St Vlas - Bells 3 - Complete

My parents just got back from St Vlas, and took some photos of the Bells 2 complex after all the new buildings were completed. In view here is my remaining sea view, as well as the church in the middle of the Arena 2 complex, and the back of Bells 3 in front.




There's still a small portion of sea in sight to the right hand side of the Bells 3 complex, but at least the building isn't too ugly. The grounds are looking a bit better this year too.







Full size pictures at St Vlas Photos

Vlas Holiday Rentals

I'm intending renting a bit this year, so head over to my Bulgaria rental website if you're interested...

Bulgaria

More photos over at the St Vlas, Bells 3 section of the Vlas Map website.

It would appear that things are also looking up a little in Sofia since Laguna started taking the market seriously. There have been a few concerns about percentages and things with them, but these will hopefully get ironed out.

It would appear that Bulgaria as a whole is starting to grab the interest of some big companies (Sony, Google, Microsoft), who are opening bases there, as well as some LA movie companies that can apparently make movies for a lot less than at home. The word on the street is that they will be based just along from Simeonovo, so my apartment there is in an ideal position to take advantage of this.

Bells 3 - St Vlas

It looks like the building of this is progressing well, the photos I've just received show the building pretty much at the roof level (Bells 3).

It looks like the view from the complex is going to be affected quite a bit, but it remains to be seen just how much is going to be left. I guess Barrasford and Bird may have been unaware of this complex when selling us the Bells 2 apartment, but the constant misleading information around small shops and churches being planned for the plot leaves an unpleasant taste in the mouth.

St Vlas Square and Marina

Well, Ros and her mum made it back in one piece. By all accounts they had a 'relaxing' time, mainly due to it being the start of the season and little really being open. The main updates are that the St Vlas square has been refurbished and is now a bit more friendly and attractive. The Dinevi Marina, which is one of the main attractions, is almost complete, with a selection of shops and bars opening by the day. We did find out that a new complex (Bells 3) is being built on the land that was vacant in front of us, it remains to be seen whether this will impact us too much, but the plans look like it's an attractive complex with a design that will complement the area. Photos are on Bulgaria Photos.

I work, she plays

We've just booked flights for Ros to go out to St Vlas with her mum next Saturday to check things out at Bells 2 and get a little break. The weather looks pretty good at the moment, hitting the 30's during the day!
The flights were pretty decently priced, I've been watching them for a while using the site I built and waited till they were under 200 quid each, and they ended up well under that.
I've armed her with a camera and instructions to take photos of everything so I can update the photo gallery and map with a bundle more snaps.
She can also take photos of the new complexes that are being built and get a feel for their locations and look. If anyone's interested in some advice/opinions on the new locations, give me a shout using this

St Vlas, maps, apartments and holidays

Wow, it's been a quick year (well, almost).

Most of the apartment stuff is dealt with, I stayed for two weeks last year, and my parents went over with my sister and child for a couple of weeks in August. The good news is that the apartment is great, very roomy and the spare toilet comes in handy if you go out with Robin Barrasford the night before (yeah, I blame the chicken).

On the whole it's been a pretty painless experience, pretty much all of the Barrasford and Bird staff are as helpful as they can be, though you need to make allowances for the Bulgarian work ethos, which I haven't really discovered just yet.

I've put together a website for apartment rental which shows the apartment and a number of photos of the area that I thought were nice. I plan on being over there a few times this year, so the availability is quite sketchy. Of course, customers come first...

I've also put together another couple of websites. One to track the flight prices from the UK to Bulgaria (Watch Flights). One to allow owners/visitors to share local knowledge by adding them onto a map of the area (Bulgaria, Vlas map), and I've moved from Flickr to my own website for hosting photos, just to save the membership fee they charge (Bulgaria Photos).

I'll be updating all the information as I get it this year - the marina is coming along nicely, the amphitheatre is about finished, Vlas square has been revamped and there will be a number of new complexes. It'll be exciting to see how it all fits together.