I came to Barbados for a little peace and quiet. My place in Los Angeles has become a war zone since there is construction disturbing all peace and quiet at all hours of the day. I knew that The Crane was undergoing some reconstruction, however, the hotel site claimed the construction would be completed in early 2006 (It's now May 2006); furthermore, the concierge said assured me that the little construction that was still taking place was in a small part of the hotel and was not causing any disturbance to guests.

Now I'm going to give you the facts. The construction is, indeed, still in full force everywhere around the hotel. I awoke the first morning to the sounds of drilling, pounding, and large tractor motors directly outside my window. Naturally, I thought I must still be back at home. The Concierge had deliberately lied to me when I checked in the previous night ("Oh, no sir. I promise that no construction is taking place at that part of the Hotel".) I was upset. The main purpose for this trip was to get a rest from the daily construction back home.

When I confronted the woman that morning, she acted as if she had no idea who I was and had no recollection of the conversation we had. It was a truly convincing performance, but obviously one she had given many times. So, I just said that I wanted to change rooms to some place where I wasn't literally on top of the construction zone. She replied in a bored and patronizing tone "Sorry, we're totally booked." An outright lie since the hotel looked as if it was lucky if it was half-full. At this point, I didn't want to ruin my trip and planned to spend most of the time doing activities so I just asked if they would be working all week. "Oh, of course not," she replied.

They don't work on Saturday and especially on Sunday since it's a day of worship." Well, guess what? Another blatant lie. Not only did they work both days of the weekend, but they started before 8 am and went way past 7pm. I was able to find out that the actually estimated completion for the reconstruction is 2011 (not 2006)! The staff at The Crane Hotel have no interest in the comfort of regular guests and making their stay pleasant. They primarily focus on people looking to purchase time shares (who would have to be completely out of their minds to even consider buying at this point!). In fact, I noticed that the staff was only courteous with me when they were giving tour to potential time-share customers. This has been one of the worst trips I've ever taken. And a total waste of money (It's very expensive everywhere on the island). Truly awful!!