We are long-time visitors to Barbados and The Crane and have really enjoyed the island and the resort each time.
Our room (ocean view with a plunge pool) was heavenly as always and I must mention the absolute terrific service that Diana, our chambermaid, carried out each day. She is an absolute star!
The other positives were the Beach (simply incredible), the Carriage House (great food), 1887 bar (friendly service) and D'Onofrio's (so good we went twice). The gospel breakfast buffet is a must on Sunday mornings as well.
The main negative though was our experience at L'Azure which was nothing short of disgraceful. The food is brilliant but unfortunately the kitchen is let-down by the service staff who were at times dis-interested, dis-honest, rude and not a reflection of the service elsewhere in Barbados or even at the Crane. The service became so bad it was bordering on hilarity at times. The place descended into chaos as other tables left as they had not received any food.
Checking out was slightly onerous as well but that is a minor complaint.
The resort is beautiful and hugely relaxing. If they fix the issues at L'Azure, then I'd recommend the Crane to all and sundry!

The good - nice beach, nice pools, average fitness center. The units are large, nice spAcious bathrooms. The kitchens are ok, missing many items like knifes, cutting boards and the dishwasher doesn't work very well. Balconies very large. The bad the air conditioning does not work at all. I've complained twice and nothing happens. Really in a resort with four diamond rating? I'm writing this review from my unit in building 5 at 4 am because its 83 degrees and I cannot sleep. The air conditiong is set on the lowest setting and I've kept the shutters shut during the day to keep the sunlight out which is sad since there is a great view. The restaurants are good but I will never come here again because of the air conditioning and lack of a response to fix it. 83 degrees is ridiculous. It's a shame because everything else is good.

We have visited Barbados 8 times, and previously stayed at The Sandy Lane or Royal Pavillion. We just returned from a week at The Crane where I booked a 2 bedroom oceanfront suite. We arrived to no welcome, no rum punch, and no orientation. The elevator to our room in The Palmetto building was in need of cleaning. The rooms did not have adequate air conditioning. The bathrooms had extremely poor lighting and the cheapest and smallest of towels. There was no turn down service or bottled water. Two of three toilets did not work well enough. Some batroom windows needed serious cleaning. There were no pool attendants for set up services or food or drink services. Each guest is only allowed one towel, so once you use it for chair coverage you are at a loss for how to dry after a swim. Everywhere we walked we saw some sign of disrepair...workers, machines, orange net fencing. It would seem maintenance should be preformed prior to the beginning of tourist season. On Wednesday we were left a note from management that there would be a planned maintenance on our building for Thanksgiving Day...therefore, no water from 9 to 5. As it turned out we had no hot water all day that Thursday, through 1:00 the following day when we checked out. Had I been told about this planned maintenance when I booked the trip I would not have chosen this resort. Hot water is not a luxury it is a basic provision.

Restaurant service and food were spotty, though Janell was of great service at breakfast. I had requested a birthday mention for Thursday evening, but it was totally forgotten. The best restaurants are not on this side of the island. To travel to the east side is a cab fare of $40 each way.

The resort is situated in a beautiful spot and both the ocean and pool water were enjoyable. The pools could have been better maintained, however.

Overall, I could not recommend this property. It is in serious need of management and maintenance to a higher standard. Though rooms were spacious and staff was friendly, this just could not over compensate for all the shortcomings.

My wife and I stayed with some friends at The Crane for two nights this November because it was recommended by many both local to Barbados or from where we're traveling in Canada. Their advice was spot on, here's our quick review:

Check-in: A breeze. We had our room keys within minutes and were rum-punched up (super good) immediately.

Pools: Absolutely lovely. There are 5+ pools located on multiple levels of the grounds. The bedding beside the pools was selectively placed with adequate amounts of shade and sun (for whatever your looking). Some of the pools also had spectacular views of the ocean. There were no swim-up-bars, but the restaurant beside the top pool was close enough to provide any libations.

Grounds: The grounds are nothing short of gorgeous. The mix of new-style architected buildings plus old-style made the feel of the resort quite nice. The large (20+ person) whirlpool in the midst of the open four walled structure overlooking the ocean ... wow! We also really enjoyed the "town-like" feel of the buildings where the restaurants and open air bar are located. The bar was great, but very quiet and could have used a bit more room or livelier music to draw in people. Even a pool table, dart board or another form of entertainment was something we chatted about while enjoying a glass of wine.

Restaurants: L'Azure was fabulous, the food outstanding, and the view even better. Zen was excellent, but coming from a Sushi-laden location we call home, the prices caused minor heartattacks. It's definitely worth trying as the food quality is amazing.

Beach: The beach is beautiful. Although it's a public beach, access to it isn't just a quick park and a stroll for the locals so it's typically more of a tourist beach for the resort. An elevator ride or quick jaunt down the stairs and you arrive at a white sand, fairly quiet beach. The waves on this south east coast of the island can get a little rough so be prepared to go to battle if you hop in for a quick dip. My wife lost a bathing suit (R.I.P.) to a rogue wave that frantically had me pulling up her bottoms and doing the "uh what do I do" cover up of her top before a second rogue indulged us with a greeting. Suggest you get the rum punch drinks out of fresh fruit on the beach. They're quite strong, but very, very tasty!

Room: We stayed in a ground level room (2 bedroom) a bit further back from the beach that included a secluded plunge pool and whirlpool, plus outdoor gazebo area. We made use of it during both days of our stay and enjoyed the stars at night. Truly relaxing over a bottle of champagne! The living room and bed room both opened up to the outdoors and made for a great fresh air feel. The second bedroom included two single beds and absolutely no decor whatsoever. We felt that a little odd. The suite included a full kitchen/dining area as well, which was quite convenient.

Note, the mosquitos here are a real pain in the butt, so bring bug repellant en masse. That would probably be our biggest gripe about the resort to be honest.

Would we go back? Yes. We'd try a beach-front, ground level 1 or 2 bedroom with pool for our next trip.