- Turkey Holidays
- Goynuk
- Crystal Prestige Elite
This hotel enjoys a charming setting close to Kemer. The hotel is located in Goynuk, at the foot of the Taurus Mountains. Overlooking the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean, the hotel enjoys an air of peace and serenity. The larger resort of Kemer is just 7 km from the hotel, where guests can find a wide range of attractions, as well as shopping, dining and entertainment venues. Antalya Airport is set 50 km away. Links to the public transport are available nearby, offering ease of access to other areas to be explored. The hotel enjoys a distinctive architectural design. The guest rooms are beautifully designed, oozing character and charm. Guests can also dine at the on-site restaurants serving variety of food among world cuisines with the treasures in its menu. Providing a number of exemplary facilities and services, this hotel is sure to impress.
Relax at the full-service spa, where you can enjoy massages and facials. Water lovers can head down to the private beach, or take a dip in one of the 2 indoor and 3 outdoor swimming pools. This property also features complimentary wireless Internet access, an arcade/games room and a hair salon.
Due to the surrounding area and the number of steps around the hotel, it may not be suitable for those with mobility difficulties.
We have previously stayed at several hotels in Turkey, the Sirius Deluxe Hotel in Alanya in 2016, the Karmir Hotel in Kemer in 2019, and the Trendy Lara in Antalya in 2024, so we do have some basis for comparison.
The hotel has several major positives. We really liked the fact that all of the à la carte restaurants can be used during dinner hours and are included in the price. We had never experienced this at any other hotel before, as normally only one à la carte dinner is included in the package, with additional visits available at an extra charge.
There are three à la carte restaurants in total, two in the main building, one Turkish and one Italian, as well as a fish restaurant down by the beach. We ate at all three and were very satisfied with each of them. The food was tasty and well prepared.
Overall, the staff were very friendly, smiling and helpful, and we were also completely satisfied with the housekeeping and daily room cleaning. The water slides, Kids Club, daytime activities and the beach were all very good. The evening shows were also of a high standard.
We especially liked two of the children's activities, sand art painting and T-shirt painting. These are available for an additional charge, but we think the whole experience is very well organised. The children receive a medal and a certificate together with their finished artwork. After the evening mini disco, they are called onto the stage by name, where they are presented with their artwork, certificate and medal. It was a fantastic experience for our children to go up on stage and receive applause from the audience. We thought this was a very nice and memorable part of the children's entertainment programme. The surroundings of the hotel are particularly beautiful. It is set in a huge, well maintained garden, with the Taurus Mountains forming an impressive backdrop. The beach is reached by crossing a small bridge, but for those who do not want to walk, golf carts are also available to take guests back and forth.
At the Pool Bar and the food outlets by the beach, we particularly liked the way the food was presented. Instead of simply putting everything into large buffet containers, many of the dishes were attractively portioned onto individual plates in advance. This made the food look much more appealing and appetising. There was salmon, a huge variety of pizzas, wraps, gyros plates, KFC style chicken, pasta, burgers and a salad bar.
It may seem like a small detail, but another plus for us was that the Magnum style ice cream bars could be customised with different sauces and toppings. For example, you could have white chocolate sauce with crunchy mini chocolate balls, which was naturally a huge hit with the children.
The main restaurant also had themed evenings alongside the usual huge selection of Turkish food. Unfortunately, we only happened to be there on one evening when they served prawns, but overall the food selection was very extensive.
Regarding cleanliness, however, I do have one specific comment for the hotel management. I would strongly recommend that a manager checks the orange juice machines used during breakfast. Unfortunately, their external condition was extremely poor. There were dried pieces of orange pulp and other residue stuck to various parts of the machines, including the back, and the red button used to dispense the juice was almost black from accumulated dirt. It gave the impression that these machines had not received a proper deep clean for a very long time. Considering that they are used directly for serving drinks, this created a particularly unpleasant impression and is definitely something that should be checked.
Another major positive is the Sushi Bar. We had never seen anything like this at any of the Turkish hotels we had previously visited. It is open every day from 20:00 until 24:00, with six different types of maki and big rolls to choose from. The sushi chef prepares them fresh and serves them nicely arranged on a plate.
The drinks selection is also impressive, and fortunately imported alcoholic drinks are included in the Ultra All Inclusive package. However, it is worth being specific about which brand you want. For example, if you simply order a Gin and Tonic, they will normally prepare it with their local gin. If you want Gordon's, it is better to specifically ask for Gordon's and tonic.
The cocktail menu can be viewed by scanning a QR code. At the Beach Bar and Pool Bar, however, we eventually stopped ordering cocktails. They are served in plastic cups, and the ingredients were often simply poured together rather randomly, so the result did not always resemble what you would expect based on the menu. We preferred to stick to long drinks in these bars.
The bars inside the main building were a completely different experience. At the Lobby Bar, Piano Bar and especially the Prestige Bar, we received very good cocktails, properly prepared and nicely presented. I would particularly like to mention a bartender called TRÍ at the Prestige Bar, who made genuinely excellent drinks.
The biggest negative for us was clearly the overall condition of the hotel. Several parts of the building are heavily worn. The corridors, elevators, doors and furniture often give a rather tired and dated impression. Walking through the corridors, we noticed water damage on several ceilings, and some room door frames were visibly separating from the walls. Individually, these issues may seem minor, but together they create the strong impression that several parts of the hotel are in need of significant renovation.
We were so dissatisfied with the first room we were given, an outward facing room on the second floor, that we had to request a room change. There were visible signs of water damage on the ceiling, several light bulbs were not working, the furnishings were worn and damaged, and the cosmetic mirror was rusty. Overall, the condition of the room did not reflect what we would expect from a five star hotel.
I requested a room change at reception. On the positive side, the reception staff spoke English well and were helpful. The following day we were eventually moved to a first floor room overlooking the pool. This room was in slightly better condition, but unfortunately we still found several issues that we consider difficult to accept in a five star hotel. There were broken tiles in the bathroom, visible holes in some of the shower tiles, and mould had become embedded in the silicone around the washbasin. The wall was also damaged around the mounting points of two wall lamps, several pieces of furniture had broken or badly worn corners, and the air conditioning control panel was also in very poor condition.
The air conditioning in the new room barely worked at first. I reported this to reception and maintenance staff were sent to the room shortly afterwards. They did something to it, as it noticeably improved afterwards, but even then it only produced slightly cool air, so the cooling performance was still not really adequate.
Overall, the hotel offers many services that make it a very good choice for a family holiday. Beautiful surroundings, a good beach, a large garden, water slides, children's activities, evening shows, friendly staff, a wide variety of food, an excellent à la carte restaurant system, a Sushi Bar and an impressive drinks selection.
In many respects, the standard of the services genuinely feels five star. However, the building itself, and especially the condition of the rooms, no longer consistently reflects the same standard. Compared with the other five star hotels we have visited in Turkey, the contrast here between the very good services and the worn hotel infrastructure was much more noticeable.
In our opinion one of the best hotels in Turkey, with many restaurants, swimming pools, aquapark and private beach. The food was amazing everywhere, but you definitely have to try fish restaurant near the sea. Our children were happy with a big choice of ice creams and deserts. Staff was polite and friendly. Our room was always clean and animals made from towels by Ayse were fantastic. She is magic! SPA team, especially Marina and Elvin, helped us feel like we were at home, caring for us like close relatives. As we were leaving, our daughter asked, with tears in her eyes, if we would ever return to this hotel. We will, we replied—we will definitely come back!
Our Holiday Experience – A Very Mixed Stay
Unfortunately, our holiday got off to a very disappointing start.
For the first two days, we were placed in a room that absolutely stank of sewage. The smell was initially bad, but it seemed to get worse and worse, to the point where we simply could not handle it anymore. We were gagging and felt like we were going to be sick.
We eventually discovered that there appeared to be leaking sewage outside our bedroom window, right next to the balcony, which explained the horrific smell.
The smell was so bad that we were unable to sleep for two nights. Trying to sleep while being surrounded by the smell of sewage was extremely distressing and completely ruined the beginning of our holiday.
We complained about the situation and were eventually moved to another room. The new room is lovely and much more comfortable, and we are very happy with it. However, we do feel that we lost two days of our holiday because of the conditions we experienced in the first room.
Unfortunately, even in the new room, the sewage smell does occasionally come through the drains, although thankfully it is nowhere near as bad as it was in the first room. At least we can now both use the bathroom with some privacy.
On top of this, my partner became extremely unwell on the first day. He was so ill that we genuinely considered whether he needed to go to hospital. After a second attempt at getting help from the pharmacy, he was given antibiotics, sinus medication and a nasal spray. Sadly, as we are due to leave tomorrow, he is still very poorly.
I also became extremely unwell with severe diarrhoea on the second day and was so ill that I didn't sleep at all that night. We later heard from other holidaymakers that there appeared to be a nasty illness/virus going around the resort, with a number of guests and, reportedly, some staff also being unwell. Obviously, we cannot say for certain where our illnesses came from, but it certainly affected our holiday.
Towards the end of our stay, we had another unexpected issue. One evening, we were sitting down hoping to relax and watch some entertainment when some very cute kittens came over to the area. While sitting on a chair, one kitten accidentally caught my hand with its nail. It was only a very minor incident — there was no bleeding, no open wound and no deep scratch — but after becoming concerned a few days later, I wanted to get medical advice.
Unfortunately, after contacting our travel insurance and not receiving a response, I struggled to arrange medical help. This is where I have to give a massive thank you to Nico and Banu at the Customer Information desk.
I genuinely cannot praise these two members of staff enough. Banu went out of her way to contact someone and help arrange for me to see the doctor, while Nico showed me where to find the doctor and actually waited with me. They both went above and beyond what I expected, and their kindness and support made a stressful situation much easier for me.
The doctor was also very kind and helpful. We had to communicate using Google Translate, but despite the language barrier he was patient and reassuring and confirmed that I was absolutely fine.
There are some lovely and genuinely kind members of staff around the resort, and we really appreciate the people who have helped us during what has unfortunately been a difficult holiday.
The drinks were also a little hit and miss — sometimes they seemed to be measured very differently — but compared with everything else, that is a minor issue.
It is such a shame because once we were moved, the room itself was lovely. Had we not experienced the sewage smell, the illness and the other problems during our stay, our overall experience could have been very different.
Sadly, our holiday has now come to an end. We hope that if we return in the future, we will be lucky enough to have a much more enjoyable stay from the moment we arrive.
Most importantly, thank you again to Nico and Banu. Your kindness, patience and willingness to help genuinely meant a lot to us and should be recognised by management.
Excellent Kids’ Club Activities, but the Service Needs Improvement
My husband, our four-year-old son and I spent 13 nights at Crystal Prestige Elite. Overall, the hotel has many excellent features, especially for families with children. However, during our stay, we also encountered several service-related issues that, in my opinion, should be improved at a five-star hotel.
What We Really Enjoyed
This is definitely one of the hotel’s biggest strengths!
Almost every day, the children can take part in various creative workshops and shows. Our son participated in candle-making, slime-making, figure-painting, perfume-making, mask-making, spoon-making, Harry Potter magic, and car-painting workshops.
It was fantastic! Our son looked forward to the workshops and took part in them with great enthusiasm.
The evening activities, such as inflatable attractions and digital games, were also excellent. The pool games were very entertaining as well.
The Kids’ Club staff do an outstanding job. Their work, enthusiasm and genuine involvement in the children’s activities were exceptional.
Many thanks to the Kids’ Club for the wonderful activities and positive attitude!
As someone who dislikes excessive air conditioning and gets sick easily from cold air, I was very pleased with the hotel’s air-conditioning system.
The rooms were pleasantly cool, but the cold air was never blowing directly on us. Even when sitting under an air conditioner, I did not have to worry about getting sick.
For me, this was a major advantage, especially compared with other hotels.
The food was absolutely delicious!
It was almost disappointing that there was not enough room in my stomach to try everything I wanted. I do not eat meat, so I especially appreciated the wide variety of options available. Even after trying many dishes, there were still plenty of things I did not manage to taste.
My husband particularly enjoyed the fish.
I would especially like to praise the delicious potato gözleme. The gözleme area also has a wonderful atmosphere, made even more charming by the three roosters.
The pool is huge, and the water park was very exciting.
For families with children, this is definitely one of the hotel’s strongest features.
What Could Be Improved
We quite often experienced problems with cutlery in the main restaurant.
For example, the dirty dishes had been cleared from a table, and we sat there because there was simply nowhere else to sit — the restaurant can become very crowded — only to discover that there was no cutlery on the table.
Several times, we had to walk around the restaurant looking for other cleared tables in order to collect knives and forks for ourselves.
In my opinion, the solution would be very simple: the restaurant could provide additional boxes or stations with clean knives, forks and other necessary cutlery so that guests could take them when needed.
The hotel has a system whereby a waiter is supposed to approach guests after they sit down and bring them drinks.
However, during our 13-night stay, there were more occasions when a waiter did not come than occasions when one did.
This would not be a major problem in itself — we have no issue going to the bar and getting drinks ourselves. The problem is that guests are not allowed to order alcohol directly at the bar in the main restaurant.
On one such occasion, the bartender explained that a waiter would bring the alcohol. I returned to our table and waited. After approximately 10 minutes, no waiter had approached us.
This creates the impression that the system exists in theory but is not always properly implemented in practice.
During breakfast, getting coffee sometimes felt like a matter of luck.
One coffee machine would be out of water, while another would be out of milk. That would not be a major issue — I would simply look for another machine. However, that one would not be working either. Eventually, I would find one that worked, as shown by the long queue in front of it.
It was relatively easy for me because I drink black coffee.
For my husband, who only drinks coffee with milk, the situation was much more difficult. In the main restaurant, milk was available from the coffee machines only if you happened to be in the right place at the right time.
In my opinion, this is not what guests expect from a five-star hotel.
As a result, my husband often went without coffee, even though he would have liked one.
Our experience with the pavilion service was particularly confusing.
When I reserved the pavilion through Guest Relations, the staff member explained that there would be a QR code in the pavilion, which we could use to order food and drinks.
At approximately 10:40 a.m., we arrived at our reserved pavilion, left our belongings there and went away. We returned at around 12:00 p.m. and wanted to use the pavilion service.
However, the promised QR code was not available in the pavilion.
I also checked my email, but the QR code was not there either.
After approximately 30 mins , I noticed a woman in a hotel uniform near our pavilion and asked her how I could obtain the promised QR code. She called a staff member who introduced himself as the waiter assigned to our pavilion.
He asked what we would like to order. We explained that we did not want anything at that moment but might want to order something later. The waiter told us to contact him when we were ready.
Later we decided that we wanted to order food and drinks. However, the waiter was nowhere to be seen. I went to the beach restaurant, where a very helpful staff member assisted us in finding the pavilion waiter. We eventually placed our order. I asked again about the promised QR code, but it seemed that the pavilion waiter either did not understand my question or chose to ignore it. The whole situation seemed very strange. Why does Guest Relations promise a QR code during the reservation process if it is not actually available in the pavilion? And even more importantly, why was I not given the QR code after asking for it twice? Do the Guest Relations staff not know how the pavilion service is organised, even though Guest Relations is responsible for making pavilion reservations? At the same time, I would like to point out that the pavilion service improved significantly after approximately 2:00 p.m. The waiter frequently came to our pavilion and asked whether we wanted to order anything. We had no complaints about the pavilion service after 2:00 p.m.
I can communicate in both English and Russian, although neither language is my native language. I simply feel more comfortable communicating in English. We had an unpleasant experience with the SPA staff member Enur. I communicated with him in both English and Russian. When I was leaving the SPA, I had not even left the SPA reception area when I heard him say to a colleague in a tone of disbelief: “Strange. She can speak Russian, but she speaks English.” First of all, I do not understand why I should not speak English if that is more comfortable for me. Secondly, as a guest, I find it unacceptable for a hotel employee to discuss a guest with a colleague while the guest is still in the room and has not actually left the SPA. I can only guess why the employee Enur may have been dissatisfied. Perhaps he was offended because I did not want to listen to the SPA service offers. However, I simply was not interested in those offers. I wanted to relax by the pool, not listen to information about services I did not want to use. And I certainly did not want to hear hotel employees discussing me afterwards
Overall Impression Overall, the hotel has excellent potential, especially for families with children. The Kids’ Club activities are outstanding, the food is delicious, the pool and water park are excellent, and the air conditioning was personally one of the best I have experienced in a hotel. However, the level of service does not always meet what one would expect from a five-star hotel. The issues with cutlery, coffee machines, waiter availability, pavilion service organisation and the communication of certain staff members may not be major problems individually, but over the course of 13 nights, they occurred often enough to cause disappointment. Therefore, my overall impression is this: the hotel offers excellent facilities and activities, especially for children, but the organisation of the service and the attitude of some staff members still need improvement.
The pools are great, you don’t even need to walk to the sea theres a cart taking people there. Rooms are okay, but our fridge didn’t work, our buttons for flushing the toilet were fallen out the whole stay, they tried to fix but still fell. The AC is barely feelable, so I recommend bringing a fan. We expected a nice food, unfortunately most of the time it didn’t look so good, neither tasted better. We were told they are having shrimps, which were not found anywhere, and most of the time you could see people eating onion rings since they didn’t pick anything either. Prepare for a lot of fried food and gaining weight or loosing weight due to not finding anything tasty or even eatable with proper joy. We also visited the italian restaurant here, I also recommend ordering more food because the portion of the pasta is enough for 2 bites. No they do not have a whirlpool. Also the drinks are strong so watch out. Our kid enjoyed the evening shows which are here.
