Crystal Cove by Elegant Hotels

We were disappointed with our stay. We booked and paid in advance for a Junior Ocean View Suite with two queen beds. On arrival we were given one queen bed and a very hard, uncomfortable sofa bed and told this was an “upgrade” to an Ocean Front Junior Suite. We had been told before arrival that all Junior Suites are Ocean Front, so it was unclear what the supposed upgrade actually was. Had I not noticed the sofa bed and asked for this to be checked with management, I believe we would simply have been left in that room. We moved to the correct room the following day. The first room also had a broken air-conditioning control in one room so it was stuck at an extremely cold temperature all night, and the other room had an extremely noisy air conditioning unit, and a bathroom sink covered in tiny mites. Having to deal with these issues and move rooms after a long journey was not the start to our holiday we expected. The most concerning issue was the birds in the Artisan restaurant. Birds were freely flying around the restaurant and landing on tables, cutlery, plates, and food service areas. We repeatedly saw them standing on uncovered pastries, wraps and other food, and eating from open containers. We reported this to reception, and one obvious entry point was subsequently blocked, but there were still numerous gaps in the netting around the restaurant. Watching birds walking around ON the food was extremely unappetising and raised obvious hygiene concerns. The food itself was very inconsistent. The ‘chef signature crab cake’ was excellent during our first week but looked and tasted very different the following week - see photo. A tuna steak on our first night was so thin and overcooked it was like chewing a flip-flop, yet a later one was thick, juicy and perfectly pink. Quality seemed to depend entirely on the day and was such a shame when some of the meals were very flavourful. The staff were equally inconsistent. Some were genuinely lovely - attentive, friendly, welcoming and clearly committed to making guests feel looked after. Others seemed completely disinterested, irritated by our presence, and simply couldn’t be bothered beyond the bare minimum. To be fair, communal areas were kept very clean and tidy, most staff always said hello, and the resort itself is attractive and has plenty of potential. Management did apologise - after our departure - for the problems, and had approved our requested 2pm late check-out, which was appreciated. They sent a bottle of sparkling wine to our room, albeit by a very confused staff member who said it was for someone named Jeffrey (nobody in our party of that name or anything like it) and later returned with a plate of brownies and macarons saying it was because we were ‘returners’… this was our first (and last) stay. However, it was a very inexpensive bottle (around £3 in the UK), which was free as part of the all-inclusive package anyway - which all felt rather underwhelming given the problems we had experienced. This could be a really lovely resort, the location is so good, and we did enjoy aspects of our holiday, but for the price we paid we expected much better consistency, cleanliness and attention to detail. The bird issue in particular needs to be properly addressed rather than simply blocking individual gaps as they are noticed.

There are many aspects of this hotel which are great and I was going to rate at 4 stars but because of our last few days of the holiday I changed this. Firstly, the rooms are good and cleaned to a high standard and the beach is stunning. The beach is a definite highlight of the hotel. At times greater attention could be given to cleaning tyr beach chairs and around them. The food is quite good and not as bad as other reviews suggest, the à la carte menus tend to be better than the buffets but that is because the meals are being cooked to order. There is a limited choice but it is a small hotel and appears to be not very full so it is probably difficult to cater for a bigger choice. There is also a pool bar menu but this is not really advertised well do we were not aware of it until leaving. Where the hotel is let down is the mix in service, some of the service is excellent (Hazel, Christopher) to name a couple who go above and beyond , sadly others not great and bordering on rude at times. Especially the staff covering the beach bar who are usually sat doing nothing most of the day. When. You do go and order a drink they make you feel really bad that you have interrupted time on their phone. To the point we stopped using it and used the other bar - although mixed service there too. Another are which let the hotel down is on Tuesday evening in the last couple of days of our holiday was that a large family of 10 (maybe more) arrived. On the nicest area to sit on the beach they put their towels out on the sunbeds from very early, left them there despite not using them until after lunch and treble despite claiming all 10 sunbeds only 4 of the clampets would use them the others would be taking more up by the pool. Appreciate the staff cannot do a lot about the selfishness and entitled behaviour of some people, however neither did they try. The staff at the beach bar or the water sports guys did not tackle them or ask them to move the towels despite a number of families not being able to enjoy sitting there.

Can’t understand the last review as date of stay is shown as 2025 when the hotel was closed for refurbishment. Our family of 10 stayed just last month and had a wonderful time. The rooms are lovely, clean towels every day and everything kept lovely by the room staff. We have been coming here for many years and were worried that the hotel would close as it was certainly due for a facelift but all is good and the small, intimate atmosphere has been retained. This is not a big hotel so don’t expect massive buffets, the food is mainly à la carte in the evening and there is plenty of choice with extra options from an all day menu. You will not go hungry! There are plenty of beds and umbrellas on the gorgeous beach and you can go from pools to beach in a few steps.. If you do have any issues Raj or Richard are there to help and will listen, they are very keen to ensure that everyone has the best holiday. We will continue to hold this place in our hearts and hope to return many more times.

This was by far the worst “all inclusive” resort I have ever stayed at. And I have stayed at many affordable options. Pigeons were EVERYWHERE around the food areas, picking at our food on the tables and at the buffet itself. Staff seemed unbothered. Food was generally very limited and tasted very mediocre. Meat all grilled on the same grill. One night for dinner, we waited more than 1 hour for food at the restaurant- only for the portions to be so small and the taste to be so disappointing. Many times we left to go to Starbucks for food due to Pigeons, long wait times or bad food. Keep in mind, throughout this whole process - the staff was so rude at all times. Even ignoring my group (we are also from the Caribbean) to attend to the white guests. The AC in our room did not work and was constantly leaking, we did not get clean towels unless calling the front desk and asking 3 times in a row, the rooms were extremely old and not clean at all, the only lock on the door was a simple “chain lock” straight out of the 90s. There were crabs EVERYWHERE, you couldn’t see them at night because the lighting was so bad. They gave us a different room than we booked on the site. And the most hilarious cherry on top, they left a card with our names on the bed with a thank you note and used the wrong names. The price for the experience is absolutely diabolical. It would be extremely disheartening to see the general manager comment on this review to invalidate this experience and act as if this did not happen. But I would not be shocked as accountability is not this hotel’s strong suit. Awful experience, really wished we stayed somewhere else.

I took my son for his 4th birthday for a day pass at the Crystal Cove Hotel and I just want to say he had a fabuloussss 4th birthday experience there. The atmosphere was perfect for this experience for him especially at the Cave pool lolol. Super friendly team. We got a room in addition to the day pass and it was well worth it because when he got tired I was able to take him to get a little nap. The room was super comfortable and very clean so I was quite pleased that I made that choice as an add-on. The food which is included in the cost was quite delicious and my son was able to make his selection from the kids menu, quite happy about that because you know, picky eaters lol in addition to that he loveddd his birthday cake plate. Thanks to the Crystal Cove team for a really memorable time. I thought it was definitely great value for money. He said that will be back so 10/10 we will do it again!