Crystal Waters Lefkada — Hotel in Lefkada Municipality

I want to start by saying this is not a bad hotel. So why am I rating it poor? Well, for the price that we paid (EUR 500 per night or thereabouts), they fell significant short of our expectations and we were, to say the least, disappointed. The amenities are fine, but the overall customer experience is significantly lacking. Sadly the people running the hotel don't know how to offer an experience commensurate with the price they charge. Some examples: they have 3 pools and almost zero shaded area. The only shaded areas are reserved for people who want to pay extra for a 'bed' (no one was using them by the way), so you are forced to stay under the burning sun there was 1 lifeguard for all 3 pools. For the majority of the time he was busy serving and cleaning tables, so we were very lucky that we didn't need his services. I suspect only having 1 lifeguard for 3 pools who is actually constantly occupied on other duties isn't even in line with regulations the towels had to be returned always by the reception. So I was 3 levels down, yet still had to go up in the burning sun because you could not return them without signing against the form. I guess after paying them over EUR 3000 they were worried that we might steal a towel that cost 5 EUR. the breakfast area was understaffed and we were always waiting under the burning sun until a table was found. Did they think to provide some shade? No. Good thing that they had an area for children. But because hotel management didn't want to pay someone qualified for the job, they had an 18 year old girl managing children. She was very nice, but policy was that children under the age of 6 had to stay with their parents even in this supervised children area. This was never the case in any of the large hotel chains and would not have been the case if the hotel management would have not been cheap enough to not hire someone qualified for the job. I have one of the worse things for last: during one of the lunches, we were charged a different type for mineral water than the price on the menu. This is actually illegal. I didn't realise this at the time but only during the check-out. When I complained and asked to be refunded the difference (a total of a few Euros), I was refused. Again, evidence that a hotel that has already charged you thousands of Euros cares more about gaining a few Euros more than about respecting its customers.

I am sure I am forgetting a few things, but wanted you to get the overall idea.

Clearly not everyone can run a hotel that delivers customer experience, and the people running this hotel thing that just by charging higher prices they will make their hotel luxurious. Please spend your money somewhere else, there are so many hotels in Greece that actually deliver an experience in line with the money that you...

WOW, where do we begin with this hotel? It was amazing from start to finish. We stayed for 7 nights, we are a couple in our mid 30s and we had a double room with private pool (this was a god send in 40 degree heat!). This is our first time visiting Lefkada, as we were visiting for our friends wedding, Crystal Waters came highly recommended so we didnt hesitate to book and we are so glad we did! The only rubbish decision we made was to only stay for a week and not longer, we could have easily done 10 / 14 days! ||As mentioned on alot of the reviews the staff are 10/10 and cant do more for you, everyday they have greeted us with a big smile and a friendly hello. Even after our first day, staff members had remembered us and made an effort to come over and chat to ask how we are, one of the male bar staff even remembered our drinks order from the day before which was a lovely touch!|I am so gutted we didnt get his name but one of the male bar tenders who served mainly at the top pool bar he was fab!! Another special mention to another male member of staff i think he is the resturant manager (often wore a light green shirt) everyday he was so friendly and when my husband was taken unwell at the hospital, the resturant manager and staff couldnt do more for us, ensuring that my husband has freshly cooked plain food (as advised by the doctor) delivered to our room - this was amazing and the staff really went out of their way to ensure my husband had Something suitable but still tasty to eat when he was recovering.||A special mention to the reception staff also as i mentioned my husband became unwell and straight away they had called a doctor from the nearby medical centre, a member of staff picked us up and drove us there within 30 minutes and ensured we were dropped back off at the hotel afterwards. We could not thank them enough - you went above and beyond for us and made a scary experience (especially for me being 6months pregnant) so much more manageable! ||We ate at the resturant several evenings and the food was 10/10, it was fine dining and our female server explained each dish / course in detail. It was fabbbb and very reasonably priced!!||We would absolutely come back to this hotel, if you are after a chilled, relaxing, luxury holiday then this is definitely the one to book!||Thank you so much for an...

From the moment we arrived and the wonderful welcome we received, to the moment we left and the lovely farewell, this was an exceptional holiday in an outstanding hotel. |Everyone at Crystal Waters is caring, friendly, helpful and nothing is too much trouble. They all go out of their way to make sure guests are having the best experience. |Rooms are spotlessly clean and our sea view room was lovely with tea/coffee making facilities and a fridge with a welcoming bottle of wine in it. ||In Reception, Katerina - Guest Relations - was so friendly and helpful and couldn’t do enough for us throughout our stay. Upon our arrival she sorted out a mix up with our airport transfer quickly and efficiently. We later went to her to arrange a couple of days’ car hire and she made this seamless. Whenever we saw her around the hotel she would always greet us enthusiastically and check that everything was ok with our stay. |The Emerald Restaurant is where a plentiful buffet breakfast is served, with food cooked to order as well. |Christos is the Maitre D’ and most importantly is such a friendly, kind and helpful person. He also keeps a watchful eye on everyone making sure that all guests are enjoying their stay. |Panos is in charge at breakfast and he was so helpful advising us on places to visit in our hire car. Also we must mention Efsthasios (Stathis) our wonderful breakfast and latte server, for whom nothing was too much trouble. Tzenario and Loulieta, again very friendly, chatty and helpful - a delightful couple. |In the evening, we had dinner on the terrace at the Emerald Restaurant on five of our seven nights stay, which shows how wonderful the food and service was. A great choice of dishes, immaculately cooked and presented. Really top notch food and service and amazingly good value for money. |The team of staff in the evening were exceptional. We must mention |the lovely Froso, Nota, Elektra, |Maria and Irini. And of course, Christos was always there in the evening keeping a watchful eye. They all made our stay very special indeed. |We will definitely return to Crystal Waters, in fact we can’t wait to come back! On this holiday, we actually didn’t feel like we were being served by ‘staff’, but rather that we were being looked after by friends. What more can you ask for in a hotel?|Thank you and see...