Crystal Cove by Elegant Hotels

Barbados, Caribbean

Star rating

Cave Bar
Swim-Up Cave Bar
Vista Coffee & Wine Bar
Vista Bar
Sunset deck
A video preview image
Cave Bar
Swim-Up Cave Bar
Vista Coffee & Wine Bar
Vista Bar
Sunset deck

The hotel

Crystal Cove is an all-inclusive hotel located right on the beachfront on the platinum west coast of Barbados. This beautiful resort features lush gardens and three impressive freshwater swimming pools, complete with a spectacular waterfall and swim-up cave bar. Flowers cascade over walls and balconies, and everything leads down to a glorious beach with a generous array of water sports, including water-skiing, sailing and more, all complimentary of course! There is a fabulous kids’ club to keep the little ones out of your hair, allowing you to relax and enjoy the full range of facilities and entertainment (of which there are plenty!).

Amenities

  • Kayaking
  • Sailing
  • Snorkelling
  • Tennis
  • Water Skiing
  • Windsurfing
  • Babysitting service
  • Kids Club
  • Families
  • Honeymoon
  • Wedding
  • Bar

Where is it

In St James, on a delightful west coast beach. 15-minutes to Bridgetown. Transfer time from airport: 30 minutes.

Hotel information

88 rooms on 2 floors in various buildings with no lifts. All with a balcony or terrace, air-conditioning, satellite TV, mini fridge, complimentary WiFi access, safe, bathrobe, slippers, and hairdryer. 

Pool/Garden View Rooms with 1 king-size bed or twin beds, sleep maximum 2 adults and 1 infant (up to age 2 years).

Please note: the majority of the Pool Garden View Rooms have a garden view and the pool views are limited. All rooms are non-smoking.

All Inclusive of: all meals including afternoon tea and all-day dining. Local and premium-brand drinks and house wine (fine wine and Champagne at extra charge). All activities and entertainment unless otherwise stated. Water taxi to select west coast sister properties. Dine Around programme with other select Elegant Hotels properties (drink and meal supplements may apply).

Oceanview Rooms - with beautiful sea views and 1 king-size bed or twin beds, sleeping maximum 2 adults.

Junior Suite Pool/Garden View - with a separate sitting area and sofa bed, lovely views of the pool or garden, and 1 king-size bed, sleeping maximum 3 people.

Junior Suite Oceanview - as Junior Suite Pool/Garden View but with beautiful sea views, sleeping maximum 3 people.

1-Bedroom Suite Pool/Garden View - bedroom with separate living room or loft suite with upstairs bedroom overlooking living room, living room includes sofa bed and second full bathroom, 1 king-size bed, sleeping maximum 4 adults or 2 adults, 2 children and 1 infant (up to 2 years of age).

1-Bedroom Suite Oceanview - bedroom with separate living room or loft suite with upstairs bedroom overlooking living room, living room includes sofa bed and second full bathroom. 1 king-size bed, sleeping maximum 4 adults or 2 adults, 2 children and 1 infant (up to 2 years of age).

Reflections (all day dining with buffet breakfast and a la carte dinner, as well as international buffet evening on Wednesdays). Drifters Restaurant and Bar (beachfront Caribbean restaurant, serving casual buffet lunch, afternoon tea, and a la carte dinner, as well as beach BBQ on Saturdays). Cave Bar (swim-up pool bar). Vista Coffee & Wine Bar (serving drinks and light bites). The Beach Bar. Taste of Elegance Dine Around Programme offers exchange dining with select sister hotels' restaurants* (meal and drinks supplements may apply).

Regular evening entertainment and weekly manager's cocktail party. Events hosted at Vista Coffee & Wine bar to include wine pairings and tapas nights.

3-tiered freshwater swimming pool. Spa services available*. Fitness centre. Wellness classes including yoga, pilates, and water aerobics. 2 floodlit tennis courts. Complimentary motorised and non-motorised water sports including snorkelling, stand up paddle boarding, tubing, sailing, kayaking, and water-skiing. Beach Olympics. Freddie's Island & Adventure tour*. Apes Hill Golf Club*. Complimentary Flying Fish Kids' Club for ages 3-12 years with latest game consoles, pool table, electric race track and more. Swimming with the turtles snorkel tour*. Mixology demos.

Room service* (meal times only). Complimentary WiFi available in the rooms and throughout the resort. Laundry service*. Complimentary daytime water taxi (subject to availability and weather conditions) to select West Coast Elegant Hotels. Gift shop*. Babysitting available*. Green Globe certified. Beach Ambassador service. Concierge services to assist with island excursions.

A Tourism Fee will be charged per bedroom, per night and will be collected at check out. The rate is subject to change by the Government, and varies by hotel room. Fees currently range from 8.75 Barbadian dollar (approximately £3.90) to 35 Barbadian dollar (approximately £16.00) per bedroom, per night.  

1 night between 5 Jan—31 Jan, and 1 Mar—21 Dec.

5 nights between 1 Feb—28 Feb.

7 nights between 22 Dec—2 Jan.

* Denotes local charge.

Please note: child ages are up to and including 16 years.

Please note: Drifters restaurant and bar is open subject to occupancy numbers.

Dress code: dining is elegantly casual after 6:00pm.

Please note: the Dine Around programme is only available at select properties and may be subject to an additional cost dependant on the board basis booked. A complimentary water taxi to select west coast Elegant properties is available during daytime only and subject to availability and weather conditions.

Rating summary

  • Location Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Sleep Quality Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Rooms Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Service Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Value Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Cleanliness Image of the Tripadvisor rating

Traveller rating

  • Excellent (1588)
  • Very good (665)
  • Average (216)
  • Poor (108)
  • Terrible (106)
Image of the Tripadvisor rating Totally unhappy

May 6, 2025 Patricia G

Worst hotel been to, food rubbish, no beach it’s all rocks! Room ok, put it at one star, went with virgin and they said was lovely hotel, we have travelled all over the world and told her what we expect so don’t choose virgin! Was expecting luxury but didn’t get it
Image of the Tripadvisor rating Shocking

Mar 8, 2025 MFB13 London, United Kingdom

Shockingly bad hotel. Very cheap and run down, decoration and furniture. Plastic. Staff (most) not helpful or friendly. Had to move hotel after a couple of days and thank god we did. The food was not good. The only thing that was nice was the beach, but the sun loungers were old.
Image of the Tripadvisor rating loved it - will return!

Feb 10, 2025 Mark R London, England

Clearly Crystal Cove is 'marmite' for many! However, that doesn't matter now as is closed for a refurb; something it definitely needed in several places like the bedrooms. My wife and I had a great time and enjoyed many aspects. Every meal was good, 99% of the people were lovely, great little beach, good West coast location, and good drinks. … Read more
Clearly Crystal Cove is 'marmite' for many! However, that doesn't matter now as is closed for a refurb; something it definitely needed in several places like the bedrooms. My wife and I had a great time and enjoyed many aspects. Every meal was good, 99% of the people were lovely, great little beach, good West coast location, and good drinks. The place has a traditional design and style to it, and we like that over something more modern. No point mentioning the rooms as they are (and needed to be) gutted; but I knew this when we booked in late December. However, everything was clean - even if the chest of draws were falling apart, it was spotless. So, I would definitely return as it is likely to be lovely when it reopens, and is far superior to Waves where we stayed a year ago. Read less
Image of the Tripadvisor rating Schitts creek of the Caribbean

Feb 7, 2025 princess8468 United Kingdom

Avoid at all cost! Trust the reviews the hotel really schitt’s creek! Previously stayed at the Tamarind and Waves prior so a regular at the hotel chain and this has let the chain down! From being served undercooked foods, having food poisoning. Disgusting rooms, food service being provided with leaks above your head. There is absolutely no excuse… Read more
Avoid at all cost! Trust the reviews the hotel really schitt’s creek! Previously stayed at the Tamarind and Waves prior so a regular at the hotel chain and this has let the chain down! From being served undercooked foods, having food poisoning. Disgusting rooms, food service being provided with leaks above your head. There is absolutely no excuse ! This ain’t a hotel with “Caribbean Charm” this hotel is horrendous. Stayed in the Tamarind 3 months before it closed for refurbishment and service was excellent so staying here a few months before refurbishment and having such a poor experience the “due for refurbishment” is no excuse for the dive we paid ££££ to stay in. Sadly the experience was so bad that I’d never return to Crystal cove ! Don’t waste your money, trust the reviews and book elsewhere ! Plenty on the island ! Read less
Image of the Tripadvisor rating We had a great holiday, thank you Crystal Cove

Feb 5, 2025 Patricia S

We’ve just returned from a wonderful stay at Crystal Cove just before they closed for refurbishment. We were fully aware of the imminent closure when we booked last August and read very variable reviews. We were sceptical, but we’re glad that we went. Yes, it needs some updating, but we hope they don’t change the general feel of the place too… Read more
We’ve just returned from a wonderful stay at Crystal Cove just before they closed for refurbishment. We were fully aware of the imminent closure when we booked last August and read very variable reviews. We were sceptical, but we’re glad that we went. Yes, it needs some updating, but we hope they don’t change the general feel of the place too much. It’s different to many of the hotels as it’s small, low rise buildings set around pretty gardens leading down to a beautiful west coast beach. The staff were all so friendly and helpful. Many of them had been there for many years, and many of them remembered us from our previous 3 visits. We saw no evidence that they were concerned for their future after the closure. Nothing seemed too much trouble. Our room was an ocean front suite, beautiful views from the room and the balcony. It was very clean, comfortable bed, and serviced daily. Everything worked well, but they could do with more power points. I’m sure this is being addressed. The sunset views are amazing from the whole hotel. The food was very good on the whole, and plenty of it. The service was usually excellent, with an informal feed. There are 2 restaurants, one by the beach and the other by the pools, the latter has netting to help prevent the otherwise inevitable birds. We weren’t pestered at all. The drinks flowed, with good variety. And there were plenty of non-alcoholic alternatives, except no alcohol free Banks. We didn’t use the water sports except the water taxi to neighbouring Marriot hotels. We’re very glad we chose Crystal Cove! We stopped for a while at Treasure Beach where we had amazing virgin cocktails! As with the whole island there was an unusual swell while we were there, meaning larger than usual waves, some beach erosion, and red/yellow flags. It’s worth taking beach shoes, as there are pebbles as a result on the shoreline. We hired a car for the duration of our stay, and parking was generally ok. But there are buses to Bridgetown, Holetown, Speightstown and the airport just outside. Many people used these, or local taxis to explore the beautiful island. There’s so much to do and see. Just watch out for potholes. There are slopes and steps around the gardens, so it probably isn’t very convenient for those with serious mobility issues. But for everyone else it adds to the charm of the place. I don’t know if they’re planning to put in any lifts with the refurb, but it could prove awkward. We loved our holiday, and would certainly think about returning when they reopen next January. We just hope they preserve the special feel of the place, and not make it like every other modern hotel. This is Barbados after all. We Read less