Crystal Cove

It had always been our dream to go to Barbados and we stayed at the Crystal Cove Hotel in March 2019.The Hotel was superbly situated right on the beach,the food was excellent and above our expectations for an all inclusive package.The staff were so welcoming ,helpful and friendly which helped to create a wonderful ambience. This is one of the best holidays we have ever had and hope to return at sometime in the future.

So much wrong with the place but I'll try to summarise. No water for first two days (includes using the toilet which was nice), brown sludge in one bath, appalling shower in the children's room - either scolding hot or cold as the bathroom is about 30yrs old. A boat trip is hardly suitable compensation nor is the ability to use a sister hotels shower - can't eat or drink at sister hotel as an apology, just go use their shower?! Bathroom picture sums it up. Air conditioning leaked all over the bed. Bathroom vent stuffed with paper for some reason. Food was just appalling, breakfast just about passable but always something unavailable - teabags, butter, strawberry jam, apple juice etc.Dinners - see pictures. Pizza was frozen cold in the middle. Food rarely hot, for all inclusive there was really only one restaurant in the evenings with a selection of 3 tepid meals uncooked meals. Asked for adjoining rooms 9months in advance - didn't get it. Fridge/bathroom didn't get restocked once in 10 days. Staff don't really care - all inclusive so you've paid upfront already, so if you order a drink they rarely come back. Beach full of stones so only really a 10m stretch you can walk into without breaking your foot. I could go on but whats the point, I mentioned all this to management at the time and they didn't show any customer service or care. The hygiene standards with the overflowing public toilets and brown sludge alone would make me never recommend this place. Somethings were out of their control but when management shrugs shoulders and does nothing in terms of compensating you it makes it a miserable place to be. For the money it costs the whole place needs refurbishment. Old and tired. Don't go all inclusive.

I expect a more ‘laid back’ service in the Caribbean but this is horizontal. I’m trying to give the staff some latitude but most of the time they are just uninterested at best - plain rude the rest of the time. To be frank it’s not worth 2 but I’m giving the mark based on the beautiful Caribbean Sea. From the comments made by other guests the Tamarind and Waves (same group, are a little better but not by much). If you know what you are buying into then fine. This is not a European 5 star or a US four star. It has amenities of a US 3 star and service of a US 2.5 star. The alcohol is plentiful and that may create a misty eyed 4 or 5 review but let’s be honest - rooms shoddy, service awful and overall facilities 3 star at best. Food very average, showers tepid at peak times and an overall cramped feel. My advice would be to either save your money and go for half the time at a decent hotel or come to terms with the fact you will be getting ripped off.

We have just returned from 10 nights at Crystal Cove. We had a really lovely holiday and overall we were very happy with the hotel. The hotel is small and pretty quiet and right on the beach front. The pools are small but lovely and they were never over crowded. The beach is glorious, only slightly impacted by a lot of rocks and stones, so you need shoes for some parts. Lots of available and comfortable sun beds - but you’ll need to be up early to get one at the pool. The all inclusive water sports are great and you are able to do one activity a day. The breakfast is fantastic with a good choice. The standard of the lunch and evening food was good, but not outstanding and whilst the hotel has two restaurants there were occasions when only one was open. I have to say I got a little fed up with the food offering by the end. We tried the much advertised ‘dine around’ option at the other hotels in the group. I was extremely disappointed that despite trying on 3 occasions we were unable to get a table at the waves Japanese restaurant. I had heard there were only ever 6 spots and it seems the staff decide who they want to get a reservation for. This is my biggest issue as I was attracted by the dine around offer with just two restaurants on site- but it just isn’t as advertised- so beware! In the end we ate out on two occasions at Lone Star and Tides. Both very pricey, but lovely food and excellent service. The rooms were comfortable and practical for our family with an upstairs room and a couple of beds downstairs. Large enough and plenty of storage with effective air conditioning. Quality and choice of drink were good with Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot etc available as well as branded spirits, sparking wine etc My other big gripe was the lack of snacks available and very difficult to get ice cream for the kids. Lollies available but they often ran out. A few crisps at the bars and an ice cream station for the kids would make a massive difference to the all inclusive offering. On the whole the staff were lovely, but the level of service is not consistent with some staff quite rude and it sometimes seemed like we were putting them out when we asked for cocktails to be made. The hotel did have a number of retuning guests, but I am not sure I would rush to return - I think there are other places that are better value for money.

We loved our week here - not everything was as expected but the staff did their absolute best to find solutions for us. During our stay (end of March '19) the hotel was at low occupancy which impacted on my husband and I both positively and negatively; low numbers meant spare sunbeds everywhere and led to a calm and predominantly adults-only atmosphere - but for us the downside was that only one restaurant was open in the evenings rather than the two we had expected. Drifters, the outdoor location by the sea was great for lunch or an evening Bajan buffet but I wasn't keen on the Reflections restaurant with its anti-bird netting and cafeteria-like ambiance and was disappointed to see an Italian themed buffet planned for one evening. Hoping to be offered local cuisine we explained how we felt and met with the wonderful head chef, Chantal, who arranged an alternative menu for us, it was delicious, much appreciated and we were utterly impressed, thank you. I believe we had one of the recently refurbished rooms (345) which was light and airy and overlooked the gardens and faced out over the beautiful turquoise sea. Situated in one of the nearest buildings to the road, noisier vehicles could be heard from inside but it was such a great room with the quietest air con ever so overall we were very happy. We got chatting to many other lovely guests during our week, it's a very friendly place with many different areas in which to sit and relax with snacks and drinks available throughout the day. The beach is beautiful, not huge but there's plenty of space between loungers with gorgeous soft sand. There's a drinks gazebo where you can help yourself to iced water/soft drinks or request an alcoholic drink from one of the staff who frequently do the rounds. Swimming/snorkeling is fun, lots of fish to spot and it's safe too as there are designated cordoned off areas. We took the hobie cat and kayaks out several times at no extra cost, the same for donut and banana boats rides, just book your slot with the watersports guys at their hut. For our final two days the hotel had no mains water due to works being carried out nearby, a nightmare for them I should imagine but they did their best to minimise disruption to guests and organised taxis to a neighbouring hotel for showers whenever we asked. I would definitely recommend Crystal Cave, we had a really happy week and were very impressed at the way the staff went above and beyond to respond to our requests.