Hotel Lebada Luxury Resort & Spa — Hotel in Crișan

3-star hotel – for the price of a 5-star one

I was really disappointed by this kitschy, unkempt hotel that so many people rave about. Very curious how it has received so many positive reviews. There are serious health and safety issues that one should be aware of if planning to stay here.

Pros: Beautiful location Pretty grounds - not 5-star level, but fairly well maintained The peacocks walking around the grounds were beautiful to look at! Tennis court a big plus Kind and accommodating boat staff that took us to the hotel: we were almost 30 minutes late, but somehow they waited for us. We were really grateful for that!

Cons: Mould in the room (room number 2104, see photo). Strikingly, the same resort that can’t keep rooms sanitary has a Dolce & Gabbana shop on its grounds - a vulgar contrast between neglect and a desperate need to impress. Booked a “river view” room, but did not have a river view. Even after flagging this at reception, nothing was done about it. Remove the ‘river view’ claim if non-existent. Very slow and painful check-in process (approx 30 mins) With few exceptions, staff were unfriendly (mostly the Romanian personnel, which might come as no surprise; but also the Filipino staff, who are usually so kind and accommodating). Major food safety concerns:

• At the “Cherhana” buffet, uncovered dishes were left out with flies on them. We flagged this twice, but nothing was done about it. After we finished our meal, an hour later, the same dishes were still uncovered and had flies on them;
• Old, stale fish meatballs were mixed in with fresh ones;
• At dinner, a cook tasted the food with his hand, then used the same hand to serve us, and shortly afterward passed cigarette packs with it, without washing or using a utensil;
• At breakfast, cold cuts were left in their original packaging as decoration on the serving tables, forming condensation. It’s hard to believe these aren’t cycled back and forth between fridge and counter day after day and then served to its guests days or weeks later Filthy jacuzzis, even after we complained (see photo). Indoor pool and sauna area free for everyone to walk into from the outside, rather than having a one-way system to prevent people with dirty shoes from entering. This meant that when you went into the sauna from the pool, which is 2 m away, you walked through a slurry of dirt and water, which is not exactly a 5 star experience. Wi-Fi is slow despite being advertised as “ultra-fast” on Booking. Confused cultural identity: the focus is on Italian and Lebanese cuisine instead of the diverse and authentic food of the Danube Delta. Very shady and low-caliber clientele. Be prepared to share your holiday spot with lots of inconsiderate and questionable people who don't look like they earned their money through honest means. Dirty boat ride transfer to the hotel; the captain also let a group of Romanian chavs blast loud music throughout most of what was meant to be a peaceful ~30 min boat ride through the Delta, to our hotel. Taking a boat ride with a local the next day, he told me about the hotel’s poor reputation in the area - that the human waste from the bungalows goes straight into the water, and that they put their remaining waste (food leftovers, etc.) into plastic bags, before dumping those into the water as well. I couldn’t verify these claims, of course, but as someone who cares about that ecosystem and would like to preserve it for future generations, it was concerning to hear about, and I personally wouldn’t want to encourage this potential practice by coming back to Lebada. Dirty glass panels overlooking the river at the infinity pool - limescale buildup that looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in months.

In short, if you care about the Danube Delta or about your own health and safety, I wouldn’t recommend this place. It’s dirty, unsafe, and distasteful - and very expensive for...

Danube Delta is a beautiful place, this “luxury” resort left me with really mixed feelings. I booked several rooms for me and my family. I got an executive double room which was vey spacious, more than I expected to be honest. The standard double rooms by contrast are really small. The furniture is OK in the room, not so much in the rest of the hotel - lobby, restaurant, bar where it looks very kitsch, especially the two swans from the lobby. The toiletries in the room are OK, but they tend to forget to replenish on a daily basis. Had to ask the reception. They also forgot to clean the rooms, not only mine, but all three rooms that I booked. Had to talk to the reception to remind them. The pool area is OK, the pool itself is large. The “spa” / massage area is a small dark room, which was flooded with water from the pool. It was not a very relaxing place to be due to multiple factors - the flood itself, the loud music from the pool area, kids accidentally getting in the room. The masseuse is not very experienced as well, basically doing the same stuff regardless of what you chose. In her own words “it’s the same, only the time it takes and the name are different”. You got to appreciate at least the sincerity :). There’s only one restaurant and quality is again mixed. I ate some good fish with the highlight being the sturgeon goulash and the turbot, the rest being just mediocre. The menu never changes, it’s the same for lunch and dinner plus some of the starters are also served during breakfast. So if you’re there for a longer stay the lack of diversity could be an issue. The staff in general tries to be very helpful, but most of them are clueless. Not their fault, but most blame should go to the management not training their staff properly. From the reception not knowing the features of the rooms (6 people were asking themselves what rooms have a bathtub), not being able to solve the air conditioning issue after going 4 times the same day to ask for help, the concierge not knowing what can you see in the trips you could buy(other than what’s in the leaflets), spending 30 min at checkout to sort out the invoice (1000 eur higher due to a software error). I assume this will be fixed in time as people get more familiar. The only true professionals were the guys driving the boats on the Danube Delta channels. They knew what they were doing, they were explaining stuff etc. But in the end they were good “drivers”. In a lot of other natural bio-reservations around the world, comparable to the Danube Delta, you also get a biologist to explain what you see etc. But with all these opportunities to improve, most probably they are the best accommodation...

An absolutely beautiful place to go with friends and children. Free and safe parking at Murighiol and then a 40 minutes boat trip to the hotel. Our 7y olds were already amazed.|Very nice rooms, comfortable beds and good shower and bathroom facilities. The AC was working just right, an absolute must have during this heatwave. There is a good variation of pools outdoors and 1 indoor pool. There is also some entertainment for the kids, even though that offer could be improved.|The main restaurant offers also the really good breakfast buffet upstairs that caters for a broad variety of taste. For lunch and dinner it's downstairs and offers a good variety again. In the evening there is life music outdoors [at least during our stay] and you have Danube view. We did not test the Japanese Restaurant, but liked the Lebanese one very much. It offers indoors and outdoors seating with Danube and little harbour views. All places seemed to have nice and very attentive waiters. unfortunately there are not always enough of them and that, on very rare occasions, shows some slippage in the quality of service.||The hotel offers some tours to various attractions of the Danube delta. If possible get a group together with some likeminded people and rent a boat with a "driver". This is exactly what we did. It was cheaper and much more flexible, creating your own individualised tour. Highly recommended!||Don't forget to pay the Riverside SPA at least one visit. It's well worth it!||We stayed as a group of friends with children and all had an amazing time!||A final word about mosquitoes. Between about 9 and 10 PM all outdoors areas had an invasion of those little suckers. We came well prepared but a bit more could be done by the team in the restaurant areas. Their attempts were a bit halfhearted.||Room for improvement is around the provision of child entertainment sessions. We've seen much, much better in other resorts. Please extend the breakfast hours. It's currently from 8 to 10 AM only. Until 11 AM is the minimum expected.|Also please, please, please signpost the departure area for the boat at Murighiol harbour much better. we waited in the wrong area for while before phoning for help. The Ponton had a large Lebada Resort roof, but the correct place was not signposted. We met others who did exactly the same. On our return journey we saw another family with their children sitting in the exact same but wrong spot...