We stayed in the Hotel Pirin from 5th March 2011 to 12th March 2011. The Hotel in general has lots of charm and the staff are generally helpful and courteous.

The hotel is located in the centre of the old town in Bansko. For me this was a little inconvenient as I would of preferred to have been located in the new (uglier) end of town, close to the ski gondola and apres ski bars and restauarants. A taxi to the gondola area takes about 5 mins and will vary in price greatly depending on the taxi drivers mood and treatment of tourists (varied between 6 lev and 16 lev).

The hotel itself is of the standard you would expect of a good 3-star hotel in the rest of Europe, however the Spa facilities are excellent and probably the reason why the hotel has been awarded a 4-star rating. Dont forget to bring flip flops or slippers for the pool area. The decor is comfortable if not a little dated and the rooms are big and benefit from daily towel/linen changes and sateliette television. Bansko live is particularly beneficial as we were able to see the weather and temperatures on the mountain each morning before leaving and dress accordingly.

The food was as expected, edible for a non fussy eater. If you are fussy dont go half board, its that simple. The food did vary, but tended to consist of pork, cabbage, sausuage, chicken and potatoes/rice. A Small side salad is avaiable in addition to two variants of soup. The breakfasts were horrible, mainly consisting of dried out eggs, cold meats and stale breads.

The ski bus runs from outside the hotel once every half hour from 8.30 to 11, but stops after 11, so if you want a lie in a taxi is in order. The skiing is suprisingly good, and we didnt queue for longer than 30 mins (Day 1) on any day for the gondola. Once on the slopes there are rarely any queues for the lifts. This will be different during Jan and Feb however.

There are an abundance of local mehanas (traditional restaurants/taverns) within walking distance, that serve great food and wine at very reasonable rates. The price of a beer varies greatly in the resort, for example in one of the Mehanas a pint of the local beer cost 1.90 lev, as oppossed to 5 lev in the bars in and around the gondola station.

All in all I would say that the Hotel Pirin is a charming hotel that probably best suits families and older couples (due to its location in the old town). The spa facilities are excellent and are a pleasure after a tiring day on the slopes.

Don't go to the "Pirin" hotel, Bansko ski resort, Bulgaria
My family and I stayed at the "Pirin" hotel in Bansko, Bulgaria from the 28th of February till the 6th of March.
We enjoyed the mountain resort and had great time skiing and snowboarding.
One of our rooms had only one bathrobe, but we didn't pay much attention to this, and used only one bathrobe when we went to the pool.
As we were leaving the hotel, the receptionist told us that we are missing a bathrobe.
We told her that we didn't have two bathrobes to begin with, and we absolutely don't need to take a bathrobe with us home.
At this moment she told us that she wouldn't give my sisters' passport back unless we pay 70 lv( which is approximately 35 euros)
We tried to explain that we didn't hide or burn or do anything with the bathrobe, and we didn't even use it because we didn't have it in our room.
"You should have reported it as soon as you got the room", well, it's not my job to count various objects in the room, and report my findings to the receptionist, I told her.
"It is impossible to have only one bathrobe" was the only answer I got, and after threatening us by calling the police, and showing off their security thugs, I had no choice but to pay for the bathrobe I never even used.
It was a very embarrassing experience, and a very bad way to end a great vacation, needless to say 35 euros were stolen from me with nothing I could do about it.
But the most amazing part was that I spoke to another couple, on the way to the airport, who stayed in this hotel, and they said that the hotel staff did the exact thing to them!
I really enjoyed Bansko, the atmosphere there is amazing, the ski slopes are great and the people are very friendly,
but if you ever go there DO NOT stay and the Pirin hotel! They lied and stole my money.

I stayed at Pirin hotel on February 2011. Nice, clean place in the city center - planty of restaurants and shops and not croudy at all. Easy to get to the gondola and back by shuttles. The hotel stuff is very helpfull and polite. They have nice pool and perfect sauna!
The food is bearable, but if you go out there are planty of restaurants with unbelievably tasty food for reasonable price.
Frankly speaking i was a bit surprised, i did not expect to get a good hotel for the price i paid.

My husband and me have visited Bansko Bulgaria last week for a Ski vacation.
one of the reasons that we have chooseמ Bansko is it's low rate-which happened to be a huge mistake....
This town is Not tourists friendly what's so ever....the feeling is that the people are still iiving under the Communistic influence.
Regarding the Pirin hotel- first of all Not 4 stars at all-more like a youth hostel.
The food is unbearable-I think that prisoners are treated better....
The rooms are so so,the beds not comfortable at all and the room decoration s still from the 70's....
But the thing that had botherd me the most is THE ATTITUDE.the crow wasn't friendly and helpfull at all.when I have asked a question they were not hapy to assist.
that's about it-do the math....