Bermuda’s 18-strong squad can expect to be embraced by a “sports-mad” city when it competes at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, according to Stan Douglas, the chef de mission.

Douglas, who served in the same capacity at the 2012 London Olympics, travelled in January to Glasgow, where the majority of sports will be held, to inspect the competition’s facilities with other delegates.

He said that he was left in no doubt that Scotland’s largest city would provide the perfect backdrop for a top-class, well-supported event, and believed the quality of venues augured for a memorable Games.

“When I was in Glasgow, I found that the Scottish public is very into sport and very knowledgeable about sport, which is a great thing,” said Douglas, who will arrive in Glasgow a few days before Bermuda’s athletes.

“I feel that these Games are going to be a wonderful experience for our athletes and it’s my job to ensure they don’t have too many concerns while they’re there.

“Most of the venues were already there in Glasgow. For instance, they will be using Celtic Park [the home of Celtic Football Club] and Hampden Park [the home of the Scotland football team], so they have saved some money, if you like.”

Most reassuring for Douglas was the high standard of the team’s accommodation at the Athletes’ Village, which is set in the regenerated East End of the city and includes a retail area, recreation area, dining hall, medical facility and other amenities.

More than 6,500 athletes and officials from 71 countries will stay at the Village for the duration of the Games.

Douglas described the Village as a “home from home” for Bermuda’s team and was confident that the living conditions would be a marked improvement to those experienced at the previous Games in New Delhi, India, in 2010.

“It’s going to be a good Games and I have had some encouraging reports that the Athletes’ Village is nearing completion,” he said.

“The athletes’ accommodation looks very good, with two beds per room and four people to one bathroom — I was very happy with what I saw when I was there.

“I don’t foresee there being any of the issues we experienced in Delhi in terms of the [poor standard of] accommodation.”

Douglas believes that reaching a final would be akin to winning a medal for many of Bermuda’s athletes, who will compete against some of the world’s best from countries such as England, Australia, Canada, South Africa and Jamaica.

“Hopefully, we will have a few finalists as that would be a real success,” he said.

Most sports will take place on three compact site clusters to the east, south and west of Glasgow, but there are some events that take place outside the city; shooting at Carnoustie, Edinburgh will host diving and Strathclyde Country Park will host triathlon. It will be the third time that Scotland has hosted the Commonwealth Games.

Bermuda squad

Athletics: Arantxa King, Shianne Smith, Aaron Evans, Tre Houston, Tyrone Smith, Shaquille Dill

Cycling: Nicole Mitchell, Dominique Mayho

Gymnastics: Gemma Lightbourne

Squash: Micah Franklin, Robert Maycock, Nick Kyme

Swimming: Julian Fletcher, Roy-Allan Burch

Triathlon: Flora Duffy, Tucker Murphy, Tyler Butterfield, Jonathan Herring.