Luxury hotel The Loren will keep its focus on the local market into next year after a successful summer for staycations.

In June, the Smith’s resort was the first Bermuda hotel to reopen after lockdown, offering special rates and packages to tempt island-bound locals.

The Loren said yesterday that its occupancy rate for the June, July and August period was above 60 per cent, largely because of local guests.

Sebastian Maingourd, general manager of The Loren, said the need to focus on the local market was apparent early on.

Mr Maingourd added: “We knew that our hotel occupancy was going to have to flip from 90 per cent overseas and 10 per cent local, to be at least 50/50 for the remainder of 2020.

“We noted early on that residents want a different experience compared to overseas visitors; therefore, we also had to change our programming and rates to better meet their expectations.

“We also started to survey our local guests to find out what they would be interested in experiencing at the Loren. It was soon determined that our local guests desired new experiences, which is why we developed a themed dinner series on Tuesday nights, custom staycation package offers, as well as an outdoor summer nights tapas-style evening on Thursdays with a DJ, all of which became very popular.”

He added that the Tuesday and Thursday evening dinners were “sold out on a regular basis”.

Tim Sullivan, culinary director at Pink Beach Club, said: “The majority of locals have not travelled since the Covid-19 outbreak back in March. When asked, many expressed that they were looking for fresh experiences, something new and wanted to feel as if they had travelled off-island somehow.

“It quickly became our goal to help locals who either stayed or dined with us to feel as if they had been transported somewhere, even if it was just for a few hours.”

This led to a series if themed dinners with a new menu each evening.

“Our Lebanese dinner and our Lobster dinner evenings were among the most popular,” Mr Sullivan said.

He added that with many local repeat guests, there was a need to continue innovating during the winter season.

Mr Sullivan said: “We will be changing up our menus this fall into winter season, but additionally we will also be transforming some of our dining spaces for a change of scenery.”