WHERE TO STAY - Bermuda 2012 - page 78

an outsider. Persons 17 and under are in most cases not particularly appreciated, and
raucous 20-somethings would probably not fit in.
On a peninsula overlooking Mangrove Bay in Somerset, the colony's 12 hectares
(30 acres) of semitropical gardens and green lawns occupy the entire western tip of
the island. The colony centers on an old sea captain's house that over the years grew
into a compound of lounges, bars, dining rooms, and drawing rooms that give the
feeling of a conservative country estate. Scattered throughout the gardens are nicely
furnished pink-sided cottages, some of which are nearly 300 years old and much-
restored. All of the cottages are conservatively furnished—nothing too ostentatious,
nothing too flashy—and come with terraces, generally with unobstructed views of the
bay and gardens. A cottage can comfortably house four. The less expensive units have
land rather than ocean vistas, and balconies and terraces that in some cases are a bit
too close to immediate neighbors.
Dining options include the excellent and very pricey Tamarisk Dining Room
(p. 92), as well as some less formal venues. There's also an informal lounge, the Port
O' Call Pub, whose dark beams and roughly textured plasterwork evoke a 17th-
century inn somewhere in the U.K. Live entertainment is presented frequently dur-
ing the high season. Relatively new on the agenda of this resort is a rotating series of
lectures offering insight into relationship building, sexual healing, and advice on how
to enrich a sense of intimacy, either with your significant other or with the world at
large. Within a self-contained building on the property is the small but well-equipped
Ocean Spa. The hotel continues to improve, adding a new pool, a clothing-optional
deck, and a beachfront cafe.
30 Kings Point Rd., Sandys Parish MA 02, Bermuda. www.cambridgebeaches.com. & 800/468-7300
in the U.S., or 441/234-0331. Fax [phone] units. Mid-Apr to mid-Oct $620-$890 double,
$920-$1,020 suites; mid-Oct to mid-Apr $595-$855 double, $895-$985 suites. Rates include MAP and
afternoon tea. AE, MC, V. Bus: 7 or 8. Amenities: 3 restaurants; cafe; 3 bars; babysitting; health club &
spa; mopeds; 3 pools (1 indoor, 2 outdoors); room service; 3 tennis courts (1 lit); watersports equipment/
rentals; Wi-Fi (free in lobby). In room: A/C, TV, fridge, hair dryer.
PAGET PARISH
Newstead Belmont Hills Golf Resort & Spa Early in 2008, one of Ber-
muda's most visible real-estate developments interconnected two separate plots of
land within Paget Parish. It involved a “marriage” between a once-lackluster, since-
demolished hotel, known since the 1950s as Newstead, and one of the island's most
appealing golf courses, Belmont Hills.
With the exception of four pre-existing cottages, the entire Newstead hotel was
demolished to make room for a new entity. That newcomer now rises in a four-story
rather avant-garde design that includes open-to-the-breeze-on-one-side corridors, a
color scheme of moss green and putty, lots of exposed limestone, and ample use of
an exotic Brazilian hardwood (jatoba) for the interior louvers, doors, and trim. Each
of the units is posh, postmodern, boutiquey, and stylish, in a high-style urban-hip way
that's actually rather unusual in understated and conservative Bermuda.
Don't expect a conventional hotel. The resort operates as a time share, and when-
ever investors don't want access to their units, the resort's management will rent them
out to short-term visitors. Hotel guests can opt for studios, 1-bedroom units, or 2-bed-
room units. These lie within a low-rise compound of buildings close to the sea, but
within a 10-minute drive of the golf course.

4