Media Watch

As someone who regularly writes for travel magazines, I often find it difficult to remove myself from the content when reading travel magazines—especially when I’ve got a unique perspective on a featured destination or hotel. Take Travel + Leisure’s latest issue for example. In addition to other passion-inducing vacation ideas, the February issue has a roundup of the world’s 50 Best Romantic Getaways. At number 19 is Bermuda and Tucker’s Point Hotel & Spa, an excellent choice, but it’s hard to get a feel for a place in a paragraph that’s less than 100 words (83 to be exact). So in the spirit of being thorough, here are a few highlights that T+L forgot. First the 83 words in question:

Inspired by an era of horse-drawn carriages and cricket matches, Tucker's Point Hotel & Spa is the first luxury resort to open on Bermuda in almost four decades. Situated on 200 acres overlooking Castle Harbour, the hotel’s 88 guest rooms come with everything you could hope for in an old-world Caribbean retreat: mahogany beds, deep soaking tubs, and balconies. The white-tablecloth Point Restaurant & Terrace showcases local ingredients—caramelized sea scallops; pecan-and-herb-crusted sea bass—and is adorned with large murals depicting 19th-century clipper ships.

Okay, first things first. Bermuda is not in the Caribbean. I’m still unsure why it continues to get lumped in with the down-island crowd, but beyond popular belief, Bermuda is less than a two-hour flight from most east coast gateways. And it’s in the Atlantic. As for those guestrooms, the writer’s correct about the mahogany beds, soaking tubs and balconies, but beyond what’s pictured on the hotel’s website are top notch amenities and room classes—most notably the deluxe poolside rooms, which include their very own personal outdoor cabana. You know those people who throw towels on chaise lounges to reserve a spot by the pool? Book these rooms and you’ll no longer have to battle the early-birders. As for The Point, the restaurant is indeed one of Bermuda’s finest—after all, it hosted Premier Ewart Brown’s state dinner when Queen Elizabeth came to visit last November—but it’s also worth noting that it’s one of the island’s most formal: Show up without a jacket and men will be given a blazer from the restaurant’s oh-so-stylish collection. Finally onto those “large murals depicting nineteenth-century clipper ships.” Here’s your Bermuda Shorts fact of the day: Tucker’s Point Hotel & Spa has long been owned by the Trippe Family, its patriarch being Pan Am Airways owner Juan Trippe. When Juan ruled the airways, he’d hang out in the Sky Club atop the company’s New York City headquarters (formerly the Pan Am Building, now the Met Life Building). In 1966 he commissioned artist Gerard Henderson to paint a set of murals depicting the world’s major ports of the 1880’s. When time came to construct The Point in Bermuda, the Trippe family had the famous murals moved from Manhattan to the walls of its newest restaurant, where they’re now proudly on display for the world to see.

They're actually quite lovely and certainly worthy of more than a passing sentence. But I get it. I'm in this business too. I understand that word counts preclude magazines to write about the hotel's championship water-view golf course, or its brand new relaxation spa or even the outdoor pool, which happens to be the biggest in Bermuda. I understand. But that's what I'm here for. So T+L, on behalf of Bermuda, thanks for the coverage. Here's hoping you can squeeze a bit more space for us in the future.