a terror ordeal at the hands of a nighttime robber.

The couple woke up in the early hours to find the crook about four feet from them in their room at Cambridge Beaches.

The man immediately fled through the bathroom window, taking with him a leather briefcase, the couple's passports and some jewellery, including earrings. The haul was worth about $4,000.

Mr. and Mrs. Ellis, who live in Britain, have now loosed off a catalogue of complaints about Cambridge Beaches, including: There was no grill across their bathroom window, through which the robber slipped into the room; Their room had no safe; The Front Desk was unmanned at night, resulting in a delay before they could get help; Requests before the incident to move to another room proved fruitless; The tone of management appeared brusque; and Inadequate warnings were given to guests about the dangers of crime.

Hotel managing director the Hon. Michael Winfield, however, has strongly defended the way his staff handled the robbery, saying they went out of their way to help, ringing the Immigration Department about the couple's passports, and even booking them into another cottage colony.

"I called up the Police Commissioner Mr. Colin Coxall myself to tell him what happened. We have done everything we could.'' Mr. Winfield, a former Government senator, stressed management effectively tore up the couple's bill for four days stay at the property. "They paid nothing on departure.'' And he said hotel security had been tripled recently, and lighting in the area increased dramatically.

Cambridge Beaches, however, could not be blamed for a surge in crime which was hitting the Island's tourism industry, he added.

"It is deeply upsetting and I can sympathise with those who are affected by this sort of crime.'' Mr. Winfield said his guests, including Mr. and Mrs. Ellis, were warned about crime on checking in.

But, despite the warning, the bathroom window through which the robber entered had not been properly secured, he claimed.

The robbery occurred shortly after 1.30 a.m. last Tuesday. Police spokesman P.c. Gary Venning said it was under "active investigation''.

Mr. Ellis, who has dual British and Canadian citizenship, said his wife stayed two nights by herself in the room, before he flew to Bermuda to join her.

"I don't think it was a suitable room for a single woman.'' Mrs. Ellis said the room was on the extreme edge of Cambridge Beaches, bordering bushes and trees, and the lighting in the area was poor.

But requests to move to another room were in vain, she claimed.

"Once the incident occurred all kinds of other rooms suddenly became available.'' The couple believed the robber entered their room by cutting through the netting outside the bathroom window.

"There really should be a grill across the window,'' said Mrs. Ellis, who claimed she was suffering from the effects of shock.

After the robbery, the couple moved to Pink Beach Club & Cottage Colony, maintaining they were "rather bundled'' out of Cambridge Beaches.

One bright spot in their ordeal, they said, was the attitude of the Police.

"They have been very helpful,'' said Mr. Ellis.

Mr. Winfield reckoned Cambridge Beaches had lost about $2,500 "plus another four nights'' by wiping out the couple's bill.

Such crimes, often carried out by people seeking to satisfy a drug habit, had to be dealt with severely in Bermuda, he added.

"We have written in the past to the Premier and the Governor about it.''