The Spa Cake of Bulgaria

 There are hardly any Latin catchphrases widely quoted by the general public. ‘In vino veritas’ seems to be the most popular, allegedly meaning truth is found in wine. Some, though, disagree with the translation, claiming it’s all about betrayal, not truth. But this is not the issue here. We are now considering water, not wine, and how it relates to another Latin catchphrase, ‘Sanus per aquam’, translating into Bulgarian as ‘Health through water’. But does post-communist Bulgaria and its new generation of businesspeople really grasp the meaning behind the literal translation?

From antiquity to the future

Were the ancients brighter than us? Did they live a better life? When relaxing in a pre-Roman thermal bath, deeply inhaling its fragrant steams, we might regret living on the Balkan Peninsula today. Once upon a time the Sofia Thermal Baths were bubbling with life and greatly enjoyed by many. Unfortunately, for quite a few years now there has been no life and no water in the stylish building. Some entrepreneurs have invested in new health centres, but they are all a good distance away from the spa. Nowadays you’ll find mineral water in Sofia is much more often used for washing cars than for health and beauty treatments. Have people gone mad, psychoanalysts might ask? Well, you decide.

Strimon Spa Club

We leave the rather gloomy scenery of the capital behind and head southwest. After less than 100 km we get to Kyustendil, a town of great glory in Roman times but looking much bleaker today. We come across a curious ancient sign honouring this most famous spa resort of Roman Europe. “Roman soldiers go for their spa treatments to Bath, the officers come to Pautalia” (Kyustendil’s Roman name), reads the inscription.

Today local entrepreneur Valentin Alexandrov speaks proudly of the town’s former glory and is hoping to see it restored. He has invested in the construction of what is going to be the biggest spa hotel in the Kyustendil region. The future Strimon Spa Club will officially open in a few months’ time, and only after the staff has undergone proper training, the ambitious investor and his wife Teodora tell us. The candidates go through a strict selection process, and the criteria are somewhat new and unorthodox for Bulgaria. “Old Balkantourist (editor’s note: the only tour operator in Bulgaria until 1989) guidelines don’t stand a chance with me”, claims Mr Alexandrov. One of his top priorities now is employing young people who speak several foreign languages, and he goes headhunting not only around the country, but abroad as well to find them, promising he has a good job and a good life in Bulgaria for them.

Valentin Alexandrov knows the life of an immigrant is a hard one and is well aware of what it feels like to be an immigrant. He and his family spent about 10 years in the USA, before deciding to come back and start their own business in Bulgaria. Now Mr Alexandrov is the Deputy Chairman of the Bulgarian National Spa Association. He has a clear vision of what the industry needs and the direction it should take. Top priority, he claims, is the introduction of certain standards in all Spa hotels, and it has to come hand in hand with promoting and establishing them as centres of exceptional quality. There are two established ways of developing spa tourism worldwide – Switzerland, Germany and USA apply a standard-regulated option, while countries like Spain and Portugal opt for the standard-free model. For Bulgaria Mr Alexandrov is in favour of the standard-regulated model and is doing his best to get it introduced.

National Spa Academy

There is a problem with human resources, everyone admits it. But only a few seem keen to do something about solving it, and Valentin Alexandrov is one of them. According to him, there are no properly trained spa hotel staff available at present and the issue of creating the right regulating structures should be made a priority. His personal ideas include founding the National Spa Academy, and employing lecturers from all over the world. Valentin is also aware of the importance of a completely new approach to advertising and marketing policy. Hopefully, the introduction of a National Spa Standard will pave the way for developing a high quality industry. But what will happen in the meantime?

Delights for Romans and others…

The Roman Baths with an Epidarium (water temperature of 32°C), Caldarium (40°C) and Frigidarium (11°C) will be just one of the attractions of Strimon Spa Club in Kyustendil. The Roman grandeur of the town could get a new lease of life by attracting wealthy clientele and tourists. They, actually, are the ones targeted by the club-hotel for the special VIP floor; another section is allocated for the less well-off. The premises are in a building which is more than 50 years old, now being completely refurbished with all modern facilities, yet preserving the original architectural style of the hotel.

The Alexandrovs manage to pleasantly blend personal patriotism with business. Most of the procedures enjoyed by visitors of the Strimon Spa Club will involve the use of Bulgarian products, amongst them peat from the nearby Lake Baikal (not to be confused with the lake of the same name in Russia). Long famous for its unique healing properties, and unfortunately neglected or forgotten by contemporary Bulgarians, this peat will be famous again - to Bulgarians and to the world: the Alexandrovs are determined to see it happen.

Do not confuse it with treatment

Before attempting anything new, Bulgaria needs to find the right people who know what to do with the enormous mineral water resources available. The country doesn’t need just finance, most of all it needs ‘knowhow’. Ignorance is the biggest obstacle on the road to the temple of pleasures offered by mineral water. It seems we’ve come to the point made at the beginning of this story – what’s the true meaning and use of a spa. As in other areas, there are all sorts of different opinions and approaches, and various spa-related non-governmental organisations (NGO) are plentiful. No harm done, you might say. OK, let’s do some travelling around Bulgaria. Wherever you go, you find some sort of spa hotel. Offering what? Your guess is as good as mine –the hotel offers what the hotel wants to offer.

The ingredients

First of all – a doctor. But you would be told that spa hotels are not for sick people, they are for pleasure seekers. A doctor is needed ‘just in case’. And it would only take one gravely ill person to go to such a hotel for the door to be practically shut to all others who are not. “Please consider the difference”, the doctors at the so-called spa centres advise you. The most frequent guests of the Hissar Hotel in the town of the same name, for example, are young people. According to the manager of the spa centre there, a medical doctor, old age pensioners can’t afford to visit. As it turns out, the doctor is mostly kept busy recommending various options: rest for at least 20 min after a massage, or longer - depending on your blood pressure levels; whether to have a steam bath or a sauna etc. Otherwise clients (patients) can do as they please – most popular are orders for a well-chilled Champagne and a selection of nibbles… in the jacuzzi.

This raises the question: is there such a thing as culture of pleasure and, if so, who is supposed to create it? Supply or demand? Such questions sound a bit abstract in a country like Bulgaria, where the fierce struggle for every single client is pretty obvious. So, it’s up to the client to decide what’s good for him, and there is always an army of waiters ready to obey his whims. What if in a state of delirium he ordered something not quite innocent? Well, if it came to that, a decision would have to be taken on the spot. Drastic situations call for drastic measures…

Air and water

Breathing is easy in the town of Sandanski. With this in mind, health procedures at the local Medite Hotel focus on aromatherapy and volcanic stone massages. The hotel’s modern spa centre is intriguingly designed, with its entrance right beneath the tennis court. A covered passage, connecting it to the main hotel wing and the swimming pool area is to be built soon. The spa centre employees are mostly young qualified masseurs, masseuses and aromatherapists. The centre’s No. 1 hit is the massage using 38 different volcanic stones from the Pyrenees. The anti-cellulite programmes are also very popular.

At the Devin Spa Hotel in the Rhodopes town of the same name the accent is on the professional staff – doctors and nurses. They operate the equipment and perform the procedures. The special package deals, including several procedures, offer the best value for money. Very reasonably priced, some are as cheap as 48 leva (approx. £17). Otherwise you could easily pay the same amount or even more for undergoing just one individual procedure. The standard 2-day package includes the following: a bath with chromo-music therapy and a cup of Mursal tea on day one, spa capsule, tangentor and a pearl bath.

The Devin Spa Hotel centre’s special discount offered to locals is undoubtedly a smart business decision, as it is enjoyed by many. Most popular are the therapeutic mineral water pools, the massages and the different types of baths.

The icing on the cake

The picture of Bulgaria’s spas is a colourful one. It also very much resembles a cake, one layer over another, and between the layers - different creams and stuffing – chocolate or honey cream, volcanic stones (sorry, nuts!) too.... Help yourself to a piece, and wait for the result. So far the recipe is not part of any world famous chef’s repertoire, but who knows, it might turn out to be a real gateau…

The point is who will be on top, who will be the cherry on the icing? It seems the most essential aspect of Bulgarian reality today. Always and everywhere somebody is the cherry on top of things, and certainly that is the case here too, on top of the spa cake’s icing. Until proper standards are introduced. Or even before that?!