Checking In

Alright, fine. Budget Travel officially scooped me—the magazine first reported the following hotel deal on April 1—but that just proves the Bermuda Department of Tourism’s Sizzling Summer Offer is truly value-packed. Book one of 17 participating hotels until April 30 for stays valid from May 1 through October 31 and you’ll get a hotel credit: $600 for a six-night stay, $500 for a five-night stay or $400 for a four-night stay. With rooms starting at just $249 at the luxurious Fairmont Southampton or the historic Fairmont Hamilton Princess, that’s like getting two nights free (if of course you book for five nights; for a full list of participating hotels check out the Sizzling Summer Offer). Remember, you have to book by April 30 to get the hotel credit so act fast. That could be YOU strolling on secluded Church Bay.

Checking In

There was a whole lot of hullabaloo when Elbow Beach Resort closed 60 percent of its 235 rooms last November for renovation. After all, the closures put an estimated 160 people out of work and shut down two popular local restaurants, the Seahorse Grill and the Veranda Rum Bar. And even though the luxurious resort was named one of the Top 500 Hotels in the World by Travel+Leisure in January 2009, the powers-that-be decided it needed some sprucing up—all in all a $10 million refurbishment that will return the hotel to its rightly place among the world’s best. There’s still plenty of work to be done, but in the meantime, Mandarin Oriental—the hotel’s parent company—is repositioning Elbow Beach as an intimate luxury resort, featuring 98 rooms and suites following the closure of the hotel’s main building rooms. As this press release attests, Elbow Beach is getting much more than a new coat of paint: Rooms will have brand new furnishings, iPod docking stations and personal espresso machines; the Veranda Bar will get internet stations, an HDTV and an antique pool table; and the beach (yes, that beach) will be enhanced with new lounge chairs and a beachside spa pavilion, among other notable upgrades. The hotel is still very much open for business and Mandarin Oriental says there'll be limited disruption to guests, but rest assured that when it’s all completed Bermuda will welcome yet another luxurious property back into the fray.