Crystal Sunset Luxury Resort and Spa

Just arrived back home following a week stay at this hotel and where do I start! I generally ignore reviews & never ever write them but I do feel that I have to share my views on this occasion. This was not our first choice hotel, our original accommodation was cancelled by Thomas Cook 2 days before travel. We were forced to find somewhere last minute and I can see why this one had availability.

I will begin on a positive note Pros: -Huge pool, great waterpark/slides -Good location, short transfer from Antalya airport -Some staff friendly enough -Our beds were made up & the floor was mopped twice when put the sign on the door. -mini bar sparse but stocked during our stay -2 staff who work at the lobby bar were very friendly and keen, asking if you needed drinks etc.

Cons: -Food is disgusting, never, ever seen 5 star quality. Cold, repetitive, a lot was not edible. The 24/7 snack bar was really the pits.Huge queues in the dining areas, like a cattle market. -we tried to change rooms as we didn’t get the room we had paid for to be told no very bluntly by the manager. We did offer to pay if needed, again met with no interest or attempts to check availability the system to resolve this issue another day. -you cannot get a hot drink in the morning first thing without a stomp and being met with a disgruntled staff member who can’t be bothered pressing the button on the machine to make one. -1 staff member on the 16+ pool bar each day, making awful rushed inconsistent cocktails with big queues. Felt sorry for them. -Towel wars! Have to be up bright and early for a bed. -The main areas are filthy! This alongside the food was my biggest issue. The lifts, windows, counter tops/surfaces never seen a wipe or polish, hand marks all over & not new ones either, we are talking ground in. Disgusted looking at the dirt. Didnt see one cleaner in the main areas, at other 5 stars we observe staff keeping on top of the cleanliness all day, cleaning the grounds etc. At the bars the front of the equipment/fridges, machines are filthy again weeks of built up dirt and spillages. We arrived at 3am to be met with dirty glasses/food debris everywhere all outside on the walls and on every table in the reception area. -The entire place is run down!! It is in dire need of some tlc, a lick of paint would be a good starting point. 4 tiny lifts going at snails pace for a hotel of this size (think the rooms go up to the 7000). 1 lift stopped working and never fixed. White thick gaffer tape holding all the tiles onto the walls outside the lifts, The tape wasn’t just put up as a temp measure it was on the walls the entire time, no attempts to even pick the same colour tape as the tiles to make it look a little less unsightly. -Pool dirty with bits of debris in the bottom never saw anyone cleaning them -various staff members stood smoking at the pool -Rooms tidied on request but very run down and dated. Inside the mini bar cupboard was filthy. We had a big thick stain down our mirror on arrival that stayed with us for the week. Bedding terrible, beds like sleeping on cardboard with plastic underneath, -It was very apparent, very quickly that this place is massively understaffed and they are overworked, therefore moral Is limited and they appear to lack motivation. Sadly they cannot provide a 5 star service when there isn’t enough of them!

I am very aware of the disparities in ratings of hotels in Turkey but this one really should not be allowed to advertise as a 5 star.

I have holidayed in various hotels and the very basics you would expect from 5 star is good food and good service and unfortunately this hotel has neither

Be no fooled - this is not a 5 star hotel, maybe a 3 star according EU standards. Hotel seems to be built around 2012, as it says on elevators when they were installed - so it's a fairly outdated hotel with a lot of ignored issues.

The staff is greatest! Everyone was helping, welcoming, always ready to help. Many of staff members do not speak English, however it's ok as they really try to help.

We were honestly excited for our family trip from Croatia to Turkey, Turkey is wonderful and everyone there is welcoming - however, the hotel is another story.

The hotel overall requires a lot of renovations and fixes, smells of sewer can be experienced almost in every part of the outside area (bars, pool, lounges...), visible no cleaning rules can be observed daily as the tiles have stains for days in same place from spillage to food or simply traffic.

Hotel has many elevators, however it also has many guests so waiting for an elevator and visiting all floors is a daily activity which you try to avoid.

Having a cocktail was not a problem, slight waiting time which is usual for that in any hotel - however the cocktails were awfully made - unexperienced staff, unknowing normal recipes such as Mojito or Pina Colada... For example, making a mojito with lemon instead of limeta, no suggar and using vodka... Pina Colada is made with fresh milk...

Food court is basic, after 8 nights of staying there we were honestly excited to get out to eat something different and well made.

The best drinks in the hotel were Ice Tea, Apple Juice, Beer. :) Everything else was... well, try it and let me know - we were unable to drink it.

Food for breakfast is almost the same every day, minor differences. Launch is rich but again, the same... Dinner was actually always different and enjoyable...

We have tried 2 Al a carte restaurants, nothing worth giving time into.. the food quantity there is pretending to be Michelin restaurant, while the food quality is local gas station.

The bus that drives to the beach is excellent and really fast and doing it's job, drives more often than promoted. Beach is wonderful and clean, water is shallow but clean.

Hotel staff is always trying to offer you extra services such as photographs on the beach, photograph with parrots, playing arcade games for kids... those are more expensive than usual, however if you don't accept they don't force you into it. That's fair.

The room AC was perfect and really functioning, the loud night music is too loud and it lasts until 1AM daily - we were located far away from the music area and we could hear it like it's right next to us, if you open the balcony door it's like we're in disco at the bar.

It was very nice experience, very nice activities, a big thank you to the entertainment team they work very hard to make people and families happy.