a two-month shutdown.

The trendy bar and restaurant will close during January and February for refurbishment.

But manager William Shoaf revealed the new nightspot had still failed to make any money, five months after opening.

He said the club, despite being packed at weekends, was "just about breaking even''.

Mr. Shoaf, General Manager of the Elbow Beach Hotel which operates the club, denied the Front Street venue was losing money.

But he confirmed the Surf Club would be closed during the quietest months of the season so the inside could be redesigned.

And he said club managers were trying to find new ways of attracting cruise ship visitors and other customers.

"The middle of the week is especially difficult,'' he said. "But we had 500 people in on Friday so I think we are doing OK.

"We are breaking even rather than actually making money. But considering we are five months old, breaking even isn't a bad thing.

"It takes time to build a business.'' Mr. Shoaf said the club was taking bookings through Christmas and New Year but would then shut until March.

"We have brought in all kinds of musicians, trying to find out what the market wants,'' he added.

"We bring them here for two weeks and if we get it right, it works well.

There has been a rumour going around that we are closing down for good but that is simply not true.

"However, we are shutting for two months in the New Year.'' putting bands up at the Elbow Beach during their visits to Bermuda.

But Mr. Shoaf said lunchtime trade had always suffered because the Surf Club was on "the wrong side of the street''.

"The cruise ships also affect that trade,'' he said. "But we are doing everything we can to be better next year.

"We consider it to be bad business when we only do 120 dinners. When we bring in the international entertainment acts, which run on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, we are probably just about breaking even.

"The weekends are very good for us. But we have to work on doing a better job during the week.

"We just haven't been able to figure out how to get the network extended into the hotels and cruise ship visitors.

"Also, we need to do some redecoration and refurbishment inside because we are still fighting with it. It's a kind of cavernous space and we have some ideas to make that better.'' Surf Club manager Tony Brannan confirmed customers were already making bookings for Christmas.

And he said music fans could look forward to concerts by more big name artists in the near future.

He said: "I do know is that we have some good weeks and some not so good weeks but everything's going to be fine.

"We're also very close to booking a couple of really big names.'' The Surf Club opened up by attracting former Bruce Springsteen guitarist Nils Lofgren, weeks before 1980s British pop band Squeeze performed on stage.