While Bermuda spends million trying to attract visitors here, a top London hotel has turned the tables on the Island.

Management of Great Eastern Hotel, part owned by design guru Sir Terence Conran, visited Bermuda this week to try to convince business executives who frequently fly to London to use the hotel, situated in the heart of London's financial district.

The hotel, a spectacular former railway hotel built in 1879 which has been done up by Conran, already enjoys a good relationship with the financial and insurance executives on the Island.

But now director of corporate sales, Sarah Richards, is trying to convince executives when they fly to London, this is the place to stay.

"Bermuda has become an important niche market for us," said Ms Richards on her three day stop-over to the Island, between a trip to New York, Toronto and Chicago. "Our location is very attractive to business people here. We are a five minute walk from Lloyds and just blocks away from some of the most important businesses in the City of London, so we are a natural for Bermuda's business travellers."

The Victorian hotel was built after Liverpool Street Station opened during the golden age of the steam trains and even had its own sea water baths when it opened its doors.

But, as many of the sumptuous railway hotels of this era in Britain, it fell into decline, only to be rescued by a group of entrepreneurs dedicated to restoring the hotel to its former glory. Work started in 1997 and the three year refurbishment cost ?70 million, turning the decaying Victorian building into a "modern classic".

While restoring the Victorian splendour, it also injected modern architectural elements and design throughout.

The five star hotel, which has 267 bedrooms and four restaurants, is a joint venture between Conran Holdings and Wyndham International - each owns 50 percent of the venture.

But it is not the luxury or the interior which attracts many of the visitors, but the location - it is the only five star hotel in the square mile of the city of London and means business visitors do not have to trek across the city from the West End to get to their appointments.

Each room, which start at ?225 and go up to ?515 for an open suite, is also set up for the business traveller, with Internet access in every room (modem and ISDN), two line telephones, voicemail, fax machine portals as well as a business centre.

"We have all the accessories you could need to make your computer work as well," said Ms Richards. "If a visitor comes from Hong Kong, and there they have analogue telephones that do not work in the UK, we have a gadget that will fix that. What ever you need to get going with your computer, no matter where you are from... we have got it all." She said that during her visit, she had visited many insurance companies such as ACE and XL Capital as well as banks and law firms as well as all the local travel agents to let them know about the hotel.

"We have been working with British Airways who have very kindly helped with making some of the appointments," said Ms Richards. "In fact it is quite a natural partnership, as the business travellers go to London on BA, and they can then stay in our hotel."

She added: "The business we get from Bermuda is nice, regular business which is important to us, which is why I am here to see our clients. They usually come for two or three nights and we know they will come back again. It is nice to be able to take the time to see them face to face."