Brenda Augustus-Spencer was caught off guard when she received a letter from Madrid informing her that her South Road business - Brenda's Poolside Diner - had won a Spanish award for excellence in tourism.

Mrs. Augustus-Spencer read the letter - from the Trade Leaders' Club of Madrid - with some scepticism and even contacted the Bermuda Department of Tourism to see if the award was legitimate. The department confirmed that the award should be taken seriously.

The award trophy - which is to be presented to Mrs. Augustus-Spencer at the 27th annual international award for the tourist, hotel and catering industry dinner in Madrid on January 30 - is meant to “honour the most outstanding establishments in the tourist, hotel, restaurant and catering fields”.

But, to this day Mrs. Augustus-Spencer is not sure who nominated her for the award. Her best guess is that it may have been one of her guests at either the poolside diner, or at her 15-unit guest house, Blue Horizons.

The tourism industry veteran - Mrs. Augustus-Spencer said she has been running the diner and guest house for the past 30 years - said she gets visitors from all over the world.

She added that she had already received early bookings for next mo nth from European visitors.

Mrs. Augustus-Spencer is deservedly thrilled with the honour, and said it was a first for Bermuda, as no one else on the Island has received the Spanish award.

But it is not the first time her poolside diner has been singled out for international exposure. The South side tourist spot was chosen some years ago as one of the sites for a Sports Illustrated swimsuit photo shoot.

A letter of thanks from Sports Illustrated now hangs on her wall.

But Mrs. Augustus-Spencer said she also values the letters from individual visitors, such as a letter from England that read: “Dear Brenda, I would like to order a fish sandwich. Please send it to this (UK) address. Just kidding, I will pick it up next time I am in Bermuda.”