I first went to the enchanting island of Bermuda back in 2005. I stayed at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess Hotel. It had a great location but was in need of some renovations. Fast-forward to present day and I just left my 4th trip to Bermuda and once again stayed at the Hamilton Princess. It was like a completely different hotel and the perfect place to stay for a Bermuda weekend getaway.

Bermuda is less than 2 hours flight from New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, Atlanta and a few other US gateway cities plus they fly to Canada and London Gatwick as well. Technically, it is a British crown dependency but operates as an independent nation so to speak. It is pristine. It is gorgeous. It is relaxed and again Bermuda is the perfect place for a weekend getaway.

There are a lot of nice hotels in Bermuda and there are even two Fairmont’s; which are no longer affiliated with each other. I have stayed at both twice and I much prefer the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club because of its location. You are in the middle of Hamilton, the capital city where all the action is, but you feel like you’re away on a tropical island-which you are.

The newly renovated rooms are pretty awesome and very well set-up to get work done or do absolutely nothing at all. The redone lobby and lobby bar are a nice place to chill out and have a few dark and stormy’s but the highlight to me of the new Hamilton Princess is the restaurant Marcus.

Marcus Samuelsson of Iron Chef and many other chef shows fame is the founder of the Harlem smash hit restaurant, Red Rooster. He opened up Marcus recently in Bermuda and it was truly awesome-and not just because I had my own personalized menu!

I was fortunate to actually eat next to Marcus and he couldn’t have been a nicer guy who happened to be celebrating his birthday that night! The food itself was awesome. The iron skillet steak was my favorite but you can’t go wrong with anything on the menu from meats to fresh fish like wahoo and you will be full-I promise you that!

I also have to say that while Bermuda is very high on my list of the 30 best islands in the world, the service and attention to detail by the staff at the Hamilton Princess was second to none. Yes the hotel knew I was coming and that I work with Fairmont Hotels and Resorts but they went to lengths that I’ve never seen hotels go to.

The personalized towels, menus, bathing suit, drinking glasses and my personal favorite-a bottle of local rum emblazoned with my name and logo were amazing! I was floored by the thoughtfulness. I once got a personalized book at the Raffles Istanbul and I thought that was amazing-which it was. But the Hamilton Princess took it to another level and I thank them for that-they have a fan for life!

The Hamilton Princess is about 15-20 minutes from everywhere on the island. My first stop was a scenic flight with Blue Sky Flights out by the main airport. It was in an old school Skyhawk 3 seater. It was awesome and easily the best way to see Bermuda to really get the lay of the land.

Bermuda is sort of a hook shape and you can really grasp the geography from 1000 feet up flying slowly. It didn’t even bother me that my door was unlocked for the first ten minutes of the flight! That said, the views of the South Coast where all the famous beaches are was tremendous.

I also got a birds eye view of Hamilton and the new area they’re building for the America’s Cup race in 2017. If you get a good pilot like I had, he’ll also point out famous residents’ houses like Mike Bloomberg and Silvio Berlusconi amongst others. Let’s just say they didn’t suck and they weren’t small!

After the flight, my awesome driver Clinton, whose family has been in Bermuda since 1760 and who’s literally related to everyone on the island, brought me to the Crystal Caves. I have been to a lot of caves in my day including recently in Nauru and my favorites in Carlsbad Caverns National Park but Crystal Caves had great colors.

The rest of the time on Bermuda was spent relaxing. Whether it was the beach, the incredible infinity pool or the Hamilton Princess private sunset dinner cruise on an amazing yacht, I left my Bermuda weekend getaway relaxed, happy and excited to go back again soon.

Bermuda is as good as it gets as far as islands go especially for anything remotely close to the east coast of the United States. Bermuda is better than any Caribbean Island without question and really rivals Maui and Lord Howe Island, Australia for overall excellence. But the 2-hour flight is the clincher. There’s no reason not to go to Bermuda now! Trust me, you won’t regret a Bermuda weekend getaway.

Disclaimer: My stay at The Hamilton Princess is the second in an ongoing campaign with Fairmont Hotels and Resorts; which will take me around the world to several different Fairmont properties. I receive financial compensation for these stays and my stays are fully hosted. All opinions expressed are solely my own, based on my personal experiences, and have not been influenced in any way.

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