Note: To enjoy a video tour of the property, click on the words below shown in bold.
The Crane Residential Resort is located on cliffs right above the Atlantic Ocean. This elevation gives the property excellent views, and the east coast of the island always has a refreshing breeze. Most suites on the nine residential buildings have views of the ocean, and all of them catch the ocean breezes, which means that most of the time you don’t need to use air conditioning.
In fact, at night, the best way to sleep is to turn off the air conditioning, close the shutters to the room but open the slats, and turn on the overhead fans. That mix provides excellent airflow to keep you cool all night without having to use refrigerated air. It takes a little bit of practice, but once you have the airflow exactly the way you want it your sleep will be wonderful.
Director of Marketing Joanna Robinson took me on a tour of many of the suites available for rent or purchase in several of the buildings. I confess I lost count of the many different types of suites available. By my count, there were private residences by the sea, rooms at the historic hotel, and residences in the park. They came in sizes ranging from a hotel room, to a one-bedroom suite, one bedroom with plunge pool, a two-bedroom suite and tw0-bedrooms with pool, and three bedrooms plus pool. Plus a deluxe penthouse suite with pool that parties about a dozen people that I am going to rent when I can think of a good reason.
First, Joanna showed me a “basic unit, ” also called a Junior Garden view Suite, which was bigger than a floor of the house in which I live. I think it was 700 square feet. Then ther was the typical unit, which I stayed in, a one-bedroom ocean view suite, which was 1,200 square feet. The bedroom was bigger than my living room at home. The living room was bigger than my living room at home. The bathroom was bigger than my living room at home. Plus it came with a full kitchen and two bathrooms, or one more than I needed because I can do two things at once. It had TVs in both the living room and bedroom, and a patio, and a fabulous view.
Then we were off to see a two-bedroom with plunge pool. Why anyone needs a private pool when there are half a dozen huge pools on the property, I dunno. Maybe some people forget to bring a swimsuit. This unit was 2,500-square feet, which is the same size as my house. In short, it was huge. The living room couch folded out, so you could put the kids in there, and a separate couple in the second bedroom. Did I mention that all the beds are 4-posters, as huge as the rooms, with mahogany bedposts? Oh yeah, they all have washers and dryers too.
Next was a two-bedroom garden unit, which I found the most interesting of all, because the entire wall to the garden outside slid back and thus the entire unit became wide open. No bugs that I ever saw, so no need for walls. There was a big garden in which to putter around, and a private pool in which to wallow. This arrangement would be perfect for people with kids to play, I thought, or for romance, one activity naturally leading to the other.
Joanna gave me an extensive tour of a three-bedroom penthouse suite, suitable for rock stars or presidents or people who want to party (weddings come to mind) and who need to sleep a large group of people. At 4,000-square feet you could almost get lost in it, and I don’t think that counted the upstairs roof, which was a special attraction all in itself. The views went half way to Africa. There were three bedrooms and a couple of couches, so I think we are talking accommodations for 8-10 people. With a huge kitchen and bathrooms too, of course.
The special formula that Crane Residences builder Paul Doyle has created – a choice of deluxe vacation rentals, or the chance to actually own a suite on a part-time basis – is an obvious winner. Everybody I talked to loved relaxing at The Crane and planned to come back again. With hundreds of eager customers all wanting a piece of the pie, expansion plans become obvious, and that’s exactly what is happening at The Crane.
Joanna pointed out to me where the new expansion will be occurring in the Residences in the park, with construction completion set for the winter of 2013. This will bring the overall number of rooms to over 200, but all the buildings are so spread out over so many it never seems crowded. The pools on the property never had many people in them, even with the resort full. Maybe they were all at the beach, or enjoying their own private pools.
Finally, Joanna showed me the main pool and the original historic building that was the original structure back in the 1880s when The Crane was first open for business as a hotel. Sadly, we ran out of time to have a look at the hotel rooms inside this gorgeous structure. Next time I go, I want the room overlooking the pool, which also seems to have a view over the ocean and the promenade next to L’Azure restaurant. If the view from the L’Azure patio overlooking Crane Beach is not the best in the world, I will eat my travel writer’s hat.
