Harbour resort for the last time.

And hours later, the remaining few Marriott staff will hand over the keys to Bermuda Properties Ltd. as the hotel once again becomes simply the Castle Harbour hotel.

At 12.01 a.m., Bermuda Properties will be patrolling the empty corridors and rooms, whilst any property with a Marriott logo on it will be stacked high in the ballroom, prior to shipment back to the US.

The final closing of the doors has been a long and drawn out affair, with rumours abounding for years before the final announcement came last year. And many staff are happy the end has come.

Some will stay on to assist in the mammoth operation to close up the 400 room hotel but most of the 370 staff will have left by today. They will only return to pick up their final cheques.

The hotel was busy right up until its final day, with some guests getting one last visit to the hotel they loved -- and many calling up trying in vain to book one last stay in the place where they celebrated their wedding or enjoyed their honeymoon.

Human resources director Lorrita Tucker-Simmons adds: "Guests are still calling, they want to stay one last time but we had to turn them away.

Payroll administrator Karen Santucci adds: "They have asked what went wrong, they just don't want it to close. There are a lot of memories for people.'' Those who were there during its final days wouldn't have noticed the closing down process slowly taking place, with entire floors being shut down once guests had checked out.

After the bed linen had gone, staff removed all the fittings -- phones, radios, furniture -- and shifted them to the ballroom, which is acting as the main warehouse.

Elsewhere in the premises, anything not nailed down will be taken to the ballroom, where it will await its next destination -- back to the US to Marriott HQ in Florida or wherever BPL decide.

Files, carrying 13 years of Marriott in Bermuda, will be burnt and unwanted furniture will be given to staff.

Once the corridors are quiet, everything left, from cups and saucers to laundry, will be counted and stacked in the ballroom on a precise grid system -- which incidentally, was used for the last time on Saturday.

Ms Tucker-Simmons adds: "We have to take stock of all the owner's assets, which is a monumental task.'' Staff have also had to make decisions such as deciding whether to order food supplies or just let stocks run down -- and then arranging what to do with the remaining items.

"Every little detail has been thought of.'' Even the computer reservation system will have to be run up until Midnight when the switch will be pulled and the equipment sent back to Florida.

And what is significant is that this is a rare occasion when Marriott have closed a hotel -- even more so that the termination has been handled totally by local staff.

No senior Marriott officials are expected at the site and on-Island staff are happy they have been able to handle the events themselves.

But Ms. Tucker-Simmons said: "They have been watching very carefully to see how we pull it off.'' The hotel's systems, air conditioning and the like, will stay running, so the buildings do not deteriorate, until a decision is made on the site's future.