Crystal Cove by Elegant Hotels

Shaun H

I visited Barbados for the first time in September 2023 with my mum, it was her second visit to the island. We had an amazing time. We received a surprise room upgrade to a sea view room when we checked in. We were greeted with punch and the staff were very friendly from the first moment. Special shoutout to Terence who took the time to check on me on a day I was a bit under the weather. Some say the rooms and hotel are dated, but I felt the place had a nice character to it. One night our AC broke and was fixed very quickly. The pools are small but they are great for taking a little break from the heat. The buffet breakfast was always pleasant and there were different options available each night for our evening meal. During the day there were options for lunch and the coffee/wine bar was also a great place to relax. I particularly liked the swim up/cave bar. There were a few bars at the hotel and there were plenty of delicious cocktail options and other drinks. The hotel is right on the beach and the live music at night time added to the atmosphere of the place. The whole place had a very chilled out feel to it. As the island is so small, all of our trips were within short travel distance from the hotel. Overall it was a great experience here. The staff at Crystal Cove could not do enough for us and I wish I could have stayed for longer.

Sylvia Robinson

We were very hopeful of this hotel but ended up being extremely disappointed. The room was not what we had expected - we wanted an ocean view but the view was blocked by a palm tree so this meant that the actual ocean view was vey limited. The hotel appeared to have seen better days as it had a "tired look". The curtains in the room were dirty. The clothes dryer provided on the balcony had definitely seen better days and was quite rusty - so much so that it was an embarrassment. The bath had definitely seen better days and was in dire need of replacement. The bed was very disappointing - it was a combination of two single beds pushed together with a double/queen matress placed on top. I was actually happy to check out so that I could return home to my more comfortable bed. The food was also disappointing. The only saving grace was the fact that, for the most part, the staff were extremely happy to assist you. We had spent a lot of money for our one week stay and I have to say that this was money wasted and I am very unhappy that I feel like this but have to be honest about my review. Our room/stay could not at all be described as "luxurious" or "great value". We will definitely not be returning to this hotel any time soon.

Al-kraeema “Kareema” Goodwin

I’m struggling to understand how this property has 4+ stars. We felt that it was a dump compared to other Marriott properties. It literally rained in our room from 3 different areas. Most things were dated, broken, and dirty. There were roaches in common areas like the tea cafe and in our shower. Many of the staff were slow and uncommunicative. It was the worst stay that we’ve had. I’m attaching photos.

L A T E R N F L Y

My family and I had an all inclusive vacation and our hotel was Crystal Cove. At first we thought that it was nice, judging by the service they gave us at first in the lobby. They immediately gave us a warm welcome and a platter of drinks. However, when we got to our deluxe hotel room, it was anything BUT what we expected. This hotel room and all the other rooms in that might I add, are extremely dated and have seen better days. The downstairs part of the room had a dirty, stained, rotted and torn single bed mattress pushed up right upside the door. The sofa-bed, was not much better, as it was stained, and dirty. The MATRESS of that sofa-bed was also dingy, stained, and dirty. It even had someone else’s hair on it, which most likely means it was not washed before we arrived. The lamp was also dirty and stained. The bathroom wasn’t up to par as it didn’t look clean either. And, it was cramped so much so that I couldn’t even comfortably open up my suitcase in that room. The upstairs wasn’t much better. It had a weird smell to it, the A/C didn’t work, the bathroom upstairs was just as bad as the one downstairs, the mattress of the upstairs queen sized bed was also very dirty and stained, the ottoman was also stained, and the bedside lamp was also in poor presentation as it was crooked. Needless to say, we were not HAPPY. We complained to the employees who were more than happy to give us another room, and although it was a flat one, that one was not that much better than the room we had originally, and on top of that, it had a weird odor emanating from the bathroom and the rug. We asked to be transferred out of the hotel entirely, and to our great, GREAT relief, they complied and transferred us out to their sister hotel, The Waves Hotel and Spa by Elegant Hotels—which was, by the way—1,000 times better than this one. But in saying this, the staff at The Crystal Cove was very accommodating and happy to help us. Instead, might I suggest taking your money and time elsewhere—like The Waves Hotel and Spa!! Which has better, cleaner, hotel rooms, along with excellent service and staff! ❤️

Angela Stead

We went back to c.c on the last day of May for two weeks all inclusive, it wasn't our first visit. We had been 3 other times once on our second honeymoon and twice with family. People might say how lucky we were but unfortunately because of our previous trips we had the hotel as it used to be absolutely beautiful. We were warned by posts people had put out the the hotel was tired and decided to over look them as we wanted to go back for a last time as my parents are elderly. Tired was a too polite word, they shouldn't be receiving guests in certain rooms in the hotel as we found when we we're relocated to a slightly better room that had a shower that worked and didn't flood the room. There wasn't a bath in this room which we weren't bothered about as the last rooms bath was taped and filled to within an inch of its sorry life. We were relieve when I put our clothes into the draws and they didn't drop through, as you've guessed like in the last room. The rugs by side of huge and extremely comfy bed were filthy and in desperate need of being replaced, so they spent the first week of our holiday out on the balcony ( had to bring back in as floor was very slippy) as one lady found she fell and ended up with her arm in plaster. We did make the most of out 5 person 25k holiday as my parents had paid for us, food was very good in reflections and drifters staff were a little rude and you almost felt you were putting them out at times. The few older members of staff that had been there over 20 yrs were lovely but the younger staff were really not doing the hotel any favours . Believe me I could go on and on, elegant have contacted us to follow up these issues, I can't call it a complaint as we didn't only pointed out problems. Loungers canopies broken , chairs in drifters broken, steps all around hotel chipped and you've guessed it broken. The hotel confirmed it is due for a refurbishment but they have put it back untill tamarind has been done. Premium prices for not a premium quality hotel, at the moment .