Bermuda's South Shore hotels bore the brunt of Hurricane Gert with massive seas battering their beaches.

Sonesta Beach, Elbow Beach, The Reefs, Stonington and Pink Beach all sustained damage on their waterfronts.

Seas that had been building up for days, whipped up by tropical storm force winds, wreaked havoc on hotel beaches and some south-facing rooms -- causing flooding and the piling up of debris.

But whilst there was physical damage, guests seemed to be enjoying the drama.

Pink Beach, in Hamilton Parish, was one of the worst hit resorts on the Island.

It was just one of many low lying areas along that area of coastline that were devastated by seas which swelled around five feet above normal.

Manager Michael Williams said: "Guests were moved well before the waves swamped a few of the beach cottages.

"We cleared the furniture from them yesterday and now all that remains is to let them dry off and put them back together again.'' At the Sonesta Beach resort in Southampton, resident manager John Murtha surveyed damage to some ground floor rooms, boardwalks and beaches.

Inside the hotel, guests were entertained with games and complimentary coffee, but outside workers started the clean-up.

The Bay wing suffered most, with up to two inches of flooding on some ground floor suites and piles of vegetation in the surrounding area. The swimming pool suffered some exterior damage and wooden boardwalks were also consumed by the raging seas.

Guests had been evacuated from the rooms and the furniture removed, before the storm struck.

Nearby Cross Bay beach was a total write-off, with the kiosk wrecked and verandah dangerously weakened. Branches and broken timber littered the beach.

"It has been totally obliterated,'' said Mr. Murtha, adding that the facility may have to be closed for the rest of the season because of the destruction.

Pink Beach visitors Alan and Kathy Shurr, from Connecticut, said they had been moved three times in the last 24 hours because the management felt their lodgings were in danger of being immersed in water.

Mr. Shurr explained: "We were in one of the water-side cottages to start with but were asked to move on Monday. It was fortunate that we did so because a bit later on we saw that house getting trashed. That room was knee-deep in water.

"After that we moved up to a higher level, but were moved again when it became apparent that we weren't safe there either.

"That also proved to be a good decision because the water came sloshing up to the doors of that house also.

"Now we're staying quite far away from the water and just sitting back to wait for the hurricane to pass through.'' Mr. Williams said although the club had lost electricity, it had a generator and since the kitchens use gas, catering for the 51 guests was not affected.

In light of the flooding, he said: "The guests have been amazingly calm. We offered to let them stay in the Club House, but all said they'd rather stay in their cottages''.

Mr. Williams added that the resort would be able to function normally for 24 to 36 hours without electricity.

"We have a full menu for tonight,'' he said, "and we are trying to get music tonight for the guests because they probably won't be venturing far from the property''.

Guest Mrs. Shurr said: "We came here for the weekend on business hoping to avoid the storm. But we realise that this is just one of those things that can't be helped and the staff here have handled it extremely well.'' Elbow Beach's Mickey's Bar, in Paget, was ripped apart early yesterday.

Michael Burke, of Blue Water Divers, said his worst fears were over.

He said: "We came here at 7 a.m. and the waves were much higher then, we saw it rip up Mickey's bar.

"We barricaded our door with plywood inside and out. One piece of plywood has gone, but the rest is still holding thankfully.

"We have been to Marriott which was badly hit, and Robinson's Marina where everything is absolutely fine.'' Staff at the Reefs, in Southampton, were inspecting their diminished beach.

Although the beach-side Coconuts restaurant survived the worst ravages of the storm, the surge washed away several feet of sand and moved much of its shore to the west.

Footings of the restaurant structure were exposed and are due to be re-filled with concrete today.

Manager Neal Stephens said: "We are surprised. The structure stood up better than we thought.'' Around 100 guests are staying at the Reefs.

Further to the west, the damage was less, with the Pompano Beach Club hardly noticing the surge.

Spokesman Larry Lamb said he expected some beach erosion but otherwise the site was unaffected.

The only affect was holiday cancellations, which lost the resort business in a week when they expected to be full.

Mr. Murtha, at the Sonesta, told a similar story. Predicting a $250,000 loss of revenue from cancelled holidays, he said the storm had turned a "very good September'' into a "mediocre'' one.

Visitors enjoy the drama Meanwhile, visitors enjoyed the sight of storm surge on South Shore.

Brian Brosnan, from the US east coast, described the change in the water at Stonington Beach in Paget as "amazing''.

"We are here on a two-week vacation,'' he said. "For the first week we got in a lot of the beaches and did a lot of what we had to do so the hurricane hasn't caused us to miss much.

"There's a pool up at the top of the hill so we can still swim if we want to.'' Mr. Brosnan was very impressed with the hotel's handling of Gert.

"They were very organised and prepared,'' he said. "They advised us to keep all our clothing and luggage on the bed as flooding could occur.

"They came in and packed up the outdoor furniture against the sliding glass door and told us to keep the doors shut.

"This hotel has a gala dinner for all guests every Monday night and at that dinner we were informed exactly what to do and what not to do.'' First-time visitors Pam and Brian Philpott, of Leicestershire, UK, said Gert was their first experience of a full hurricane.

"We got the remnants of one in the Azores last year and we caught the back end of Floyd in New York last week, but this is our first hurricane,'' Mrs.

Philpott said, whilst sitting outside the Elbow Beach Hotel.

"We were expecting hot sun and spending our days on the beach,'' Mr. Philpott added. "But it has been a relaxing week. We're sitting outside because the air conditioning is off and it's too hot in there.'' Jerry and Ruth O'Connell, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, said despite having visited Bermuda five or six times in the past, yesterday was the first time they had ever been denied access to a local beach.

"We missed one hurricane (Floyd) in Philadelphia and ran into one here,'' said Mr. O'Connell, who is staying at the Harmony Club in Paget.

He added: "I've never seen the South Shore of Bermuda like this though.'' Arlene and Tom Koenig, of Florida, both hurricane veterans, said they had spent the morning watching the heavy surf at the Mermaid Beach in Warwick.

Mrs. Koenig said: "Just about the most interesting thing so far was we watched a refrigerator from the beach house get washed away.

"The Mermaid staff have really been wonderful. But it's nice to actually see you because you're the first people we've seen in some time.'' "We were expecting better weather, but we're having a great time otherwise.'' Additional reporting by Ben Greening, Cathy Stovell and Patrick Burgess.