Hamilton Princess & Beach Club history

Although air service to Bermuda began in 1937, two years before the declaration of war, the flying boats that operated to Darrell's Island were few, and their seats were limited.

In 1939, when the world went to war, The Fairmont Hamilton Princess was under British Censorship and home to Allied servicemen.

In 1959, American tanker billionaire Daniel K. Ludwig purchased the hotel.

As part of the deal to build a new luxury hotel - The Southampton Princess - The Princess was renovated: the last parts of the original wooden structure were replaced with masonry in 1962, and the cottage colony was levelled and a new Pitt's Bay wing built and lounges added.

Although replaced by a new Bermudiana Hotel, the long decline of Bermuda's visitor industry led to its closure (it was sold in 1993 and levelled, the site being redeveloped as office space, including the ACE and XL buildings).

Both Bermudian hotels were sold as part of a seven-property deal by the Lonrho Plc subsidiary, Lonmin plc, which transferred the Princess Hotels Group on 11 June 1998 to the Canadian Pacific Railway for a combined price of GBP 331.75 million.

The seven hotels of the Princess Hotels Group at first continued as a wholly owned subsidiary of CPH, but were later merged into the Fairmont Hotels and Resorts group, as Canadian Pacific Hotels and Resorts was renamed in 2001.

On 11 May 2006, an agreement for the acquisition of Fairmont Hotels and Resorts by Kingdom Hotels International and Colony Capital LLC for US$4.5 billion was announced.

2016: Now known as the “Hamilton Princess & Beach Club,” the resort completed a massive rehabilitation at the behest of Fairmont Hotels and Resorts.