Bermuda visitors saw holiday plans dented by the Island-wide power outage.

While a few tourists and business travellers cut short their plans to catch earlier than scheduled flights out, hotels reported most guests making the best of the situation by eating, drinking and lounging on the beach.

?I am always amazed in these situations how guests do take it. The human species is a funny thing, they complain about the silly things but when push comes to shove they say ?oh well?,? said Hamilton Princess general manager Ian Powell, whose hotel caters mainly to business guests.

The Hamilton Princess and several South Shore hotels including the Reefs, the Southampton Princess, Elbow Beach and the Wyndham Resort, all said rooms were fully booked making it that much more difficult to handle the power outage as each was catering to hundreds of guests.

Some hotels ran generators but said the power created was insufficient to do much more than light hallways and stairwells.

Hotels across the Island reported that electrical power was restored in the afternoon and early evening.

At the Hamilton Princess, Mr. Powell said he and his staff got through the trying situation by making sure ?people are fed and watered?.

That included laying on a complimentary continental breakfast and buffet lunch for guests. Other hotels reported similar efforts, including beach barbecues and a free all-day soft drinks policy.

A few business guests opted to fly home early after meetings were cancelled and it looked like it was going to be difficult to conduct any work from here, Mr. Powell said.

At least one other hotel ? Cambridge Beaches ? reported one party departing early because of the power problems.

Located on the West End of the Island a spokesperson for the hotel said power was restored just after noon, as did east end hotel Grotto Bay.

At the Hamilton Princess yesterday morning guests were holding up bravely without some fairly basic amenities; tea was available but not coffee, telephones were out of service save for a single bank of payphones lit by an attendant with a flashlight, and there was no running water in guest bathrooms.

?Guests can?t shower but we have two pools ? one fresh water ? so guests can have a refreshing dip,? Mr. Powell said.

The hotel?s 410 rooms were all taken, with the Princess? guest count standing around 630. Last night a front desk receptionist said that electricity came back on in the early evening.

Another South Shore hotel ? the Reefs ? yesterday faced similar water worries for its 160 guests.

General manager Neal Stephens told early in the day that the hotel?s osmosis plant was not working.

He was concerned that fresh water supplies could run out, and generators that were pumping water from the hotel well to flush toilets and keep refrigerators running would only run as long as gasoline supplies lasted.

?I had someone riding around this morning looking for gas ? nothing,? he said.

David Dodwell, owner of the Reefs and part owner of newly-opened west end hotel 9 Beaches, said last night power was restored to both properties by early evening and everything was ?back to normal?.

?When you have short outages guests are understanding. We created a happy atmosphere; people had lunch and went down to the beach,? said Mr. Dodwell.

?Power was restored by dinner time; that is when everyone really wants a shower and to have a nice meal.?

Southampton Princess general manager Norman Mastalir said his hotel organised a buffet breakfast and an early-evening barbecue for guests who had been ?amazing? despite having to go without some basics, including the hotel?s air conditioning system being down.

?They are doing everything they can for us,? said Tom Rowland, 28, who was visiting from the UK. He praised the Southampton Princess staff for keeping the panic low and the emphasis on holiday high.

?They made sure they got us breakfast and now we?re off to do our washing the way we like it; in the sea.

?We didn?t come here to watch TV and sit in a hotel room, however nice, a bit of sand and sun and water will be great.

?And if I can lose my wife and kids, then I might sneak on to the golf course a little later.?

He was not the only guest with golf on the mind. An American visitor was also caught heading for the course, saying that was the best way ?to make the most it.?