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Crystal Cove is a lively all-inclusive resort with a strong family following, set on the West Coast of Barbados. It is most striking for its bright Caribbean colours – lilac, aqua and lavender – which appear in the interior decoration, in the decorative trim, on the balustrades and in the parasols down on the beach. The hotel is ranged over multiple levels, its lines of rooms and suites spanning out around a multi-level lagoon pool that cascades down towards the beach - one bar is actually set in a cave behind a waterfall. Its close-knit layout and nightly entertainment give it an upbeat atmosphere, which is informal for the West Coast of Barbados. Crystal Cove is well priced (it has an all-inclusive format so everything is included) and it is lively, with plenty of activities. It is also ideal for visiting the Caribbean with kids - there are programmes arranged especially for children of different ages.
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KEY FEATURES
| Caribbean all inclusive family resort with two children’s clubs - Tommy Turtle Kids Club (3-11 yrs) and Teen Club (12-16 yrs). Reflections restaurant, Drifters Beach Bar & Grill and the swim-up Cave Bar. Three tier lagoon swimming pool. Two floodlit tennis courts. Fitness centre. Watersports including waterskiing. Daytime water taxi between sister properties (West Coast only). Preferential tee times at Royal Westmoreland Golf Course & Country Club. |
STYLE
| Bright pastel colours with some traditional Caribbean design (in the classical pillars and pickled pine beams). Set around multiple cascading pools on several layers that descend to the seafront and beach. Cheerful, upbeat atmosphere |
CLIENT PROFILE
| Popular with families, plenty of British travellers, a younger crowd than many Barbados hotels |
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Crystal Cove is immediately recognisable as you head along the main Barbados West Coast road, for its theme of bright Caribbean colours. They jangle prettily on the buildings as you pass and give you a good sense of the hotel and the lively experience to come. Unexpectedly, for a brief moment as you enter the hotel - via a porte cochere supported on classical pillars - you are cast back into traditional Barbadian style. The foyer has coral stone walls and a pickled pine ceiling, as well as formal sofas where you can wait for a taxi. The reception desk on the right and the concierge desk on your left. Just further along on the left is an internet station where you can log on if you wish.
But once you emerge from the foyer and are looking over the main part of the resort, you can feel they style and ambience change completely. This is clearly a modern, upbeat holiday resort. The bight colours are visible again, on the brightly coloured parasols, which stand pleasantly against one another in the Caribbean sun and on the balconies and balustrades in pink and ochre, turquoise, purple and green. Many are colours that match the trees around the resort, including the bauhinia, flamboyant and the oleander.
The multi-level pool is right there beneath you. A waterfall starts at your feet, cascading into the water below. Interestingly, hidden behind the waterfall is a bar, the Cave Bar, which looks out between rock walls onto the cascading water and the pool. If you swim under the waterfall, there are stools at which you can get a drink at the bar. The Cave Bar serves afternoon tea and coffee, but it is also a nice place to tuck yourself away in the evening, sitting on the bench seats built into the rock walls.
From the vantage point above, steps lead down left and right - left to paths that lead to the rooms and suites and right past Gatsby Boutique, where you will find day and evening clothes and some jewellery and other essentials, to the main restaurant Reflections. The dining room is split level but open-fronted so the tables look out over the sprays of tropical flowers onto the pool and offshore over the sea. It serves all three meals. From the far side of the restaurant, a wooden bridge leads across to a platform with tables and umbrellas at the centre of the resort. As you cross it you will see that the swimming pool has three layers. The water running beneath you cascades into another level of the swimming pool below.
From the central point you will also see the beach area. Steps lead down to a deck and the lowest level of the pool, which is shallow and therefore ideal for children. (The hotel has a good reputation for families and sees quite a lot of children during the holidays). On the deck that surrounds the pool there are blue and green loungers and then just beyond that is the beach. This is backed by palms, casuarinas and manchioneel trees. Revetments have been extended out into the sea to retain the sand, which moves regularly up and down the coast. Guests take their loungers out on them.
At the southern end of their stretch of waterfront you come to Drifters beach bar, which is marked by its colourful tables and chairs and bamboo thatch parasols. Lunch and dinner are served here out in the open air. The watersports hut is at the centre of the beach. Watersports are included in the hotel rate, with the exception of jet skis and scuba diving (though these can be arranged at the resort).
There are 88 rooms and suites in all at Crystal Cove and they are set in several runs of buildings. Two are above Drifters beach bar, the front one containing duplex suites with bedrooms on the upper level, and then others behind there. Other blocks of rooms are set to the north of the restaurant and reception area. Tucked away at the back of these rooms, close to the reception at the rear of the hotel grounds, you will find a large fitness centre with TechnoGym equipment and their Children’s Centre. During the busy times of the year Crystal Cove runs special programmes and activities for children. There are also two tennis courts on the other side of the road.
Crystal Cove is one of five hotels in the Elegant Hotels group, four of which are on the West Coast. They offer free motorboat transport (weather permitting) from one hotel to another, which include Tamarind Cove and Colony Club. And they offer a ‘dine-around’ programme with three of the hotels. Close to Tamarind Cove is Daphne’s restaurant, one of the leading restaurants on the West Coast, which is also owned by the same company as Crystal Cove.
Crystal Cove is quite informal for the West Coast of Barbados, which is best known for its glitzy image and its swanky (and very good) restaurants. All the activity of the bars and restaurants is there for you to enjoy just a short ride away. You may not want to of course, as Crystal Cove offers a complete package and an all inclusive plan, in which all your meals, drinks and activities (with just a few exceptions) are included in the basic price that you pay. And there is plenty to keep you busy at the hotel anyway, which has a lively feel and plenty of activity both by day and in the evenings. |
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Beach & Swimming
Crystal Cove is set on the West Coast of Barbados on a variable stretch of sand, which is partly retained by revetments. The sea is usually calm in this section of the island and so the swimming is good.
There are three swimming pools at Crystal Cove, each of which flows into the next down the slope to the coast. The principal and largest pool is on the lowest deck. There are shallow sections in the pools for children. There is a swim-up bar in the top level of the pool. |
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Sports & Recreation
Watersports equipment (use included in the package) includes kayaks, windsurfers, snorkelling gear and small sailing boats such as Hobie Cats. Bouncy banana rides and waterskiing are also available free of charge within the price. Scuba diving is available at extra change. There are two tennis courts attached to the hotel. They are across the road. Racquets and balls can be provided.
Massage is available in your room or in a number of other locations around the hotel, for instance the bandstand.
Off property, there are plenty of opportunities for golf in Barbados. The closest golf courses are at Sandy Lane, just to the north near Holetown, where there are two courses available to visitors, but guests of Crystal Cove have preferential tee times at the Royal Westmoreland course to the north of Holetown. Horse-riding is easily available too. You can ride along the beach as well as in the country in the east of the island. |
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The Rooms
The rooms and suites at Crystal Cove are comfortable and brightly decorated. Like the colour scheme of the buildings themselves they have a light and bright base, with white floor tiles, white linen, a pickled pine ceiling and walls in off white shades and then on top of this they are splashed with strong colours – purples, reds, pink, turquoise and greens in the cushions and curtains.
All bedrooms are air-conditioned and have a safe, a hair drier and a mini fridge. The bathrooms all have a tub as well as a shower and a double vanity. Also, all rooms have some outside space, a furnished terrace or balcony, with a sitting hammock.
There is a good variety of rooms at Crystal Cove with several different categories, distinguished by location, view and size. They include Pool and Garden Rooms, Junior Suites and One Bedroom Suites. With so many families as guests, the hotel also has plenty of adjoining rooms, but it also has some one bedrooms suites that have a sofa bed and space for a rollaway. The maximum number of children in a junior suite is one with two adults and in a one-bedroom suite it is two adults and three children. |
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Dining
There are two restaurants at Crystal Cove. The main dining room, which serves all three meals, is Reflections. It overlooks the upper pool from an open-sided room just below the reception. It serves international cuisine in a variety of styles including buffet, a la carte and table d’hote with three or four choices for each course. Drifters Beach Bar is set on the waterfront at the southern end of the resort. It serves lunch and dinner under brightly painted palm-thatch parasols and the shade of bushy waterfront trees.
The Cave Bar, which looks across the upper pool from under the waterfall, has coffee and tea on offer as well as drinks.
Room service is available between 7.30am and 9pm.
Crystal Cove offers a dine-around programme with its sister hotels, Colony Club and Tamarind Cove on the west coast, and Turtle Beach on the south coast. You can sign your bill to your room at Crystal Cove. |
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Weddings
Crystal Cove is happy to arrange a wedding for you if you would like your marriage in Barbados. They have a dedicated co-ordinator who will organise everything, making sure that the day is as free of stress for you as possible. They will organise the licence and the pastor for the ceremony itself and then the reception afterwards at the hotel. There are locations for a wedding around the grounds including the seafront, but equally they can arrange the ceremony in a church if you wish or one of Barbados’s excellent gardens. Crystal Cove offers a number of wedding plans. These include the flowers and decoration for the ceremony, and a cake, a band, photographer and videographer for the reception. The wedding plans can be adapted to suit your particular needs. |
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Children
Crystal Cove has a speciality in children and during the holidays they have a number of special facilities and often activity programmes. The Tommy Turtle Kids’ Club is open from 9am to 9pm each day. It is split into two different age-groups with staff and activities for each. For younger children there is a games room and a play area and then for older children there is a Teen Centre with a pool table and other games. At Christmas and Easter they run programmes which include beach cricket, treasure hunts and a Teen Talent show.
Baby-sitting is readily available, at extra cost.
Adjoining rooms are available if you are travelling with your family and some of the suites are large enough to take two adults and three children. |
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Rates
From US$405 per room, per night on an all-inclusive basis (AI) during summer 2008. Includes service charge and government tax. AI = room, all meals, drinks and house wine by the glass, watersports, day time water taxi to sister hotels on the West Coast, exchange dining with Turtle Beach (excludes transport), tennis, fitness centre and Tommy Turtle Kids Club. Please see the hotel’s website for availability and specific room rates, including any promotional offers, for your requested dates. |
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How to book
If you wish to make further enquiries or a reservation, please use the WEB LINK or DIRECT EMAIL ENQUIRIES facility at the top of this page to make contact with Crystal Cove in Barbados, or if you wish to telephone them, please click on TELEPHONE CONTACT to reveal the number. |
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UK Tour Operators
If you wish to book through a tour operator or travel organiser, please follow the link below.
See List of UK Tour Operators
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Locality
Crystal Cove is situated towards the southern end of the parish of St James in Appleby, just above Fitts Village, a ‘window on the sea’ with a fish market, a seafront bandstand and a mix of private homes, holiday villas, apartment/condo developments and the occasional chattel house along the road. The nearest hotels are sister properties The House and Tamarind Cove to the north, which are about five minutes away by car. Another five minutes beyond that will get you to Holetown and the heart of all the activity of the West Coast of Barbados. Holetown is where the English first landed in 1625 and came back to settle in 1627. There are two shopping centres in the town, the smaller Cave Shepherd Plaza close to Sandy Lane and the larger West Coast Mall in Holetown itself. Here you will find a large supermarket, bank, photo centre, duty free shops, video rental, and various shops and boutiques. Close by is the Chattel House Village, a series of wooden shops in traditional looking Bajan style, which sell mainly souvenirs, the 24 hour Sandy Crest Medical Centre, and a market stall where you can buy fresh fruit and vegetables. As a local community, Holetown has all you would expect to find in a small town – police station, post office, parish church, bank, pharmacy, clinic, fitness centre, school and so on.
There are many good restaurants in a variety of styles within just a few minutes of Crystal Cove. Calabaza, just south towards Bridgetown, is well worth a visit, and the excellent Cliff restaurant is just up the road the other way. A little further along heading toward Holetown is another famous restaurant Daphne’s, this is located between Tamarind Cove and its sister property The House – all three are part of the Elegant Hotels Group portfolio. The trendy bistro bar Scarlet is also within easy reach, situated just across the road from Daphne’s. For pizzas and childrens’ meals, try Pizzazz, in Holetown. And beyond the town is the Lone Star, which has a lovely setting on the coast.
There are any number of restaurants in Holetown itself, including The Mews, Café Indigo, Olive’s and The Tides. There is also good nightlife in Holetown with lively weekend gatherings in 1st and 2nd Street where the restaurants and bars stand shoulder to shoulder, with some providing live music. Drinkers tend to spill out into the street to mingle, creating an easy-going ‘street party’ type of atmosphere. The current ‘hot spots’ are The Mews, The Elbow Room, Spago and Lexy’s. |
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Meet & Greet
If you are travelling independently, taxis are usually available at the airport and will cost around US$22 each way. The ride from the airport is around 35 minutes, depending on the traffic. Alternatively, if you would prefer to be taken care of from the minute you arrive at the airport, with a range of services that can include limousine transfers, a Concierge Service is offered by St James Travel & Tours.
If you book direct with the hotel then they are happy to arrange a taxi to pick you up at the airport on your arrival in Barbados.
If you are booking Crystal Cove through a travel organiser, it is likely that their representative will be at the airport to meet you. This service and your return airport transfers should be included in the cost of your holiday. Please check at the time of booking. |
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Getting Around
Hiring a car to explore the island or to visit different beaches for the day is easily arranged. Book via your tour operator or direct with Stoutes Car Rentals. Ask for them to deliver your vehicle to Crystal Cove Hotel, Barbados, where they can also issue your local driving licence. Be aware that at the height of the winter season there is often a shortage of cars, so you are advised to book yours in advance. If you want a car for a week or more the rates can also be better. Vehicles can be returned at the airport or be collected from the property at a pre-arranged time on your departure day. Taxis are readily available through reception. It is also easy and quite fun to take buses along the West Coast main road. |
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