Baje,
A little off the main subject here but.......
Too many years ago we stayed at the original Crane Beach Hotel. It was one of the most dramatic hotel locations on all of the Barbados we, as visitors, were able to find.
I will admit the rooms were not up to the expectations of someone looking for a 'Four Seasons' type resort but for us it was drop dead perfect. We had an incredibly huge two bedroom, two bath suite up the staircase on the second floor with a terrace where we might have hosted a cocktail party for fifty people had we been of a mind to, (we weren't!) and the best part of our suite were the views from same terrace. Incredible and outstanding........
The only not so great part of the apartment was the kitchen......the one window was so high I couldn't see out it but the skylight in the kitchen was unique; the stove/oven was a three burner gas range with a 20# propane cylinder on the floor in front of it and a note to keep the gas valve turned off when not in use; and the total count on electrical outlets was one receptacle with two plugs...... Making toast and coffee for four was interesting, to say the least...while still managing to keep the refrigerator plugged in. We shared many a laughs.....
The rest of the apartment was wonderful.....the walk-out windows with the louvers we closed against the afternoon sun; and the window that allowed us to lie in bed in the morning and watch the sunrise..... And the pool on the cliffs and the cliff walk down to the beach.....INCREDIBLE, ALL OF IT. Truly, our Barbados vacation was one of the best of our lives and once I got over the initial minor surprises of the accommodations I wouldn't have traded locations for the world.
We always promised ourselves we'd get back there one day since our t/s exchange at the old Crane was possibly one of the BEST vacations of our life and the Bajans we encountered were wonderful. When I finally looked into going back we discovered the 'new' Crane had been built and it drained our enthusiasm. I'm sure it's lovely but I'm thinking it had to take away from the ambiance we remembered so fondly.
We toured Sam Lords Castle while there and learned some of the history of both places.......he was quite the operator.
I'm guessing anything built there today will be a very different place and I'm so glad we were able to experience it 'back in the day' and to this day, every so often when we haul out the beautiful hand-painted tee shirts we bought at the shop at SLC they evoke wonderful memories of a truly beautiful place. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />
