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HGVC Barbados at the Crane Availability

Vkothari916

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Has anyone booked a stay here at the 9 month window recently? Wondering what availability is like? I was thinking of booking for Presidents Day week in 2022. Should I start walking a reservation now? It’s particularly annoying to do that since this resort can not be booked on the app, and would require me to call in everyday to make the date change.

Any advise would be appreciated! TIA
 

Sandy VDH

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Last I checked, there was very little availability, as there are very few HGVC units sold. Also points are sky high, and open season rates are off the charts.
 

dayooper

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Last I checked, there was very little availability, as there are very few HGVC units sold. Also points are sky high, and open season rates are off the charts.

Wasn’t there at one time talk of more units being built there?
 

Sandy VDH

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Build by HGVC does not mean sold. They are not required to put units into inventory that are not yet sold. These they can list on Hilton.com for rent. I do advise you look there and see what is available.

I was disappointed by they lack of any real inventory levels and the points required. Just call and ask what inventory they have now for the next 9 months.
 

dayooper

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Build by HGVC does not mean sold. They are not required to put units into inventory that are not yet sold. These they can list on Hilton.com for rent. I do advise you look there and see what is available.

I was disappointed by they lack of any real inventory levels and the points required. Just call and ask what inventory they have now for the next 9 months.

Oh, I know. If I remember correctly, they are very expensive to buy and the MF’s aren’t that competitive either.
 

KathyA

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Has anyone booked a stay here at the 9 month window recently? Wondering what availability is like? I was thinking of booking for Presidents Day week in 2022. Should I start walking a reservation now? It’s particularly annoying to do that since this resort can not be booked on the app, and would require me to call in everyday to make the date change.

Any advise would be appreciated! TIA

In February I booked a one-bedroom ocean view deluxe with plunge pool for 10/26/21 thru 11/2/21. It was 10,500 points (a lot, but I'm swimming in points). I also booked the following week at the Barbados Hilton using HH points (also swimming in points). I may end up cancelling both, depending on what the COVID rules are at that time.
 

alwysonvac

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The HGVC Disclosure Statement dated April 2021 still indicates 38 units at the Crane (see screen capture).
Based on the information @zerocylinders previously shared regarding the 38 units (see quote below), I won’t count on getting President’s Week.

FD99723D-CE92-4CBD-903F-853C37B4FD7C.jpeg


Here is some more information, not great, that I pulled from the POS provided to me after we closed (unfortunately, I did not really read through it until recently; my mistake). Extremely limited development.

There are only 38 Suites located in 2 buildings. Each Suite is divided into weekly internals, so there would theoretically be 38 x 52 = 1976 weeks available. However, the POS states that there are only 1211 Vacation Ownership interests available. I believe that is because some of the Vacation Intervals are actually combining a one bedroom and a studio so those Vacation Interval units take up two Suites for one week.

Here are the raw numbers of Vacation Intervals from the POS; each Vacation Interval is one week, and takes up 1-2 Suite units:

112 x Studio garden view

80 x 1 Bed/1 Bath

187 x One bed/two bath deluxe

142 x One bed/One bath garden view and pool

104 x One bed/One bath with rooftop plunge pool

124 x One bed/One Bath deluxe with rooftop plunge pool

145 x One bedroom / two bathroom deluxe with ocean view

28 x One bedroom / two bathroom deluxe with ocean view and 28 foot pool [NOTE: I think that this is the same unit as below used in the 2 bedroom 19K point unit that we purchased; which I think explains why only 28 intervals are available in this configuration - they wanted to sell more of the doubled up lockoff intervals at a higher price]

112 x One bedroom / two bathroom deluxe with ocean view and plunge pool
[NOTE: I think that this is also part of the "penthouse" configuration where a studio lockoff is added; however that "penthouse" configuration does not seem to be a formal POS Vacation Interval; unlike the other one with the 28 foot pool the doubled up penthouse unit does not appear in the POS, which might explain why I could not buy the "penthouse" but nonetheless I can use it for my home week]

132 x Two bedroom / two bathroom with garden view and pool

45 x Two bedroom / three bathroom with ocean view and 28 foot pool [this is what we bought]


A few takeaways from analyzing the above numbers...

1) Availability in the 2 bedroom units will always be extremely limited. The unit we bought appears to only be sold for 45 weeks out of the year?! We can also use our home week in the "penthouse" unit not listed, which consists of the 112 one bath / two bedroom deluxe units with plunge pool, locked off with an adjacent studio. Since there are an identical number of Studio units, I am assuming that each studio is adjacent to one of these.. so there are only 2 of these in most weeks week, with a total of 3 available in 8 weeks of the year (52 weeks x 2 units + 3 x 112 units over the year) - at best. Of course, the availability of these units to me (and the other 44 folks who buy the 19K unit) depends entirely on the owners of the one bedroom AND studio units not reserving their home week; so in reality these units may not be available as home weeks with a 12 month advance reservation window to us even though in theory we could use our home week for these.

Since there is only generally only one Vacation Interval available per week in the most expensive setup (2 bed/3 bath ocean view and pool) (and 7 weeks where none are available) then for the home week, that means that the 45 owners vacation unit owners are fighting for the same 1 unit and the same weeks - an 7 weeks where there is no availability at all in home week. I am also curious which 7 weeks were excluded - and whether those will be sold as fixed weeks - not mentioned in POS.

The owners of 1 bedroom / 2 bath deluxe units (187 intervals), and 1 bedroom / 2 bath gardenview with pool (142 intervals), are probably most likely to be able to find a home week 12 months in advance, though still pretty limited.
 

escanoe

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Wonder if we see online booking for Barbados anytime soon? I don't understand in this day and age having to call a representatives to find out what is available or book something. Makes customer service more expensive on the business end, removes transparency from us, and restricts access to when the phones are being staffed. Could it be that much harder to do this there than it was for the Florida affiliates?
 

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For those that would like to go to Barbados, The Crane occasionally has availability In RCI.


Crane Beach Resort (#3023)
St. Philip, Barbados
Website

Studio Partial4/2 Max Occupancy/PrivacySat 19-Jun-2021 toSat 26-Jun-2021Exchange Fee22 TPU or 43,000 Points
 

alwysonvac

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Previous threads


 

Sandy VDH

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I have booked the Crane 4 times, I always used RCI Points for the best availability.
 

Vkothari916

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As the OP I wanted to update everyone I was able to book at the Crane for President’s Week 2022 for a 1 bedroom oceanfront suite. I did have to walk the reservation by calling in every morning. For the first few days ocean-view was not available, but eventually I was able to switch over. Thanks all for your advice!
 

escanoe

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As the OP I wanted to update everyone I was able to book at the Crane for President’s Week 2022 for a 1 bedroom oceanfront suite. I did have to walk the reservation by calling in every morning. For the first few days ocean-view was not available, but eventually I was able to switch over. Thanks all for your advice!

Good to know. Maybe if many of us start walking these by phone they will get the system online.

Next time I get a spare reservation I may walk one by phone just to give it a try. Would like to check Barbados out sometime ... but think I want a better beach at a beach resort.
 

dayooper

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alwysonvac

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As the OP I wanted to update everyone I was able to book at the Crane for President’s Week 2022 for a 1 bedroom oceanfront suite. I did have to walk the reservation by calling in every morning. For the first few days ocean-view was not available, but eventually I was able to switch over. Thanks all for your advice!
Congratulations and Thanks for sharing.:)
Which room type is considered oceanfront?
Do you recall which room types were actually available and not available when you called?
 

Vkothari916

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Good to know. Maybe if many of us start walking these by phone they will get the system online.

Next time I get a spare reservation I may walk one by phone just to give it a try. Would like to check Barbados out sometime ... but think I want a better beach at a beach resort.
My understanding is Crane Beach is one of the best in Barbados.
 

Vkothari916

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Congratulations and Thanks for sharing.:)
Which room type is considered oceanfront?
Do you recall which room types were actually available and not available when you called?

They have plenty of 1 bedrooms available (garden view) both with and without a private pool.

The 1 bedroom ocean view was tough to book and I was walking the reservation at exactly 8:00 am at the 9 month mark. So I was only able to switch to ocean view on my 3rd day of trying.

2 bedrooms it seems they have little to no inventory.
 

escanoe

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GregT

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Hello All,

It's been about a year and I was curious if there was any recent experience on the Crane, and its availability to HGVC owners 9 months out? I'm thinking about trying to book it in 2023 and curious if others have reported any success?

Please advise and thank you!

Best,

Greg
 

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It's been about a year and I was curious if there was any recent experience on the Crane, and its availability to HGVC owners 9 months out? I'm thinking about trying to book it in 2023 and curious if others have reported any success?

Who knows.

> Reservation cannot be booked online. Please contact a Club Counselor to make a reservation.
 

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My friends and I are considering trying to get something on the books for 2023 here....thinking around memorial day or labor day 2023 so still a bit to go before I can make a reservation...and not going walk something that long since have to call
 

Wright17s

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I've booked at the Crane once, about 5-6 months out. When I called I had three different room types I could choose from. I ended up having to cancel for personal reasons, but was happy with the availability... just wish we could book online and not have to call.
 

GregT

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I have been able to book at the Crane, crossing Presidents Day next year. I started with a Th-Fri-Sat reservation to break the Saturday check-in (not sure if that is relevant at Crane, but useful at other HGVC properties) and have walked it to what is now a 6 day reservation. I will call back tomorrow and seek to add the 7th day (Friday to Friday) but happy to have the opportunity.

It is a 2BR Garden unit with a pool — these appear rare from earlier in this thread and I am happy to have it. I called in promptly at 8am ET today to secure the last couple of days because they were closed on Sunday (which makes walking it a pain).

So fingers crossed that no surprises occur and we can go to Barbados next year! I’ve not been before and looking forward to it...thanks all for the thoughts in this thread!

Best,

Greg
 
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