The Fairmont Hamilton Princess
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| Fairmont Hamilton Princess | |
| Hotel facts and statistics | |
|---|---|
| Location | Hamilton, Bermuda |
| Opening date | January 1, 1885 |
| Management | Fairmont Hotels and Resorts |
| Owner | Fairmont Hotels and Resorts |
| No. of rooms | 400+ |
| Website | www.fairmont.com/hamilton |
The Fairmont Hamilton Princess (generally known as the The Princess) is one of the grandest and most famous hotels in Hamilton, Bermuda. It also happens to be the oldest hotel in the Fairmont chains. One of the largest in Bermuda it has over 400 rooms. It is one of two Fairmont Hotels on the island, the second being the Fairmont Southampton which was originally opened as the Southampton Princess.
[edit] History
The Fairmont Hamilton Princess ("The Princess" to most locals) opened its doors on January 1, 1885. Bermuda had gained international recognition two years earlier in 1883 when Princess Louise, the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria, visited for a winter retreat and called it a place of eternal spring. When the hotel opened, it was named The Princess in honor of the royal visit some years earlier.
Harley Trott, a leading businessman at the time and head of Trott & Cox, the steamship agents and purveyors of meat for the British military, was determined to build a hotel that would attract affluent Americans, who would summer in the Berkshires and winter in Bermuda.
From the moment it opened, The Princess was considered the gem of the island. With long shady verandas and a blue slate roof, the four-story building comprised 70 rooms, each equipped with gas lights, hot and cold running water and a five-inch mirror to allow guests to primp before stepping out for the night. Staff dressed in white jackets and waving pink handkerchiefs greeted luxury liners.
As word got out, celebrities started to appear. Mark Twain, a regular at the hotel, loved to smoke cigars on the veranda and wartime guest Ian Fleming is said to have used its fish tank-lined Gazebo Bar as a motif in his novel, Dr. No.
In 1939, when the world went to war, The Fairmont Hamilton Princess was under British Censorship and home to Allied servicemen. The basement became an intelligence center and way station where all mail, radio and telegraphic traffic bound for Europe, the U.S. and the Far East were intercepted and analyzed by 1,200 censors, before being routed to their destination. Rumor has it that it was nicknamed 'Bletchley-in-the-Tropics' after the English country house where the Enigma code was broken.
The years brought changes and in 1959, American tanker billionaire Daniel Ludwig purchased the hotel. As part of the deal to build a new luxury hotel - The Fairmont Southampton on the south shore - The Fairmont Hamilton Princess was renovated: a new wing built and lounges added.
The hotel was sold as part of a seven property deal by the British Lonmin plc on June 11, 1998 to the Canadian Pacific Railway for a combined price of GBP 331.75 million. The seven hotels were later spun off into the Fairmont Hotels and Resorts company, which presently owns and manages the hotel. The Princess is the oldest hotel in the chain.
Recently renovated, the distinctive pink hotel continues to prosper as Bermuda's only urban resort.
