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.