Golfing Bermuda

View from our room and par 3 course

Port Royal

Riddell's Bay

I booked the Fairmont because they had a golf package. That was the reason we went to Bermuda. There were three fine golf courses within a 15 minute drive.
 We played Port Royal, the home of the PGA Grand Slam. Many of the holes have a panoramic view of the Atlantic.  They have two tees for the ladies.  The whites' have a rating of 75.6 with a slope of 136.  The red's are 71.9 and 127.  Riddell's Bay, the oldest course on the island, was built in 1922.  It is more of a links type course with very narrow, undulating fairways.  Their red tees are 69.1/116.  And then there's a great 18 hole par 3, Turtle Hill.  Turtle Hill was right next to the Fairmont.  It is a wonderful course. It's in great shape and offers three tee boxes to choose from. We booked it for a 7:30 tee time, finished in 2 hours and 15 minutes and had plenty of time to get back to the hotel to catch our Delta 2:30 p.m. flight to Atlanta.  The hotel is beautiful. It had just undergone renovation and the rooms are in great shape. We had a deluxe ocean view room. The rate of $779 ++per day and included three rounds of golf.  There are a variety of restaurants. We tried Bacci's (Italian), Water Club (Seafood) and the bar restaurant, Jasmine's. We were only disappointed in the bar restaurant. My husband received the wrong order and the hand thrown pizza wasn't that great. The other restaurants were terrific i.e. pool side dining. The staff was superb. I don't think I've ever been anywhere where the people are nicer. I've traveled a lot so this is saying a lot. Now for the "but" part...the expense. I had been warned that Bermuda was expensive but yikes. Two Greek salads with grilled chicken and two diet cokes... $47 US plus 17% gratuity for a total of $55 US.  Then there are the taxes loaded on top of the bill, resort tax, maids' tip, energy fee etc. These added up to just a little over $100 US A DAY. In other words, be mentally prepared for these extra costs.  I posted this info on Trip Advisor and got a rather curt reply from their marketing department.  "We are a remote island" etc etc. To me a remote island isn't two and a half hours off a mainland but something like Pitcairn Island of Mutiny on the Bounty fame.  Would I go back?  Probably not unless a group of us went.  It's another check off of the old travel bucket list.   I still can't get over how nice everybody was...

http://www.tripadvisor.com/
http://www.fairmont.com/southampton-bermuda/
http://www.fairmont.com/southampton-bermuda/special-offers/hotel-offers/