just returned from a four night stay in July 2008 at the Crane resort. This hotel has a lot to offer, but it's not for everyone.

Pros:
- Beautiful beach. Private. Secluded. The resort offers chairs, umbrellas and towels for guests of the hotel. Not crowded. Very relaxing. With the strength of the waves, the sound is so peaceful and relaxing.

- Lovely grounds. Green lush. Full of plants, animals and flowers. If you can look past the construction, the property is absolutely lovely. New developments like the pool complex are absolutely gorgeous. The resort offers a variety of relaxing pools with an ocean view. Spectacular.

- Lovely rooms. Our room was exactly like the pictures. Marble floors. Dark wood furniture. White couches. Clean. Beautiful. Relaxing. (And the construction never bothered us one bit.)

- Perfect temperature. After reading the reviews on this website, we requested an "air conditioned" room and were stressed out when the gentleman who accompanied us to our room at check in noticed that the temperature control "wasn't working." Even though his "promised" someone would look at it the next day, we really didn't see a need and didn't press the issue. The room was very comfortable at all times of the day. With the climate so temperate, there's really no need for an intense air conditioner.

- Secluded location. Unlike some of the other hotels we saw during our stay, the Crane really is away from everything. This makes it a lot more peaceful and relaxing.

- Proximity to Cutters, a decent place for food.


Cons:
- The water on the south side of the island is rough, so this beach is not ideal for small children who want to swim in the ocean.

- Service. With a few exceptions (thanks to the people at check in for making us drinks and thanks to the concierge who helped with excellent reservations), the service is not good. Not good at all. Rather than disappoint or face conflict, staff members would often simply lie to us. For instance, we went to the pool house to get a sandwich 30 minutes before the restaurant was supposed to close. At first, the staff explained that the restaurant was closed. We explained that this couldn't be, because the property manager had personally walked us over. Oh! Well, it wasn't that they were closed, it was that the chef had injured himself the day before and had to leave early. Again and again and again, staff members offered ill conceived excuse after ill conceived excuse. Irritating. And promises to "look into _____ and get back to you" never came to fruition. See more on service below.

- Food. Not good. Breakfast is not good. Lunch is not good. Dinner is not good. All I can say is, I hope you like french fries. And I hope you like servers who are irritated to be doing their jobs. For example, we were late for our dinner at Zen one night because the cruise the hotel had booked for us came back an hour later than we were promised. We promptly called Zen to explain, to apologize and to change our reservation to 9 p.m., 30 minutes before the kitchen closed. Even though we were on time for our new reservation, we were immediately met with passive aggressive, anxious hostility. Multiple people badgered us to order from the moment we sat down. I totally understood the need to promptly order, but the treatment from the staff really just ruined the evening. And this was at Zen, one of the island's celebrated restaurants. When two tables were left, the staff had changed out of their kimonos and were already in their street clothes. When a restaurant closes at 10, it closes at 10, and the servers should be prepared to wait for stragglers. This resort really needs some management to increase professionalism! As a side note, we were back in our room by 10:30, hardly unreasonable, and the only reason for the delay was their inability to promptly process the check. As far as the quality of food, this was some of the worst sushi I've ever had in my life. The curry was disgusting and oily.

Conclusion - It's a fabulous resort as long as you don't expect anything and basically keep to yourself. Bring some groceries and/or leave the resort for all of your meals. You're set!

We decided on The Crane because of the Best of Barbados special and had no regrets. The rooms are beautiful and the beds are comfortable. The shower also has great water pressure. We didn't have an ocean view room and it was still nice. We heard we'd be closer to the construction because we didn't have the ocean view but really, we barely heard any of it. And yes, the AC does not go to freezing like some people have complained about but I don't like it like that anyway so I was fine.

We only ate at L'Azure and found that all of the food was great whether it was breakfast, lunch, afternooon snack or dinner. They really do know how to cook. Yes, it is pricey though and we found the dinner portions to be on the small side for some dishes. We had no problems with service at any meal since all of the employees we interacted with were all helpful and friendly.

We found that for the most part the people of Barbados are extremely friendly. We rented a car and got lost one night. A gentleman walking down the street on his cell actually hung up so he could give us directions. We thought the car was the best way to get around - even though they drive on the left. The taxis are about $25 US each way and the bus is cheap but when it's crowded, it takes forever to get to your destination.

We thought the fish fry on Friday was a lot of fun. The food wasn't the best we had while in Barbados but the whole night was fun all the way around.

I think the best spot for nightlife and dinner was St Lawrence Gap. Lots of good restaurants and bars and a little shopping. We went there 3 of our 7 nights. Bridgetown wasn't worth the trip at all. Busy and not a lot of stores. We didn't do any excursions but met some people that did the catamaran snorkeling tour and had a good time.

The beach at The Crane is small and nice. The water is not calm and quiet, there are waves. But the hotel lends out boogie boards and that's what we did every single day. What fun! I usually read one or two books on vacation and didn't even read one this time because we had so much fun with the boards. The guys working the beach are great too. They have a little hut set up down there with coolers of beers and rum punch. It was pretty quiet the week we were there. I probably saw 30 couples at the most. We were always able to find chairs at the beach and we didn't use any of the pools but it looked like there were tons of chairs.

If you're the type of person that needs the resort to wait on you hand and foot, then this isn't the place for you. But if you're there to just have a good time and get some sun then The Crane is worth it. The people and food are great. We hated to leave but will definitely go back next year when all of the construction is complete. There will be 2 more restaurants, a jazz bar and shops.

The Good: Great beach, clear clean water, big waves, soft sand, little seaweed, no coral to get in the way, etc. We boogie boarded a lot and it was a blast. You can walk out pretty far and catch some big waves. You can get the boogie boards courtesy of the hotel. Just sign for them at the front desk. Food was really good. Rooms are big and luxurious. Beautiful cliff top views. People in Barbados are very nice.


The bad and OK: The service was just good, not great. There are only 3 places to eat. One of which didn't serve food for a couple days because of a sewage issue. The portions are small. My wife got some couscous for dinner and I got what they call 3 way chicken and it was $24 a plate and the portions were embarrassing. I've enclosed the pictures of our dinners. The menu was kind of limited and it was almost the same every night with a few small changes. TV only had like 10 stations. Half didn't have sound for a couple days. The drinks are expensive. A Pina Colada and a fruit punch with rum was just under $20. There is an elevator to the beach or you can climb the 96 stairs. It sucks when you're on the beach and need to use the rest room. You have to go all the way up the stairs to the lobby. Only two computers to use. One which didn't work one day. Food orders took a long time. Nothing going on there at night. The place was very quiet. We're not big partiers but when you go to the Carriage House for a drink and there are only 6 people there. Construction was going on but it didn't bother me one bit and if it were to bother anyone, it would be me. We wanted to do the Sunday brunch but it was $43 per person!!!! We walked 5 minutes down the road to a place called Cutters. They have pizza, ice cream, and deli sandwiches for a fraction of the cost. The owner Roger was really nice. Cool place. Check it out.

In general: We had a great time and would go back but only after all the construction is done. There will be much more to do at night there. They're adding I think a spa, another (italian) resturant, gift shop, etc. Will look like a little town. We went to Bridgetown. Don't waste your time. It's nothing to see. We went to a resturant there called "Limelight Cafe" which has the same logo as the Hardrock and they're trying to copycat them too. The service sucked so bad we left before we even got our meal. They didn't care we were leaving either. Fish Fry was fun too. You can go to Oistins at night for dinner too. A bunch of resurants and bars there. Thats about the only happening place we saw for nightlife.

I couldnt be happier with our choice to stay at the Crane for our honeymoon. We arrived on June10, 2008 and stayed for 9 days. We booked a one bedroom suite on the third floor with a plunge pool. The rooms were absolutely amazing with the rich mahogany furniture and a view of the ocean and the resort pools below. At night the entire resort was illuminated with soft lighting all around that made for the most romantic setting. In fact everything about the hotel was romantic. I felt like a princess because the hotel reminded me of a castle the way the roofline was shaped with what looked like turrets at the top. The five head shower was great and the in room jacuzzi with view to the ocean was out of this world. We took the shuttle to the supermarket upon our arrival and then each morning we would make breakfast and sit on our balcony and look out at the breathtaking view. Speaking of breathtaking, the first time I laid eyes on crane beach it actually brought tears to my eyes because it was so beautiful. This is where we met Carolyn who was one of the hotel managers. She stopped and introduced herself to us and asked us if we had seen the beach yet. She showed us the view from the balcony that is near the hotel restaurant. We were so impressed with how kind and friendly Carolyn was. Throughout our stay we periodically would see her and she always made us feel welcome and was so very helpful. The staff treated us like we were family. The other person that we met who impressed us was Anthony. He works in security at the hotel. Every time we would see Anthony he greeted us with a huge smile. He made our stay at the Crane a memorable one because of his kindness. I think this is what sets the Crane apart from any other hotel. It is people like Carolyn and Anthony that go out of their way to be friendly and professional and treat guests with customer service that is over and above what you would expect. This was an excellent honeymoon spot. I cannot imagine any other place that would have been more beautiful than this one. The Crane really offers the whole package because of the friendly staff and the beautiful grounds. We had booked the romantic escape package which included fresh flowers in our room, a bottle of rum punch since I cant drink wine they accomodated this change, and an in room massage for my husband and I by therapists, and dinner at L'Azure restaurant. This package really made our honeymoon complete. We also decided to rent a car for three days and we explored the island. We enjoyed going to Cutters which is within walking distance of The Crane. The owner there makes a rum punch which is the best I have ever had. I have been to many islands before and usually I dont go back to the same place because I like to try new spots but my husband and I have decided we will be making an exception and will return to the Crane again in the future.