Elbow Beach Hotel’s new general manager Edward Shapard is betting on a bright future for the 50-acre resort by focusing on its old-world charm and history.“As the guy with three weeks in, I’m amazed, I can walk on the beach here and people are nostalgic about Elbow,” he said.“For us, it’s looking at reconnecting with a lot of generational families that have come in the past, reminding them were here, open for business and trying to get them to come out and support a resurgence.”Mr Shapard relocated here in late December with his wife and two school-aged children from Mandarin Oriental’s original hotel in Hong Kong. Prior to that he ran a 1,110-room convention hotel in New Orleans and the chic 250-room Mandarin Oriental in Manhattan. He also spent time in Hawaii running a hotel there.“I cut my teeth at the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong and am bringing some of that knowledge here to see what we can do at Elbow,” he said, adding that his furniture hasn’t yet arrived and is literally on a slow boat from China.“The nice thing I don’t come with preconceived notions of what this or that should be, I can tap in a diverse background and push opportunity.”One opportunity, he feels, is to reach out to those hotel guests that have vacationed at Elbow before.“The best potential market today, I feel, is reaching out to the customers of the past,” he said. “People who already love and have an emotional connection with Elbow. Re-engaging them and having them support us as we move through the next stage.”The resort currently has 98 cottages dotting the shoreline that can accommodate up to 300 guests.When asked about what was to be done with the main portion of the hotel, he said that the guest rooms will remain closed for the short term, however, Elbow’s landscape has always changed over the years.“If you look at global finances over the last two years, timing is everything and the timing just isn’t there now,” he said.“Right now, we are looking at any and all opportunities and we’re taking a bit of time to evaluate it. It’s interesting the hotel is 103 years old and if you think about it in that context having the guest rooms in the main building closed for a couple years is more of the evolution of the hotel.“The hotel started as three simple cottages and a fourth added in 1910 so if you go back in the history of Elbow, they’ve always been adding and subtracting. So putting it in that context, it’s more of looking at Bermuda, seeing what’s happening and hopefully figuring out where we fit.”According to the new GM, owner Prince Khaled Bin Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and managers Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group want to keep the doors open at Elbow.“When I met with the owners and Mandarin Oriental, they wanted to know what is the potential, what can be done with it,” he said.“That’s the most amazing thing about being here, there are no marching orders, we have to maintain the service levels that we’re known for but in term of a long-term strategy it’s looking at what Elbow can provide.”A graduate of Tennessee State University, Mr Sharpard received his MBA from REMIT University. He also holds a ‘Six Sigma’ certification, a business management strategy that, within the hospitality industry, breaks down a hotel guest stay and finds out what really matters to them and what doesn’t.“You focus on what’s adding customer value, heavily statistical on one side and almost emotional on the other looking at what adds value from a guest experience and pushing those efforts,” he explained. “Getting rid of the things that you are doing today that add no value to the guest experience. We have a huge opportunity here to look at where Elbow adds value, what are the components we can really leverage.”The resort will also focus on attracting local business to the hotel, utilising the hotel’s conference rooms as well as the iconic lobby and pool space.“Even in my short time here, if I mention Elbow to people, their face lights up. People have a special place in their heart for this hotel,” he said.The question on many locals minds, he says, is what will be done with the Library Bar, also called the Veranda Bar in more recent times.“That is probably the most talked about item,” he said. “I think you will see some interesting things happen in that space. It’s premature to say but I can’t tell you how many people talk to me about the past events there.”“It’s a perfect example of how much opportunity there is and desire from the local market as well as past guests to come. For us it’s evaluating opportunity and allowing those opportunities to guide our path.”In his short time here, he has already met with the Island’s tourism groups as well as other hotel owners.While he wouldn’t share his opinions on what Bermuda could be doing to bolster the Island’s tourism sector, saying he is too new to the Island to discuss it, he did say he was ready to become heavily involved with new initiatives, perhaps offering a new perspective.“Elbow is a good barometer of the tourism industry in general and hopefully we can lead to better days ahead,” he said. “To look at the future, you hopefully have to look at it with a fresh set of eyes and see where we can go.”