The season to be merry brought a smile -- however faint -- to the faces of hoteliers.

Many received the Christmas gift they expected as hotel bookings stayed in line with last year.

Guests staying here over the holiday were put in seasonal mood as hotels laid on fun-filled programmes of entertainment.

Now hoteliers' hopes are high of a traditional surge in bookings during the lead-up to New Year's Day.

Yesterday The Royal Gazette carried out a brief survey on how hotels had fared this festive season.

Some hoteliers were reluctant to put too good a gloss on their performance for fear of becoming targeted by thieves.

Typical of many smaller hotels was The Reefs in Southampton.

Christmas occupancy levels at the South Shore Road property remained between 65 and 75 percent, according to manager Mr. Neal Stephens.

"It's been a pretty normal Christmas, not bad, and certainly no worse than normal,'' he said. "We are sold out for New Year's Day.'' As with other hotels, The Reefs provided some festive fun for guests staying in Bermuda over Christmas.

Said Mr. Stephens: "Every night we had some entertainment, such as performances by different bands.'' Mr. Stephens said a big New Year's Eve celebration was also planned.

A similar picture was painted at Horizons & Cottages in Paget.

Manager Mr. Wilhelm Sack said the hotel had a very busy Christmas, on a level with last year.

"We had a special Christmas programme with a performance by some local singers,'' he said. "On Christmas Day we also provided a typical lunch all afternoon.'' Mr. Sack expected to be very busy over the New Year.

The Mermaid Beach Hotel in South Road, Warwick, was "not all that busy'' over Christmas, according to general manager Mr. Jon Feldman.

"It has been fairly quiet, about the same as last year. We still have a few vacancies, although it always starts getting really busy from December 27 onwards.

"It usually changes a lot in a few days. We get a lot of people coming here on December 28 and 29, who don't check out until January 1 or 2.'' Mr. Feldman said Mermaid Beach provided a festive package of entertainment for "in-house guests and locals''.

"We will be having a New Year's Eve gala dance.'' Mr. Mike Winfield, manager of Cambridge Beaches in King's Point Road, Somerset, said: "We've done reasonably well over the Christmas period and are looking forward to a very busy New Year.

"I suppose we've done about the same as last year so far, although I am not going to tell you what our occupancy rates have been.'' Mr. Winfield said the hotel's seasonal offering for guests included a dance and a banquet.

"We had a traditional Christmas tree, and Santa Claus also arrived. We tried to keep everything in the Christmas spirit.'' Elbow Beach Hotel manager Mr. Horst Finkbeiner said: "Christmas has not been too bad for us.

"I wasn't here last year but I think we've done a little better this year.'' Mr. Stephen Barker, president of the Bermuda Hotel Association, said he was not in a position to comment.