Valamar Crystal Hotel

In feb 08 we booked 7 night half board stay for May 2008. The details included free wine, beers and soft drinks with evening meals. On the first night we ordered red wine and beer and were presented witha bill for 46 Kuna. The restaurant manager (quite a rude man) avised that they stopped doing it-no date given-and we should take it up with Thomas Cook. He also insisted that we pay him there and then for our drinks and that if we wanted water this would be 25Kuna a bottle. Thomas Cook reps were new to the resort and hotel and whilst sympathetic did nothing to help. This spoilt what was otherwise a very pleasant holiday. Hotel room excellent, food excellent, entertainment average,weather very wet but thats the chance you take going early in the season. I would be interested in hearing from any other guests that booked half board with drinks at dinner and then had to pay extremely high prices in the hotel restaurant and bar

Unfortunately our initial room allocation had an ant problem, we were moved to another room and after this everything was fine overall. The hotel is located in a lovely green area surrounded by woodland. The hotel is very clean, staff friendly and helpful, food is of good standard but nothing special....entertainment is average and the same every night! Walk into Porec takes around 15mins by quick route, or 30 mins by scenic wooded coastal route. Would definately recommend a day trip across to Venice if you have never been as we had a lovely day. Porec is nice and has plenty of places to eat and drink....went to Pula to see the Roman ruins, and apart from this not much else there. Rovinj is worth a visit, the old town is pretty with narrow cobbled backstreets leading up to the hilltop church. The public buses are not very frequent at this time of year which can be a pain...and not that cheap either. Overall our holiday was lovely but unfortunately was tainted by awful weather....we went in mid May and 5 out of 7 days we had rain!

We stayed at this hotel for a week.We had noted previous comments about the outside view of the hotel and do not agree.It was of good appearance. The cleanliness was very good and the food excellent with a very large selection.The only down side was the prices in the Bar which were very high.Id advise going outside to nearby bars.We had an excellent holiday and would definately recommend this hotel

I'd been to Porec before but only for a few days and loved it so wanted to return. My partner and I chose the Valamar Crystal based on value and reviews we'd read. The reviews were accurate as when you arrive you are faced with a concrete mostrosity of a building, however do not be put off! The hotel had clearly been refurbished and inside it was so lovely with a big reception area and cocktail bar and at the back a large decked area overlooking the pool where we drank cocktails in the evening. The rooms were very clean, and tastefully decorated in a modern style. The hotel was quite quiet with little night life or entertainment but this was due to when we went as the summer season had not yet begun but based on what I saw when I was there, karaoke etc I'm sure it would improve! We went half board and the food was great with a very extensive buffet that varied every day, however go to dinner earlier rather than later as when it was very busy it was sometimes hard to find a table and the table cloths were often dirty and the tables took a while to be cleared. The staff were polite and helpful. Wine and beer were free and unlimited at dinner which we were amazed by however you can't take it out of the dining room! Drinks in the cocktail bar were quite expensive. The hotel is set in a wooded area 5 minutes walk down to the sea and a 15 minute walk from historic Porec which is well worth the trip and a little train runs too and from the town frequently, but i'd reccomend the walk. Food and drink was very cheap and we ate out several times. There are no beaches in Porec, mainly concrete man-made areas but the pool and decking around it was so nice with lots of sunbeds that we didn't mind at all! I would definitely return to this hotel and reccomend it to families and couples including young people if the 18-30's scene isn't for you!

Very pleased with our choice, booked transfers on Ryanair website from airport to hotel (approx 45 mins), transfer rep suggested if we tipped, driver would leave us to hotel and not bus station as stated. Driver left us right at door, we arrived approx 9.30pm, reception informed us because we were half board and late arrival, to leave luggage in room and go to dining room where we found plated meat, cheese & eggs with bread, fruit and orange juice, very welcome. Plenty of choice at breakfast and dinner, with free beer and wine on tap at dinner. Very clean, staff all lovely, location very pretty, about 30 min walk into Porec town. Only downside much older crowd, evening entertainment bit repetitive and very quiet, but this was probably due to time of year (middle/late September). Lot of water sports nearby and big into cycling, bike hire everywhere. Took day trip to Venice on catamaran, bit apprehensive as had read some horror stories on reviews, wasn't that bad, did have motion sickness for a few days, but would get that from flying anyway. Lovely country and people, would visit Croatia again, perhaps different area, would choose Valamar hotels again, great service and reasonable price

We have just enjoyed an excellent stay at the Varamar Crystal. The recent refurb has resulted in a very stylish, clean, comfortable hotel with all the amenites you can can ask for. The standards were high, equivalent to an english 4* at least. (Not so attractive from the outside though!) We don't have children but there was plenty to keep all the chldren there occupied which resulted in peace and quiet! Lots of activities, sports, watersports, spa etc within a few mins walk. Plus lots of daytime and evening activities for children and adults onsite. Its a lovely stroll into Porec through the woodland walk. Porec is very clean with a nice harbour and traditional shopping area with chic shops. The resort itself reminds me of a combination of 'centre parks' on the sea with an italian influence in terms of architecture and food but with eastern european culture. Very unique. We also visited Lim Fyord and Rovinj which were very nice too. Will definately return to Croatia in the future.

This Hotel was excellent value for money,our first visit to Croatia and we loved it.The Hotel has been recently refurbished , very nice rooms with air-conditioning and comfortable beds.Whole complex was kept very clean.We stayed half-board,the dining room is huge and we always found a table easily,large choice of dishes,all self-service,ate too much at every meal! added bonus of free drinks,including wine and beer.Every evening there was entertainment and a variety of activities during the day as well.The adjoining Hotel Diamont has a nice gym and indoor pool which you could use for a small charge.There was also an excellent dentist,(had a filling done and she reconstructed my toooth ,I was well impressed!) .A short walk took you into Porec which is very pretty.We did a couple of boat trips just walk along the harbour and see which one you fancy,we went to Rovinj on one trip.We are already planning to re -visit Croatia.

We enjoyed our stay at this hotel which we thought was good value for money. The evening buffet was very nice with a large selection to choose from. We stayed five nights but ate out 2 of the 5 nights as the dining room is very large and noisy which gave it a bit of a butlins atmosphere I thought. Other drawbacks were bingo on the first night in the lounge which is not my cup of tea and also smoking in the lounge, but I would imagine that the other hotels would be the same. Apart from that I thought the rooms were a good size and there is a nice pool area. The weather was quite hot when we were there which was on 20 May 07, so sun bathing was not a problem if that's what you want to do. We had a hired car from Italy (we drove from Venice) so we toured the coast of Istria and I would say that Porec is the place to stay, it really is a lovely little town and so clean with lots of narrow pedestrian streets with shops and restaurants and has a very Italian feel to it. I have to say the Italian food in Croatia was better than in Venice. Take a boat trip to Rovinj which sets out at 10am from Porec and returns at 5pm, you can wander about Rovinj for 2 hours and then have lunch on the boat with wine, this all costs150 Kuna (£15) each. Well worth it and very relaxing.

We Booked our Holiday through Thomson and was good value for the money. The Kristal is a 1960s Concrete hotel. Although only rated 3* The welcome, service and Hospitality at this hotel is of the highest order. The hotel rooms although not large are well kept and clean with well appointed bathrooms. The public areas are recently renovated and very well maintained and cleaned almost constantly. The Buffet style restaurant was on a half board basis with a wide plentiful range of tasty food available at the evening meal all being carefully cooked and nicely presented .we enjoyed free self service local wine, beer or soft drinks with our evening meal. In the restaurant the tables were laid with table cloths and linen napkins. The staff in the restaurant were cheerfull & welcoming . There is a wide choice of Hot or cold buffet style breakfast plenty of fresh fruit available at all meals. The swimming pool is larger than most ,with a good sized sun terrace pool bar sun beds and sunshades (but you will have to supply your own mattress for your sun bed as they are not supplied). The pool dates from when the hotel was originally built and will probably renovated in the near future. On Most nights there was live music/dancingwith a duo or trio in the hotel lobby bar but the sound did not travel to other parts of the hotel, so this did not disturb us. Hotel is pleasantly situated in a district called BRULO near to 3 other hotels: Rubin Diamand Mirreaedian and situated up a short slope amongst the conifer forest that stretches down to the edge of the sea which is about 3 or 5 minutes stroll. Near to the water there is mini golf, Tennis, Table Tennis etc. available at a small charge and there is a choice of cafes/tavernas near by where you can enjoy a snack/lunch away from the hotel . The town of Porec is 15 minutes walk away throught the trees or you can follow the coast line which is then a 30 minutes stroll. ( you can also walk along the tree lined coast path in the other direction ) which will take you to other hotel complexs and cafes. If or when you are too tired there is a mini train sevice running along the costal pathway linking the various hotel complexes with town of Porec. (There were two trains running this, when we were there-so the service was about every half hour). The fare was 100 Kuna( £1 ) for the a single one way fare from Brulo to Porec or Porec to Luguna was 150 Kuna (£1.50) Food and drink in the cafes was not cheap but also not very expensive. £1.50 for 0.50 litre of local beer £1.30 for a coffee £ 5 for a fish or meat pizza with salad garnish. The hotel Kristal is managed by Valamar who look after many of the other Hotels around Porec and they seem to be a well run Company. It was my wifes birthday whilst we were there, so I gave here a card,which she left on the dressing table in our room. When we returned from our day outing the was a complimentary bottle of wine and a card from the Hotel Management which was un-expected by both myself and her and was a very nice gesture.

We stayed in the Hotel Kristal in the middle of June with four other friends. On arrival at night from the outside we thought the hotel looked quite drab but on entering it was immaculate and very bright. The pool area is good and the snack bar has plenty of choice. The staff were really friendly too and one day I arrived back to find a bottle of wine on my bed as it was my birthday!!! Our stay was wonderful and I would definitely recommend both the hotel and Porec. It was our first visit. The meals were excellent with a varied choice but I would recommend leaving it for an hour before going for dinner as the Germans rush like mad to get there first and it is very conjested. Leave it an hour and you can dine in comfort. The free wine and beer with your meal went down a treat!! The location is perfect with five mins walk to the sea front through pine trees. Beautiful. Porec itself is about 15/20 mins walk along the sea front or you can take the mini train, but this is usually full during mid day. There are loads of restaurants and bars in Porec itself and although they close at midnight, this is good as there is no rowdiness. We hired bikes for three days which is a marvellous way to see the coast line (we entered the nudist camp one day - quite embarrassing but funny) and went on two boat rides to the fjords - marvellous and good value for money. Well - what more can I say about the place - wonderful!! We enjoyed it so much we have already booked again for next year but this time further down to Makarska - hope it is as good.