How To Book Rooms In Bansko Part 1

Well booking a Bansko room cant be hard, can it not? Sometimes the whole job feels like pulling teeth.

Time spent surfing the web, checking availability, checking whether 100 metres to gondola means 1,000 metres, and so on. It can be a painful process.

But like an American burger joint, sometimes there can be just too much choice. Bansko has loads of room options. Don't be a monkey. Read on for my guide on how to successfully find and book the room that satisfies all your requirements.


Quick Economics Lesson

But before I do this, here is my reminder of some school economics.

The world is going through its seismic changes for really one fundamental reason. There is an excess of supply over demand.

This is the real cause, not greedy bankers or government failings. This is the reason millions of people are losing their jobs right now. There is too much supply.

However here is the good news.

When supply increases beyond demand, prices fall. So what has this got to do with booking a room in Bansko? Well, everything really.


Construction Boom and Supply

Over the past six years the huge demand for investment property, primarily from English and Irish investors. It lead to a huge building spree. Whilst many were surprised that so many building licences were granted, the fact is, there are now around 15,000 apartments and studios in Bansko.

Assuming some two and three bedroom apartments, its a fair assumption that there is accommodation, including hotel rooms, for well over 35,000 people in the Razlog Valley.

Well there would be, if they were all available to rent. Some owners don't want to rent, don't want to furnish and some think they can't be bothered to rent out at low rents.

Okay, the message is clear, Bansko now has a huge supply of rooms.

Nobody knows the exact amount of rooms to be supplied - but there seems to be a consensus of this number. So its as good a guess as any.


Factor on the Demand

The next thing to consider is demand. Sometimes relative demand is easy to determine. For example, demand is lot higher over New Year than mid January. But what you need to know is that, whatever time of year, you should be booking your accommodation, or room, at the very lowest price that satisfies your needs.

Prices vary from around five euros to over two hundred euros per night - so you can see this is more complicated than you might believe! There are fabulous prices available out there that many hotels don't want you to know about. More of this next time.


Factors to consider and try and prioritise:

1. Decide how many there are in your group or family, are there young children?
2. Decide what you really like. e.g luxury hotel with swimming pool spa, home style, space?
3. If you are skiing , is being a few minutes walk from gondola an essential requirement?
4. Do you like to able to walk into the town?
5. Do you like a chalet atmosphere?
6. Do you like to stay in?
7. Do you need to work in your room?
8. Are you organising a group?
9. Are you organising a school or society trip?
10. Are you looking to feel part of a the local scene?
    

Depending on your answers here, you now need to find the right accommodation that satisfies almost all of your requirements. For the lowest price.

I am going to show you how to do this for Bansko's complex and varied accommodation scene.

So check this out in part two next month. But I am going to give subscribers a head start, by sending this out to you by email on Tuesday. So if you enjoyed reading this article, then subscribe to my newsletter and be first to learn how to get the best out of Bansko.

As always, I value your comments. So whether you are a Bansko resident, regular visitor, property owner, hotel manager or potential visitor please comment on what you consider important right now. Click here for more about me.