Crystal Cove by Elegant Hotels

This was our 12th visit to Crystal Cove and our first visit since reopening in Feb 26 following its extensive refurbishment. The hotel is back on form with new bathrooms, and elegant rooms. The resort has been completely refurbished and remains in character with its Barbados routes! Many of the fantastic staff have returned which was great. The hotel will once again receive the 5 star reviews it used to receive and deserves! My only initial feedback is that there needs to be a greater selection of dishes on the menu and that returning visitors should be recognised for their continued loyalty…i didn’t feel this! I am sorry to say that Management didn’t deliver but the staff did! Management take note……thank you! Looking forward to seeing you soon!

Worst Caribbean hotel I have ever stayed in, where do I start. Room. Lights in bathroom don’t turn off so you have sleep with ambient lighting. Most are next to a busy road with no soundproofing, don’t expect to sleep beyond 4 a.m. when traffic starts. Balcony room 246 overlooks a sewage plant so doors have to be closed and you can’t sit outside because of the stench, moved to another room after our travel operator intervened, before that we were fobbed off, but road noise is still an issue, the hotel is on the main highway. Their own engineer admitted they had drainage issues. Food is diabolical, vegan pasta was penne with ketchup one piece of broccoli and a carrot. Ratatouille uncooked courgette in same canned tomato sauce for dinner, no rice, potatoes or bread, just raw veg in tinned sauce. Don’t expect to eat with your fellow diners if you’re vegan, your food will be served some time later. Nothing is labelled so you have to ask constantly what things are, no vegan butter, yoghurt, cheese or meat alternatives. You will live on fruit and veg. Food in general is appalling with few options and the quality of the food was the subject of every conversation with guests on the resort. Not an all inclusive buffet by a mile. Staff couldn’t give a toss, as a vegan I was a nuisance despite asking the hotel BEFORE I travelled if they could cater for me. There is a significant Rastafarian community on Barbados who are Ital so chefs have no excuse. I will be coming after you for a refund for the dining part of my stay. Richard guest relations manager promised it would change, food would be labelled (even the rice has butter in it) after I pointed out they were going to kill someone. Ten days later NOTHING CHANGED. Glad to go home and will never set foot in Barbados or a Marriot.

Such a shame. The hotel has been refurbished, is in a great location and inclusive watersports are great when they're available. Unless their policy changes, watersports are not available after 3.00pm. Dreadful. Apart from the ladies on the desk who can organise trips etc., the reception staff, although generally pleasant, were not trained properly and took forever to book us in on arrival and sort even a taxi. I won't prattle on about the food as this has already been covered previously. From the online brochure photos of the main restaurant it looks smart with tablecloths, smart chairs and napkins etc.. Now it looks more like a slightly smart cafeteria. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, when served in the main restaurant, are usually self service. The meals we had at the beach bar were honestly atrocious and served luke warm or cold. Enough said, beware!! Drinks were fine. We had no complaints about our Ocean View room, other than we had to call reception three times for replacement towels, tea and sugar. Once for loo rolls! We think as time goes by things will improve but from talking to other guests who have been before it will not be the same experience unless the management change their offering.

Let me start by saying that it is the staff that make the difference to this hotel. They were superb. Most of the time running around like headless chickens .To my mind, they opened too soon after the refurb and when they had an influx of guests who should have gone east, they didn't have enough staff. The management were conspicuous by their absence. All it would have taken was an apology for a few things and a lot of tempers could have been smoothed. The hotel is situated on a lovely beach and the grounds and pools were kept immaculately clean. Our room was very clean too. There was only 1 restaurant open while we were there and the food was mediocre. Dinner was always lukewarm. There wasn't much choice either. No spa and the tennis courts were shut. A shout out to Lisa, Rhea, the girls on reception, Wayde and Celeste in the restaurant and Darren who looked after the gf one. We will come back but would give it at least 6 months.

Newly renovated resort. Our room was very nice with a few glitches. The nightlight/lighted mirror in the bathroom cannot be shut off and is ridiculously bright and shines in your eyes all night since there is not a bathroom door. There are a number of noises that annoy such as the beep from the aircon Everytime it turns on and off and the bathroom fans run on and off all night and rattle. There is only a sheet on the beds so you need to request a blanket if you need one. Otherwise it’s fresh and clean and new. Now the food is an entirely different issue. Breakfast is fine, lunch is just meh and dinner is near inedible. After night two when none of us could eat and actually spit out food. We paid to eat out every evening. The staff is friendly and helpful and they come around the beach and offer drinks and snacks a few time throughout the day. The beach is gorgeous and the pool is well maintained and lovely albeit a bit cold for us. In the evening, there is often live music mostly old soft rock and classic reggae favorites. The gym is outfitted with dumbbells, 2 benches a cable machine and life fitness cardio equipment. The vibe is mostly older-middle aged folks and people with very young babies and kids. A very relaxed and laid back resort