Tucker's Point Club's chief operating officer Eric Brooks has welcomed the number of new hotel and fractional ownership developments springing up across Bermuda.

In recent weeks the Newstead Belmont Hills Golf Resort and Spa became the first hotel to open on the Island in 35 years, while the Jumeirah Southlands resort at Morgan's Point is expected to be up and running by 2010.

And Mr. Brooks, who is overseeing the $90 million development of the new hotel and spa at the Tucker's Point Club, which is set to officially open its doors in April 2009, and gave The Royal Gazette an exclusive behind the scenes tour, believes the proliferation of resorts in Bermuda can only be a good thing for the Island's tourism industry.

"We would like to think that we led the renaissance of Bermuda tourism," he said.

"I think that it is excellent for the Island and especially good for Tucker's Point that these other hotels and resorts are coming to fruition because these will be additional works in the market place and it will reinforce Bermuda as a premier resort destination and everybody will win by that fact.

"What sets us apart is our ownership business — when you add it all up with some of the finest buildings and scenery in Bermuda, and the tennis, the dining and the fitness centre, it is an incomparable place."

The construction of the hotel is expected to be completed in October this year, with all the landscaping, furniture, fixtures and fittings, and operating equipment all in place by then.

During the winter it will be available to be previewed by club property owners and members of the golf, beach and tennis club, starting with events held in the ballroom and fine-dining restaurant on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year 2009, and followed by an a la carte dinner service in the restaurant, lounge and wine room in February next year.

The following month the 2,250 square-foot fitness centre and 12,000 square-foot spa will open up exclusively to property owners and club members, before the official opening on April 1.

"The focus is now on developing the hotel," he said. "That is really the cap stone of the development.

"I think Bermuda will feel that it has been worth the wait."

The hotel comprises the main building, Manor House, made up of 64 rooms and suites, each with a sea view of either Castle Harbour or Harrington Sound, and three villa suites, themselves consisting of four two-bedroom suites, with 22 covered parking spaces and an outdoor parking area. Rooms start at $625 during the season.

On Harbour Beach there will be a dive shop and watersports area, where PADI-certified diving courses, and sailing boat, sea kayak and windsurfer rentals will be on offer.

Guests are met by the doorman and are welcomed into the impressive lobby area complete with a library, and lounge with a woodburning fire place to relax in, while a concierge desk and reception are all within easy reach.

Further inside the building are two retail shops manned by a Bermudian retail manager and stocking high fashion and jewellery.

Outside, being returned to its original use, is a croquet lawn, leading out onto a path lined with 30-foot royal palms and a horizon pool overlooking a lush grotto at the back, with a another pool and daybeds at the front.

The spa itself, which is going to be run by Bermudian Paul Telford, who worked as a director of spa operations at two first class facilities of The Four Seasons, and is returning to the Island after seven years, contains 11 treatment rooms and is a member of the Preferred Hotel Group, joining a list of such famed properties as The Lodge at Sea Island, The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island, The Lodge at Pebble Beach, and Sandy Lane on Barbados.

Services available from the spa include massages, manicures, pedicures and hair treatments, complete with an antique barber chair where male guests can get a quick trim, as well as a shop containing spa products and resort wear, and a lawn for yoga, pilates and thai chi means that everyone's needs are catered for.

Business facilities comprise a 5,000 square-foot conference centre made up of a boardroom and ballroom to host board and executive meetings, while a business centre provides computers, translation and secretarial services.

Meanwhile, the dining area features an English long bar, a sunset terrace, a vaulted-ceiling wine room and al-fresco dining downstairs.