A beach club is to reopen to guests a week on Friday, the managing director said yesterday.

Tom Lamb, of Pompano Beach Club in Southampton, said: “We are happy to reopen back up finally.”

He added: “The virus has been tough on all of us. It has been a challenging year.”

The oceanfront resort next to Port Royal Golf Course is one of three hotels that have announced they will be back in business soon.

Cambridge Beaches Resort and Spa, in Sandys, will also recommence operations on August 28. Grotto Bay Beach Hotel, in Hamilton Parish, will reopen on September 1.

All three shut their doors when the airport was closed to commercial flights in March.

Mr Lamb, whose family have owned and operated the Pompano property since 1956, said the resort had 75 staff.

He said: “We are trying to take a run at it and get our staff back to work as soon as we can. We are trying to be optimistic.

“People are coming back to work as our business dictates. We would love to have everyone back, but it all depends on business volumes.”

Mr Lamb admitted that bookings were few and far between at the moment.

He said: “Unfortunately, there are not many overseas bookings for September and October.

“Advance bookings are not as good as we would like and every hotel in Bermuda will tell you the same thing.

“People are concerned about cancelled flights, and they are concerned about the virus in their area.”

Mr Lamb added: “We have had quite a few cancellations for the fall, but we are hoping it will get better.”

He said: “We are doing our best to let everyone know that Bermuda is a very safe place to be.

“Yes, we require strict testing, but it is very safe here. We hope that registers with people because, for hoteliers, it has been a very challenging year.”

Mr Lamb added Pompano Beach had introduced promotions for visitors and residents.

Visitors will get a free fourth night for every three nights they stayed between September 1 and May 6 next year.

Residents can book a “getaway package” that includes a room, a five-course dinner for two and a hot breakfast for two the next morning for a rate of $350 per night, plus taxes and service charge, from August 28 to December 1.

Mr Lamb said: “We are getting more staycations. We rolled out a pretty good rate for locals and we are getting a little bit of business from the local market.

“They were also looking to travel, but are not doing because of the virus.”

The resort has also offered a “day pass” for residents, which gives access to the property’s beach and pool, which will run to the end of this month.

Cambridge Beaches was scheduled to reopen two weeks from today, but decided to move the restart up by four days.

Clarence Hofheins, the luxury resort’s general manager, said: “We had a few return guests who wanted to come for that weekend.

“We figured we would accommodate them and we also had some staycation requests.”

Mr Hofheins added: “We can’t wait.”