My wife and I got very lucky to find The Crane for our 35th wedding anniversary week. She said that she wanted to go to Barbados and I surprised her with the Crane. I also surprised myself.

Our room was a residence with livingroom, bedroom, two bath rooms, two televisions, a washer/dryer and full kitchen. Our room had a 14' pool attached to it. Due to the Tradewinds the pool was a little too cold to consistantly use, but we did manage to get in a few times. Housekeeping services were very good and thorough.

The grounds were clean with plenty of pools. Our weather was perfect for the seven day stay.

They have two restaurants and expect you to dress, "elegant casual", for dinner. It was ok the first few days but after being on the beach or by the pools all day, you don't always want to dress up for dinner. So we ordered room service a couple of nights.

With just two restaurants, the menu becomes pretty redundant. But the food was prepared well and was very good.

We had the American meal plan, breakfast and dinner only. That worked very well.

There is construction happening, but we never heard a thing. They are building a new Town Center that will have some amenities that we found to be lacking. We had to leave the area to shop for groceries. They supplied transportation to the supermarket on two days. The Town Center will have a Deli, grocery store, three more restaurants and a pizza parlor where you can come in from the beach or pool without having to dress up. The Center is scheduled to be in place by July. It will make already perfect place, better.

I can knitpick, but I won't. I'm working on getting back there. We loved it.

We recently returned after a week at the Crane and thoroughly enjoyed our stay. We had a 1-bed ocean view suite in building 4 which was very spacious and luxurious. There are large CRT TVs in the living room and bedroom with over 30 mostly US channels. There’s an electronic safe and free internet access with an Ethernet cable. The main reception area also has a wireless LAN and two PCs for general use, all free.

The beach is beautiful but quite small so it gets crowded by lunchtime. There are a couple of traders but they setup their stalls and let customers come to them. It’s a public beach but there’s no hassle from anyone.

We ate at both Zen and L’Azure and found both to be OK but service could be a bit slow, relative to European and US standards. The Gospel breakfast is good value and they sing for almost an hour but the buffet queue during the gospel singing is horrendous as lots of people wait for an omelette and the queue simply stops.

All the staff were friendly and extremely helpful, even when mistakes were made. They would all say hello and this helped maintain a congenial atmosphere. You can have groceries delivered to your room but they sometimes aren’t delivered and we had to ring the concierge to chase this up. Special mention to the concierges as they do a fantastic job. One important note about the staff though; someone stole a watch from inside a handbag in our room and after more correspondence upon returning home, they have made no progress in finding it. This was the only disappointing aspect of the entire stay and it’s certainly out of step with the warm hospitality that we received everywhere.

Other reviewers have talked about the construction noise but we couldn’t hear any in our room, and very little while you’re around the pool complex. At the beach you won’t hear anything except the crashing waves.

Busses are very cheap at only B$.150 per trip anywhere and there’s a bus stop just outside the hotel. It takes about 45 minutes to reach Bridgetown while the airport is only 10 minutes away, if you want to see Concorde, which is a worthwhile diversion for up to an hour although it may be better if you have some spare time before your flight home. The route from Bridgetown to Bathsheba is also very pleasant and the Roundhouse restaurant there serves decent food. The Friday night trip to Oistins is very popular; we joined a long queue at Uncle George’s Fishnet grill and had excellent swordfish and kingfish.

If you want a peaceful holiday then stay here as the resort is on the South East coast which is very quiet and there are very few shops or restaurants nearby. For nightlife and more restaurants go to the South coast but it’s very built up compared to this area.

Friendly, polite service with good work ethic. Beautiful facility. Oceanview suite was great with 2 bathrooms, kitchen with refrigerator/icemaker, washer/dryer.. Few problems solved amiably. Small but adequate fitness room, free internet in lobby.

Immediately when you arrive read book about services and shuttles to grocery store etc. Will save you money on cabs.

If you plan to get in after 8 PM, eat before you arrive....very limited fare and no alcohol except beer after about 10 PM. Can buy supplies at grocery or Crane will shop for you.

Many lovely pools but no hot tub. Some rooms have private pools and/or jet tubs.

Plantation was well worth visiting.

Oistin's fish fry in town on Friday did not live up to hype, but still glad I did it.

St. Lawrence Gap a short cab ride away had good restaurants (Few bargain restaurants in Barbados.)

Try to book with Best of Barbados discount package....good discounts.

Sunset snorkeling (Tiami...I think) with giant sea turtles was highlight of trip. All arranged by Crane consierge.

We stayed at the Crane for 5 days. Here is a summary of our experience.

Check in was flawless. Although you check in to a temporary reception due to the construction, it was friendly and efficient. Be wary of the rum punch..it's very strong!!

Our room was in block 4. The rooms are very large and tastefully decorated. The room was very clean. I didn't have an issue with the airconditioning, but my hot blooded husband felt that the preset temperature was too warm. The nice ceiling fan helps to keep it cool. . We had a partial seaview and the other part overlooked the construction. Most days the construction was not really an issue, you could hear it a little bit in the room (not at all by the pool), however on our last day they were using jackhammers--and you could really hear it. If you don't want to hear anything or see the construction , ensure that your room has a direct seaview.

The pool and the beach are beautiful. Very relaxed, very serene and a constant cooling breeze. It is very much geared towards couples and adults not children.

There are 3 restaurants, we ate at the Azure and the pool bar. We did not try Zen. The Azure and pool bar are pretty average. Coming from London, I actually thought they were overpriced for what they were. Room service is pretty weak. If you are looking to experience some local food, I would recommend Brown Sugar. It is not fancy food but it is local.

The location of the hotel is beautiful. The downside is that it is remote from other restuarants/ hotels. When they finish the construction then there will be more selection. If you want nightlife you will need to take a taxi. We hired a car for 3 days to explore the island...there isn't enough to explore for more than 3 days.

The staff at the Crane are very friendly and overall no complaints. Our only issue was during our stay we had our water cut twice. The first time we did not complain as it came on 20 minutes later. The second time was the day we were leaving, this time it took a couple of phone calls to find out what was going on. When we checked out we still had no water. Although the hotel did offer facilities for shower, the staff on reception immediately started on the defensive saying it was not the hotel but the local water board. It just left a bad feeling.

Overall if you want a beach/chill out holiday this is good.