The Crane Resort and Residences

The hotel rooms were amazing. Very clean! The hotel staff was extremely helpful and polite. This was one of the nicest hotels and most memorable experiences I have ever had. I would highly recommend it!

Stayed in a room with it's own plunge pool (bldg 2, I believe) with the best views. Great hotel, food, service & rum punches. Phone operator service a lil spotty, but overall excellent!

This was our first trip back to Barbados since our honeymoon 30+ years ago. At that time, we stayed at the Sam Lord's Marriott resort which was a wonderful experience. We were hoping for a repeat and we were not disappointed! The Crane is an outstanding facility. Our junior suite in building five was perfect in every way. The bathroom was spacious and included a jacuzzi tub, large shower and even larger closet with roomy dressing area. The smallish kitchenette served its purpose well allowing us to have breakfast in each morning and lounge about until we were ready to get up and go. The combined sleeping and sitting area was extremely comfortable as it contained a nice king size bed along with a sofa and table. Fortunately, the window above the table was large and looked out over the resort pool areas into the beautiful Atlantic Ocean. The large balcony with sliding patio doors was at a 90 degree angle from this window which allowed for a delightful cross breeze through our room. We enjoyed the warm trade winds in our room during our entire 9 day stay. We would definitely return to the Crane and specifically request this room. The Crane, itself, provides all of the necessary accommodations in a gorgeous setting. We ate in each of the restaurant facilities, including the Carriage House, Zen, L'Azure and the Italian food restaurant (but only for breakfast once as we are not big Italian food fans). The Zen and L'Azure are excellent. Of the two, we favored L'Azure. We would skip the Carriage House in the future as the selections are limited and not too terribly tasty. We did, however, enjoy our days in the infinity pool at the Carriage House as well as the adjoining pools on the grounds. Crane Beach is breath taking in every way. It was so very convenient to have the Village at the Crane. We shopped in the store and frequented the Fitness Center. We particularly enjoyed the 1887 Bar and went many nights for "happy hour." We also enjoyed the Manager's Cocktail Party on Monday evening. But perhaps, the best part of our stay at the Crane was experiencing the well-mannered and gracious staff. Everyone with whom we had contact was exceptionally helpful and generous with their time. While in Barbados, we rented or "hired" a car form Chelsea Motors. This was also an excellent experience for us. The car was brought directly to the Crane on our first morning. We were issued our Barbados driver's licenses after paying $10 each and given lots of advice about places to see and things to do as well as how to operate the vehicle. We were very happy to have the car and kept it parked quite close to our room in the parking lot adjacent to Crane village. While we had quite the adventure relearning how to drive on the left (as we had previously done so on vacations in Britain), the Barbados drivers are mostly patient with tourists driving around their island. Because we had the car, we were able to do and see a number of things away from the Crane. We went to the Botanical Gardens, Harrison's Cave, St. Nicholas Abbey, the wildlife preserve, the Barbados Museum, mass at St. Dominic's Catholic Church, the Brown Sugar restaurant, Champers restaurant, and snorkeling/swimming with the turtles via the facilities adjacent to the Hilton. While we enjoyed it all, Champers can't be missed as the food is exceptional and our day at the abbey and wildlife preserve stand out as one of the best. We can't wait to return and, in fact, may even consider ownership at the Crane.

We arrived before check-in time (4pm) so we had to wait about an hour for our room. There is no AC in the lobby - all open air. But they do give you free rum punch (strong!) while you wait. Our room was great, except for our neighbor, who was a ranting, screaming, door-slamming madman. We requested a room change, and while unfortunately we had to wait a few hours to move into our new room (waiting on cleaning staff) we received regular updates from the front desk. New room was great, no more complaints. The rooms come with a jacuzzi tub, and it was glorious (one thing I wish we didn't come across was a huge cockroach on the wall... but easy fix there). We ate each night at each of the 4 restaurants in the resort. The food as well as the service was GREAT. VERY pleasantly surprised by the quality of the menus and the overall taste of everything we ordered. Everyone on the Crane staff is extremely courteous, friendly and helpful. Part of our deal was free daily breakfast, and it was a pretty good buffet - fresh fruit, cereals, banana bread, omelets, etc. We got a garden-view room and we were perfectly happy with it. We heard other couples staying in rooms with private pools say that they hardly used them. The water is usually cold in the pools that are on the higher floors. The ground floor private plunge pools DO look great, but then again, everyone above you can see everything you're doing so you have little privacy. We THOROUGHLY enjoyed every one of the hotel pools. The water was a pleasant warm yet cooling temperature. The lounge chairs were comfortable, though some a little dirty, but we just used the complimentary pool towels to lay on. We also ordered food and drinks from the poolside restaurant and were spoiled by having things brought to us in our poolside cabana :) There was constant maintenance of the grounds, which I was impressed with. There was always someone trimming this or that. There is ongoing construction at the resort, but noise was minimal. The resort offers many activities off-site - we took advantage of the free shuttle to Bridgetown one day and an inexpensive taxi ride to the Friday night Fish Fry in Oistins. The Crane beach is BEAUTIFUL, but we were unfortunate enough to be there when the Atlantic was spewing its seaweed up on the beach... this must have been going on for a while since there was a big build-up of the stuff on the beach. The hotel staff couldn't keep up with it, so it did take away from our experience on the beach. Towards the end of our stay, they actually had an excavator on the beach to get rid of the stuff... wished they got around to that earlier. Also, be prepared to be approached by vendors on the beach. All beaches in Barbados are public, so don't be surprised to have someone trying to sell you something come up to you (I think this pretty much goes for the whole island). People are FRIENDLY (and trying to make money) so you will be approached by vendors on the beach, in town, etc. The resort IS secluded, but you can take taxis and rent a car if you'd like to see the rest of the island. We stayed mostly on the resort grounds(HAPPILY!) and simply took advantage of the transportation the hotel offered for off-site activities. The airport was a 15-min taxi drive away. We had vacationed in Puerto Rico before, and in terms of food and service and overall cleanliness of the grounds, that trip seemed sub-par, even at a 4-star hotel. The Crane was a perfect spot for our honeymoon.

The Rooms, resort and beach are opulent. Most of the staff are very friendly. The resturants are too expensive and the food is poor. I would recommend you hire a car and take the 30 min drive to Bridgetown for your meals and or stock up at the supermarket. Now I now the tricks of the trade would i go again - yeah why not!

The resort is as lovely as the photos, however we experienced problems with airconditioning and had to move to another room and the wireless internet did not work. Also the elevator to the beach was not functioning for our entire stay which meant quite a hike up and down stairs to get to & from the beach.There are no services at the beach, but it was so beautiful that it didn't matter.Pools were grerat too. The resort does not offer much for planned activities and it did rain quite a bit while we were there (although only one day was a complete wash out).This made it great for total RELAXATION! The on site resturants are all good,especially ZEN, but after eating at each of them several times we were ready for a change.

Fabulous is the only word to describe our visit to the Crane. We have stayed at hotels around the world and cannot remember a better experience. It is set in a lush tropical garden devoid of troublesome pests experienced elsewhere. Every amenity was there within a short walk. The restaurant fare was superb and their views breathtaking. The beach is simply spectacular, and easily accessed via elevator from the cliff top. Service was prompt and courteous. We plan to come again and again.

Spent a lot of time relaxing at the pool and beach. The resort is beautiful, well-maintained, and the food at the restaurants is great.

The hotel has nicely renovated rooms that have large bathrooms very well decorated and a small well designed kitchenette area. THE STAFF IS THEIR BEST ASSET, SOME OF THE NICEST PEOPLE I HAVE MET IN THE ENTIRE CARRIABEN T he most beauitful beach on the Island with an elevator so everuone can enjoy the views.

Keeping in mind that we arrived at the Crane the weekend after they were hit by Hurricane Tomas, there were a few problems. Most of the pools were closed due to the run off caused by the storm, and the beautiful ocean front room we were in had no air conditioning - the hotel did give us a credit of $100 US per night for each day we stayed in the room. After 3 days, we requested to be moved to a building that had working air and we were moved with no questions asked. One thing I will say about this hotel, they are more than willing to compensate for any inconveniences. We met another couple who complained that the food they had in their refrigerator spoiled because the power was out one afternoon for repairs. They were also given a $100 voucher to use at any restaurant/bar at the resort. All in all, the rooms, the beach, and the pools are beyond belief - what an incredible place! One restaurant not to miss while you're there is Zen. The food is expensive, but it is well worth the price.