We are absolutely split on our experience at Cambridge Beaches (April 30th -May 4th) – a beautiful place with some notable lows. The resort itself is stunning - a lovely collection of beautiful pink cottages, white Bermudan-style roofs, and well-maintained landscaping, on a hilly peninsula surrounded by turquoise blue water and private beaches. Most cottages are situated on bluffs overlooking the ocean or bay. In addition to the spectacular views, the cottages offer private patios and lawn areas, with their own lounge chairs and tables (make sure you order breakfast on your own patio). Our deluxe room was wonderful with a spectacular view of long bay, the sunsets, and the ocean. Everything seemed clean and in working order – perhaps a little bit worn in a few places. Any mustiness disappeared when opening the huge slider onto the patio. While the price was not cheap, we felt you just couldn’t beat the size of room, patio and spectacular views you get here. Add in the hotel’s 5 private beaches and you won’t have any trouble finding a place to be alone, lounge, and enjoy the location. Just be sure that’s truly what you want, though, because if the weather turns cool, options become limited.
CB’s location is remote – and a bit distant from most tourist attractions. The hotel does offer a twice-weekly ferry to Hamilton if you can time it right, and there is a $5 per person shuttle to the Dockyard available every hour. But beyond those (or renting a scooter), be prepared to ride the bus or use a taxi - which we found can be occasionally difficult to get (the front desk recommends an hour’s notice). If you do taxi, expect $15-$25 fares (with tip, each way) to closer attractions like Horseshoe bay, Gibbs Hill Lighthouse and the Dockyard. $30-$60 or more to further destinations like the Aquarium, Crystal Cave, Botanical Gardens, St. Georges, Hamilton, or the airport. The bus service worked just fine for sightseeing and the price is reasonable: $10 for 2 days – which also includes ferry service. Just be aware that the bus stop is a good walk (I’d estimate almost a mile) from the resort’s main house, and much of the walk back is uphill. A shuttle to the bus stop would be a nice offering.
Also, while beautiful - we never sensed the sophisticated atmosphere and first-class “remember you name” service for which Cambridge Beaches is so often credited. I will say the house staff was friendly, but it wasn’t exceptionally helpful or service oriented either. In particular, food service and dining room staff seemed scattered and inefficient.
Our trip also seemed to find the place still running in “off-season” mode – even first week of May. The “Shutters” and “Beaches” restaurants were closed, tours and evening sunset cruises were unscheduled or cancelled, leaving eating and entertainment choices few and far between. Only the main Tamarisk dining room and Port O’Call bar were open – and the bar was only open late afternoons and evenings. Port O’Call was staffed by a surely bartender (who later called our room asking if we had taken his pen!), and we rarely saw other people there – except at afternoon tea. Hopeful as we were – the restaurant attempted a high-end but fell well short. Food quality was lackluster and offered little variety - as others have noted, it tended toward “bland”. The entire dining room seemed to be executed in a large-scale, banquet-style approach – using dining room tables as bussing areas (to the dismay of nearby diners), and wine poured from a table of half-empty bottles on the buffet. A couple next to us sent back an entree saying it literally “didn’t look edible”. Desserts were identical every night and portion sizes in general seemed oddly restrained (not necessarily a bad thing). Prices were reasonable for Bermuda, but in the end I kept feeling as though I was eating at a wedding banquet or a cruise ship, rather than at a 4-star resort restaurant.
The afternoon tea offered essentially the same variety of pastries offered at breakfast (plus cucumber sandwiches), though the entire process was self-service, a far cry from classic English high tea. The included breakfast was identical day to day, choices were adqueate and the quality was fine.
Evenings offered live entertainment in the Port O’Call bar, and we were one of a small handful who regularly attended. Few people stayed longer than a drink or two. The bands made a good effort, but in fairness it can be hard to keep the atmosphere alive when playing for only 6 or 8 people. Realize too, that – at ages 45 and 46, we were clearly among the youngest people at CB. I would comfortably guess the average guest age at 60 or older, and I don’t think I saw 10 people younger than us at the resort the entire week. Again, this isn’t bad, but it does set the tone for what you can expect.
I didn’t have an opportunity to use the small workout and fitness center, the 2 treadmills were occupied when I went so I went jogging instead. My wife enjoyed the spa and said the service there was nice. The indoor pool was available, though a bit cold – and it was closed one day for a wedding. The adjacent gift shop contains some basic necessities and clothing – pricing for a sweatshirt coming in around $65 or so.
In the end, Cambridge Beaches is a beautiful resort and the facilities lovely. But from a food quality and service level perspective it didn’t live up to its reputation. It’s famous for its numerous return visitors (some as many as 50 times or more) and I can see why it’s popular with an aging population who desire exactly what they experienced last time (and the time before). On several occasions I really felt as though I were on a cruise ship: specific dinner seating times, the same dining room night after night, fixed schedules for transportation, safe-but-unexciting dinner options, friendly but not-always-top-quality service.

Cambridge Beaches April 25 – 29, 2008

Our flight was at 7:30 am. We took off on time. After about 30 to 45 minutes, the pilot said that there was something wrong with the plane and we landed back at JFK. They switched us to a different flight and we left at 10:30 am. We got to Bermuda at 1:30 pm (their time). There wasn’t a long wait for customs. It was quick and when we got outside, we had to wait on the bus for another couple. They were dropped off at Grotto Bay Resort. The bus driver was so friendly and nice. He explained everything as he was driving and showing us points of interest. The ride was about 30 to 45 minutes. By the time we got to the resort, it was around 2:30 pm or 3:00 pm.

The drive to Cambridge Beaches was beautiful. I can see why there are so many repeaters. The scenery is beautiful. Lots of flowers and the houses are so adorable with all the different colors and all the roofs are white. When we got to Cambridge Beaches, we went to the lobby and it felt like you are walking into a living room. The girls at the desk are so helpful and nice. We had room # 251 in the Les Rev building. The view outside our patio was the Mangrove Bay with all the boats. It was a great location. We were on the ground floor. Next time, I think I would like the upstairs rooms.

When we walked into the room, it had a slight musty odor. I guess it’s because the room is close to the water. It was a big room. It had a king-sized bed, two chairs to a side, small refrigerator, coffee maker, radio, CD player, TV and the bathroom had double sinks and a Jacuzzi. We just relaxed for a little while and then went for tea time. The lobby was near the restaurant and we stopped and told them about the musty odor. They send someone to take care of it. Tea time was great. They had small sandwiches, cookies and different types of pastries. I have a sweet tooth so I enjoyed tea time everyday. After that, we decided to walk and explore the place. We walked to the grocery store and bought some snacks, drinks and some alcohol to drink when we are relaxing in the room.  We had reservations for Tamarisk at 8:30 pm.

Dinner was really good. I had the lamb shank and my husband had blackened fish, I think. I don’t remember. He was definitely enjoying it. We could pre-order for the next day. They had a menu for that. We pre-ordered for Sunday. We ordered curried lamb.

On Saturday, we had breakfast. They have a lot of choices. After breakfast, we rented a scooter from Oleander Cycles. They are to the side of the property. It was $85 for one day and they don’t charge for refueling which is great. I have never been on a bike but my hubby has ridden a bike all his life. We covered the whole island. It was really windy though and after we passed the airport, we had to pull over. We felt like we were going to fall off the bike. We saw St. Catherine’s fort and stopped at Hamilton and did a little bit of shopping. After we got back, we went to the Dockyard for dinner. We ate at Freeport Seafood. The food was good. After we got back, we filled the Jacuzzi and sat in it for a while. We were sore from riding the bike the whole day.

On Sunday, we went to the Dockyard to explore. We tasted all the rum cakes and bought couple of them. We waited till the mall opened and walked around. We bought some souvenirs and then came back. We had to return the bike before 12 in the afternoon. After that, we decided to check out the spa facilities. We booked a spa treatment for the two of us for Monday afternoon. It was called Essence of the Orient (Inspired by Asian and Indian techniques, our perfumed aromatic balantines create an incredibly relaxing and soothing treatment, combining an unparalleled sensory experience.) After that, we were basically in the indoor pool and the hot tub since we couldn’t use the outdoor pool or the beach. For dinner, we had the curried lamb which was really good.

On Monday, we relaxed most of the day and then got ready for the massage. They let us use the Executive suites an hour before the massage. We did that and then went for our massage. It was incredible. For dinner, they had a buffet set up in the dining room. We had food from the buffet. When I saw the dessert, that’s all I wanted.  The food was delicious and the desserts were excellent.

On Tuesday, we had breakfast and then checked out. It was uneventful. Flight was on time. We really enjoyed Bermuda and would definitely want to visit again.

Cambridge Beaches was for us a destination wedding. With the gracious help of Nadja Talevi, Guest Services Manager and her kind assistant Whitney, it proved to be so much better than we expected!

The flight from Washington's National Airport was relatively brief, and thanks to Linda Mitchell, our wedding planner, we were met at the airport by the most appealing gentleman imaginable. He entertained us all during the thirty-minute or so drive through Hamilton and on to Cambridge Beaches.

The West-end of Bermuda was beautiful, the cottage we were assigned was luxurious and had a stunning water view, but the Cambridge Beaches staff were best of all: always smiling, very helpful, and each willing to do anything to make our stay that much more special. The meals at the Tamarisk Room were excellent, and the Spa services were divine. All-in-all a splendid week. It could not have been better, and we have Nadja Talevi especially to thank.

We travel frequently and expensively and compared to the likes of other luxury resorts this hotel looks and feels like a 3 star at best - but is priced like a true 7 star ! Don't be fooled by the website - the hotel is old, stuffy, not very clean and populated mostly by senior travellers. Most disappointing of all, while the island has amongst the best beaches in the world, the hotel mostly faces an old port and has no good beaches to offer. Stay Away!