The Crane Residential Resort

Just back from a very mixed experience at The Crane which would mean I would never return nor recommend it to anyone I know, despite some positives. First of all the positives: the rooms are good, the location and views are stunning (if remote), the pools are wonderful and plenty, and some of the staff (generally the poorer paid ones, like cleaners and waiters) are friendly and helpful. The negatives began upon arrival: we arrived after a 9-hour flight and checked in. The location of our building/room wasn't explained to us, and we had to ask for someone to show us. This person then offered no help with our bags, which was made worse as he took us to the wrong building the first time. When we got to our room, we realised the receptionist hadn't explained our half-board package to us. Where were the restaurants? Was our package valid in all restaurants? We just didn't know, we weren't told. We had to look at information on a third-party website to find this out. Dining is perhaps the biggest issue at The Crane: there are 3 restaurants and one bar serving food. There are no buffets, and while there is a reasonable amount of choice on the menus in all restaurants, if you are a vegetarian or have any dietary restrictions, you're going to end up eating the same 2 dishes every day for your holiday. You also have to book in advance, every single day, for your evening meal. This is a slow, slow process over the phone, where they will place you on hold and then ask for your name, room number and email address every single day. They could simply this by just taking a room number as they have the other information already, but don't. My tip: book online. You still have to enter all this information, but it is quicker. On our second day, they took a reservation for the L'Azure restaurant over the phone, and when we got there, it was closed for reservations. I do not understand how the reservations department didn't know this, or why we weren't told that one-third of the restaurants on site were closing for refurbishment at check-in. The biggest issue for us is one that perhaps we should have researched beforehand: The Crane is a 20-30 minute drive away from everything. The nearest supermarket/convienience store is a 2.5km walk away. Buses are infrequent and taxis and expensive, and it is a US$80 roundtrip to Bridgetown. Whilst this is out of the control of the resort, the beach was polluted with tonnes of seaweed forming a metre-high barrier between the beach and the sea for every day of our visit. They did compensate by providing a (35-min each way) shuttle bus to another resort, but if the beach/sea swimming is an important part of your holiday, book a hotel on the west coast of Barbados.

We Booked a stay at The Crane for our honeymoon and were blown away from the time we stepped out the shuttle that came to pick us up once we arrived at airport. The staff at The Crane go above and beyond to make you feel welcome and ensure your stay is perfect, and they delivered on everything. The Resort is absolutely stunning all the plants and flowers that were planted are manicured perfectly and the you can tell they take great pride in the how the grounds and facilities look for their guests. We were pleasantly surprised by our room as well. Knowing the Crane has more traditional rooms to fit the style of the original hotel and Carribean style, we had a newly renovated room and couldn’t have asked for anything better. We felt right at home and again the staff at the Resort make sure they accommodate your every need if possible. The Restaurants on Resort are some of the best food I have ever had. The Italian Restaurant and Zen were my favorites and loved the atmosphere looking over the Ocean for spectacular dinner time and sunset views. If you’re staying on the Island I would highly recommend staying at The Crane we will 100% be back.

Wow wow wow! From the friendly staff to the gorgeous property we couldn’t be more happy with our stay the crane. We stayed in a 2bedroom residence with 13’ pool, aside from the stiff king bed - the suite was amazing and nothing like anything we’ve rented before. It had a fully equipped kitchen, living room and laundry. The patio was spacious for our small family and we enjoyed bringing back desert and night floating! We ate at all the onsite restaurants and Zen was our favorite! The bar was always lively and we really enjoyed all the food offerings. There are two restaurants within a 5min walk that we ventured to as well and felt totally safe doing so at night. We came in the off season and there was an influx of sorghum seaweed but The Crane offered daily shuttle to a beach on the carribean side not impacted which was really nice

This is truly a luxury experience for tranquility and travel! I was thoroughly impressed with the staff and amenities! My first time having so much convenience like a washer dryer, jacuzzi tub, private pool, gorgeous ocean view and stunning decor! I even had a full kitchen complete with dishwasher!! They have a grocery store on premises and amazing restaurants! The rum punch on arrival was delicious! Literally a place I will visit annually because I found my piece of paradise!

I just enjoyed two glorious weeks at The Crane, a place that has beautiful grounds, two pools, excellent restaurants and especially outstanding service. All the staff and employees at the Crane go out of their way to ensure that each guest receives top quality service. Nothing is too much trouble. The Concierge personnel helped us arrange catamaran sail adventures, and reservations for restaurant both those at the resort and those in the community. I appreciated the variety of restaurant choices at the Crane that included Italian restaurant, the Zen for Japanese and Thai, to L'Asure with European menu, and the Carriage House with its excellent grilled fish. Staying at the Crane is my happy place and I look forward to returning each year.