If getting away from it all is your thing, this is a superb spot. The house is a lovely rustic one set in a large garden in a beautiful wooded area. It's close to the village of Kravenik, which has a useful shop. We loved the chilled out feel of the house and the area during our stay. It was my first stay in Bulgaria. Suffice it to say that I will be back, as I found it a very enjoyable experience. People who enjoy wildlife and walking will particularly enjoy the area, and culturally it's fascinating. Thanks to Elena and John for the stay!

This is a rare opportunity to stay in a beautifully restored traditional Bulgarian house. We had a wonderful week here, walking in the beech woods, swimming in mountain streams, and cooling off under waterfalls! The barn is a delightful spot, set in an orchard, with glimpses of the distant mountains through the trees. We spent many happy hours here eating leisurely breakfasts, reading and snoozing in the hammock. Our sons were a little put out that there was no wifi, but had lots of fun jumping off rocks into waterfall pools, and fishing for tiny silvery fish with maggots donated by a friendly local. The house is delightfully peaceful - just the sound of crickets (or cicadas?) and goat bells to lull you to sleep. John and Elena were very helpful with advice about where to swim, and which restaurants to try. I would definitely recommend this house as a really special place to stay.

Lovingly restored traditional house. Living accommodation is excellent. Located on the upper floor only. Compact two bedroomed accommodation supplemented by a wonderful restored barn area (with hammock) for eating, relaxing and watching the birds. We travelled by public transport which was fine with support of lift from the village on arrival. There are shops down the hill in the village for supplies and a walk through the woods to the local hotel for meals. The walk back up from the village is thirty minutes uphill so you need to be a bit fit if you aren’t bringing a car. With a car it makes an ideal base for exploring the area. Lovely walks along quiet roads, paths and up in to the pine forest. Received great support from the owners and their local representatives. Thoroughly enjoyed our visit experiencing rural life.

The house is rustic and authentic, but not nescesarily in the good way. It is a small and old renovated house, with dust and cobwebs in the corners. There are authentic wooden furnishing (and a slight naphthlene odor), unbalanced wooden floor, a very basic kitchen and a mixture of bedding and towels. Some people will find it graceful.. The yard is actually a declined old fruit orchard, and certainly not a playing yard. The trees are not treated and most of the fruits that ripe are wormy. It is mentioned in the website that it is suitable for 6 people. We declared that we are 5 and came 6 at last. Apparantly, the price mentioned in the website is for 4 people, so we had to add 50% more! In return, we got 2 lousy folding beds that occupied the little space that house has to offer. But.. all these is nothing comparing the fact that we were not alone! The attic is teeming with rats!!! During daytime they are quiet but at night they are twinkling and scratching and moving over, and the woodwn ceiling accelerates the accoustics. The owners left a nice note asking not to be scared of them, but somehow, they omitted the rats presence from the website.. We reserved the house for a week, but the inconvience of the beds and the unstoppable rats' noise at night made us leave after 3 nights. Dear John & Elena- you were kind enough to respond our small requests at arrival. Please Don't offer the house for more than 4 people and please (!) get rid of your permanant guests.. Shahar Eyal

Elena and John's cottage is in a beautiful and tranquil location. Perfect to get away from the noise and business of city life. It was quite cold but there is an endless supply of wood to warm the place by fire. It's great value for money and set in the stunning mountains only a few hours from Sofia. Elena and John were always on hand to help as well, which was very useful given that I was on my own.

It was our first time in Bulgaria and having two small girls (4 and a half years and 21 months), we decided that renting a house for a few days was the best option to visit (and feel) the country. We were really surprised when we finally found the house: it was smaller than what we thought it would be and the terrace wasn't adjacent to the house (this was a annoying as we had to watch after the girls all the time). We had no hot water but Elena and John helped us from England to solve it quickly. Finally, we loved staying in this house: we had everything we needed, the mattresses were really good (except for the camp bed) and the nature around is gorgeous. The pool of the Romantica hotel had a lot of succes with our kids (10 minutes by car). Nights on the terrace were nice too... We could hear wild boars eating apples in the forest nearby and we even saw a badger in the garden. We would definitly recommend this house but suggest that Elena and John find a way to communicate directly with a local person since international calls (Belgium- Bulgaria-England) have cost us a lot.

When we booked this place for 3 weeks we were not too sure what exactly to expect. But the surprise was very positive. The house was clean (we are Swiss!) large and tastefully refurbished with great respect for nice old details yet quite practical with a fully equipped kitchen (no stove nor microwave) where we cooked almost all our meals, good beds and a great open air dining-room/lounge in the (or under the roof of the) adjacent barn - we spent hours there in the shade just relaxing and reading in the hamak and easy chairs. Shopping is possible in the nearby village shop and fresh cow milk available from the farmer. - No WiFi but decent internet access. Hiking maps are in the house. Great market in Apriltsi on Sundays. Various restaurants in easy reach. Great hiking-trails in easy reach (by car) wonderful rivers with clear water. Elena (with her daughter and sister) made us feel very welcome, showed us around and helped us to understand the basics of the local culture which was so helpful for us being complete foreigners. We will recommend the place to anyone who loves nature and quietness and appreciates a bit of tasteful simple life.