guests, The Royal Gazette can reveal.

The Paget property is close to clinching a deal with the owner of a large fishing boat to provide a three times daily run to and from Albuoy's Point, Hamilton.

Newstead general manager Clarence Hofheins said he was also hoping to use a boat owned by the hotel to ferry guests whenever there was a demand.

"The big advantage to guests is that they will get a service to and from Hamilton at very little or no cost to them,'' said Mr. Hofheins.

"We are absorbing the costs and it is an additional value to people when they come to the Newstead.

"It is a beautiful boat ride to Hamilton which is unique. The Hamilton and Southampton Princesses have boats which are a great idea and we wanted a similar thing.'' "It is not a done deal yet, but it does look good,'' added Mr. Hofheins. He said the hotel was trying to find out if it needed permission from the Department of Transport, but it did not believe it would because it would be a charter service.

Mr. Hofheins hoped the service would begin in April. He said it would involve the fishing boat, capable of seating up to 75 people, taking guests to town at 8 a.m..

The boat will then go out on charter and return from Albuoy's Point to Newstead at around noon.

The boat will do a final run at around 6 p.m. from Albuoy's Point to the hotel. Mr. Hofheins said non-guests could also use the boats service to come to the hotel.

"The benefit will be that our guests will be able to use the service to come to the Newstead and increase our traffic. Whether we are able to capture any business from non-residents remains to be seen but we will have people coming to the hotel.'' A ferry service already runs from the hotel property at Hodson's Point, but Mr. Hofheins said the additional service would be for guests who miss the regular boat.

TRANSPORTATION TRA