The Crane Resort and Residences, Mount Vernon

It is like walking back in time. We were in one of the penthouses and the view was breath taking! The wooden furniture and floors were beautiful! The staff and food was excellent. It eas our 25th and they sent us a great bottle of wine and flowers. You don;t need to leave the resort because they have everything on site. The free shuttle to Bridgetown once per weel is a nice touch because taxis are expensive. We have travelled to most of the Caribbean islands but this is only time we have considered a time share.Our two complaint is they need to up date the A/C and the mattress are hard.

I recently stayed at the Crane. The resort is beautiful and the staff is great. However, they lead you to believe the beach is part of the resort, but it's a public beach. We were approached by a drug dealer, turned him away and he threatened us with a knife. The hotel security questioned us and got the police involved. They arrested him, and he was back on the beach the next day. I think there are other resorts with private beaches. Why go to Barbados if you can't enjoy the ocean? The management offered no compensation or reassurance that they would take care of the situation - no extra security on the beach or anything. I wouldn't go back and wouldn't have gone if I knew this was going to happen.

This is not really a review, but i do love the crane and as a local i have received nothing but good treatment there. I don't understnd how people from other countries expect to come here and just go on our lovely beaches that are behind hotels. If you want ot go to a free beach then all you had to do was walk around the clift like some of us locals do when we don't want to spend money. Do you honestly think that any luxery hotel in the usa would charge only 10$ us ot use their beach and grant you access to the hotel?? Be real, hotels cost money to run and if you did not want to play for class you could have gone to any of the very public beaches in Barbados. The audacity of some of you people is just amasing. You don't get anything for free, you really expect a luxery hotel, one of the best in Barbados is to let you walk throught just because you are a visitor for a mere $2.50 US, you would have ot be tripping like a drug addict.

Just came back from a week at the Crane. Everything was so nice. beauty, elegance, and my favorite place, yet. Try the deli next to the Crane, Cutters, you will love the food. Perfect clean beach with 4 pools. WE LOVED IT

We just returned from our 2 week stay in one of the Penthouses at the Crane Resort. The only disappointment we had was our vacation went so quickly. The beach was the cleanest, most beautiful beach. The rooms were the cleanest and most accomadating especially with full kitchen,grill on roof top, and washer/dryer. Our groceries were delivered and our needs were never left unmet. Around every corner was a friendly staff member with a cheery hello and smile. The construction was never a problem for us. The new buildings and Plaza area will be a wonderful addition when complete. If you are looking for a peaceful, somewhat secluded, private resort then The Crane will not let you down. Each night you will sleep to the sound of the waves rushing up the cliff. The sights are the most beautiful and relaxing we have seen. Georgia, USA

The Crane Beach Resort is the most magnificant place to vacation in Barbados. With its lush pools and calming beach, it is the place to be. If you are considering a vacation in Barbados, consider The Crane Beach Resort first. You won't be sorry.

I LOVED The Crane....it was absolutely beautiful. The ocean view was great. The sound of the ocean at night was soothing. The rooms were very clean.We had a full kitchen and the hotel provides a ride to the local grocery store. We ate several of our meals out on the patio. However, the air did not work but were never really needed it with the breeze off the ocean. It is not really near anything so if you are looking for nightlife you have to take a taxi into Bridgetown. I enjoyed it...I relaxed and had wonderful romanctic nights.

A perfect getaway. Service is great, rooms are fantastic and the beach is one of the best I have ever been on. There are new buildings being built and as a result there is some constructions going on, but none of that interferes with the beauty of The Crane.

Crane Beach, Barbados - WRECKED - part 1 What was one of the better beaches in the World has effectively and practically been wrecked - not by Hurricanes but by the swamping of the beach by sun-loungers apparently belonging to the nearby Crane Hotel, along with broken glass, rubbish, metal beer bottle tops, and other detritus presumably left by guests and not cleared up by the beach staff. A few weeks ago we ventured out to Crane Beach on the South Coast of Barbados. Our guide book "Barbados Directions - Accurate, Reliable, Informative" by Rough Guides (nominally dated: 2004) states "... it's still a fetching place [the hotel] and worth a look even if you're not staying (a fee of B$5 is charged for use of the facilities, though you can put it towards any food or drink you have during your visit." My travelling companion, in her 60s, is somewhat mobility impaired (from a double knee replacement some weeks ago) and needs a stick to help to walk. But having read about Crane Beach we decided to spend a day there. We took a local bus from Bridgetown to the entrance gates of the Crane Hotel, and then walked through the grounds to the lobby. However when we enquired about getting onto the beach, we were rudely told by Reception that it would cost us B$25 EACH just to pass through the lobby and use the steps down to the beach. That is the Crane Hotel now CHARGES to visit what is supposed to be a FREELY accessible PUBLIC beach. We were then told that we could redeem this amount in the Restaurant on the way back - if we wished to. When we complained that the Guidebook only mentioned B$5 per visit to "use the facilities," the attitude of the hotel staff was 'take it or leave it' - typical arrogance for this kind of pretentious establishment, but not what we expected to find in Barbados. We struggled down the rickety steps to the beach. Incidentally the no. of steps down are only 88 and not 200 as per the Guidebook. Anyone who was more disabled wouldn't have had a chance of getting down there, so despite charging for access, the hotel in its many years of stewardship has done nothing to improve access for the physically disabled. However when we arrived down there we found that sun-loungers and sunshades occupied every foot of the beach. These stretched side-by-side from one end of the beach to the other, leaving very little room for anything or anyone else. The only piece of spare beach was in a small 'alcove' underneath some coconut trees (with coconuts ready to drop), and unfortunately also occupied by two scruffy-looking beach vendors. We were also dismayed to see the rubbish littering the beach (and amongst the palm trees at the rear); this being broken glass, discarded beer bottles and plastic soft drink bottles, metal beer bottle tops and other detritus. There were also at least two obligatory beach vendors lazing around trying to con people into purchasing conch shells and necklaces made out of coral etc. Don't the hotel management/owners realise or care that 2 million conch shells are plundered from Caribbean waters every year, and that around many Islands so many have been taken that many local species are now extinct? Obviously not. (Cont'd in part 2)

I came to Barbados for a little peace and quiet. My place in Los Angeles has become a war zone sice there is consrtuction disturbing all peace and quiet at all hours of the day. I knew that The Crane was undergoing some reconstruction, however, Expedia stated that the construction would be completed in early May (It's now May 2006); furthermore, the concierge said assured me that the little construction that vwas still taking place was in a small part of the hotel and was not causing any disturbance to guests. Well, now I'm going to give you the facts.The construction is, indeed still in full force...everywhere around the hotel. I awake the first morning I was here to the sounds of drilling, pounding, and large tractor motor directly outside my window. Naturally, I thought I must still be back at home. When I realized that the Concierge had deliberately lied to me when I checked in the porevious night ("Oh, no sir. I promise that no construction is taking place at that part of the Hotel"), I was livid. This was my main purpose for the trip. To get a rest from the daily consrtuction back home. When I confronted the woman at the front desk that morning, she acted as if she had no idea who I was and had no recollection of the conversation we had. So, I just said that I wished to change rooms; somewhere where I wasn't literally on top of the construction zone. Her response was that there was nothing she could do since the hotel was fully booked, but assured me that they wouldn't be working throughout the weekend. It turns out that not only did they work both days of the weekend, but they started before 8 am and went way past 7pm. I was able to find out that the actually estimated completion for the reconstruction is 2011! Which is probably why they are desperately working 7 days a week to get it done sooner. The staff at The Crane Hotel seemed more concerned about selling time-shares than accommodating the wishes of the guests. In fact, I noticed that the staff was only courteous with me when they were giving tour to potential time-share customers. This was supposed to be a breath of fresh air and a little escape from the stress back home. Not only does it feel like I brought it with me, but I'm upset at being misguided and that my money has gone to waste (or towards the construction). Beware!