Crystal Centro — Hotel in Aksu

This is not real Turkish hospitality… as we know it !!!! I’m genuinely sorry to write this, but after visiting Turkey 3–4 times for holidays, this experience had absolutely nothing to do with the famous Turkish tourism we’ve always appreciated before. Let’s start with the room — the first one we were given looked like it had been cleaned by a child or someone who couldn’t see properly. Dust everywhere, the TV covered in white film, the lamp hanging by a single wire, and the bed, bathroom, and all surfaces simply filthy. In front of the mirror, where the coffee and kettle were placed, there were hairs, and the cups still had lipstick marks and were wiped with a dirty cloth. Unfortunately, we left the room too fast to take photos. We were moved to another room, which was cleaner, but the service throughout our stay was extremely poor — no smiles, no greetings, everything done with visible reluctance. We’ve stayed in other Crystal Hotels, but this property should not belong to the chain. It’s miles behind in quality. Food: The Chef here really needs training from the Chef at Crystal Paraiso Verde in Belek. The dishes were the same every day — tasteless, greasy, and poorly presented. Food is usually one of the biggest highlights of Turkish resorts, but here it was a total disappointment. Every lunch and dinner was basically meat with sauce — sometimes with rice, sometimes with potatoes or green beans, and that was it. The snack bar was a joke: you could “choose” between a salad, burger, or pizza, and one day there wasn’t even pizza available. One evening we decided to visit the "Italian Restaurant" - the waiter did his best to refuse us to stay there, we were the only ones who made that choice anyway. In the end we gave up on having dinner there and when we were leaving and thanking him, he replied: Actually, I thank you :))) Apparently we were bothering him in some way ..... And finally, the departure morning was the last straw. Our transfer was at 5 a.m. We had asked the day before where we could have breakfast and were told the Lounge Bar (which supposedly works 24/7). In the morning — it was closed. The receptionist again confirmed breakfast was there, but it wasn’t. Then a very rude guy from the lobby bar told us to go to the restaurant. The restaurant was dark, closed off with a red rape : Dont Cross .... We asked again for at least a sandwich for the kids. A “manager” come behide reception reluctantly repeated, “Go to the restaurant.” We went back — same story. Inside, they were just unpacking the bread; everything else was wrapped up and not ready — only cold cuts, cheese, yogurt, waffles, and breadsticks. On the positive side: the pools were large and clean, with plenty of sunbeds both on the beach and around the pool area. The aquapark was great, and the water in the kids’ pool was pleasantly heated. The evening animation was entertaining — one day they organized an Oktoberfest, and it was done really well and professionally.

We left not just disappointed but with a bitter feeling of a wasted vacation. This hotel has completely put us off coming back to Turkey — or, as we joked with our friends, at least until we forget...

We spent a week at Crystal Centro with my partner. Overall impression is good, although there were a few shortcomings.

The hotel doesn't look impressive from the outside, but the interior has been renovated – it's clean, modern, and visually appealing. At first, we were given a room that did not match our reservation – no balcony and adapted for guests with disabilities. After raising the issue at reception, we were moved the next day to a much better room on the first floor with a balcony. I was initially unsure about the location, but it turned out to be convenient due to easy access to stairs and proximity to all facilities.

The room was well-equipped, with the minibar and toiletries replenished regularly. Unfortunately, the cleaning was very superficial, so eventually, we stopped requesting it.

Food was the biggest highlight of the stay. Meals were delicious, varied, and accessible at all times without any reservations required. The selection was impressive – fish, beef, seafood, sushi, pizza, burgers, desserts. A special mention goes to the kebab served during the day – absolutely delicious. However, the fruit selection was poor – mostly watermelon and melon.

We also visited the 24-hour All-In restaurant, which was a nice option, especially in the evenings. Unfortunately, we had a disappointing experience when we ordered a “Beef Bowl” listed with potatoes, asparagus, and baby carrots – what we received was a single slice of beef on a lettuce leaf with shredded carrot. Very misleading.

Another issue was the lack of clear information regarding closed à la carte restaurants – the Italian was closed first, then the Turkish, so in the end, we didn’t try any of them.

Drinks at the lobby bar were excellent, with a wide selection of imported alcohol. A big shoutout to Nazli and Burak – the best staff members by far. Always smiling and helpful, even during the busiest hours. The other bars, unfortunately, were much weaker in both drink quality and service.

Plenty of sunbeds by the pool and beach – we never had trouble finding a spot, although the best ones were clearly taken by 7:00 am. The transfer from the airport was quick – about 30 minutes, and helpful staff welcomed us and took care of our luggage right away.

On the downside – the entertainment program was very poor and almost exclusively in Russian. The hotel is clearly focused on Russian tourists – even the staff mostly speaks Russian. That’s disappointing, especially considering the growing number of Polish guests year by year. It would be great if the hotel started seeing us a bit more favorably 😊 – we can be really great guests too! The biggest issue: very few staff members spoke English, which is quite unreasonable for a hotel of this category. You’re more likely to get help in Russian than in English, and that’s just...

I'll start this review by saying that our stay at Crystal Centro was, all things considered, wonderful. The food and drinks were great, the activities inside the resort were fun, the daily shows were captivating.||That being said, I do have to point out three big issues that we came across. |First and biggest problem: when we arrived at the hotel we were told that they did not have the two rooms we reserved and paid for. This is unacceptable even for a low-cost 2 star hotel, and is absolutely shameful for a 5 star luxury resort. |It was only after my wife argued with the receptionists and manager for 1 hour that somehow two rooms suddenly became available. I don't have to tell you how unpleasant that is after a long journey.||Second issue: the seafood restaurant is not as advertised. As far as I can tell, they don't actually have a third kitchen dedicated for the seafood restaurant. And because of this it takes a very VERY long time for anything to be brought to the table. Our experience was made even worse as we waited about 1 hour for a second serving before asking the waiter about our order, only to be told that they forgot to place it to the restaurant.||Third big issue: in rooms there was a terrible and intense smoking smell that came through the ventilation system. We were forced to keep the air conditioning on non stop because once stopped the smell invaded us. Extremely unpleasant. In our room, there was a smoking detector in the ceiling but most probably just for decor. It's impossible not to detect that kind of smoke.||Other smaller problems: on the 8th floor, the cleaning team arrives always after 2PM, even 3 PM when we had to put the baby to sleep (so we had the do-not-disturb sign on). This meant that we had to go and ask the cleaning staff for new towels every day.|At the quick bar the burgers (fast food) are served only at their table, so I was not being able to take it a few steps to the terrace of the main restaurant to serve them with my family that preferred other menu options. Needlessly inconvenient.||Now for the positive:|As I mentioned at the beginning, the food was great! Everything was fresh and many of the dishes are prepared right in front of you (eg. the grill, burgers and pastries). There are also many drinks to choose from, including cocktails.|The kids/baby buffet could be more varied, but it was nice that it exists in the first place.|The resort is clean and doesn't feel outdated.|Though we didn't have the time to join the activites hosted by the staff, I thought it was very nice that staff members walk around and invite people to the daily activites.|There was some kind of show every night. The ones we went to were very...