Bermuda's Premier Pamela Gordon and her top-level delegation to a major international conference in the Bahamas were bumped from their hotel for a bunch of American tourists, it was revealed yesterday.

Stunned Premier Pamela Gordon was told by staff at Nassau's Radisson Cable Beach hotel "sorry we've let your rooms go'' after they arrived late on Wednesday night.

And it took nearly two hours for Bahamian conference organisers to find alternative accommodation at the nearby Marriott.

The Premier -- leading a delegation of Finance Minister Grant Gibbons and Attorney General Elliott Mottley to the UK-Caribbean Forum -- yesterday admitted she could have done without the mix-up after nearly 12 hours in transit.

She said: "It was a bit of a nightmare -- if something like that happens when you're tired and you just want to go to sleep, it's extremely irritating.

"But the British High Commission in the Bahamas took over when they realised there was a problem and sorted everything out.'' The Premier and the Bermuda delegation were shuttled around several hotels before the Marriott stepped in to offer rooms around midnight -- nearly two hours after the Premier and her party arrived on the island.

The Bahamas is enjoying a mini-tourist boom due to the George Washington birthday holiday in the US and American tourists taking romantic island breaks for St. Valentine's Day.

Ms Gordon said: "We didn't come in on the flight they expected us so they let our rooms go -- it affected around 30 people connected with the conference.'' She added: "What happened was the Radisson saw an opportunity -- we were only going to be there for two days and they decided because of the American holiday that there was potential for a two-week stay rather than a two-day stay. But we are extremely grateful to the High Commission for sorting out all the confusion and it worked out in the end.'' And she added, laughing: "I suppose it's good business on their part and I can't really argue with that -- I wish Bermuda hotels had the same problem at this time of year.'' The 700-room luxury Radisson Cable Beach -- which advertises itself as "the complete vacation experience'' is also understood to have been hit by a recent storm which damaged some of its rooms.

But yesterday Radisson chiefs were keeping a low profile after sparking off an incident and claimed they did not have the Premier and her team listed for Wednesday night.

A hotel spokesman said arrangements for conference delegates had been made by the Bahamian government and added: "We booked in everyone they told us to.'' The Bahamian government's Chief of Protocol has already apologised to the Premier for the hotel horror.