A group of 180 former Hamilton and Southampton Princess employees have reunited on the Island this week as the Hamilton hotel celebrates the 50th anniversary of its reopening.

Peter Pfeiffer, who worked at the hotel between 1969 and 1980 and lives in the UK, said the group arrived on the Island on Monday and are set to stay for a week, touring their old haunts and catching up with friends.

Former employees have travelled to the Island from New Zealand, Australia, the US, Canada, England, Italy, France, Switzerland and Germany, and have joined up with a contingent who still live in Bermuda.

“There must be something in the air to bring them all back to enjoy themselves,” he said.

Mr Pfeiffer said that as the former employees left the Island, they remained in touch via faxes and phone calls, and began to produce a regular newsletter for the “Princess Family”.

Over time, the number of people involved in the group grew to 250 people who have been e-mailing each other.

The group first organised a reunion seven years ago but Mr Pfeiffer said he was not able to attend due to the passing of his mother. With the 50th anniversary, he said the timing was perfect for another get together.

“The Princess reopened in 1964 when DK Ludwig bought the Princess and renovated it,” he said.

“This was the start of our time, and this reunion has four people who still work at the Princess.”

Mr Pfeiffer said that for he and his wife, the reunion was almost a second honeymoon, noting that the couple first met while they were both working at the Princess.

“In order for me to see the manager every morning, I had to ask her to announce me,” he said.

“I always thought it was quicker to get in the manager’s office if I had a good relationship, which became an engagement and a marriage here at the registrar in Bermuda. Already now it seems like we have never left Bermuda. We are seeing all our friends which we didn’t see in person for the last 40 years, but it feels like we are back to our 20s.”

He said the group has already taken part in a tour of the Hamilton Princess, seeing the new suites, marina and other amenities.

“It was pleasing to see that it wasn’t neglected,” he said. “It’s all improved from what we had, all the new equipment and new updates. Wherever you looked, it was all first class.”

However, he said that since he left the Island, the Hamilton Princess has changed from what he would consider a “resort hotel” catering chiefly to tourists to a more business-oriented hotel.

“It was always in the town and there were some business people staying there, but the majority were honeymoon couples, tourists, visitors coming to Bermuda and having a nice time, but all of this has changed now. It has become a more corporate hotel,” he said.

“Time will tell if the direction is the right one, but tourism has become very expensive. We notice when you go shopping the steep prices on everything you buy, but this is an island and you have to bring all the goods in.”

Mr Pfeiffer said it appeared as if local bed and breakfasts seem to have taken away the focus on the larger hotels.

They are now catering more and more to corporate customers, he said. “There are lots of first-class apartments and bed and breakfasts which took up from the hotels, and I think they are doing very well.”