The management arm of the Rafael Group also comprises five prime properties, namely The Mark in New York, Turnberry Isle Resort and Club in Florida, the Hotel Rafael in Munich, Breidenbacher Hof in Dusseldorf, and Hotel du Rhone in Geneva. The Group's small luxury resort division includes properties in Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Tahiti, France and Australia.

In February, 1997, the Elbow Beach was awarded a prestigious Five Star Diamond Award by the New York-based American Academy of Hospitality Sciences, because of its unusual increase in customer satisfaction, overall culinary development and food improvements, plus a myriad of newly-introduced details which make the hotel superior.

On 55 choice acres of prime South Shore and some of the best sea frontage in all Bermuda, the Elbow Beach - which first opened to the public in 1908 - is currently owned by a consortium the leading principals of which are members of the Saudi Arabian royal family. They bought the property from British football pools magnate Sir John Moores in 1992. On the drawing board and subject to planning approval is an expansion plan that will include more convention rooms, 150 extra suites and bedrooms, villas and "super deluxe" suites.

Present facilities include 295 rooms (for a total of 900 guests) with options such as garden or ocean views, sitting areas, and balconies. All rooms feature air conditioning, color TV, phones, and mini-bars. Valet, laundry, and babysitting services are available. There are also choice bars; a beach club on the hotel's superb private section of stupendous Elbow Beach; 4 specialty restaurants; 5 beachside tennis courts with pros available for lessons, lit for night play; solar heated Olympic-size outdoor pool; fully-equipped health club; fine golf courses not far away, with special privileges for guests; nightly entertainment; and deluxe on-site shops, all branches of famous Bermuda stores headquartered in the city of Hamilton, with prices the same as in the city, plus a drug store and beauty salon.

Deep-sea fishing, horseback-riding and scuba trips can be arranged; aqua boards, bicycles, kayaks, mopeds, snorkeling gear and rafts can be rented; and guests are free to participate in beach volleyball. A video game room, special Kid's Klub activities and professional babysitters will please youngsters.

It has 402 rooms, 3 restaurants, shops, elegant conference and meeting rooms, its own gorgeous beaches, superb golf course, 6 tennis courts, 3 swimming pools, and a full range of eco-tourism activities. And it's wheelchair accessible.

This property, accessed via Paynter's Road which connects Harrington Sound Road with the South Road, sits on 192 spectacular acres of spectacular coastline and countryside. It is a major sightseeing attraction, as well as a resort hotel.

From here, you'll get one of the most dramatic views you'll find anywhere in Bermuda. Park your moped, if you're riding one, in one of the bike parking bays provided. Stroll along the esplanade - the sky walk overlooking Castle Harbour - just before the resort's entrance, to see the majesty of Castle Harbour - and Bermuda at her most awe-inspiring.

Make sure you take the opportunity to admire the exterior and interior of this showpiece resort hotel! This may be of special interest if you're contemplating a return visit to Bermuda or want to recommend somewhere special to a business colleague or family member back home. By all means, ask for brochures.

Its architectural style will remind you in places of a castle. Currently, of Bermuda's best golf courses, only the Castle Harbour course is part of the golf package of a major resort hotel. Marriott's Castle Harbour Resort is the only hotel in Bermuda with such a choice option for golfers. Note that the golf course still retains its original name of the Castle Harbour Golf Course, not with the "Marriott's" prefix like the hotel itself.

Today, Marriott's Castle Harbour Resort provides jobs for over 400 people and generates over $30 million in direct revenues annually to Bermuda's economy. An additional $11 million dollars is contributed by the property via contractual and other services to the many other people involved in Bermuda's tourism industry.

In every respect, Marriott's Castle Harbour Resort is a prime tourism asset of Bermuda - in some respects, THE most important. It is not only a superb and elegant place to stay, or to stop off for lunch, or to have a drink, or dine, during your sightseeing tour of St. George's Parish, it is also the ONLY hotel in Bermuda's eastern parishes that has the business and conference facilities to cater to large conference groups. It is also the biggest single employer in the area from Smith's Parish through St. George's Parish.

For business visitors

No public transport, but within easy walking distance to the bus and ferry terminals in the city of Hamilton.

Facilities include 447 rooms for a maximum of 1,000 guests, 3 fine restaurants all serving different cuisines, conference and meeting rooms galore, and 2 pools.

The Princess Hotel was a winner of the Bermuda Department of Tourism's 1996 "Longtail" Award, given to premises with superior standards in fire and health regulations and accommodation. Guests here are entitled to use the beach, beach club, tennis courts and other facilities of the huge sister property, the Southampton Princess, in Southampton Parish. Shuttles and ferries connect the two properties.

With these services, the Princess has all the amenities of a leading resort hotel - and full wheelchair access.

This was Bermuda's first big hotel. It dates back to the 1880's but has been regularly modernized and improved since then. It was named in honor of Britain's Princess Louise, daughter of Queen Victoria. She was married to a Governor-General of Canada, but preferred to spend her winters in much warmer Bermuda.

You'll also find bicycle and moped rentals; English croquet lawn; shuffleboard and volleyball courts; canoes; deep-sea fishing charters; dive shop; guest privileges at the famous Port Royal Golf Course not too far away; paddleboats; parasailing; scuba expeditions; snorkeling; waterskiing; and 10 on-site shops, branches of prominent stores in the city of Hamilton and with the same prices as at the latter. There is live nightly local and international entertainment at the hotel's Palm Court Club. And the Just Us Kids activities program and deluxe playground for children are especially for very young guests. The hotel itself is entirely wheelchair accessible.

Recently, for its guests, the hotel pioneered a unique new dining experience in Bermuda, "Candlelit Patio Dining." It adds a romantic flavor to room service. It's a gourmet four-course meal for two served on the guest room patio or balcony, presented by two waiters in separately-timed deliveries to ensure a freshly prepared meal. The waiters arrive with an elegantly dressed table complete with fine china, sterling silver place settings, crystal glasses, wine and a basket of rolls. Candles are lit and appetisers and tossed salad are served. Later, the waiters return to present the entree. After this, coffee and dessert arrive, complete with a complimentary tray of dipped strawberries, truffles and macaroons. The lady at the table is then presented with a red rose.

For business visitors

This hotel has a special business program for registered Bermuda companies and their business visitors. "Sonesta Means Business (SMB)" gives you or your off-shore business colleagues a guaranteed rate and guaranteed accommodations; a complimentary taxi to the city of Hamilton every weekday morning; your own dedicated SMB reservations number with voice mail; access to computers, fax machines and administrative services; an SMB sales director to handle all your needs; special meeting and banquet arrangements for SMB guests; guaranteed VIP treatment; and SMB incentive points for rooms booked. The special SMB number to call to take advantage of these and more business services is (441) 238-3966.

Facilities include 600 rooms for a maximum of 1,500 guests, private beach, beachclub, banqueting and conference facilities, 6 restaurants, 11 tennis courts, golf course, swimming pools, shopping arcade, and other facilities expected of a resort hotel.

Dolphin Quest: the hotel's major new attraction

Now open is this major new (late 1996) $1 million-plus environmental and scenic attraction for Bermuda, owned and operated by the Southampton Princess Hotel. It is set on 3 acres adjacent to the hotel's Whaler Inn located on the South Shore, off the South Road. It is the largest and most attractive natural habitat dolphinarium in the world, an educational facility, showing dolphins in their natural playful state, not the type of place in which mammals in absolute captivity are showcased.

Involving seven (five female and two male) live bottle-nose dolphins, two dolphin behaviorists, a staff of at least ten more people and other features, it is expected to help draw many new visitors to Bermuda and considerably enhance the ratio of the hotel's returning guests. But it isn't just for the Southampton Princess's guests - anyone can come and visit.

The dolphins were imported from the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago on a "breeding loan" basis. They are not in a pool, as in most other countries with a dolphinarium, but in their own spacious sea grotto, complete with a large ocean and reef area for their personal privacy away from human reach. Only a submerged chain-link fence separates them from the open ocean. The fence runs from the shore to Fish Hook Island to the east and a series of small islands or islets to the west. On the ocean side, a massive surge protection barrier has been built, on existing rock formations.

Visitors view the dolphins by donning life vests and entering the South Shore water of the grotto up to their waists. A mask and snorkel are also provided for part of the display. The dolphinarium is being run for the hotel by Dolphin Quest, a 12-year old American company which has been operating since 1984 a similar (but smaller) attraction at the Hilton Waikoloa Village facility in Hawaii.

For business visitors

The business occupancy statistics for this giant hotel show more than 50 percent. This is not surprising for a property big enough to accommodate large numbers of business visitors on incentive trips, conferences, conventions, and their family members too. Improvements similar to those of its sister-property, the Princess, have now been completed.