Hilton Grand Vacations The Crane Barbados = Nice Addition to Hilton Portfolio
Dec 6, 2019 WorldWideTravel88 Bangkok, Thailand
I originally intended to stay at Hilton Barbados but reviews were not the most glowing and they have recently eliminated the executive lounge which eroded the Diamond benefits at this property. The Crane Resort in Barbados was independent before and has been around for over 100 years but they recently joined Hilton Grand Vacation Club and I chose…
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I originally intended to stay at Hilton Barbados but reviews were not the most glowing and they have recently eliminated the executive lounge which eroded the Diamond benefits at this property. The Crane Resort in Barbados was independent before and has been around for over 100 years but they recently joined Hilton Grand Vacation Club and I chose to stay there instead of the regular Hilton. I had not stayed in Barbados before so I do not have useful reference points, but that said I did not regret my choice of HGVC The Crane.
The entire resort at The Crane gives the feeling of being a small village due to the design of the various buildings, small pedestrian streets to walk around, souvenir shops, a jewelry shop, even a small convenience store where you can buy something to cook which is great if you don’t want to eat in the restaurant every day and if you don’t intend to drive out to find the nearest grocery store which is not walking distance.
I booked a Garden View Suite and this is the room I got so no upgrade for Diamonds. The room was spacious (700 sq feet) and probably larger than what I would have received at Hilton for a higher price. The suite at The Crane is pretty much like a small one-bedroom apartment and has all amenities that long-term residents need: oven, full size fridge, freezer, microwave, dishwater, and even a washer and dryer. It is also decorated nicely to give a feeling of a residence. There was a small terrace without much of a view except that we could see the plunge pool of our neighbor down below; some rooms or suites have their own pool in this resort. The room was in good condition and they must have been renovated quite recently. Air conditioning worked well and kept us cool during the night.
The hotel has several pools to choose from in various locations on the resort, some being adults-only, and others being more family friendly. Generally speaking I thought the guests were mostly retired folks and not as many young families as I expected. Some pools have a view of the rest of the resort since the area is a bit hilly, and one pool overlooks the Crane beach with nice views of the ocean. There were plenty of chairs available at many of the pools when we went there.
We got vouchers for a welcome rum punch at the 1887 Bar and we also went there during happy hour another day. I would note that happy hour prices are quite good from 5:30pm to 6:30pm for a resort of this style which tend to be expensive. There are several restaurants available on the resort with different cuisine so I thought this was entirely suitable to please guests staying there long term to give different choices.
The gym was not that big for a resort with so many rooms, but it was not busy when we went there. The equipment was fairly new but they should have bought machines that have a TV and/or an internet connection. Instead they have the basic versions of treadmills, ellipticals, etc.
The stretch of beach next to the resort was clean and was quite popular.
Regarding service it was clear they tried to please although it was not perfect. They reached out to me in advance by email and I got a couple of calls during our stay from reception and from guest relations to make sure we had what we needed. One hiccup is that one morning we called to have housekeeping done while we went to the gym, but when we came back it was not done as requested. Check-out was the most ridiculous I have ever had in any hotel. I was given a receipt to sign which was for incidentals only because I had paid a one-night deposit when I booked and the balance was charged to my card the day of check-in. After I paid for incidentals, I left reception, got in a taxi, and we were on our way to the airport. We were out of the hotel premises and suddenly the taxi driver receives a phone call from reception and they asked us to come back because there is a problem with the bill. I went back to reception and the front desk agent asked for the manager to come. I was asked on what day I checked in and they said according to their records we had arrived one day before and that we had not paid for that first night. I answered absolutely not, you should know when I got here and you should have the correct dates from my reservation which was made on Hilton.com. They went to the back office and it was taking a long time, the taxi was still waiting at the entrance with our luggage so I lost patience. I showed them my Hilton app with the reservation dates and told them to figure this out themselves because I had to leave. They gave me their e-mail address and once at the airport I sent my screen shot of when I made the booking. To make a guest come back by calling his taxi driver when the hotel itself is in the wrong because they cannot figure out something as basic as what date we arrived, this was definitely a first for me.
Overall except for check-out, we had a pleasant stay and we wished we stayed longer than 3 days. Our visit to Barbados was only meant to be a stop over on our way to another island and since we were going to be in Barbados anyway, I booked 3 days rather than just one night. Honestly in the future we should stay one week to fully appreciate this property. Perhaps rates are more expensive at other times of the year, but in December I thought prices were good given how spacious our suite was and it was moderately cheaper than Hilton. I can recommend The Crane and would consider it highly for our next stay in Barbados.
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