Appointments for a much anticipated further round of giveaways from the Fairmont Southampton hotel have been snapped up by the community in short order, the resort’s website shows.

Members of the public reported online that spaces for individual households to avail themselves of old furniture and appliances donated for a revamp of the hotel were gone within an hour.

Westend Properties, owners of the resort, donated the items to empty the property as a sweeping renovation of the site gets under way.

The hotel offered one appointment per household for a general giveaway on February 21 and 22, while the same restrictions applied to handouts reserved for seniors on February 20.

A handout to the community organised last month had to be called off 40 minutes before the Fairmont planned to open its lobby doors, when the unanticipated scale of public turnout caused a postponement for safety reasons.

Hotel security staff at the time emphasised that the handout, which included TV sets and king-size mattresses, had been organised “for good intentions”.

However, a hotel spokeswoman said the turnout “far exceeded the hotel’s expectations, reflecting the significant need within the community”.

The Royal Gazette was told by attendees that day that an impromptu mid-morning prayer called at the scene by a pastor led to a surge forward of the hundreds of hopefuls that turned out, contributing to the disorder that rendered the event unmanageable.

The Fairmont Southampton, which had earlier distributed items to seniors’ homes and charities, subsequently moved to prioritise donations of its old inventory to those in need.

The latest appointments published early this week were used up “in the first hour”, according to a post on the Facebook consumer site Maj’s List.

The hotel partnered with the booking site Ptix to deliver an “organised and safe experience for all participants”, the resort announced.

Online commentators expressed surprise this week at the need for appointments to dispose of old stock.

Others lamented that they had called repeatedly without success in getting through, with some calling more than a dozen times.

Posts online expressed hope that inventory remained to be distributed, with some concerned that the property owners had disposed of the remainder.

Work has begun with “preliminary preparations” at the main hotel, and heavy equipment seen by The Royal Gazette this week rolled in at the Fairmont Southampton Beach Club.

The resort, Bermuda’s biggest, has been closed since 2020, with hopes for a revival of tourism, business conferences and the island’s economy pinned on its reopening.