I am SO excited to share this post with you guys. Our honeymoon was beyond fabulous – we had an amazing time Alhamdulilah. This post is going to sound like an advertisement but I promise you, it’s not. I just fell in love with the people, the food and the entire country of Barbados.
So, let’s start at the beginning…
If you recall, my only request for our honeymoon was to relax. When we started searching for honeymoon locations, Nouman thought it would be cool to have our own private plunge pool. I wear a Hijab, so this would be perfect – the more we thought about it, the more we loved the idea. To fulfill this wish of ours, Nouman found the perfect place for us – The Crane Resort in Barbados.
I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve never been to a resort or an “Island.” Not even Centre Island in Toronto. Naturally, I was super excited – Nouman and I were both looking forward to getting away from all the wedding craziness. The closer we got to the wedding, the more excited we were for our getaway.
Here’s how it all went down…
We arrived in Barbados just minutes behind a massive British Airways flight – the lineup at customs was pretty big but we moved fast. Baggage claim was even faster – our luggage was already waiting for us by the time we arrived at the belt. As a surprise to me, Nouman had arranged for us to be picked up at the airport in a luxury car so a driver was waiting for us at the airport doors. I’m childish, I got really excited to see a man holding a sign with our names!
As we drove to the resort, we noticed that all the homes were very colourful – there were splashes of pink, blue, yellow and green everywhere. The car ride to The Crane was around 15 minutes. As we entered the resort, we were completely transported into a different world. Wooden doors opened up to a gorgeous driveway – there were palm trees and lush bushes on both sides… I honestly felt as if we was entering some hidden land.
The entrance gates
The first thing we saw at the lobby entrance were these cute signs!
Lobby
Lobby and hallway leading to the bar
Upon arrival, we were given complimentary drinks. The most amazing fruit punch ever!
Check-in was easy enough – we were a little disappointed because we didn’t get the room we had requested but we were assured that we would be moving in the next day. Good enough for us! 
The rooms were pretty identical – the only differences were the view and the level of privacy in the pools; the first room was at ground level (pool was less private) and our final room was on a higher floor (giving us complete privacy in our pool). The rooms were huge, clean and so comfy! It was a perfect blend of classic and modern – have a look at the pictures below.
Entrance to our building
Our dining table – overlooking the resorts’ village
Our living room
Bedroom
Jacuzzi
View from our first room – chilling on our patio and private plunge pool
Breakfast for 2 on our patio
Balcony in our requested room
Our plunge pool in the requested room
Although we ate most of our meals out, there were 5 restaurants to choose from at the resort (I’ll be writing about food in a separate post). At the heart of the resort was the “Crane Village.” It’s a cutesy area with a variety of things such as a general store, bar, souvenir shops, an icecream store/cafe and even a town hall.
The general store – we bought lots of snacks from here
Town Hall upstairs and a souvenir store downstairs
The landscaping of the Crane is ahmazing. Everything is clean, well-maintained and just gorgeous.
Cliff near the pool area
Cobbled path leading to the pools
Pool and our building!
- Taken from our balcony
Nightime
The beach was absolute perfection. I haven’t been to an island before but Nouman ranked it as the best beach he’s been to. When we were searching for a destination, we couldn’t decide if we wanted to be at a beach or near a cliff. The Crane had the best combination of both. The sand was really fine, soft, white and clean (there were no broken shells or rocks to stab your feet) and the water is a bright turquoise colour. We couldn’t get over how amazing the sand and water was. The waves are fairly strong – perfect for people who like having a good time in the ocean water.
The beach
One of the pools on the other side of the resort
The cliff was also gorgeous – Nouman even went cliff diving!
How gorgeous is that water?
Nouman diving into the water!
*Disclaimer: All the above images are owned by Shaza’s Scrapbook. If you want to use any of my images, I am oh-so-flattered, but please do not copy the images. Instead, link back to this post… or I will find you.*
The culture of the resort, and Barbados, is very laid back and relaxed. If you’re a clock watcher, Barbados might not be for you. We loved the fact that we did not see clocks around our resort – it was a complete contrast to life in Toronto… and we loved it! Alhamdulilah. The people of Barbados, and the staff at the Crane, are extremely friendly and courteous – everyone always offers a smile and “hello” as they pass.
We can’t wait to go back to Barbados and The Crane :)
This is part 1 of a series of posts - you’ll have to come back next week for additional pictures from our honeymoon!
