BACKGROUND:

We were married at The Reefs last year and returned this year for our first anniversary. Our stay was lovely and enjoyable as expected, and the pampering and personal attention at The Reefs is a rarity for Bermuda. We wanted a low key and relaxing location where there was a lot of peace and quiet and pressure-free downtime. If you are looking for a lot of action, clubs, bar scene, and entertainment then perhaps The Reefs (and Bermuda in general) may not be for you. If you want a romantic intimate spot where you can spend a lot of quality alone time with your loved one, eat like a king, and enjoy breathtaking views, then The Reefs is perfect!

I think travelers need to realize beforehand that Bermuda is an elegant place and is not your stereotypical cheesy/turista tropical/Caribbean vacation getaway spot like Mexico or the Bahamas (where there are "Margaritaville" restaurants all over the place, music blasting). The island is expensive everywhere (perhaps bc of it's British/European lineage) and there are no "deals," period. So while the Reefs minimum room rates of $500/night seems high for what you're getting room-wise, after gourmet 5-course meals are included and hotel facilities, it's actually not a bad deal.

ROOMS:

You aren't going to get a fancy room at The Reefs unless you book a suite at $800+/night. Our honeymoon suite was modern, lovely and quite large with a step-down balcony, sitting area, and huge jacuzzi tub with separate shower. Our premiere room at $600 a night was your basic older guest room, only with a nicer view than poolside rooms. Poolside is less expensive for the same quality of room. We did have some ants in our room, but ants are everwhere in Bermuda, and were gone after we told the front desk. Interestingly, our honeymoon suite did not have the ants. The rooms seem to be sporatic as far as which are renovated and which are not. Our room was a bit disappointing this year after last. But like anything, you get what you pay for.

Another thing to keep in mind is that taxes and service fees (standard across the island) add about $100 more onto your nightly stay. So a $500 room is really $600/night. These aren't hidden charges, as other reviewers have noted, but the standard room tax that all hotels must charge.

CLIENTELE:

Bermuda is not a kiss-tourists-behinds kind of place. It's very British and not always very accomodating. The Reefs is the exception, where guests are treated like old friends (probably because many are). Because of the price and attitude, the Reefs has a very sophisticated and somewhat elite clientele, which tends to be older than a lot of "rah rah" party places like Cancun, Jamaica, etc. The Reefs is famous for it's return guests, many of whom visit year after year during the same week, so many guest rooms are booked for the following year upon checkout. We recognized several guests from our stay last year. We felt completely safe leaving our stuff on the Reefs beach and going for a swim without looking back every two seconds to check on it. We even left cameras/iPods, etc for several hours with no problem. Because it's a small resort everyone tends to know each other and keep an eye out. Non-guests stick out like sore thumbs.

ENTERTAINMENT

The nightly entertainment is good, but often sporatically attended, with couples preferring to sit outside peacefully for a drink to watch the sun set. At times there can be a crowd with some dancing, but more often then not it's a lounge-type atmosphere.

BEACH/POOL:

The beach is small but lovely, with kayaks and snorkeling gear for use free of charge. Towels are plentiful and no one hounds you about taking too many or not returning them (unlike other resorts where you have to leave a deposit for towels, get charged if you take too many or don't return them). The staff set out lounge chairs and umbrellas every morning. Claim yours early if you want a nice water-front one. The pool is also smaller, but very nice...buit into a cliff, the infinity pool literally drops down into the ocean. The hot tub is also nice and the water is changed every day so it's clean.

Again, the facilities are small and intimate. Not a multi-pool caribbean resort-type situation (there is no swim-up bar).

MAID SERVICE:

I don't know why an earlier poster complaint about maid service. Our room was always magically cleaned with fresh towels by the time we got back from breakfast to change for the beach (10am).

And again for turndown service after dinner (9pm). There were always plenty of towels (we were even left extras without asking) and we arrived to complementary bottled water, godiva chocolates, ginger beer, and rum! The godivas were a nice touch!

FOOD:

The food at The Reefs is outstanding compared to other hotels on the island. So not be fooled by the dinearound option! We made the mistake of doing the dinearound last year to Cambridge Beaches and were sooooo disappointed, feeling like we wasted a gourmet sit-down Reefs dinner on a (gasp!) buffet! This year things were a bit different because of the renovations. We arrived just as the two new restaurants opened, so we were able to eat at Coconuts, Ocean Echo and Roystons. We assume the Reefs was still working out some of the kinks.

Coconuts is the same as it has been...more tropical-fusion style cooking with a variety of seafood and meat entrees. The view is unparalleled. Our meals at Coconuts were generally good, but some of the items were hit or miss (e.g., the first night we ate there the calamari was soggy and cold, the last night of our stay the calamari was crispy and superb, but coconut shrimp special was soggy).

Breakfast is also served at Coconuts, and was fantastic, with a large variety of options and made-to-order breakfast selections, in addition to a buffet of fresh pasteries, fruits, cereals, yogurt, etc.

Ocean Echo is the weakest of the three restaurants. we were disappointed that the hotel eliminated the al fresco outside dining option at Ocean Echo, which was amazing last year. The meal was pretty unmemorable, with a variety of seafood and meat options. I remember it was OK, but not as good as Coconuts or Roystons. Though the Bermuda Fish chowder was exceptionally good.

Roystons was a nice alternative. It used to be the steakhouse Grill 56, but is now more of an Asian-fusion style bistro with a partial open kitchen, to see the chefs in action. The menu selections were similar to Ocean Echo, but prepared with more creative flare and pizzaz. We enjoyed Roystons, and wish we had booked a reservation there again instead of Ocean Echo.

Overall, there seemed to be a lot of duplicate menu items between Coconuts, Ocean Echo, and Roystons, which is different from years past where each restaurant had it's own dining experience. E.g., Coconuts had lobster ravioli as a "special" one night...then the lobster ravioli showed up again at Roystons the next night. Lots of repeats on fish, too..mahi, cod and rockfish being the most repetitive, along with similar soups, etc. We imagine this was because the restaurants had just opened and were still firming up their menus.

There was not quite the same range of dining experiences, since all the restaurants served similar fare.

But...the food is VERY good and very gourmet and flavorful. You will get a 4 or 5 course meal with appetizer, soup, salad, entree, dessert, none of which will disappoint. This is so much better than the other hotels which include dinner, but usually in the form of a buffet, rather than made-to-order.

We were stuffed after every meal!

DRINKS:

Drinks at The Reefs are not included and are very expensive. Your cheapest bottle of wine is around $45, and a glass of wine starts around $12. Soft drinks are also not included, and run about $4 a glass. So be wary...these charges can really start to add up. Even a non-alcoholic pina coladed was over $7. Dinner on the beach is $100 extra...save the money and ask to sit on the deck at coconuts. The menu and experience are the same and you won't pay a cent more.

LOCATION:

The Reefs is at a great location on the South Shore, close to Horseshoe Bay beach. If you aren't traveling by scooter, there is a bus stop directly across the street from the hotel. There is not much within walking distance of the hotel (other than what is on site) so if you need to pick up groceries or want to go off-site for lunch, etc., you will need a scooter, taxi or bus ride.

SUMMARY:

We enjoyed our stay at The Reefs thoroughly and will definitely return. However, due to the expensive price tag and the 5-night minimum, we may have to limit our stays to very special occasions like major anniversaries or birthdays. We recommend this hotel highly for Bermuda bound travelers who want a luxury, low-key, vacation, and don't mind running into hotel guests (because of the small size, it's hard to be anonymous). But...in a way it's nice because the staff know you by first name, too.

The experience, food, staff, and location are superb. We LOVE the Reefs!