As you know from Bob Feinberg’s My Kind of Holiday review of Pink Beach in Bermuda, my family: wife, kids and grandkids celebrated my 75th birthday at that charming resort. As we have done so many times since our honeymoon 50 years ago at the fabled Castle Harbour resort, we returned often to this beautiful close-by island with its civilized, aristocratic English ways and stayed at the Castle Harbour when Marriott purchased it, enlarged it, but unfortunately had to raze it. And return we did less than a year after our memorable Pink Beach experience. From the time it was erected in 1972 as Bermuda’s premiere luxury complex, through 1998, when it became the Fairmont Southampton, till the present day, we vowed to grab a few days here, lie out on the beach, read a book or two, follow the shore line for a brisk, pre-breakfast walk, take a couple of swims, and simply veg out. In years past, driving in the south past Horseshoe Bay, we would view the Fairmont Southampton’s beach, tennis courts, and golf course from afar, and occasionally stop by for a Fish Chowder or hamburger at one or two of its restaurants. It was all very impressive. So now that we at long last checked in, we agreed there was no need for us to tour the island or shop in Hamilton, which we’d done on numerous occasions, unless the weather was less than ideal. Well, ideal it was for every hour of our stay. Reigning from atop Bermuda's highest point, over a majestic 100-acre estate, The Fairmont Southampton is located on Bermuda’s southern shore about 45 minutes from the airport. It has 593 guest rooms and suites, each with a private balcony and extraordinary views of the ocean, the harbor or the golf course and surrounding tropical gardens. The Fairmont Southampton is the sister hotel to The Fairmont Hamilton Princess, the Grande Dame of Bermuda hotels for over a century. Together, the two hotels comprise 25% of the total hotel rooms in Bermuda. Hamilton Princess guests may have full use of Fairmont Southampton facilities and vice-versa.
All rooms have views either of the Great Sound, the South Shore or the golf course. Facilities include a secluded private beach club with an adjoining bar and restaurant, indoor heated pool with waterfalls and gardens, tennis courts and pro shop, health club with state-of-the-art Cybex equipment, and a shopping arcade with a beauty salon. All guest rooms are air-conditioned.
The Beach:
Bermuda’s public Horseshoe Beach (walking distance from the resort) is to me the most beautiful in the world. Castle Harbour had the largest resort beach, upon which in my younger days I played serious volleyball (the six-man variety). Pink Beach’s beach is pristine, albeit somewhat smaller than that of Fairmont Southampton. Pink-sand beaches are found only in Bermuda, the Bahamas and a few places in Scotland, thanks to single-celled, scarlet creatures known as Foraminifera. One type of foram, homotrema rubrum, thrives on the underside of Bermuda's coral reefs. After the protozoan animals die, their dark red skeletons litter the ocean floor. Over the years, pounding waves erode the skeletons and the red debris mixes with the crumbled white shells of clams, snails and sea urchins. Result? That pinkish tint, as distinguishing to Bermuda as its white cottage roofs. What I like most about Fairmont Southampton’s private Princess Beach Club is that the water is temperate enough to ease in at your own pace, and the sand bottom is kind to your feet, given that it is devoid of rocks or shells. Unlike some beach or pool areas of other resorts, here there is no necessity to play chaise lounge roulette early in the AM with a deftly placed towel or book to ensure a favored spot. Rather there is a surfeit of conically thatched shade –givers looking for all the world like giant coolie hats, augmented by generously sized fold-up umbrellas. Shuttle buses transport you from the entrance of the hotel to the beach.
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The Newport Room’s Chef Shaker Estephane and Maitre d’ Marco Syrbe |
The Newport Room
As is our fashion in Bermuda, we chose the MAP plan rather than spending big bucks on round-trip cab rides to off-property restaurants with undistinguished cuisine. In all my trips to Bermuda, I had come across but one restaurant with an above-average menu. That restaurant is Four Ways, near Hamilton. So loyal readers, with the thrill of discovery, I can report, based on two separate dinner experiences that the Fairmont Southampton’s Newport Room, has exceptional cuisine rivaling a top-tiered Manhattan restaurant. There is a 15% surcharge on the MAP that is eminently worth it. We dined off Wedgwood bone china, silver service and crystal wine glasses, within a bronze and mahogany simulation of a Royal Yacht. The exquisite French and Italian cuisine was presented with style and panache by handsome young men and women in formal nautical attire. On successive nights we availed ourselves of such delectable specialties as Scottish Langoustines, Jumbo Sea Scallops, Tenderloin Wrapped In Prosciutto, Osso Bucco Ravioli, Sweetbreads, Pan Seared Striped Bass and Dover Sole Meuniere.
Ocean Club
Located beachside at the Fairmont Southampton resort, is an immensely satisfying seafood restaurant with an inspired lit-up ocean view and the mesmerizing sound of surf licking the shore. The wait staff, comprised of college undergraduates was earnest and eager-to-please. We indulged in such notable menu offerings as Miso Marinated Butterfish, prepared with organic Shiso leaves, baby Bok Choy and Yuzu citrus sauce, seared Scallops wrapped in applewood-smoked bacon.
Waterlot Inn
This historic waterfront inn, a short shuttle ride to its dockside location on Jew's Bay, has been offering glorious sunsets and Bermudian fare for more than 320 years. Beamed ceilings provide a cozy and inviting setting. Service is agreeable, but not as professionally exacting as The Newport Room and The Ocean Club. Both recommended entrees Duck Confit Leg and Crispy Breast and the Double Lamb Chops, Cut Extra Thick, were unremarkable and overcooked.
Wickets
Owing to the incomparable weather, we had our breakfasts outside on the patio, proximate to the pool. Since our morning tastes are stuck in the “idle” position, Alice would alternately have pancakes and French Toast, while I opted for a egg white omelet with lox, mushrooms and tomatoes. The orange juice is freshly-squeezed and the coffee rich and aromatic.
Cabana Bar & Grill
It’s not on the meal plan, but you will find this unprepossessing snack shack off The Fairmont Southampton's beautiful pink sand beach, laudably appealing for its hamburger with fries and chicken quesadillas.
Accommodations
All rooms have views either of the Great Sound, the South Shore or the golf course. They are invitingly furnished, with smart, understated designs and patterns, fresh linens and towels and turn-down when requested.
This view of Bermuda’s famed Gibbs Hill Lighthouse was photographed from the Fairmont Southampton. I’m still exhausted from thinking about those 185 steps I climbed on my honeymoon in 1957, not that many years after they used candle-power to illumine the surrounding waters. Today, a solitary 1,000 watt bulb sits inside a lens revolving in a trough of 1,200 pounds of mercury. The light beam it emits can be seen by ships 40 miles away and from a distance of 120 miles by a plane flying at 10,000 feet. Fifteen years ago I re-visited the Lighthouse to interview the Lighthouse keeper, whom I expected to be a reclusive old-timer like Gabby Hayes. Actually shewas in her 20s, and the whole operation was technology-driven. Constructed in 1844 the Gibbs Hill is the oldest cast iron lighthouse in the world. The hill on which it stands is 245 feet high while the lighthouse itself measures 117 feet. Most of Bermuda, including the Fairmont Southampton, can be seen from the top of the lighthouse. Between late February and May you may also spot whales migrating to their summer feeding grounds.
English Sports Shop
Having been to Front Street in Hamilton on scores of occasions and having no reason to avail ourselves of the facilities or restaurant at the Fairmont Southampton’s sister hotel, the Hamilton Princess, I was overjoyed that Front Street’s famed English Sport Shop is also located at the Fairmont Southampton. I gathered up one-dozen Bermuda stockings, which I had no intention of donning with Bermuda shorts. Why? Well for one thing, they don’t ride down and show bare calf below your pants cuff as you cross your legs in public; second and even more important, for me they provide optimum support without the elasticized indentations that prevail with nylon-dominant support socks. What’s more they’re a lot easier to put on. And they last for years, even with repeat machine washings.
Golf
The Island’s most acclaimed course is the members-only Mid Ocean Club where presidents play and where the PGA Grand Slam of Golf is slated to be held in 2008. For people with a short game, Fairmont Southampton has 18 challenging but manageable par-3 holes over a 2,684-yard course with superb marine and landscape views. It is the only hotel with its own golf course.
Tennis
Six all-weather tennis courts, three lit for night play, located at the Beach Club.
Pools
The inviting outdoor freshwater heated pool has comfortable lounge chairs and diligent personnel to lay out your cushions and generous-sized beach towels. Ditto the indoor heated pool.
Children/Grandchildren Explorer’s Camp 5-12, Baby-sitting
I didn’t have the time to inspect the camp, but I did see many children on the beach and in the dining rooms. I have no doubt that the Resort has first class people running the camp with ping pong, arts and crafts and the like. Bermuda, as a destination for grandkids, is as good as it gets.(See separate review of our birthday visit to the Pink Beach Resort with all the mishpocha.)
Weddings and Honeymoons
There is no more idyllic place to spend a honeymoon (ask us), or to take marriage vows.
I serendipitously caught this ceremony from my hotel room window. At the extreme right is the father of the bride and his mini-skirted daughter. |
