Owning a multi-million dollar home in Bermuda may be losing the sparkling appeal it once had for at least two embattled world leaders.

For Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose mansions sit adjacent to each other on the Tucker's Town ocean front, the prospect of jetting to Bermuda for a few relaxing days has either become an elusive fantasy or one in which indulging too often can cause public relations nightmares.

Berlusconi, who has recently become the first sitting prime minister to go on trial for corruption, has complained that he has not been able to visit his $6.99 million Island home for more than two years due to the demands of his job.

In an interview this month with the New York Times, he described the sacrifices he has had to make in order to carry out his leadership role, which he sees as a monumental struggle to keep Italy out of the hands of Communists.

“I have a sailboat but in two years I've only been on it one day. And I haven't been to my house in Bermuda for two to three years.”

It was at his Island home in the summer of 2000 that Mr. Berlusconi worked with senior advisors on a 25-point manifesto that would aid his return from exile after a seven-month stint as Prime Minister in 1994.

Since being elected again in May 2001, Mr. Berlusconi has divided Italians with controversial tax reforms, support for America during the Iraq conflict and his attempts to evade charges of corruption through the passing of laws which would make him immune from prosecution.

He is Italy's richest man, with assets of $12 billion, and has faced massive criticism for his refusal to give up control of three major television stations since becoming prime minister, a post which also puts him in charge of the state broadcaster RAI. Meanwhile, Mr. Bloomberg's popularity ratings have slipped to unprecedented depths, at least in part due to criticism that he spends too much time at his Bermuda getaway Blue Horizon. The Republican mayor's approval ratings were pegged at 32 percent in a study this month by Quinnipiac University, while only 40 per cent of New Yorkers said they would gain any pleasure from having dinner with him.

Such low esteem is seen to stem from a general feeling that Mr. Bloomberg's huge wealth makes him hard to identify with, especially during a time when residents of the Big Apple are feeling the pinch of hiked rent stabilisation and property taxes and mass public sector layoffs.

Last year, Mr. Bloomberg was taken to task for not being a “24-7 mayor” like his predecessors Ed Koch and Rudolph Giuliani, who both tried to ensure that they were seen as working ceaselessly for the city without much rest.

He faced criticism last October after he flew to Bermuda for a weekend with two of the state's top legislators for a game of golf at the Mid-Ocean Club.

At the time, the New York Times wrote: “On the agenda were the state and city's dire budgets, but any gloomy talk was surely mitigated by the trappings and the sand trap.

“Along for the trip were Sheldon Silver, the speaker of the State Assembly, Joseph L. Bruno, the Senate majority leader, and Diana Taylor, the mayor's companion, who flew on Sunday night on Mr. Bloomberg's private plane to his island estate.

“Monday was spent playing golf at the Mid Ocean Golf Club, which is considered the finest course on the island.”

Mr. Bloomberg is seen by many to be hardworking, intelligent man who is unperturbed by daily opinion polls.

Some might say that his $4.8 billion fortune raises him above suspicions that he might use his post for personal gain.

Yet, he has recently been likened to a CEO who runs the city by delegation rather than inspiring leadership.

And if the views of columnists in the New York press hold much sway, the practice of getting away to Bermuda every now and then may cause more headaches for Mr. Bloomberg than it is able to cure.