Our party arrived with fear and trembling, having scrutinised several abysmal reviews, and received generic, bland and dare I say patronising responses to our concerned approaches to Crystal before we set off. Eventually a resort rep emailed a decent reply, but he was no longer in post by the time we got there! Hmm...
As a non coffee drinker the inadequate coffee machine did not impact upon my enjoyment. The large utilitarian coffee urn provided as well appeared to be ignored by most guests, perhaps the coffee was not good. We understood that a second coffee machine would not be delivered for some time, but what about hiring one? There was a magnificent golden samovar for tea, unfortunately the water was not at times hot enough and the tea not drinkable. A kettle or two would have been helpful. Otherwise we enjoyed the restaurant - plenty of interesting food, and being a buffet one could eat as much of whatever one wanted. Waiter serviced fine dining however this is not. The final night of our stay, our reserved table had been commandeered by other guests, and there was a regrettable uplift of the wine carafe price, in error. The points raised by the last reviewer about high bottle prices are well taken.
The room was large, very clean, and no problems with towels or toilet paper. The bathroom was dataed - some cracked tiles and non functioning mechanicval ventilation but again very clean. Staff all very pleasant and friendly, we liked the bar, the most commodious ski room, the heated pegs for boots. It’s a sprawling hotel which appears to have been stiched together from about 3 large chalets, there are two lifts which are not contiguous, so staircases are unavoidable. The lift serving the upper floors does not work late in the evening, we understand owing to machinery noise near guest bedrooms. Both lifts are very small, and carpet lined - something I’ve never seen except in Grimsby....
The games room is as described, you wouldn’t want to play games in it or let your children loose in there. By contrast the pool are spa are very pleasant, although if you want a sauna you have to take all your clothes off (no thanks) and I can confirm that the steam room is not very steamy.
Our overall impression s that this is a supposedly 4 star hotel but the facilities are rather patchily consistent with this. It would not compare well even to a 3-4 star hotel such as the Schweitzerhof in Lenzerheide, where I had a an excellent and completely comfortable business trip 3 years ago. Having said that, we did not pay 4 star prices - you pays your money and you takes your choice.