the most extensive and, at $25 million, costly restorations ever carried out at a Bermuda hotel.

It was also one of the fastest.

"The entire project had to be completed in just five months, in order to avoid closing the hotel during peak season,'' said John Jefferis, former general manager of the hotel and now managing director of the Elbow Beach Hotel and Development Company, which owns the hotel and developed the property.

"That's extremely fast-track for a project of this magnitude,'' he said. "We completely gutted the building -- took it back to the bare bones and began again.'' Chairman of the company is Mr. John D. Freitag and Mr. John J. Murphy is the third director, and both men are based in Reston, Virginia. Mr. Freitag visited the property almost every week during the construction programme and was instrumental in the decision to further upgrade the scope of works. One of the most major changes to the hotel was the addition of a brand-new sprinkler system, which Mr. Jefferis described as "an enormous undertaking -- retrofitting a sprinkler system is always a potential nightmare.'' Such a fire protection system would be required by law within the next year or so, he explained, so the decision was made to install it during the major refit they had already planned to do. They are also glad to be able to alleviate the safety fears of many guests who inquire in advance about fire prevention measures.

"Fire Department representatives were in attendance on a daily basis to ensure everything was done properly,'' Mr. Jefferis said. The sprinkler system was installed by Air Care Ltd., which also completely refurbished the air conditioning system.

The construction project as a whole was carried out by Sealand Construction Ltd., while Californian consulting project director Mr. Charles Lee was instrumental in producing the final designs of the property, both architecturally and in the interior design. He was the driving force behind the project, and made all critical design decisions.

Visitors familiar with the old Elbow Beach will first be struck by the dramatic new pillared Palladian-style entrance. The Regency theme of the entrance, said Mr. Jefferis, is echoed throughout the design and feel of the overall renovations.

The lobby area has been dramatically altered -- it includes the lobby which was refurbished and re-built 18 months ago, giving it 3,000 feet of new lobby space.

"We wanted to create a more spacious, elegant area,'' Mr. Jefferis said. "It includes beautiful white oak panelling that has been used throughout the property but most extensively in the lobby, and which was all hand-finished by Triple-R Painting. On the floor is beautiful green Travertino marble imported from Italy -- it's one of the best marbles you can buy.'' That marble can also be seen outside the front doors, where the green marble is installed in a diamond pattern alternating with another moonstone-coloured marble. Hanging from the ceiling are spectacular hand-cut crystal chandeliers, and set in pride of place in the lobby is a gorgeous $50,000 gilt-encrusted, marble-topped table.

Beyond the lobby is the Orangerie lounge, which has also been completely refurbished with oak panelling, more chandeliers and new Chesterfield-style couches, along with completely new carpeting and window hangings. The library and bar have also been treated to redecoration in the Regency-period style.

All 301 of the hotel's guest rooms were completely gutted: deluxe marble bathrooms with cut-glass fittings were installed and the rooms were outfitted with custom-made Drexel furniture. There are two distinct colour schemes -- a mint-green and gold, and a royal blue and gold, both of which add a richness and luxury to every room. Each room has a mini-bar and a television (fed by a 12-channel satellite system) hidden away in an elegant storage cabinet.

The walls are lined with a special silk-style vinyl wall covering that adds an attractive and finished touch to each room. The wall covering caused something of a hiccup during the renovation, however, when Immigration problems developed with the chief installer's family and he eventually left. For several weeks the issue received considerable attention in local newspapers, but despite the difficulties, the hotel owners decided to continue with the installation, Mr. Jefferis said.

"In spite of the problems regarding the vinyl installation, because of the importance of that facet of the design the owners decided to stay with it -- in addition to the positive impact it has on the investment in the hotel, it also offered Bermudians considerable entertainment during the winter!''One part of the restoration project Mr. Jefferis is particularly proud of is the rebirth of the Fritholme Mansion -- a magnificent old Bermuda-style house on the Elbow Beach property.

"It was originally the Frith family house, but it had fallen into disrepair and was uninhabited for a number of years,'' he explained.

"We have restored it to its former glory as part of the renovations. We replaced the original wood flooring, and the windows, added marble bathrooms, a large-screen TV room and much more, and it is really beautiful.'' The four-bedroom house will be rented out to families or groups wanting privacy and use of the hotel's amenities, for between $40,000 and $50,000 a month.

Over the front door of the house is a seahorse emblem, which symbolises the large numbers of seahorses that once inhabited the waters of Elbow Beach. Many years ago the seahorse was adopted as the hotel's logo, although a top hat and cane were added later to give it a classier look.

Despite the costly renovations and the hotel's upgraded image and facilities, the cost of a room at the Elbow Beach has not risen accordingly. This year the only rate increase was inflation-related. The owners feel the money invested into the property will be returned many times over, with visitors returning again and again to the newly transformed property.

"Even prior to its metamorphosis, the hotel was consistently the most popular on the Island in terms of occupancy, and with this enhancement of the physical plant we expect to get an even larger market share,'' predicted Mr. Jefferis.

Mr. John Jefferis PILLARED ENTRANCE -- A striking new look for the Elbow Beach Hotel begins with the brand new pillared entrance.

PRIDE OF PLACE -- The Elbow Beach Hotel's trademark seahorse overlooks the entrance to the South Shore hotel after its $25 million face-lift.