A top hotel's main restaurant yesterday came off the bill of fare -- with eight staff losing their jobs and another 16 employees' positions thrown into doubt.

The news that Elbow Beach Hotel's 450-seat Ondine's restaurant was to close its doors and be reopened as a conference and a function suite was broken to staff yesterday.

A total of eight jobs will disappear altogether, with a further 16 staff being offered retraining in a la carte or catering service within the hotel.

Elbow Beach general manager Bill Shoaf said five expatriate chefs, two Bermudian maintenance staff and one landscape gardener, married to a Bermudian, had been paid off.

In addition three Bermudian captains -- offered redundancy or retraining as waiters -- have opted to go, while four expatriate waiters have said they will quit and return home.

Elbow Beach general manager Bill Shoaf said: "I think it came as a total surprise to some and the others, it's never the news you want to hear, but we are trying to handle it as humanely as possible.

"In the case of those offered alternatives, most of them were pleased with the idea of something else.

"The facility they worked in never really performed well, so they can go somewhere else where there is continuous, long-term business for them. We have given them to the end of the week to make up their minds.'' Mr. Shoaf said the change in policy was brought about by a shift in the market.

He explained: "The real problem is that Ondine's was designed decades ago when all the big hotels had these massive modified American plan dining rooms where everybody ate and were served hundreds at a time.

"Now people want a la carte service and a choice of restaurants -- people aren't looking for this kind of a restaurant any more.'' Mr. Shoaf said that while business at Ondine's had dropped, the hotel had a 21 percent increase in group business and the catering side had grown by more than 40 percent.

He added: "Ondine's is a relic. It's one of these things people don't do any more.

Restaurant shut down "We have to look at the assets we have to see how we can serve the guests better and do a better job for the welfare of the Country,'' he said.

"What we do have is a really great space with really great views of the ocean.

"As Bermuda re-engineers its tourism, it has to look at all its facilities and try to be pragmatic about what the future guest wants and adapt products and services to fit the needs.'' Mr. Shoaf stressed that the hotel's owners had pledged to keep the property open.

He said: "That does not carry a small price tag. They will spend $2.4 million in the beginning of the year to keep it open. That's a good investment and we're happy with it. It's not everybody who would do it, but we're lucky -- they're good owners.'' Last night Bermuda Industrial Union president Derrick Burgess -- who has had talks with Elbow Beach management -- said the BIU was never happy to hear about redundancies.

He added: "We think about the families and also that in Bermuda right now, jobs are not that plentiful. People say there are jobs out there, but moving from a hotel to, for example, construction after 30 years in hotels isn't easy.'' But Mr. Burgess said: "We must remain competitive and we must upgrade our plant -- but at the same time we have to think about the welfare of Bermudians and other workers.

"But the difference between a Bermudian and a guest worker is that the guest worker has a choice -- the Bermudian doesn't.'' He declined to discuss what options the union might have in dealing with the news.

He added: "We have to say that, where Bermudians are employed, we are not opposed to people setting up shop. This Country thrives on outside investment.

But it also has to thrive on the people who are Bermudian -- and then the guest workers.''