Not a bird, a crane.

The site of a small commercial port in the mid-18^th century, Crane Beach and its surrounding district assumed the name of the area’s most recognisable scene – the raising and lowering of cargo by a crane.

A mecca of cool breezes, Crane Beach attracted scores of the island’s plantation owners and prosperous merchants to its soft pink sands and turquoise waters – regarded for their reputed “healing” powers.

The cowboy, the gold chain and the fob watch.

In 1881, civil engineer Donald Simpson conceived the expansion and conversion of the area’s primary dwelling house – Marine Villa – into a hotel.

Known then as ‘Crane Beach Hotel’, it quickly became a favourite hideaway for the world’s elite, with American cowboy William Frederick “Buffalo Bill” Cody famously leaving his gold chain and fob watch as payment for his room charges – a keepsake which remains in the Simpson family to this day.

18^th century charm meets 21^st century convenience.

A success story of history’s pages, the charmingly rustic, albeit tiny, cliff-top 18-room hotel with its “postcard perfect” beach below, changed ownership throughout the centuries, finally attracting the attention of Canadian investor, Paul Doyle in 1988.

Today, Crane Beach remains as beautiful as it ever was, now rivalled only by the magnificence of a 252-room luxury residential resort.