"Do not be fooled by the hotel's interior design. Although the hotel itself is brand new (1 yo) and is marketed as a 5-star property, the service certainly does not meet five-star expectations.
My friend and I stayed at this hotel at the end of july for nine nights, and we were extremely disappointed with our experience. Before our arrival, we carefully read reviews from previous guests, many of whom complained about the rude and dismissive attitude of the staff. Despite these warnings, we decided to book the hotel and ultimately regretted our decision. If you read the reviews you might notice that the hotel's general manager regularly responds to negative reviews by saying that the complaints will be sent to the appropriate departments and that the necessary improvements will be made. Unfortunately, based on our own experience, it appears that these complaints were not rectified.
The first and most disappointing incident occurred at reception immediately upon our arrival. When I arrived at the reception, I initially spoke to the receptionist in English. After seeing my passport (I am not from Russia), he told me that I could speak Russian with him. I did so but then politely asked if he could communicate with me in English instead, as I feel more comfortable communicating in English. Rather than simply accommodating my request or explaining that he was unable to do so he completely ignored it. From that moment on he behaved as though I was not there and refused to communicate with me. I then asked his female colleague for the receptionist's name because I wanted to file a complaint about his behavior. She also completely ignored me. She did not answer my question and, instead, simply avoided looking at me. Eventually, a manager was called to the reception. I explained what happened. Rather than addressing the situation professionally, he told me that switching from one language to another was "unethical." He went even further and told me that everyone at the hotel would consider it unethical. I found this response extremely inappropriate. I was not asking anyone to do anything unreasonable. I was simply asking to communicate in the language in which I felt more comfortable. Especially since the hotel advertises itself as international. Even if the hotel had a particular language policy, I would have expected this to be explained to me politely and professionally, rather than being told that my request was "unethical." I then asked the manager for his name and requested that he write it down for me so that I could include it in my formal complaint. His response was that I could write it down myself if I needed it. This entire interaction took place at the reception desk of a hotel presenting itself as a five-star property. I found the attitude of all three employees involved, the receptionist, his colleague, and the manager to be dismissive and disrespectful. What was particularly troubling was not simply that my request was refused, but the way it was handled. I was ignored, my questions were deliberately left unanswered, and when I tried to make a formal complaint, the manager responded defensively rather than attempting to resolve the situation.
On the other hand, the hotel had its positives, too. We booked a room with a sea view, which was clean and had comfortable beds. The AC worked perfectly well, and we had no complaints about the room itself. The minibar was restocked with soft drinks every day, and the cleaning lady was very polite and came to clean our room every day. The main downside was the soundproofing. The evening entertainment lasts until 11 PM, and if you decide to have an early night, the loud music makes it difficult to sleep even with the doors closed.
The pool itself is good. However, considering the size of the hotel, it is quite small. There were several foam parties during our stay, which appeared to be very popular among the guests. One thing we noticed was an unpleasant smell around the pool area, which sometimes smelled a little like sewage. The pool bar was nice and offered plenty of options. The sunbed situation, however, was disastrous. The sunbeds are placed extremely close together, and most of them were already reserved by 6 AM. I personally witnessed from my room balcony a man reserving 14 sunbeds early in the morning. It appeared that the staff did not monitor or enforce any rules regarding this. In contrast, the beach area was very pleasant, with plenty of sunbeds and a nice beach bar where you can order food by scanning a QR code. The service there was fast, and we had no complaints.
The dining area, on the other hand, was very disappointing. Although the food was somewhat repetitive, it was generally good enough. The bigger problem was the behavior of many guests. Most people do not queue and simply push their way through others. On multiple occasions, we witnessed guests stockpiling enormous amounts of food on their plates, much of which was ultimately left unfinished. I remember reading a review from a previous guest describing the dining area as being full of "vultures," and, unfortunately, I have to agree with that comment :)
The lobby bar was nice and offered a good variety of drinks. The staff in the terrace area were pleasant and occasionally provided table service. The main problem with the lobby bar was that it became extremely busy by around 9 PM, while only one person was serving everyone. As in the dining area, guests frequently did not queue and would simply jump ahead of others. The staff member appeared to be completely overworked. Having an additional member of staff to help with simple tasks, such as pouring beer and wine, could have made a significant difference.
Overall, there were certainly some positive aspects to the hotel. The room was comfortable, the beach was pleasant, the food was generally acceptable, and some members of the staff were genuinely nice and helpful. However, these positives were outweighed by the poor service and the attitude we experienced at reception, as well as several organizational problems throughout the property.
After nine nights, we unfortunately decided that we would not return to this property."
