Hotel Bistra, Resort Mavrovo

We got half board and from the first day the dinner the food was the worst i have ever tried, i had the beef that i wasn’t sure it’s even meat with old potatoes and my boyfriend got the pasta that was swimming in oil only and the worst can be called salad

We booked two rooms for a total of three people for a week. The booking included breakfast and dinner. At dinner, we asked what was included with our stay and what was extra. The waiter lied to our faces and said everything in the menu was included. Knowing that hotels usually charge for alcohol, we asked if the beer was included. The same waiter again lied and told us it was included, so we ordered it. Still something felt suspicious, so I asked another staff member and they told us that there was only a limited list of included drinks and everything else was extra. By the way, there was no written list of the included drinks anywhere in the restaurant. The only way to know was by asking staff. Also the included drinks were described vaguely, so one could order a drink that was extra, thinking it was included. They then comped our meal, which we appreciated. However, when asked about the prices of the drinks in the coming days and if they were included, a waitress replied "depends who's serving", implying that based on staff, the prices might change. Not an appropriate response for a business.

We have been there on several occasions, usually in spring. In 2022 we stayed for skiing in February, and were pleasantly surprised by some improvements. For dinner we were offered several different dishes and each time was good quality and kids and vegetarians were satisfied as well. It was at 100% guest capacity that week, but at no time it felt crowded or had any service delay. Staff were professional and nice. At one time my daughter got dizzy in the lobby for some reason and they rushed to help and bring juice. She was fine in a couple of minutes :). The pool was warm enough for the kids, and all the spa amenities were functional and up to standard. If you have energy after skiing you can visit the gym in the "sister" Hotel Sport below; it was decent. Bistra is pricey for Macedonian conditions. But even so I would advice to consider the Delux room. It was noticeably bigger and had a "jacuzzi" inside. Its just a slightly bigger bathtub with several water jets on the sides, but we did enjoy it. No need to write something for the perfect location, if you ski it is very convenient to use the shortcut 50m from Hotel doors to the chairlift.