British Colonial Hotel

Last updated
British Colonial Hotel
Hilton Nassau.jpg
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Location within Bahamas
General information
Location1 W Bay St, Nassau, Bahamas
Coordinates 25°4′42″N77°20′44″W / 25.07833°N 77.34556°W / 25.07833; -77.34556
OpeningJanuary 7, 1924 [1]
OwnerChina State Construction Engineering Corporation
Technical details
Floor count7
Other information
Number of rooms288
Number of suites20

The British Colonial Hotel is a historic resort hotel in downtown Nassau, Bahamas, located on the only private beach in Nassau, on the site of the Old Fort of Nassau. The hotel, originally opened in 1924, has been described as "the Grand Dame of all Nassau hotels", [2] "the most elegant and most expensive hotel in town", [3] and "the most distinctive and pleasant of the island's large hotels". [4]

Contents

History of the area

The first permanent settlement was established on what is today Nassau in 1666, when it was known as Charles town. The shallow waters, numerous surrounding islands, and proximity to major shipping lanes made the location a haven for pirates, who came to control the settlement, eventually establishing a lawless Republic of Pirates. [5] [6] In 1697 a fort, known as Fort Nassau, was built to protect the harbor, on what is now the grounds of the British Colonial Hotel. [7] In 1718 British forces, under the command of Governor Woodes Rogers, exerted control and eliminated most of the resident pirates with a combination of amnesties and hangings. Over the next two centuries, the town developed under British and American influence. In the 1880s, Greek emigration to develop the sponging industry brought more visitors and hotels. Fort Nassau remained in a state of disrepair for many years and was finally demolished in 1897. In the 1920s, Prohibition in the United States brought visitors for alcohol, and continued tourism. [8]

Hotel history

The Colonial Hotel, circa 1913 Hotel Colonial, Nassau, Bahamas (NYPL b12647398-74506).tiff
The Colonial Hotel, circa 1913

In 1900, the land was purchased by Henry M. Flagler, responsible for the Breakers Hotel in South Florida. He built an enormous hotel on the site, the Colonial Hotel, which opened in 1901. [7] On March 31, 1922 the wooden hotel burned down. [9] The Bahamian government gave a loan to the Munson Line, which purchased the land and built a brand new seven-story hotel, The New Colonial, [10] on the site within six months. The hotel celebrated its grand opening on January 7, 1924. [1]

In 1932, the hotel was purchased by Sir Harry Oakes. [11] The local legend is that Oakes bought the hotel on a whim, after experiencing bad service there. [9] Oakes renamed the hotel the British Colonial Hotel. He was a powerful man and a friend of the Duke of Windsor. [7] [12] [13] [14] He was later murdered in 1943 under mysterious circumstances (the mystery remains unresolved), which was called the "murder of the century". [15]

The hotel was bought by Florida-based Gill Hotels in 1960 [16] and became part of Sheraton Hotels in November 1962 [17] as the Sheraton British Colonial, the chain's fourth ever franchise. Sheraton operated the hotel until 1988, when it became part of Best Western Hotels as the British Colonial Beach Resort. The old hotel building was gradually closed up over the course of the 1990s, with rooms eventually operating in only a small portion of the complex. Finally, in 1997 it was purchased by RHK, who renovated it at a cost of over $90 million. [18] They completely gutted and modernized the interiors, but retained its façade of towers, galleries, and molded reliefs. The hotel reopened in October 1999, managed by Hilton Hotels, as the British Colonial Hilton Nassau. It was renovated in June 2009 at a cost of US$15 million, [19] [ dead link ]

The hotel was sold on October 24, 2014 to the China State Construction Engineering Corporation. [20] From 2016-2019, the group constructed a $250 million complex, originally known as The Pointe, adjacent to the British Colonial, located on the hotel's former parking lot. [21] The hotel and condominium towers of The Pointe have since been branded as Margaritaville Beach Resort Nassau.

The hotel closed temporarily in early 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It reopened on December 15, 2020, [22] but closed again on February 15, 2022, due to continued low bookings during the ongoing pandemic from its clientele primarily of business and convention travelers. [23] The hotel ceased to be associated with the Hilton brand as of that date. [24] [25]

While closed, the hotel underwent extensive renovations. [26] [23] It reopened as the British Colonial Hotel on December 19, 2023. [27]

Facilities

View from the hotel's private beach Hilton Nassau beach.jpg
View from the hotel's private beach

The hotel has seven floors spread over an 8-acre plot and has 288 guest rooms, 20 suites and 47 executive-level rooms. [28] On the north side of the hotel there is an expansive green space with palm trees, tropical plantings, a manicured lawn, and two outdoor swimming pools, all of which face the harbor. The area includes a variety of seating and lounging areas with cabanas, outdoor couches/cushioned areas, an outdoor cigar lounge, and a poolside bar and restaurant area. The pool and garden space leads down to a 300-foot-long private white sand beach which features kayaking and snorkeling. A gym occupies a separate building adjacent to the outdoor space.

As of late 2023, the hotel was fully modernised with new electronics and furnishings. The executive lounge is located on the top floor provided with 18,400 square feet (1,710 m2) of space. [19] [ dead link ] The spacious lobby and elevator areas are floored with marble tile and all of the rooms are decorated in colonial décor. The hotel contains several dining options and a dark-mahogany wood tavern with vaulted ceilings. [28] A relief depicting Christopher Columbus is situated high on the grand central tower of the hotel, and at the front of the hotel is a statue of Woodes Rogers, the ex-privateer who proved effective against piracy in the area. [7] A mural depicting the history of the Bahamas was added in 1999 to the entrance hall. [7]

Mural in the entrance hall showing the history of the Bahamas, March, 2026 British-colonial-hotel-mural-March10-2026.jpg
Mural in the entrance hall showing the history of the Bahamas, March, 2026

James Bond

The hotel was used as a filming location for the 1983 James Bond film Never Say Never Again , starring Sean Connery. [2] The character Fatima Blush (Barbara Carrera) waterskis in front of the resort and onto the end of the pier, into James Bond's arms, to the hotel’s old gazebo bar (located on the left of the picture in the infobox). The pier was especially built for the movie and the hotel kept it. [7]

References

  1. 1 2 "The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York on December 2, 1923 · Page 64". newspapers.com. 2 December 1923. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  2. 1 2 Porter, Darwin; Prince, Danforth (10 November 2006). Bahamas For Dummies. For Dummies. p. 138. ISBN   978-0-471-96250-2 . Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  3. ↑ Agate, Nicky; Guides, Rough (29 October 2002). Rough guide to the Caribbean . Rough Guides. p.  70. ISBN   978-1-85828-895-6 . Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  4. ↑ Henderson, James (1 October 2005). Caribbean & the Bahamas. New Holland Publishers. p. 791. ISBN   978-1-86011-212-6 . Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  5. ↑ "Remembering Our Past". Islands of the Bahamas. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  6. ↑ Writer, A. Renaissance (27 August 2020). "Nassau: The History of the Pirate Republic". Medium. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "James Bond's British Colonial Hilton Nassau" (PDF). Tourism Review. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  8. ↑ Christopher P. Baker (April 2001). Bahamas, Turks & Caicos. Lonely Planet. pp. 143–. ISBN   978-1-86450-199-5 . Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  9. 1 2 Craton, M.; Saunders, G. (2000). A History of the Bahamian People: From the Ending of Slavery to the Twenty-First Century. University of Georgia Press. p. 244. ISBN   9780820322841 . Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  10. ↑ Hunter Publishing; Philpott, D. (2002). Bahamas. Landmark. p. 45. ISBN   9781901522006 . Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  11. ↑ "2010/05/a-tale-of-two-restaurantsthe-great-bahamian-seafood-festival". bahamapundit.com. Archived from the original on June 5, 2010. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  12. ↑ Michelin Tire Corporation; Michelin Travel Publications (Firm) (1 January 2007). Michelin Florida. Michelin Travel Publications. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  13. ↑ Darwin Porter; Danforth Prince (17 August 2007). Frommer's Bahamas 2008. Frommer's. pp. 111–. ISBN   978-0-470-14568-5 . Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  14. ↑ Lakeside Publishing Co. (March 2005). "Cruise Travel". Cruise Travel Magazine. Lakeside Publishing Co.: 8–10. ISSN   0199-5111 . Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  15. ↑ Danforth Prince; Darwin Porter (30 August 2010). Frommer's Bahamas 2011. Frommer's. pp. 109–. ISBN   978-0-470-61437-2 . Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  16. ↑ "Jane's History Nook : Bob Gill's Escape Hotel and his other Fort Lauderdale landmarks ..." janeshistorynook.blogspot.com. 24 September 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  17. ↑ "Starwood pulls Sheraton Brand from Nassau for the third time - Hospitality Business News". hospitalitybusinessnews.com. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  18. ↑ "Revitalizing Downtown Nassau | Airlines and Destinations". airlinesanddestinations.com. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  19. 1 2 "British Colonial Hilton Nassau Announces $15 Million Dollar Makeover". Hilton.com. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  20. ↑ "Nassau's British Colonial Hilton Sold". caribjournal.com. 27 October 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  21. ↑ "New $250 Million Hotel Project Breaks Ground in Nassau". caribjournal.com. 10 August 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  22. ↑ "The Bahamas' British Colonial Hilton Nassau is Reopening". 4 December 2020.
  23. 1 2 Hartnell, Neil. "Hilton closure shows city 'not functioning'".
  24. ↑ "ICONIC LANDMARK SHUTS DOORS: British Colonial Hilton to close indefinitely on February 15". 20 January 2022.
  25. ↑ "CCA in active discussions with potential managers for British Colonial Hilton". 2 February 2022.
  26. ↑ Newsdesk (2023-11-02). "British Colonial Hotel in Nassau to Reopen This Winter | Travel Agent Central". www.travelagentcentral.com. Retrieved 2025-01-18.
  27. ↑ "Bahamas Prime Minister Phillip Davis hails reopening of British Colonial Hotel". 19 December 2023.
  28. 1 2 "British Colonial Hotel". britishcolonial.com. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
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