Why Bansko? My Place for Mountain Air, Cosiness and the Little Things

The first time I came to Bansko was almost by chance.

I was here with my family and some friends for a weekend. We had come to help prepare the house of one of our friends’ uncles for winter. I had only ever heard of Bansko and had no particular expectations.

Then morning came.

I got up early and saw Pirin, just touched by the first rays of sunlight. It looked magnificent and so peaceful that I stood there watching it.

At the time, I had no idea how important Bansko would become to me.

Years later, I was staying in the village of Banya. I woke up, looked outside and saw Pirin, Rila and the Rhodope Mountains around me.

I remember saying to myself:

‘One day, my place will be here too.’

And I never stopped believing it would happen.

And it did.

Today, I wake up in our family apartment with the mountains in view. When I drink my coffee in the morning and look at them, I think back to that moment and to a wish that somehow found its way to me.

Bansko then and Bansko now

Nearly 20 years ago, Bansko felt like a small mountain village with enormous potential.

Little houses, cows, sheep, quiet and calm. There was something very real about it — almost like visiting your grandparents and feeling time suddenly begin to move more slowly.

Today, Bansko is very different. There is more life, more people, laughter, music and stories from all over the world.

And I like that too.

I like the energy of the town, the buzz in the streets and the smiles of people who have come to experience something new.

Of course, there are moments when I wish we all took a little more care of the beauty of this place. And the long gondola queues certainly test my patience from time to time.

But none of that has ever been enough to put me off Bansko.

Because some things seem not to have changed over all these years — the kind look in the eyes of older locals, their smiles and their readiness to help.

The people are part of my Bansko too

Over time, I realised it is not only the mountains that bring me back here.

The people do too.

Krasi is one of them — kind, warm-hearted and always smiling. She has helped me many times, and thanks to her I learnt how to make Bansko-style chomlek.

Then there is Desi. Our friendship began in a rather unusual way — with a first impression that was not especially good. But she did not give up, and her actions showed me who she really was. With time, trust came naturally. Now I smile when I think of Desi, because she is another reminder of just how wrong a first impression can be — and how lovely people can be when we give ourselves the chance to truly get to know each other.

Many more people are part of my Bansko.

Perhaps that is exactly what turns a place into home.

When there is someone to have coffee with, someone to hug and someone to call when you need help, a town is no longer just a point on the map.

How Mila Stays was born

Mila Stays grew out of my wish to share with other people the feeling I first had for Bansko all those years ago.

Not simply to offer somewhere to stay for a few days and then forget.

And even less would I ever want a guest to arrive and face things that should never be part of a holiday — feeling cold, having no hot water, an unpleasant smell, or the sense that nobody has truly cared for the place.

For me, cosiness begins with the most ordinary things.

It should be clean. It should be warm. Everything should work. You should walk in and feel that someone has thought about you before you arrived.

I want someone to open the door and immediately feel good there. To wake up in the morning, have their coffee and, even if only for a little while, feel they are exactly where they belong.

That is also why the way the apartment itself is treated matters to me.

I want the places I work with to be loved, looked after and improved over time, not simply treated as one more rental property.

I believe you can feel the difference.

And guests can feel it too.

When guests become friends

Once, we had guests from Cape Town whose taxi dropped them off almost two kilometres from the apartment.

They had large suitcases and were still prepared to walk the whole way. My husband simply went to pick them up.

For us, it was the obvious thing to do.

For them, it turned out to be a gesture they remembered.

Later, we talked about their travels, their skiing adventures in Japan and their impressions of Bansko. They told us the town was incredible and that they would come back.

Those are exactly the encounters I love.

With some guests, we know each other so well now that when they return, I know who will be pleased to find a bottle of wine, who prefers extra coffee and who I should leave tea for.

Small things that show someone they are not simply the next booking.

Sometimes I feel that I welcome guests and say goodbye to friends.

Why Bansko?

If someone asks why I love Bansko so much, I probably will not begin with the ski runs or the sights.

Nearly 20 years ago, I came to Bansko for an ordinary weekend.

I did not know then that this little place with so much potential would one day become such a big part of my life.

Later, I wished that one day I would be here too — close to the mountains.

I never stopped believing.

And it came true.

Today, it is part of my mornings, part of my life and part of the stories I continue to collect here.

Perhaps that is why, for me, Bansko is the mountains, cosiness and all those little things that are difficult to explain to someone unless they have felt them for themselves.

It is the place where I wake up and know I am home.

And that is exactly the feeling I want Mila Stays properties to carry.

Sometimes everything begins with one conversation.