for 25 years, 12 of them in the pantry.

Instinctively you know that, as nice as she is, she is not a lady to take any nonsense.

Dedicated and hard-working, she expects everyone to pull their weight and be polite.

"I try to keep the boys in order,'' she admits of her male colleagues, "but boys will be boys.'' Up every morning at five, Mrs. Smith cycles to her job rain, blow or shine.

Once there, from 6 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. she works in the pantry preparing fruit salads, fruit baskets, and whatever else is required.

"I like what I'm doing and I like working with the waiters and waitresses,'' she said.

When the Moore family owned the hotel, Mrs. Smith cooked for the band at their Southcote Road home, and also for management. In fact, she grew up cooking.

"In those days you had to -- and pull firewood to cook with!'' she exclaimed.

Asked what it took to do a job like hers, the genial Bermudian said: "You have got to like what you're doing. That's the key to success. If you don't like it you're not going to be successful.''