• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 30 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 30th anniversary: Happy 30th Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $21,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $21 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    60,000+ subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

HGVC and the Crane Resort

GregT

TUG Member
TUG Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2007
Messages
7,128
Reaction score
1,886
Points
599
Location
Carlsbad, CA
Resorts Owned
Marriott: Maui Ocean Club Lahaina Villas (3BRx5), Ko Olina, Shadow Ridge II, Willow Ridge, Aruba Ocean Club, DC Points HGVC: Flamingo, Sea World, I-Drive, Starwood Bella (x4), SDO, TradeWinds, Worldmark
All,

Apparently, HGVC is buying a large quantity of unsold inventory at the Crane Resort in Barbados. We are speculating that these are recently built Residences at the Park, versus the original buildings which are closer to the ocean.

I believe there are a few Crane owners here on TUG and I will be curious if you hear anything about the HGVC acquisition (ie, are they trying to buy back your weeks, or are they trying to get you to “enroll” into HGVC).

The Crane has a tremendous reputation and I’m very happy for this addition to the HGVC portfolio. I do not know if anyone has stayed in the Residences, but would appreciate any perspective or comment. Thank you!

Best,

Greg
 

DannyTS

TUG Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2018
Messages
5,753
Reaction score
3,076
Points
348
bump
 

Talent312

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2007
Messages
17,516
Reaction score
7,327
Points
948
Resorts Owned
HGVC & GTS
There was a thread about this in the HGVC forum.
 

youppi

TUG Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2015
Messages
1,691
Reaction score
631
Points
224
Location
Montreal, Canada
The only problem with The Crane is it's on the wrong side of the island (Atlantic) with lot of sargassum.
This is a picture I took last July when I passed close to the Crane resort and the Crane Beach
upload_2018-9-22_16-3-33.png
 

alwysonvac

TUG Lifetime Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2005
Messages
15,967
Reaction score
3,808
Points
848
Location
New Jersey
Resorts Owned
WORLDMARK, HGVC, VISTANA

SOLD (DVC, FSRC)
The only problem with The Crane is it's on the wrong side of the island (Atlantic) with lot of sargassum.
This is a picture I took last July when I passed close to the Crane resort and the Crane Beach
View attachment 8297

Wow, thanks for sharing.
Found these videos when I did a google search and along with a few articles.

2018 post

2015 post


https://barbadostoday.bb/2018/07/10/not-just-brown-seaweed/
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/06/mysterious-masses-seaweed-assault-caribbean-islands
https://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/2018/06/25/barbados-battles-sargassum-seaweed-through-innovation/
 
Last edited:

dioxide45

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
May 20, 2006
Messages
47,672
Reaction score
19,182
Points
1,299
Location
NE Florida
Resorts Owned
Marriott Grande Vista
Marriott Harbour Lake
Sheraton Vistana Villages
Club Wyndham CWA
There was a Sighting posted in the Sightings forum for several 2019 weeks in RCI.

Sargassum is a huge issue and one major flaw for The Crane is that it is on the east coast and he east coast is most impacted by the seaweed issue. However, Barbados is a beautiful island with friendly people. We spent twelve days there in May and had a great time. We did however rent a car which allowed us to travel anywhere we chose. We were intimidated at first with the thought of driving in Barbados, on the left, but it really was the best decision we made. Getting used to driving on the left only took a day or two and then it was second nature. Having a car gave us the opportunity to explore and head to the west coast away from all of the seaweed.

Another issue with the location of The Crane is availability of nearby restaurants and shopping. You will undoubtedly need to go to the south and west coasts for the best options for those.

I have a video on our YouTube channel about driving there, the link is in my signature.
 

youppi

TUG Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2015
Messages
1,691
Reaction score
631
Points
224
Location
Montreal, Canada
There was a Sighting posted in the Sightings forum for several 2019 weeks in RCI.

Sargassum is a huge issue and one major flaw for The Crane is that it is on the east coast and he east coast is most impacted by the seaweed issue. However, Barbados is a beautiful island with friendly people. We spent twelve days there in May and had a great time. We did however rent a car which allowed us to travel anywhere we chose. We were intimidated at first with the thought of driving in Barbados, on the left, but it really was the best decision we made. Getting used to driving on the left only took a day or two and then it was second nature. Having a car gave us the opportunity to explore and head to the west coast away from all of the seaweed.

Another issue with the location of The Crane is availability of nearby restaurants and shopping. You will undoubtedly need to go to the south and west coasts for the best options for those.

I have a video on our YouTube channel about driving there, the link is in my signature.
I just watch some of your Barbados video and in your driving video, you said that the turn signal was on the wrong side (right side of the steering wheel) but FYI, it depends of car brands.
 

dioxide45

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
May 20, 2006
Messages
47,672
Reaction score
19,182
Points
1,299
Location
NE Florida
Resorts Owned
Marriott Grande Vista
Marriott Harbour Lake
Sheraton Vistana Villages
Club Wyndham CWA
I just watch some of your Barbados video and in your driving video, you said that the turn signal was on the wrong side (right side of the steering wheel) but FYI, it depends of car brands.
Thanks for the info. Was not aware. Our vehicle it was on the right. Though knowing that, it would make buying a car there a little tricky, you would possibly have to get used to a turn signal on the opposite side than it was with your prior car?

I did some more research on this, it seems that vehicles manufactured in Australia and Japan have the turn signal on the right. We were in a Suzuki, so thus it was on the right. It seemed like many of the vehicles for rental were Nissan or Suzuki, so most would probably need to be aware of this.

One area which is not standardized is the location of the turn signal lever. In most places, the turn signal is mounted on the left side of the steering column. This includes right-hand-drive vehicles in the UK, and left-hand-drive vehicles in America and continental Europe. Vehicles built in Australia and Japan, however, have the turn signal lever mounted on the right. At one time this meant that cars made by Nissan in Britain had the signals and wiper controls one way round, but cars made by Nissan in Japan for the British market had them the opposite way round. In recent years most Japanese cars sold in the British Isles seem to conform to the European convention.

https://www.worldstandards.eu/cars/trivia-about-driving-left/
 
Last edited:

youppi

TUG Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2015
Messages
1,691
Reaction score
631
Points
224
Location
Montreal, Canada
Thanks for the info. Was not aware. Our vehicle it was on the right. Though knowing that, it would make buying a car there a little tricky, you would possibly have to get used to a turn signal on the opposite side than it was with your prior car?

I did some more research on this, it seems that vehicles manufactured in Australia and Japan have the turn signal on the right. We were in a Suzuki, so thus it was on the right. It seemed like many of the vehicles for rental were Nissan or Suzuki, so most would probably need to be aware of this.

One area which is not standardized is the location of the turn signal lever. In most places, the turn signal is mounted on the left side of the steering column. This includes right-hand-drive vehicles in the UK, and left-hand-drive vehicles in America and continental Europe. Vehicles built in Australia and Japan, however, have the turn signal lever mounted on the right. At one time this meant that cars made by Nissan in Britain had the signals and wiper controls one way round, but cars made by Nissan in Japan for the British market had them the opposite way round. In recent years most Japanese cars sold in the British Isles seem to conform to the European convention.

https://www.worldstandards.eu/cars/trivia-about-driving-left/
It may be more difficult to deal with change of side for the turn signal but dealing with light and wiper where they are often positioning differently from car to car may be confusing too.
Some cars have the wiper ctrl on the left lever and the on/off light on the dashboard where others cars, the wiper are on the right lever and the on/off light on the left lever. On some brands, you must pull the left lever to put high beam and on others brands, you must push the left lever to do the same thing. On some cars you must turn the lever to turn on/off the wiper and on some others you must lift up/down the lever.
Many others control on the steering wheel are positioning differently like audio volume and cruise ctrl.
So, changing car needs an adaptation except if we change for the same car/brand.
 

GregT

TUG Member
TUG Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2007
Messages
7,128
Reaction score
1,886
Points
599
Location
Carlsbad, CA
Resorts Owned
Marriott: Maui Ocean Club Lahaina Villas (3BRx5), Ko Olina, Shadow Ridge II, Willow Ridge, Aruba Ocean Club, DC Points HGVC: Flamingo, Sea World, I-Drive, Starwood Bella (x4), SDO, TradeWinds, Worldmark

Sandy VDH

TUG Review Crew: Elite
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
9,857
Reaction score
4,241
Points
648
Location
Houston, TX
Resorts Owned
Wynd VIP Plat GF, HGVC Elite, WM, HICV, +
http://seas-forecast.com/

Here is a project based out of A&M Galveston, that forecasts Sargassum over the entire caribbean.

Check it out.
 
Top