The best hotels in Bermuda

The pink sands and ancient forts of Bermuda’s nine parishes are most often visited as a fleeting stop on a cruise itinerary. Around four times more people step ashore for a quick look round than fly in to spend a few days properly getting to know the place. Its tiny size may indicate a destination which can be rapidly explored in just one day, but slowing down to the local pace will reveal far more to see and do than one quick glance: diving the many shipwrecks scattered across the reefs, hiking through the forests of Walsingham Nature Park on your way to discover the Crystal Caves, or exploring local art galleries will all fill a day nicely.

Like many of its neighbours further south in the Caribbean, Bermuda has a summer carnival, with a week-long program of events bringing colour and noise to the island. Various other points in the year see large events taking place – the annual cricket Cup Match in July makes a two-day local cricket match an excuse for a four-day party; October’s Bermuda Gold Cup brings world-class yacht racing to the heart of the main island, and the temperate year-round climate make it a great spot for winter sun. The melange of different cultures – African, Portuguese, West Indian, English – here makes for an exciting dining scene, of course with a lean towards locally-caught seafood. Grab yourself a mussel pie and book in to one Bermuda’s best hotels, to discover a different kind of Atlantic Island paradise.

Rosewood Tucker’s Point

Bermuda’s ultra-luxe address, Rosewood has a prized location on Castle Harbour, the sheltered waters at the heart of the Bermudan territory. This is every inch the tasteful-yet-opulent bolthole to be expected of Rosewood, with seven restaurants to serve only 88 rooms and suites, all with romantic french doors that open up onto aquamarine ocean views. Elsewhere the property has in-house racquet and water sports centres, plus mini-EV (car rental is not permitted for visitors to Bermuda) and e-bike rentals available to traverse the wider island. Snorkel around the coral gardens in the harbour – maintained thanks to Rosewood’s partnership with the Living Reefs Foundation to promote the regeneration of the natural reef – or rent one of the hotel’s own vessels to venture further out into the ocean in search of marine life. Recovery time is best spent lathered in Bermudan cedar oil at Sense, A Rosewood Spa.

Price: Rooms from around £690 per night.