Mátraszentistván Sipark

The praise is for the hardware: almost every lift here is new, including a four-seater chair and fast drag lifts, and the park has its own water reservoirs, so the runs get covered with machine snow as soon as the cold arrives. Visitors report waiting under five minutes at the lifts on ordinary days, night skiing is available, and the nursery slope can be watched from a heated cabin. Cheap rental and the easy drive from Budapest come up often.

What draws criticism is the lack of anything for a confident skier: the terrain is short and gentle, and half a day covers it. On a sunny Saturday the car park fills early and the pistes get busy. Some visitors found only a single run open while the rest were shut for dangerous conditions, and grooming gets complaints too - fresh snow left untouched by the piste machine. A number of guests consider the price too high for what the skiing offers.