Back in August my wife Lauren and I had the pleasure to spend our honeymoon on your beautiful island. Our ten-night stay was spent at the Stonington Beach Hotel. We have both stayed at the Stonington before, having been introduced to it by Lauren's parents who have made a point to vacation there every year in May for the past 20 years.

We had an absolutely spectacular trip. The weather was nice, the water was beautiful and golf (four rounds) was great. We enjoyed dining at some of your finest restaurants (Tom Moore's Tavern, Waterloo House, Fourways Inn and, of course, the Norwood Room at the Stonington). All were terrific! After enjoying many of the things Bermuda has to offer, we came to the conclusion that native Bermudians are some of the nicest people we have ever met. We live in the culturally diverse, New York City, with that said, Bermudians are truly special. We also realised that the reason why we enjoyed our stay at the Stonington so much was because nearly the entire staff is native Bermudian.

The staff at the Stonington could not have been more accommodating or cordial.

Whether it was June, who helped arrange our trip from the start, Joyce, the concierge, who arranged nearly everything we did, from dining to golf to transportation, Sinclair, the maitre'd, who made all of our dining experiences at the hotel truly enjoyable, Everett, the Bell Captain, who was always there for us whether it was early morning or late evening, to Philip and Wesley, two of the nicest bartenders one could ever be fortunate enough to meet. And finally, J.P. Horst, the General Manager, who was there, hands-on, to make sure every minute of our stay was as perfect as it was supposed to be.

After such a fabulous trip, our advice to you and your government is that you should utilise your homegrown talent as much as possible, wherever and whenever you can. As the saying goes: "You don't know what you've got `til it's gone.'' We would never associate your island with any other island in the same sentence. Yours truly stands alone. It is by far the best we have ever visited and we look forward to many more visits in the future.

LAUREN & KEVIN RADIGAN New York City