The Crane

Fodorite Reviews

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  The Crane Review

  We had heard much about the beach; instead of descending 100 steps from the public road we decided to have drinks at their restaurant and enjoy the beach view from above. But my husband and I had the most horrid experience here on the 9th of August this year. We decided to relax with drinks and snacks and enjoy the view of the beach below from their L'azure restaurant. Unfortunately for us there was a photoshoot of a local Barbados tourism mascot taking place on the 'public beach' below. Imagine to our shock and surprise when we were accosted by a surly security manager for taking pictures of the scene, while patronizing their restaurant. They had to send a security manager to treat our personal photography of a public beach like a criminal offence. He rudely demanded to know if we were house guests first and when we explained we were guests of the restaurant, he threatened us with dire consequences if we did not put our camera away as we were not permitted to use their 'vantage point ' for photography. After the substandard 'afternoon tea' and rum punches we had there, it was alarming that restaurant patrons who weren't house guests could be treated with such shabbiness and disrespect. For all matter of intent, the Crane beach is owned by the Crane resort and the security of the Crane, exercise full control over what the public can do on their beach. Also, the resort owns the 'atmospheric rights' to the beach. We have demanded an explanation from the general manager, Michael Phillips , who has not had the courtesy to apologize yet.

  by ElenaSanches, 8/12/12
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  The Crane Review

  Worst place to stay in Barbados. Large rooms but horrible service. At over $300 a night stay at Hilton instead. Service is horrible, denied a 1hr extension on checkout when it was clearly empty, construction ongoing, and unfriendly attitudes at the front desk. The only good thing about this place is the beach.

  by dailln4n4, 3/5/11
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  The Crane Review

  It is located on the Southeast part of the island, east of the airport, on Crane Beach. At first sight the beach, from above looking down, the view is truly picture perfect. The sand is a soft white baby powder, perhaps not that soft but as sand goes this is pretty smooth. The water is a beautiful teal blue. It's warm with waves making it a great place to boogie board and body surf. The hotel has an elevator that takes you down to the beach where comfy chairs await your arrival.
  
  As for the amenities, cleanliness, type of hotel we were looking for this was probably the least expensive at $307 a night during high season. (Including the tax that you usually forget to figure in when booking a hotel in Barbados)
  
  The Employees are fantastic, friendly and helpful, especially Dwayne from the front desk! He was always making sure we were having an issue free stay. If you like to sit by a pool and look at the sea there are 4 pools to choice from. Whoever built this place knew exactly what they were doing. There’s a town square with a bar, shops and the location of the Italian restaurant.
  
  The restaurants were ok. There are 4 on property and we ate at 3. The Italian place at 7pm was out of the Marsala Sauce, which was all over the menu, and when the chef was asked to make Chicken Parm instead he said he couldn’t, yet it was on the lunch menu. The restaurant only had a few tables occupied. I was surprised ingredients couldn’t be found at the other restaurants since they are all run by the hotel. So we only had pizza here and it was ok. Zen, the Thai/Japanese restaurant has fantastic sushi. It over looks the water and is just beautiful. Make sure you have reservations!!! You can’t go wrong with the steak sandwich from Azure for lunch! There is nowhere to walk to off property, except maybe Cutters a good deli just outside the hotel’s main gate to the right. There is a market on property that sells pasta, rice and other food so you can cook in your room.
  
  If you have a car there is a supermarket about 10 minutes from the property, you would have passed in when driving in from the airport. I highly recommend getting a car if you are staying here!! There are great beaches and restaurants just minutes away.

  by kjanes, 12/26/10
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  The Crane Review

  nightmare-our stay there was so bad I don't know where to begin. no a/c ,no phones,no internet,plunge pool was 1/3 full and not working,no elevator. on top of that we lost power for 24 hrs. I was denied a room change. Door locks broken,beach elevator broken,main pool closed. My kids and wife came home cover in bug bites. Seems like they just don't care whether or not they stay in business. It truly is a beautiful spot but save the money and go somewhere else.

  by hch1492, 11/10/10
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  The Crane Review

  I stayed at the crane in September 2010. The resort was beautiful and many of the staff were quite attentive. However, shortly after arriving I wandered to the beach. We were harassed by someone dealing drugs - once we turned them down and asked them to leave us alone, I was threatened while he was carrying a knife. We reported it to the resort who told us that it was a public beach and they couldn't control who was on it. The called the police for us and we made a statement - they arrested him, however he was back on the beach the next day. I of course couldn't use the beach the rest of the time - which really ruined the stay for me. I mean, I can have a pool anywhere. I approached the Crane afterward and they said again there was nothing they could do to ensure this person didn't use the beach - no security posted on the beach or anything, even though they have an elevator directly from the resort to the beach. I wouldn't go back. No one should go on vacation and be afraid of threats by a drug dealer at a high-dollar resort.

  by eman202, 10/13/10
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  The Crane Review

  Horrible hotel -- would never stay again
  No air conditioning in the room despite a switch that is labelled air conditioning, rude or disinterested staff, no management around at all to listen to any issues, staff lie, not four diamond by any stretch of the imagination -- beat up rooms -- too bad as it's a gorgeous location and has a great beach -Just terrible all around

  by kerryh, 5/31/10
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  Just don't!

  From a letter sent to The Crane regarding our stay in 2008
  
  To the Senior Staff at The Crane Resort Barbados
  Dear Sir or Madam,
  
  For years we have relied on "The Fodor Guide" to help us choose our vacation destinations. We planned our first visit to "The Crane Resort" using Fodors in July 2006. We had a great time, loved the resort and returned in July 2007, upgraded our room and again had a great time. For our July 2008 vacation we returned to The Crane once again, upgraded our room again and left extremely disappointed.
  Here's Why:
  
  Accommodations:
  Beautiful Suite, privacy and view from our deck spectacular, spa did not work, not enough hot/warm water to fill the tub making it unusable for even a regular bath. The refrigerator and gas grille on the deck also did not work.
  As these issues could not be addressed to our satisfaction we requested a room change. Unfortunately we were told no other penthouse suites were available nor was a room in the "old Resort".
  We moved to a room in the same building (#5) one floor down. At first glance this appeared to be a nice option for us. But then our next and worst problem arose!
  
  Accommodations and Insects:
  Minutes after moving to this room we began finding insects. Large and small roaches, bugs in the kitchen cabinets, on the cookware, dinnerware, in drawers, on silverware, cups, glasses and serving utensils even in the zip lock bag containing the coffee filters! We had to wash each item we used from the kitchen before using them. The insect problem was reported immediately and often to the cleaning staff, reception staff, and maintenance staff and management just minutes after arriving in room 544A.
  We reported these same problems to all of the previously mentioned staff and upper management without response. For three days in a row! Our housekeeper provided a can of bug spray for our use but it did not alleviate the situation. Our concern of the possibility of insects getting into our luggage aside this was totally unacceptable.
  After the third day of complaints, (Lance) was sent to spray for us, he did a thorough job and was very apologetic, however this just brought out more bugs and roaches, including now finding them in our bedding!
  
  Meals:
  Before our arrival I arranged via E-mail to procure a discounted breakfast plan at $21.00 per day per person. This reduction was never applied to our breakfast bills even after many inquiries and the fact that we noted, "breakfast plan" on each bill as advised by the reservation and restaurant staff. For our first breakfast on Sunday we were (finally) afforded a table in the "function room" at L'Azure, however, we were advised to be finished with our meal by 10:00 am so as not to interfere with the Sunday "Gospel Show". This was at approximately 9:40 am but we managed to oblige this request, we were then presented with our breakfast bill of over $100.00. We did not attend the Gospel Show, and we left before 10 am as requested yet we were apparently still charged for the Gospel show.
  
  Accommodation and the Outcome:
  This was an entirely untenable situation and served to make our stay less than spectacular. None of our issues was resolved to our satisfaction. It seemed that none of the staff cared about our problems and could not or would not help correct the situation. We were not offered any type compensation for our discomfort, inconvenience or horror at being placed in an insect infested room. We asked to be moved to another room, and though we had moved to room 544A on the third day of our eight-day stay and could easily have moved again this request was refused. July is low season many rooms were available.
  No adjustments were made to our bill for the restaurant charges, for the breakfast rate we had arranged or the Gospel Show we had been charged for on Sunday.
  
  We left "The Crane" with a large bill and a very bad third impression of your establishment.
  
  On our previous visits we literally "gushed" with praise to friends, family and acquaintances of the wonderful accommodations and beauty of The Crane and it's gorgeous beach! Some have vacationed at The Crane based upon our recommendations.
  Customer Satisfaction:
  We were thoroughly unsatisfied and disappointed, your staff was very aware of this as we reported this many times during our stay. I have sent e-mails and letters from home as well without response.
  
  Update: I finally (through subterfuge) got to speak with management in May 2009, (Michael) assured me he would personally guarantee a most wonderful experience if we returned to The Crane once more. Great except that he would not be specific. Nothing of substance was offered, free breakfast? No. Room upgrade? No. Was any type of compensation offered at all? No.
  Roughly equivalent to someone saying “come over anytime”! If someone really wants you to "come over" they name a day and time!

  by kmw1211, 6/5/09
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  Highly recommend

  Great hotel, make sure you ask for a sea view or pool room. Construction is on going but it doesnt ruin your stay. Rooms are lovely, huge and complete with kitchen, dishwasher, washing machine, dryer and balcony. 4 pools are in use and the beach is stunning. Yes the hotel is quiet and out of the way but taxis are available and its advisable to hire a car for a couple of days to explore the island and pop to the local supermarket. There is no shop on site. All in all a fantastic hotel, very relaxed.Sit back relax with a rum cocktail and go with the flow

  by Mellymoo, 9/16/07
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  RipOff!!!

  Staff is rude, service is bad, food is a ripoff, and the room is too hot. It's way too much money for 2 star hotel in my opinion.

  by smartstuff007, 2/24/07

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