TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

My daughter and I have booked a king room for the end of April. This will be my 4th visit to Crystal Cove so I am fully aware of all the pros and cons. Am getting very apprehensive at the non-response from the new owners - Marriott. Nobody seems to have a clue that this delightful resort is now part of the Marriott chain. When I call the resort direct, I am put on hold indefinitely, so my questions are never resolved. Marriott can 'see' I have a confirmed room but that is about it. Questions: My daughter and I have some dietary restrictions - all successfully dealt with in my 3 previous visits. Gluten free and almond milk available please. I know the latter can be bought locally bc we walked to a local, very interesting, supermarket not far from the resort when they ran out bc so many ple were requesting non dairy milk in the coffee shop. Transportation to/from the airport: I think it was included in my first 2 visits utilizing a shuttle bus. My last visit was a taxi that the resort arranged for us - paid extra but that is fine. I really do not want to turn up and have to select a random taxi touting for business at the airport. I know this is the Caribbean and that is what I am expecting and used to. If I wanted to stay in a high rise Sandals type of resort, I could easily do so. But, I choose the very relaxed, calming and beautiful Crystal Cove. I would really appreciate your answers please.

Upon arrival, we were immediately met with a strong drainage smell in our room. When this was reported, the General Manager dismissed the issue and later called up to our balcony to reiterate there was no problem, stating disinfectant had been used. We subsequently learned that the hotel is aware of an ongoing drainage issue during heavy rain. From the outset, there were also issues with the WiFi. The password provided did not work, and although the General Manager gave us a general hotel code, he advised it would not function across other associated resorts, which added further inconvenience. Dining was particularly disappointing throughout our stay. On our first evening at the “Travellers Buffet,” food trays were empty and not replenished, dishes were unlabelled, and service was extremely poor, with drinks having to be requested repeatedly and desserts unavailable. This standard continued for the duration of our stay. Food was often lukewarm, poorly presented, and not labelled, raising concerns regarding allergens and cross-contamination. Staff across the resort appeared disengaged and unhelpful. Basic service such as providing water, coffee, or cutlery required multiple requests, often met with visible frustration, including eye-rolling from staff and management. The pool bar was frequently unattended, and when staffed, service remained poor. The hotel advertised two restaurants; however, in reality, only one was available each evening. The à la carte restaurant experience was particularly unacceptable. Despite booking a time slot, we waited over an hour for a table, had no proper lighting to dine, experienced extremely slow service due to understaffing, and on both occasions, desserts never arrived. The overall organisation was chaotic, with guests waiting indefinitely while tables remained occupied. We raised several of these concerns directly with the General Manager, who was dismissive and, at times, rude. Although he provided his email address, no response was ever received following our correspondence. Additional issues included: - Poor food hygiene practices, including shared utensils for meat and fish during BBQ service - A gas cylinder left unattended near the pool area the following morning - Reception staff unable or unwilling to assist with basic enquiries - A leak in our room, with staff using our personal towels to clean it - Housekeeping leaving our room door open, raising security concerns - Mini bar and snacks not replenished despite repeated requests - Unclean and poorly maintained beach areas Due to the consistently poor dining experience and overall atmosphere, we were forced to eat out of the hotel at our own expense for the final two nights, despite having paid for an all-inclusive stay.

Arrived today - staff have been quick to respond and very charming. At the moment having just been refurbished it all is clean and fresh. How long it will stay this way remains to be seen. The entertainment and facilities are almost non existent. The most disappointing is the restaurants (only2). Serving very limited menu and generally poor quality.based on this we will explore other hotels in group. If you are expecting anything close to Sandals the you will be sorely disappointed. Expect more Butlins. Hopefully things will get better

This was our first time to Barbados and our honeymoon. The pictures on TripAdvisor are over 10yrs old and were supplied by the hotel management! Marriott Hotels state on their website it is one of their Luxury hotels and provides A La Carte/Fine Dining, it is not. British Airways Holidays state on their website it is a 4-star hotel and provides A La Carte/Fine Dining, it is not. There is only 1 restaurant not 2 or 4. They classify a kitchenette set to one side of the Beach bar as a restaurant! The hotel is not a 4 star and falls way short of A La Carte/Fine Dining. If you want Luxury and A La Carte dining, then I would suggest you check out Marriott's Colony Beach Club just down the coast from Crystal Cove. We were able to have lunch or dinner at a reduced cost. For its positive points the hotel had just been refurbished, and this was visible from the outside and inside the rooms From information acquired the hotel had just re-opened at the beginning of February. The location and beach were very good.

We’ve just returned from our holiday at Crystal Cove, it was our first time staying there and first time in Barbados. Overall we had a lovely holiday and would return to Barbados but not to Crystal Cove. Pros: - Rooms had been refurbished, we requested a ocean view room and got an amazing one which just looked directly onto the ocean not the resort which felt really private and saw some amazing sunsets. - The resort itself is lovely, very picturesque, beach was lovely although a little rocky so bring sea shoes, and the pool area was lovely and unique with the cave bar. We loved the colourfulness of the hotel which felt gave it a lovely Barbados charm. - Great water sports available at the beach that are included. Cons: - Food, we had see the reviews and prepared ourselves but were still disappointed. We only ate breakfast there once, but to be fair we mainly skipped breakfast. Two evening meals, the buffet on the night we arrived which was worse than I expected and à la carte at high tides the second night. However when we arrived at high tides it was shut and had been moved - no one had made us aware, there is a significant lack of communication. The meal we had was ok but not something I’d have again and the chips weren’t even hot which I think is a basic to get right. We decided to eat out for the rest of the week - I can recommend Cariba (a short walk away, absolute hidden gem and reasonably priced, one of the tastiest curry’s we’ve had ever), QP Bistro for a treat or get the bus to Holetown and there are some lovely restaurants there too. We had 3 lunches, only recommend chicken Caesar salad from the poolside menu but you can only order from artisan as I tried from high tides and was told no, not the best I’ve ever had but was the best meal I had from Crystal Cove. We enjoyed eating out, but the cost of the holiday was not value for money and ended up costing a lot more than anticipated. - Customer service was very hit and miss, some staff were super friendly and so helpful, but at times others were abrupt or didn’t communicate. A few examples are our travel agent had called ahead of our trip to ask about non alcoholic beers being available, there weren’t, so we asked multiple members of staff, and were either abruptly told no or that they would look to see if they could, but nothing all week, we got sick of asking. Everywhere else in the local area had them readily available. We were told the mini bar would’ve refreshed as we used it, it didn’t and wouldn’t get done unless we asked. On our final day we were told to leave our bags in the room and they would’ve brought to the locked cupboard in reception. We went out for the day returned for our courtesy room at 3pm, as well as our luggage not being there 5 hours later (luckily still left in the room) but we had to stand and wait for the courtesy room whilst the staff talked quietly amongst themselves and didn’t think to keep us informed whilst we waited. Lack of communication between each other and from a customer service perspective.