Bermuda’s newest hotel, The Loren at Pink Beach, celebrated its opening in style with more than 400 attendees at the launch event last night.

Hotel owner Stephen King hopes other hotel developers will be encouraged to come to Bermuda when they see what The Loren has achieved.

The five-star boutique hotel features 45 suites, and its amenities include a spa, pool deck, corporate meeting rooms, and fine dining and casual dining restaurants.

For Bermuda residents, the restaurants are expected to be a big draw. The Marée offers fine dining, while the Pink Beach Club has outdoor casual dining.

Tim Sullivan, an executive chef with New York’s Great Performances, said the menus at both restaurants will have a strong local flavour.

As an advocate for using the highest quality local produce whenever possible, he has criss-crossed the island meeting farmers, fishermen and vendors to secure fresh ingredients that reflect “the full story” of Bermuda.

The menus will change during the year to reflect seasonality.

Any ingredients not available locally will be brought in from the US northeast, including Great Performance’s 60-acre organic Katchkie Farm in upstate New York.

Kingh Engelbrecht, general manager, said the hotel will bring the highest level of service, adding that the staff were “the heart of the project”.

The majority of the employees are Bermudians. Owner Mr King wants to nurture local talent in the hospitality sector and has plans to set up schemes with that goal.

He also paid tribute to Simon Hodgson, a Bermudian architect, who worked on the project for three years. “I’m so grateful for his contribution,” said Mr King.

When he visited the island a few years ago, Mr King felt there was something missing. While speaking highly of other Bermudian hotels, he saw the opportunity for a boutique, first-class hotel at the former site of the Pink Beach Club.

He believes overseas visitors and locals will appreciate the ambience of The Loren and want to come back again.

Ryan Babcock, joint owner, said guests at the launch event had expressed pride that a hotel of The Loren’s calibre was on the island.