The owners of the Fairmont Hamilton Princess hotel are conducting a feasibility study to decide if fractional hotel units are the way forward. Bermuda Resorts Limited, which has owned the company since 2007, said recent legislation had spurred them on.

The legislation allows exempt companies to buy fractional units on hotel properties and also waives the purchase fee on the units, making Bermuda more competitive. It was passed in the Senate nearly two weeks ago with both parties supporting it.

Laurent Poole, CEO of Bermuda Resorts Limited, said: "We are excited about the opportunity that the new legislation offers and we commend the Government for introducing it. These changes may allow our property to expand the inventory of luxury hospitality units and offer even more accommodation options to the Island."

He added that during the next six months the company would be doing a feasibility study and conducting focus groups to see if fractional units, which allow tourists to stay for prolonged periods of time in a condo on hotel property, were something their clients wanted.

"We have heard from companies that it is expensive to keep employees in hotels for long term stays and they would like other options," he said. "We have heard this, but not in a major way, so we want to go out and get some more feedback. Some of the other hotels [building fractionals] are focused on the second home market. We are more interested in providing for international companies."

He added that if it went ahead they would most likely be marketing a different product to what other hotels are doing.

Mr. Poole said the company has already been focusing heavily on business visitors.

"In the last three years we have invested $23 million into upgrading the hotel," he said. "We have invested in staff training. We want to be one of the top 50 business hotels in the world.

"Our customer is someone who travels to Geneva, New York and London for business and they are used to a certain standard so we are trying to live up to that."

He estimated that the company would spend six months looking at whether or not fractionals were a good fit for them. If they were the company would then begin the process of designing the units.

"The Fairmont Hamilton Princess is a natural choice for luxury living in Bermuda and we will be working closely with Government and international companies in the coming months to study the options of introducing a world-class offering," he said.

Mr. Poole joined a list of hoteliers who supported the legislation including David Dodwell, of The Reefs and 9 Beaches, John Jefferis, of Coco Reef Resort, Kevin Petty, of Newstead, and Ed Trippe, of Tuckers Point.

The Department of Tourism did not respond to a request for comment.