whole point of a mountain resort is the skiing, so how does Bansko shape up? The first impression on a recent afternoon was favourable: the gondola up from the village is ultra-modern and there was no queue, while both lift pass and equipment hire were about half alpine rates. The chair lifts further up the mountain were equally modern Austrian-made affairs. The slopes were well groomed but not exactly exciting: the small selection of reds and a few blues would be enough to keep beginners and intermediates happy for a few days, but a more advanced skier will get bored quickly and start heading for the ice rink.
Bansko’s two rivals are struggling to keep up: Pamporovo, although the largest and reputedly the sunniest of the three, does not have a lot to offer expert skiers. Borovets is smaller, but is more conveniently located just 40 miles from Sofia. If it is excitement and sophistication you are after, you had better visit Courchevel. But look at the prices, and maybe Bankso is not such a bad deal.
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