The Crane Resort

We just got back from The Crane and loved it. Once you get beyond the front gates of the property, it becomes its own fully encapsulated oasis. At check-in, we were provided a rather tasty rum PUNCH that lives up to its name. The staff are super friendly. That's a theme throughout the entire property. The rooms are quite big for a hotel. Our 1-bedroom had a fully equipped kitchen, 2 full bathrooms (the master bath is really spacious with a soaker tub that fits two comfortably and has jets). The patio comes with 2 chase lounges and is big enough for 10 people. The grounds are immaculate and the plants are curated to provide a colorful, eye-popping experience. There are (I believe) 4 or 5 pools. 1 pool is designated for quiet and sits atop the bluffs overlooking the ocean. We nerds either sun ourselves and/or read there. No kids allowed. The other set of pools have more social types, children, a little music, etc. The 1887 Bar is particularly fun to hang out in Thurs-Sat nights and live music is provided. Drinks are strong and tasty. We cooked a lot in our fabulous kitchen, but managed to go to Zen on our last night. It sits atop the bluffs and the floor to ceiling windows give you a great view of the ocean - just reserve an early table and you'll get the full sunset experience (it's not facing sunset, but the lighting is still great). Crane Beach has powdery, pink and white sand. Atlantic waves can be strong, so can't do too much swimming - at least when we were there. The General Store has a lot of what you'll need and prices aren't too bad considering the convenience. Lastly, even tho it's 86-88F, the Atlantic winds are constantly blowing, so you never really feel that hot, even with humidity. It's unexpectedly pleasant. Don't hesitate to visit and we'll be back next year.

Excluding the Saragassum, which is out of their control an not localized, we had an incredible vacation there. It was our 3rd time there and we definitely will be back! Not only are the resort employees warm and friendly all the locals we came across were that way too. I can't express enough that in today's hyper-political world there was none of that evident to us there. All transportation issues can be arranged through the (free) concierge and billed to the room for convenience. If you are looking at prices then note that $2 Barbados Dollars (BBD) equal $1 USA. Plenty of seats at the pool but who needed that when our room had it's own splash pool? There seemed to be as many maintenance people as guests and all issues that cropped up were usually addressed that day. Daily room cleaning and pool service twice a week let us know we were in a clean and cared for environment. A special Thank You for an exceptional job to Koesha & Shanté who were part of our housekeeping staff and Erin with pool maintenance. And a Thank You to Nichole who helped straighten out some service issues we had upon arrival that were quickly remediated. Locally we went to East End Loghthouse, Codrington College, Saint Johns Church , Andromeda Botanic Gardens, St. Nicholas Abbey & the new Steam Engine Train Ride that starts there and Friday Night Street Fair in Oistens. Cons? Saragassum. But that is everywhere at this time of year. The resort handled that by offering free shuttle 4 days a week to/from a Caribbean beach complete with complementary chairs & umbrellas. While the grounds, which are extensive and lush were well groomed, they looked under-watered. Many lawns and certain plantings looked dead. Given their extensive irrigation system already installed one has to wonder why things don't look much better.

To say the customer service at this resort is terrible, would be an understatement! Upon a late night check in, we were ignored by the front desk staff. It was pouring down rain and the lobby was filled with guests who were waiting to be taken to their rooms. We waited for over an hour before we tried to venture out into the pouring rain by ourselves to find our room, with no success, and soaked bags, dripping wet, we went back to the lobby and stood around again. No one was around to help us. When we found someone, we had to be persistent about them showing us to our room. Long walk in the dark and pouring down rain. Miserable start to our week. It didn’t get any better. Went to dinner one night, again it was pouring down raining. When we ordered our food, they neglected to mention that we would have to wait for the rain to stop before our food arrived from another building at the resort. That could have been communicated when we ordered, instead they left us sitting and ignored us. The food was cold when it finally did arrive. The waitress was plain nasty and rude with her comments. We had so many negative experiences here with their customer service. I am appalled. I could go on and on, but the best advice I can possibly give is to just avoid this resort!!

This has to be THE WORST "resort" I have ever been to. If it rains here, EVERYTHING STOPS. You can't go to your room, you can't get food you've ordered, nothing. The way we've been treated here is embarrassing to say the least. How this place stays in business is beyond me. Poorly manicured property also. It's embarrassing for Hilton to have their name affiliated with this place. As a flight Attendant, I've been to hundreds of places and this is a place we will not come back too.

This is definitely a top of the line resort from the pools to the rooms and dining. You will not find a friendlier staff. There were a couple of hiccups that were out of their control the beach was overrun by seaweed from the Indian Ocean they offered a shuttle to a sister beach but wasn't avalible 2 of the days we were there. They had an issue with the ac but repaired it quickly. Amazing communication through out. I would definitely come back and stay. All of the amenities were top notch.