My husband and I are thinking of traveling to Bermuda for 5 days around the third week of July. We're looking for a special place to stay (20th Anniversary). The Fairmont Princess is nice....I'd like something that's smaller, more intimate but high end.
Any suggestions?

Check out The Reefs, Cambridge Beaches and Pampano Beach Club. They are all smaller but high end properties.

I second the Reefs

A third for the Reefs. Besides the accomodations their dining room is one of the best. That was in April 2005.
It is not inexpensive but for 5-7 nights the difference is not significant.
The airfare on the otherhand is more than it should be considering the distance.The water will be warm enough to take a 1/2 day snorkel outing, if you are so inclined. Enjoy!
It is one of the neatest and cleanest island we have visited.

My husband and I really enjoyed our honeymoon at the Pompano Beach Club. Just a fabulous place! Their website is:
www.pompanobeachclub.com

They always say nice things about the Reefs here on this board too. We stopped there for lunch one day. Beautiful place as well. I would say I prefer the beach at Pompano better but they are both beautiful beaches. I don't think you could go wrong at either place.

Congratulations!
Annika

My vote would be for the Reefs as well. We just returned from a week there. Two other small hotels you might want to check out are Horizons and Cottages and Waterloo House. Both are Relais and Chateaux properties. Horizons is not on the beach but has a reciprocal agreement with the Coral Beach Club which has lovely beach facilities. Waterloo House is on the harbor in Hamilton. All three have excellent food. For a special night out (or lunch even) you might consider Blu - the new restaurant at the Belmont Hills Golf Course. It is not inexpensive but the views of Great Sound are breathtaking. If you go for dinner, ask for a window table and get there by sunset. Their website is www.diningbermuda.com/blu/. Bermuda is a wonderful place to fete an anniversary (we just celebrated 25 years). Congratulations and have a wonderful time.

My DH and I love the Pink Beach Club. gone two times in three years. 2 gorgeous beaches, right in Tucker's Town - so it's quiet, yet 10 minutes to Hamilton. Plus, if you are golfers (like us), it's down the road from the sublime Tuckers Point Club and Mid Ocean.

I just posted my thoughts on Pompano Beach on another thread. They are all really nice, but last year it just wasn't up to par and I would not call it a luxury property. Cambridge Beaches is wonderful and no kids! Not a bad place for a 20th anniversary. Never stayed at the Reefs, but have had dinner there and it is definitely on my list of places to try - looks great. Check out Elbow Beach (not all that small) and the Pink Beach Club, too.

Clarson--glad to see you liked the Reefs; we have the Reefs booked for mid-June for our anniversary, too, but I was getting very worried and considered cancelling because of several recent bad reviews on TripAdvisor; specifically, several mentioning poor food. Since we just came back from a spring break venue with mediocre food (after having been told it was fine) we aren't anxious to spend a significant amount of money for a resort that is not up to par.

Any thoughts from recent visitors would be appreciated.

thanks (and thanks to bock64 for "allowing" me to post on your thread!)

Mary in D.C.

ttt

cantstayathome,
Where did you post about pompano beach
We are going there at the end of May.
Thanks
Karen

Karen, here is her post:
Author: cantstayhome
Date: 04/18/2006, 04:19 pm
I respectfully disagree about Pompano and would not recommend it for kids - too many steep stairs up and down, up and down and with all the kid stuff that you have to take to the beach! The accomodations when we were there last year were not great, but the renovations over this past winter hopefully remedied that problem. The staff, though, is extremely friendly, so I don't mean to bash them. The food, ah, another matter. Food at Elbow Beach is much better and you have many options. Some people really like Grotto Bay for kids, but if you want high quality accomodations, maybe not the place for you. Elbow Beach is also a lot closer to the stuff that your kids may want to do other than beach and pool. Have a great time - I love Bermuda!

anybody recently at the Reefs?

Karen, cmfong posted that for you (which was nice), just for future reference, you can click on anyone's name and see their all posts (and always find your own, too.

Mary in D.C.

Thanks for the info.
Karen

Sorry, Karen, didn't see your query til today. cmcfong, thanks for posting!