Visit Startsevo

Meet Your Host

• Welcoming Environment

  Getting in touch with the lifestyle of the Rhodope Mountains is best done by staying with a local family. At our guest house in Startsevo, we strive to provide a balance between local tradition and the comforts and facilities expected by international visitors. We always do our best to make you feel welcome!

• Family Endeavor
  

  We are a local family and we own and run the guest house ourselves. This endeavor is a response to our family's two kids having moved away from Startsevo for work.

  As the house mostly stays empty, we were looking for an approach to still utilize it. What better way to do so, than using it as a guest house. Visitors can stay in our rooms to let, make use of the comfortable facilities, and experience the beautiful surroundings as well as the authenticity of the Rhodope Mountains.

  One family member, usually our mother, is around the house most of the time, ensuring that everything is clean, well-stocked, and ready for use. She is the main local point of contact for visitors. Other family members are living elsewhere in and outside the country, allowing for long-distance communication to visitors in English, German, and French.

• House History
  

  Built exclusively with family members' labor and based on blueprints created by our grandfather, a self-taught mason, the guest house is both typical for the region, and of extraordinary quality.

  Construction of the guest house started in 1978 and was completed in 1981. Partial modernization took place in 2005 and 2013, leaving the guest house in top-notch condition. We are gradually implementing additional improvements to house and garden, taking it one step at a time and only investing effort in meaningful changes.

  Due to its layout, separate rooms can be used while retaining a high degree of privacy. All facilities have been optimized for actual down-to-earth usefulness instead of subscribing to any fanciful style, as many hotel rooms seem to do. The result is a thoroughly welcoming place to spend a night, a few days, or longer periods of time.

• Traditional Handwork
  

  From terlik slippers to textile and wooden goods, handwork is wide-spread in the Rhodope Mountains. At our guest house in Startsevo, we sell various hand-crafted items.

  Rhodope Mountain terlik slippers are very colorful, richly ornamented, and were historically worn with hobnailed slippers. Today, having become popular as house shoes due to their comfort and beauty, terlik slippers are in high demand as souvenirs. We produce and sell them at our guest house.

  Other traditional textile products, such as cedilo bags, or kitenik rugs, are available at the guest house, too. Cedilo bags are woven from pure, hand-dyed wool, before being decorated with colorful embroideries, cords, and straps. Kitenik rugs are used for bedding or as blankets, woven with long woolen threads at the surface. They are among the most prized possessions in the Rhodope Mountains, as their utility in cold winters is tremendous.