By David Fox Tucked away near pretty coastal South Shore Road for more than two decades, Surf Side Beach Club has been under the watchful eye of Mrs. Bryony Harvey.

She has been at the 37-unit resort for 23 years -- 22 as general manager. But when she reflects upon her school-leaving year in Devon and a frustrated career counsellor who couldn't help her decide on an occupational interest, she only can offer a conservative laugh.

Having exhausted every other avenue, the exasperated counsellor suggested the hospitality industry. That didn't sound appealing at first, but the more she thought about it, the more it sounded right.

Her first job was in reception in different hotels in England. She concedes that spending periods at different properties helps gain perspective, apart from varied experiences.

One of those moves was to Ariel Sands in Devonshire for a two-year stint. But eventually she found her way to Surf Side and there she has stayed.

She has only ever had one other full-time job. Just before returning to Bermuda, she worked for a year in England in the travel industry.

She returned to marry her sweetheart and subsequently began working at Surf Side.

Mrs. Harvey notes that smaller hotel properties often have a different set of problems from the larger ones, especially if profitability is the bottom line.

"They aren't able to spend vast amounts of money on advertising, so they have to be very careful where they place their adverts, how their marketing goes, because basically they don't have too much of a budget for heavy marketing, or have the personnel to do it.

"They have to jump on every bandwagon they can,'' she insists, " and join the Department of Tourism's efforts. Then you have to decide if that is the way to go.

"The best advertising is word of mouth.'' She said Surf Side probably fared better than a lot of properties through the recession, but flatly states, "For us, it wasn't good. We had holes were we don't normally have holes, like in May.

"And September and October were just a disaster. But otherwise, we have held in there pretty well.'' As a Bermudian, Mrs. Harvey says the tourism industry was lucky in the 1980s to have enjoyed strong market share, whereas now the Island has to work harder at improving the bottom line.

She's all for curbing the increasing aggression she sees in a new breed of Bermudians.

"There are still the wonderful Bermudians out there,'' the hotelier observed, "but on the other side of it, I think you very sharply go to aggression. It's probably because that's the way that life is pushing everyone to be, but it's sad, rather.

"I think the softness of yesteryear, we could do with a little more of. It we tend to go like the rest of the world, we won't have anything to market.

"I think it is serious, compared to the way Bermuda used to be. We have things in our local news now, that you think must be from some other country.

"Some of the things that are happening are quite horrific. And bad word always gets back faster than good word.

"It's a great worry to everyone, let alone to hoteliers. It is an extra worry to hoteliers, because people are in your charge. You are responsible for their safety.

"But you can't over-do security, because it then takes away from the experience, takes away the charm of Bermuda. I think the greatest problem that we have is that people come to Bermuda, with a perception that everything is wonderful. They do things that they would never do at home or anywhere else they travelled, and then of course they are sitting targets.'' If you wish to be in the hotel industry, she says, common sense is an essential, although she freely admits common sense is somewhat lacking in the world at large.

And hotel managers need to be a bit of everything.

"Of course, in a small establishment you tend to have to be a bit of everything. Almost psycho-analyst, interior designer, accountant and it helps to be able to get along with people.

"I've always tried to live my life by not under-estimating anyone.'' She agrees with a growing number of Bermudians that the Island's hotel standards have slipped away from its once stellar reputation. But she says that it may have come as a result of cash-strapped hotels cutting costs.

She believes that more could be done to get more young people in the hotel industry. She suggests that more scholarships could be one key to a winning formula.

Mrs. Harvey said: "There aren't too many scholarships in this industry, and I think that anything that can get people studying in other countries would be good, giving people the experience of other places.

"And, I mean scholarships given from outside of the industry, too. It doesn't necessarily have to come from the hotels, or at least not totally. I know that it is expensive to arrange such things and I'm not so sure that the hotels will be able to foot the bill.'' Married to Mr. Llewellyn Harvey, they are two of the three partners in the popular restaurant, Once Upon A Table, that employs 14.

She calls the restaurant her "hobby'', being too busy overseeing Surf Side.

Right now, the property is in the throes of its annual refurbishment, in which they re-fit one third of the accommodations.

The Harveys have a 19-year old daughter, Paisley, who is just about to start at Grotto Bay Hotel, after obtaining an associates degree in Hotel and Restaurant management.

And if that sounds too perfect for a hotelier mother and restaurateur father, Mrs. Harvey insists her daughter made up her own mind.

"My daughter is not one of those people who you can push very easily. We knew, though, that her personality was suited to this business.

"She is joining the management team at Grotto Bay and working through the departments, giving her a grounding in the various areas.'' BRYONY HARVEY -- She notes that smaller hotel properties often have a different set of problems from the larger ones, especially if profitability is the bottom line.