Yalta Intourist - review of the legendary hotel of a non-Soviet level

We didn’t rest in Crimea before, but I always dreamed of visiting Yalta and feeling for myself all the charms of the climate of the Southern coast of Crimea. We chose a hotel with a developed infrastructure for children and without a raid of the Soviet past. We stopped at the hotel "Yalta Intourist 4 *": she repeatedly fell into the rankings of the best in this region. Bribed by the location in the Massandra Park, a huge territory and its own water park.

Meeting and check-in

The hotel has a transfer service, so we drove from the airport by minibus - there were enough seats for everyone, they even remained free: we drove comfortably, placing our luggage in the aisles and in the remaining places. Settled quickly, in just 10 minutes, although quite a lot of people arrived at the same time. When checking in, they give out electronic bracelets: they open access to the territory, so a stranger cannot get into the hotel.

Electronic bracelet with a declaration of love "Yalta Intourist"

They gave a room on the 13th floor, which we were delighted with. But in the following days, they repeatedly witnessed skirmishes between newly arrived guests and employees who refused to give rooms on higher floors, explaining that the hotel was packed to capacity. Moreover, some guests even in their wishes when booking indicated a request for a high floor: the hotel was deaf.

The minibus crashed completely back: luggage filled the passage, I had to put things under the seats. It’s inconvenient because it takes more than an hour to get to the airport. You need to book a return transfer in advance, warning the administrator in a few days, otherwise there may not be enough places. Another of the inconveniences: late flight, but eviction from the room at checkout time for lunch. They didn’t offer to put luggage anywhere; I had to sit on my suitcases for several hours.

Location of the hotel "Yalta Intourist"

Yalta Intourist Hotel is located in the quiet center of Yalta, in a beautiful green corner, in the territory of Massandra Park. The location is unique: the park is a tourist attraction, people come just to look at it, and we could live here, breathe fresh air. This played a considerable role in choosing a hotel, and expectations were met: the air here is really wonderful.

The Soviet era in the past, today Yalta Intourist looks very modern and stylish

The complex is huge, located on the beach. The territory goes up towards Ai-Petri, located on several levels with terraces. Nearby attractions include Nikitsky Botanical Garden, Massandra Palace. Walking distance on foot for 10 minutes.
The main minus of the location is the proximity of the mountain, where cold air comes down in the evenings, and swimming in pools closer to sunset is pretty cold. But the mountain also gives undoubted advantages: an excellent landscape. To the center of Yalta, where resort life begins with cafe-restaurants, walk about 20 minutes.

Hotel Territory

The hotel area is simply gigantic, for two weeks of vacation did not have time to look into all corners. Since the complex is located on the territory of Massandra Park, there is a huge amount of greenery, many shady corners, flowering aromas are spreading everywhere. Paths are laid, everywhere is neat, clean, beautiful. The only negative is the noise at any time of the day, a feeling of fussiness. In the afternoon, children ride scooters and electric cars along the paths: you constantly dodge flying equipment. In the evenings, drunken companies buzz, music comes from the beach, from the bars. You can’t sleep with an open balcony, and even through the closed noise I could still fly, especially on weekends. Another source of noise is the zoo, or rather its humanoid inhabitants. The wild cries of the monkeys in the silence of the night made us shudder at first, then we got used to it.
I want silence - you need to go to the "Green Park", located on the upper levels: few people, silence, an incredible amount of greenery. You can get on a golf cart from the central building, they go about once every 15 minutes.

Pools in "Yalta Intourist"

The hotel has several pools, a favorite was the complex of pools in the water park. More precisely, his son turned out to be his main fan, ready to spend his entire vacation here without a break. For guests of the hotel the water park is free, those who want to relax in Yalta with children should definitely consider the hotel: let the prices be higher than other hotels, the cost of visiting the water park is good.

The water complex is located remotely from the buildings on the shore. The main ones are 4 high attractions - extreme for visitors from 14 years old. My husband and I tried two - indeed, adrenaline rolls over. The joints were made with high quality, the skin was not torn off, there were no injuries. The son spent time on safe slides on a pirate ship - there are 10-15 of them of different heights, between them a play area is equipped. The children's pool is heated, with a convenient entry, a zone of "paddling pool". For the smallest fun categories discharge mushrooms and a water obstacle course. In the water park, guests have access to ordinary pools and sun loungers, and you can grab a bite to eat at several cafes.

The most photographed is the panoramic pool

Adults liked the central pool with a water bar, where you can order good cocktails, soft drinks for every taste. It’s convenient that you don’t have to go anywhere, carry money with you: you get everything you want, almost without getting up from the sunbed. It is possible to approach, or rather swim up to the bar without leaving the water - conveniently. There is a hydromassage area and a terrace with excellent sea views.
Pools with towers of different heights for diving were equipped, we did not use, we just passed by. We used the pool of the Olympic format: spacious, clean, bright. Pouring sea water, which is heated - more comfortable than in the open sea. At the pool conduct classes in water aerobics, sports, installed nets for water polo.

Nearby there is a small pool for babies, the depth is not more than half a meter, the water is heated. It is connected to a deeper zone where older children swim and play. For entertainment - fungi, small gentle slides, trampolines and a game zone are installed nearby. The child spent time with pleasure.

Absolutely to all pools, the question of cleanliness: due to the huge number of people (more than a thousand rooms) for lunch, the purity of the water left much to be desired. Turbid, swim hair, sometimes mucus on the walls. Often at the height of the day / late in the evening it is dirty at the sunbeds, a hotel of such a high level should seriously monitor the cleanliness.

Entertainment and infrastructure

The territory is equipped with many activity areas where you can play tennis, volleyball, football, just warm up. In the open air there is a platform of street exercise machines: there are not many of them, but the view is good, it’s worth finding a location for it. The billiard room offers 5 tables: the husband played a couple of times, the condition of the equipment and the atmosphere were arranged.

Most struck a fitness club. A huge number of simulators and the view from the windows is amazing: over the mountains and the sea. It is possible to work out on your own or with an instructor, attend group classes, for example, yoga.

Estrada "Yalta Intourist", where concerts were held in the evenings

The shopping gallery is small, but useful shops are open: a grocery mini-market, a spa department, and a pharmacy. Clothing, jewelry, accessories were not impressed. Prices are more expensive than outside the complex. I liked an interesting store where they sold fresh bread, pastries and just an incredible number of types of cheese: several dozen for sure. Before buying, they give you to taste as many options as you like: we tried so hard that we didn’t want to go to dinner. Near the beach there are eco-friendly kiosks that sell local farm fruits, vegetables, herbs, teas, sweets, wines. Several souvenir stalls, prices are higher than city. Near food court: they offer to order drinks, grilled dishes, desserts, snacks.

There are many entertainments for adults, we found:

  1. Excursions in Yalta and the surrounding area.
  2. Sports: exercises, yoga, water aerobics, stretching, volleyball, table tennis, games on the beach and in the pool.
  3. Music: performances by a symphony orchestra, groups with pop and rock hits.
  4. Evening "Mafia".
  5. Master classes in painting.
  6. The theater hosts evening shows for guests of any age.
  7. Competition for the best photo for Instagram.

Of the minuses - there are few elevators for such a number of guests, sometimes they had to wait 15 minutes, all comers often did not fit. Of the pluses - there are coolers on all floors in the building, there are no problems with clean water. A pleasant hotel service is a transfer from the main entrance to the center of Yalta and back.

Animation and services for children

In general, the hotel can safely be called child friendly. A bunch of activities for children, infrastructure for all ages, a child always has something to do. To be honest, we saw our son less than ever on vacation: we constantly disappeared in classes, games, competitions. We were lucky: a large company of one-year-olds got up, therefore, we can say that the child went to a children's camp.

Both we and my son really liked the kids club, where the children are with carers. They are not only played with, but also engaged in. They learn to draw, burn wood, sculpt clay pots, teach acting, English and Chinese. The children's development club was alternated with the game library: here you can hang out, draw, play the console, just chat with peers. The child is under the supervision of animators, the atmosphere is more relaxed and suitable for active children.

The playground is interesting in design and variety of structures: horizontal bars, stairs, shells, devices for the development of coordination and dexterity. But children, in comparison with other entertainments, didn’t really like it. In the rope park, it’s many times more interesting, I read that it is the largest in the Crimea. It is located far from the buildings on a hilly peak, so they gathered to get to it only once. The main thing that we liked - the view is simply stunning over the entire surrounding coastline. Ropes for all ages, husband and son decided to go the routes. They gave out equipment, picked up insurance, instructors are attentive and professional. Feels like security is on par.

For children at the Yalta Intourist Hotel a small zoo was arranged. Most monkeys are said to be 170 species. In the enclosures there are many representatives of the cat family: serval, leopard, cougar, cheetah. Alpacas turned out to be the most charismatic, and nosoha were unusual, they had never met such animals before. On the beach there is an oceanarium, entrance fee. We decided not to go, because the son did not express a desire, and we have often visited similar ones.

Alpacas are always ready to chat with tourists

Animation is beyond praise: friendly, friendly, active guys. What pleased us was that the games and entertainments are non-trivial, even it was interesting for us to follow what they invent for children. Which of the activities was remembered:

  1. Detective quests.
  2. Consoles games tournaments.
  3. Master classes in cooking and molecular cuisine, etiquette, self-presentation.
  4. Screening of educational films.
  5. Drawing competition.
  6. For kids - a disco, face painting.

Hotel food and restaurants

The Yalta Intourist Hotel operates an all-inclusive system, so there are no problems with food, drinks, or snacks throughout the day. There is a breakfast system, but we decided to see what the hotel, which was included in the top ten best Russian all-inclusive ratings, offers. Honestly, we tried to calculate how many hotels the hotel offers in total bars and restaurants, but it didn’t work out. As a result, we found out from the employees - 25 pieces.

Typical breakfast at the Intourist hotel in Yalta

Breakfast, lunch and dinner were served in the main restaurant, located on the first floor of the main building. Breakfasts are ordinary, the choice can not be called huge, but just enough. Always served fruit, from 2 to 5 species, champagne and delicacies, such as slightly salted salmon. The most varied dinners. In addition to the main menu, themed dishes of world cuisines were presented daily:

  • Russian
  • Ukrainian;
  • eastern;
  • Mediterranean
  • Crimean Tatar;
  • Caucasian.

Unfortunately, you can’t name delicious dishes: fatty, there is no sensation of fresh high-quality food, as if they are prepared from cheap products. Some resembled the Soviet canteen: meatloaf, salads with an insane amount of mayonnaise, fish in marinade. Plus Soviet nostalgia - insanely delicious donuts at breakfast, the taste comes from childhood. Delicious dishes were also served: seafood, good steaks, a huge number of desserts, ice cream, good cheeses and cold cuts. Also at dinner, alcoholic drinks were served in unlimited quantities, the choice is beer and table wine, which is quite worthy. They also suggested going to Ai-Petri restaurant for breakfast, the ration as in the main restaurant, the interior was more interesting: comfortable chairs, lots of wood, interesting lighting. From lunch, he worked on order for an additional fee.
Since I can’t live without coffee, I went to the Amelie coffee shop almost every day, stylized as French. Coffee at affordable prices and delicious, bartenders know their stuff. Of the desserts, my son liked the honey cake, I liked the Belgian waffles.

An invigorating breakfast alternative: coffee and Belgian waffles

Several times the whole family went to a restaurant of Italian cuisine, really wanted pizza. The interior is quite ordinary, the dishes are delicious, it's worth going. We had dinner once in a Japanese restaurant: the rolls are not bad, the prices are too high. It is definitely worth a visit to the restaurant by the sea: an elegant, light interior, live music, the ability to order dishes on the grill. You can come as a family or arrange a romantic. All restaurants, except the main one, are paid. Prices are higher than Yalta about one and a half to two times, lunch for three without alcohol went out for 2-3 thousand.

We also saw a restaurant of Ukrainian, Georgian-Central Asian and Crimean Tatar cuisines. There are two sports bars: one is more glamorous, with soft chairs and panoramic windows, the other is made in the American style. We strongly recommend that all lovers of parties, live chat and cocktails go to a restaurant on the 16th floor, however, it is better without children, especially closer to the night. He works, in my opinion, until the morning. Still for fans of noisy fun - a karaoke bar.

In the restaurants of the Yalta Intourist Hotel you can also try seafood

On the territory of the zoo is pancake. The son is a pancake lover, he ate a few pieces with fruits and sweet toppings with pleasure. On the beach there is a bar where you can have a snack throughout the day, order alcoholic and cold cocktails, ice cream. In the evenings there are beach parties, sometimes concerts. Also on the beach is the Blue Sea restaurant, its main feature: tables right on the shore at the water's edge. We went here a few times for a late lunch: in the afternoon it is too hot to sit in the sun. Tasty, I recommend ordering a local Black Sea fish on fire, take a glass of wine. We watched the fun in the evenings from afar - everything looks bright and fiery. A good bar near the Olympic pool, where you can enjoy freshly squeezed juices.

Wellness & Spa

Honestly, for many years of traveling I was desperate to find a worthy spa in Russia: unfortunately, I did not reach the European level. Intourist pleased and made me change my mind: here you can go through a full range of spa-services and improve your health. Here is the center of mud rejuvenation of Lake Saki. I have heard about dirt for a long time: it is considered one of the most effective in the post-Soviet territory. With its help, diseases of the musculoskeletal system and even infertility are treated. It comprehensively affects the body, helps to recover from injuries, improves immunity, blood circulation.It is also good for the skin.

In the spa complex, I took a course of 10 procedures for rejuvenating Saki mud for the body, plus 5 sessions of tightening and relaxing massage. My husband also took a course of 10 sessions, but he has a package of "anti-stress". In general, the hotel has created a separate unit called the Wellness Massage Center.

Mud can not be kept for a long time - a maximum of 20-25 minutes, but this is enough for the result. After the first session, the skin became velvety and tender, however, at first it turned red due to the action of active substances, but after a couple of hours the redness subsided and it was possible to see that the skin began to look much better. After the entire course of mud and massages, the effect is simply excellent: the skin tightened, bumps disappeared, the body became more elastic and minus 2 cm at the waist. In general, no worse than salon procedures.

The hotel has a cosmetology department, where there are many modern procedures for the face and body: from conventional ozone therapy to laser and radio frequency exposure, even teeth whitening. I went for reconnaissance, most of the procedures are not particularly combined with bathing and tanning, so I did not use the services of cosmetologists. We also saw fish peeling and a salt cave, but did not visit.

As part of the spa, they suggested visiting a thermal complex with saunas and Vorontsov baths. We are not lovers of such a vacation, and the street is always so hot that I did not want to think about the sauna. But other tourists told an interesting point: the baths have a transparent ceiling, and above them is a swimming pool. When you take a steam bath, you see everyone floating on top. The design also responded well - everything is in a tree, there is a relaxation area with separate booths, where you can sit in between soaring.

Beach: cleanliness, condition and arrangement

The beaches of Yalta are not in vain considered the best, and this one, Massandrovsky, belonging to the Intourist, in my opinion, is the only one on the South Coast that has the Blue Flag of Purity. You can go down to the beach via a comfortable wooden staircase. There is a terrace and an equipped area with sand, where you can sunbathe and play volleyball. On the beach, pebbles are small and pleasant, even in hot weather they do not burn their legs very much, but it’s better for children to use shoes. There is a playground for children, animators work who also hold sports games and competitions for adults.

The sand zone on the beach of the Yalta Intourist Hotel

On the pebble and sand areas of the beach there are sun loungers, awnings and nice arbors with curtains. Loungers are often not enough, especially if you come later. Once left with nothing - we did not find a place. The thing is that more than half of the hotel beach area is occupied by cafes and restaurants, and the area for sunbathing and access to water is small. Music from different genres can still be heard everywhere, the noise from the marina and from water entertainments: it will not be possible to relax to the sound of waves.

Everything is very clean, the beach is regularly cleaned. We rested in early June - the water was already warm, the child bathed without problems. The sea is clean, a pleasant azure hue. The beach catches Wi-Fi well, there are changing cabins, toilets, showers and even storage rooms. The toilet is dirty at any time of the day, the smell is appropriate. It seems that they clean there only a couple of times a day, because toilet paper also runs out quickly.

Overview of the rooms of the Yalta Intourist Hotel

Before booking, we chose the room categories for a long time: we with a 7-year-old son needed a rather spacious room so as not to interfere with each other and comfortably realize the possibility of providing additional space. If in many other hotels there are mainly double rooms, which additionally bring a bed or a cot, or already large two-room family (of course, more expensive), then there are several options for rooms, where the third place is already equipped a priori. We chose among these options:

  1. Superior standard with three beds - suitable for one parent and two children, because one bed is separate and one bunk. They considered it, because they did not exclude the possibility that one of us could sleep on a two-story one.
  2. Superior standard with a large bed and sofa.
  3. Studio suite with a sofa and a large bed.
  4. The suite is two-room, also with a folding sofa and a double bed.

Of course, there were many more accommodation options, for example, apartments or studios, but the price in them is already much higher than our budget. And since the price of a suite is also almost twice as high as that of a standard, we took option 2 - an improved standard with a large bed and a sofa, which was laid out. The room is small, the bed occupied almost the whole place, and the three of us rested quite closely. But the two are probably more comfortable.

Small but pretty room at Intourist

The bed is comfortable, with an orthopedic mattress and good pillows, by the way, if anyone cares, they are hypoallergenic. Bed linens of high quality: made of natural cotton and pleasant to the body. The sofa is quite large, if decomposed, even an adult will fit comfortably on it, the child generally felt like a king on him. Many shelves and other storage systems: things, suitcases placed easily. What else is in the issue:

  • air conditioning - it worked properly, blew well, cooled the room quickly;
  • TV - there are cable channels, about 80 pieces, and an input for a flash drive: we pumped movies and TV shows with us, so we mostly watched them;
  • safe;
  • a hair dryer - quite powerful, they managed to quickly dry even clothes when they did not have time to dry;
  • the refrigerator is small, but it performed its function perfectly.

The bathroom is very small, but with a nice design. Plumbing worked properly, the temperature was well regulated, and hot water was supplied without interruption. Terry towels were given out - very pleasant, and shower products - with high-quality fragrance and, as it seemed to me, of good quality. At least no allergies, rashes or dry skin appeared.

The Yalta Intourist Hotel hygiene kit includes so many items that you can take nothing from home

We had a balcony in our room, which was led by a panoramic wall, very cool done, especially considering the beautiful view that it opened. The balcony is quite spacious: it has 2 chairs and a table, and it was possible to walk quietly without stumbling. For some reason, when booking, they did not pay attention, but there are still superior rooms with terraces on which sun loungers are placed. It’s also great: if you don’t feel like going anywhere or waiting for the whole family to gather, you can sunbathe right in the room.

Communicated with other tourists, all rooms are approximately the same in size and decor, most have views of the city and mountains. Do not take the room on the 15th floor, because there is a restaurant above it, because of which there is noise all the time, you can hear furniture moving right above your head, and the smell of cigarettes from its open terrace.

Housekeeping

They were cleaned daily, new towels brought in a timely manner, but bed linen was changed every 3-4 days. Non-critical, but still the claimed category of 4 stars makes you wait for a different level of service. In addition, the beach area contains sand, so part of it was brought on shoes and legs to the room, and then it smoothly moved to the bed. Therefore, I would like to feel the pleasant freshness of clean linen daily.
The maid’s schedule is strange: it will come in the morning, then in the evening, so it often happened that during her visit we were in the room. We had to either quickly pack up and leave, or refuse to clean, we asked only for new towels and that’s all. There are no complaints about the quality of cleaning: they washed the floors, cleaned the plumbing, wiped the dust, cleaned the balcony and supplemented with hygiene items.

Reception, service and friendliness

At the reception there are sorely lacking people, there are always lines to the staff. Some receptionists behave rudely, look down upon, as if forgetting that we are their guests, and they work in the hospitality industry. From a high-level hotel do not expect such an attitude. The feeling that all the money invested in infrastructure, and saved on working with staff.

Although the requests are answered quickly. When the question arose of why bed linen was not changed, they turned to the reception and they replaced it on the same day, after such problems did not arise. Moreover, the administrator periodically called and clarified how we were doing and whether there were any other wishes. Other requests were also fulfilled promptly: on the first call they brought a vase and an extra bathrobe.

Hotel "Yalta Intourist" is consistent with the stated number of stars. Good rooms with quality repairs, the infrastructure is better than in many foreign hotels, interesting restaurants, an abundance of entertainment for children and decent animation. The all-inclusive offer level does not reach 4 * hotels in Europe and the islands (especially in the bar), but it is difficult to stay hungry. The service is lame in places, but the overall impression is positive. To summarize - one of the best domestic beach hotels, where you should return. But the price is a bit out of line with the quality, especially if you take into account the cost of deluxe rooms and higher.

Watch the video: Ялта Интурист Массандра Крым Hotel Yalta Intourist Feb 2019 (March 2024).

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