A tour of hotels, resorts, and other lodgings on stamps.
A series of six stamps featuring buildings at the resorts along Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast: 1st. Zlatni Pyasatsi (“Golden sands”), 2st. Drouzhba (“Friendship”), 3st. Slanchev Bryag (“Sunny beach”), 13st. Primorsko, 28st. Roussalka (mermaid-like creature from Slavic folklore), and 40st. Albena.
This series has been a favorite of mine for a while. When I shared it with other collectors a few months ago, one related this anecdote about the 3st. stamp:
That 3 stotinki “Slantchev Briag” (Sunny Beach) stamp depicts a building in what was a Black Sea resort very popular with the socialist (read: communist) party elite from Comecon countries. As a child, I spent a summer holiday in the resort, in 1980. After the collapse of the “Iron Curtain,” it became a popular resort for teens from Western Europe, because it was very cheap. — NSK on SCF
These stamps have taken on a bit of a life of their own outside of collecting. They’re admired by graphic designers, ephemera collectors, and fans of brutalist architecture for their vibrant colors and captivating illustrations. Folks often discover them through design blogs like grain edit or for sale in stationery shops like Present & Correct.
A complete set of the five stamps from the 1980 issue of the Hotels series. Each has a face value of 23 stotinki. From top left, not in catalog order: Bulgaria in Bourgas, Riga in Rousse, Plovdiv in Plovdiv, Europe in Sofia, and Varna at the Friendship resort.
The Friendship resort is now the Saints Constantine and Helena Resort in the city of the same name, and the hotel is still there as the Grand Varna Hotel.
Another stamp was added to the series in 1981: the Hotel “Velko Tyrnovo” in the city of Veliko Tarnovo. It’s not pictured here because I haven’t collected it myself yet.