My partner and I have just returned from the Crown Serenity after a 4 night stay and booked this hotel as a very last minute getaway. Admittedly we hadn't visited the Side area of Turkey before so didn't know what to expect although we were both seasoned travellers to the Dalaman area so were hoping for a similar experience. After booking the hotel, my partner then read a number of reviews about it, making us both rather anxious on what to expect. Upon arriving at the resort area, it immediately became apparent to us that this was NOT an English touristy area. Nearly every shop sold goods in Euros and it became a regular event in trying to negotiate a price in Turkish Lira's to buy something. The Crown Serenity is one of 4 hotels owned by the same family. After looking at the hotels fixtures and furnishing and comparing them to it's sister hotels nearby, it was most definitely the oldest of the 4! Although clean, it was most definitely in need of modernisation as the rooms looked tired and in need of updating. The alleged view of the beach was unsurprisingly hidden by a second hotel across the road and seemed non existent from the 1st floor balcony. We had booked what they had described to us as a deluxe double room with a sea view. The room seemed dissapointedly sparse of features attributed to an alleged 5...My partner and I have just returned from the Crown Serenity after a 4 night stay and booked this hotel as a very last minute getaway.
Admittedly we hadn't visited the Side area of Turkey before so didn't know what to expect although we were both seasoned travellers to the Dalaman area so were hoping for a similar experience.
After booking the hotel, my partner then read a number of reviews about it, making us both rather anxious on what to expect.
Upon arriving at the resort area, it immediately became apparent to us that this was NOT an English touristy area. Nearly every shop sold goods in Euros and it became a regular event in trying to negotiate a price in Turkish Lira's to buy something.
The Crown Serenity is one of 4 hotels owned by the same family. After looking at the hotels fixtures and furnishing and comparing them to it's sister hotels nearby, it was most definitely the oldest of the 4!
Although clean, it was most definitely in need of modernisation as the rooms looked tired and in need of updating.
The alleged view of the beach was unsurprisingly hidden by a second hotel across the road and seemed non existent from the 1st floor balcony.
We had booked what they had described to us as a deluxe double room with a sea view.
The room seemed dissapointedly sparse of features attributed to an alleged 5 star hotel.
The bathroom was poorly equipped with no toiletries or bath robes as stated in the write up.
They had instead, equipped the shower cubicle with what I can only describe as an all in one shampoo/body wash gel which you dispensed by a very cheap looking dispenser.
The room was however, clean and tidy and was daily cleaned by our maid.
The grounds appeared unkempt and very basic compared to other nearby hotels.
Another realisation by us, and which had already been stated before by other reviewers, was that most of the staff spoke very little English. They did however try to oblige as best as they could.
Let's not forget, this was predominately a European hotel and as such the staff seemed fluent in both Russian and German which suited the vast majority of the residents staying there.
The food was very much geared towards the Eastern European appetites, however, having said that, the salads and fruits displayed were both immense and tasteful. It was just a shame that the meat platters were limited to spicy sausages and endless stroganoffs.
The beach however is a plus for the hotel in that although a few minutes away, it is easily accessible by means of a free coach that runs very regularly to and from it.
Once there, lunch and drinks are easily obtained via the beach bar which serves up a very substantial menu for all and is open daily from 12-5pm.
One of the downsides to staffing was their lack of assistance in dealing with the most basics of requests.
Being sugar intolerant, I requested over our 3 days there, not once but 4 times for our soft drinks in our room to be exchanged for diet drinks.
On all 4 times I was promised that it would be done, and even when to guest services for help when no drinks emerged.
Amazingly I left the hotel with no diet soft drinks ever being swapped in our room!
In summary, we would not revisit the hotel again as we found others nearby that were of a much better standard.
Saying that, the entire resort area is aimed entirely at the German/Russian tourists so we both felt out of our depths staying thereMore