Hotel Markony, Pamporovo

As with Borovets, Pamporovo suffers from many of the age-old complaints about skiing in Eastern Europe - dull food, lousy accommodation, thefts, bad queues and poor maintenance of lifts and runs. The list of whinges goes on and, unfortunately, they are largely true. But that misses the point… These resorts aren't catering for the Swiss Brigade - they aim to attract people on slimmer budgets who want to learn to ski inexpensively. And they are successful. Pamporovo has an excellent ski school and a good crèche, while the runs are best suited to beginners and lower intermediates (25 km). The queues aren't too bad and the scenery is quite impressive. The resort itself has everything you'll need, although it is very basic. Most people stay in the two main hotels, Perelik and Moutgaret, which are fine by Eastern European standards.

Overall, Pamporovo is a very cheap place to learn, with low prices and limited skiing. If you can smile and ignore the many faults, it makes a perfectly reasonable place to visit for a first-timer, although the snow can be unreliable, particularly late in the season.