Watercolours: It is an elegant two story home on Hamilton harbor. Upstairs is the family residence, downstairs is for guests and the housekeeper. The home is owned by Joe and Carole Holding. Carole is justly famous as an artist. Her Bermuda focused watercolours are extremely well known. She is also an accomplished chef. The rate is set, no service or tax, and includes breakfast. I had the king room. It is quite large, very attractively furnished and in excellent condition.( NOTE: Carole and Joe are welcoming guests into their home. They treat it well and expect the same of their guests. It is extremely well maintained. Because the furnishings are of such high quality, care in the use is essential.) There are french doors to the terrace, small pool and lawn. The view is of the harbor. I found it very quiet and comfortable. Carole and Joe are cordial and warm; but, they do not interfere with their guests. None of the intrusive hovering which I have found at some bed and breakfasts. I teach online classes and had to have access to the internet. Joe hooked up my laptop to his system and I was able to log on for no charge at times of my choosing. The breakfast is served in the library from 8:00. Cereal, pastry, toast, juice, fresh fruit, coffee (French press), tea, and yogurt were offered. In the afternoon a complimentary drink is offered and ice is provided (available on request at any other time). The location is less than a minute walk from Belmont ferry stop and a bus stop. There are steps to the Harbor Road, so I would not recommend it for anyone with significant mobility problems. Because of the quality of furnishings and the level of care required, I would not suggest it to people traveling with children.

Watercolours is superb. The harbour front setting is magnificent. All that has been written about it is true. We were welcomed on our arrival by Carole and her husband Joe. The house and bedrooms are beautiful. Our room, the main suite, is really spacious. The whole of the downstairs has marble flooring and is decorated with great taste. We immediately felt comfortable. The bathroom is spacious too with a Jacuzzi and walk in shower. One of the other couples showed us their room and it is a little smaller but equally as good. They had a shower over the bath. The views were as good.
The bed was very comfortable. We were able to look out onto the harbour and across to Hinson’s Island from both the room and the bathroom. The room always appeared full of light although there are adequate shades for extra privacy when needed.

Breakfast is served in the library at between 8am and 11am- you can take it at any time between these hours. A maximum of three tables for two are set up. You can take your crockery onto the terrace if you wish. The continental breakfast is more than adequate and yummy! Coffee can be made in a cafetiere (coffee press) you have a choice of coffee blend: tea can also be made. Orange juice is in a jug at your table. You have a choice of muesli and flakes. There are yoghurts and choices of muffins and different types of breads. A toaster is at your disposal. The jams are from Carole’s own recipe – sold in her shops.

The other couples staying at the time loved the place too!

Annie, the maid sets up the breakfast and quietly clears away when people have finished so the library is clear until the next morning.

In the evenings, at around 6pm, she puts out ice buckets and you are free to help yourself to cocktails. We loved the Dark and Stormy made from Gosling’s Black Rum and ginger beer. It is so relaxing sitting by the waterfront enjoying a cocktail watching the yachts go by.

This is a really superior bed and breakfast. The rooms are the best we have stayed in on the island. Carole is friendly and helpful but very busy.

We hired bikes to get around. We also took the ferry from Darrell’s Wharf into Hamilton once. Belmont Stop which is closer is under renovation.

Our seven night stay was truly great. No faults.

My wife, Joanne, and I have been returning to Bermuda since our honeymoon there in 1979. This was our fourteenth vacation there in 27 years. For the past three visits in 2000, 2001 and this year, we have stayed With Carole and Joe Holding in their magnificent harbor front home. Watercolours is located on the Harbour Road just accross from Hinson's Island and is a ten minute scooter ride from Hamilton. Carole is a noted Bermudian artist and operates shops featuring her work and Bermuda island gifts on Front Street in Hamilton, in St. Georges and at several of the larger hotels on the island. It had been five years since our last visit but returning to Watercolours was like coming home to family.

We corresponded via e-mail prior to our vacation and Carole arranged to have Joe Brown, a local taxi driver (I guess everything in Bermuda is local) meet us at the airport for the ride to the house. We picked up our scooter, had a nice dinner at Tio Pepe's and were back at Watercolours to fix a sundowner from the complimentary Black Seal rum and mixers provided. We sat out on the patio and watched the sun set over the harbor islands as the night gradually lit up with millions of stars. Sitting there inhaling the island air and listening to the harbor ripples lap against the stonework, you could feel all the stress leaving.

Watercolours was built in 1996 and rents just three rooms. Plan on making your reservation well in advance. The rooms are all on the lower level of this two story home and the family occupies the upper floor. All of the rooms have large doors which open to the patio and offer wonderful harbor views. The rooms are all air conditioned and have color TVs with cable. There isn't a refrigerator but there is a Coleman cooler outside your door to the patio, that you can pick up some ice and beverages to keep cold. There is a coffee/tea maker in your room and a hair dryer is provided in the bath. The bathroom also has a heated towel rack which is great in the humid climate. The rooms are kept spotless.

Between 8 and 10 a.m. a "heavy" continental breakfast is put out in the two story marble floored main entrance hall. All of the rooms, by the way, have the same luxurious cream colored marble shot with streaks of rose. Tables for two are elegantly set with all kinds of utensils you wondered what they were for up til now. There is coffee, tea, juice, fruit, cereal, toast and muffins. Milk, yoghurt butter and Carole Holding's own brand of jellies are also provided.

Outside on the patio, there are chairs, small tables, lounges for sunning and a nice plunge pool with a fountain. Five gracefull palm trees also provide a bit of shade if you prefer. The house and property is truly spectacular. When tour boats cruise by during the day, they slow and you can see dozens of flashes as the cameras aboard photograph this beautiful home. If you take a roll from breakfast, break it into little pieces and drop it in the water, dozens of colorful fish will join you. There is a pool ladder that you can descend to snorkel in front of the house in the harbor, but you will find better snorkeling down at Churches Bay on the South shore. If you aren't into scootering around, you can pick up the ferry into Hamilton from Darrell's Wharf which is a short distance down the street.

Joanne refers to Carole Holding as Bermuda's own Martha Stewart. This is in the best sense of Martha as the perfect host and homemaker and not the insider stock trading Marth. Watercolours is a beautiful home where the guest rooms and common entry hall are tastefully decorated and feature many of Carole's paintings. Carole and Joe make you feel immediately welcome. We're planning to get back there as soon as we can.

Please feel free to e-mail me if I can answer any questions.

Just returned from a 3 day stay at Watercolours Bed and Breakfast in Warwick parish Bermuda.

The B&B is a part of local artist Carole Holding's home, and my what a beautiful home it is! The B&B rooms are all located on the lower level of the home and each has french doors that look out onto the patio and the harbor.

The rooms are very nicely decorated -- all marble floors, very nice bathroom w/ modern touches and upscale fixtures. The rooms are quite roomy and include nice touches such as ceiling fans, cable tv, robes in closet, large closet for that matter.

This B&B is very hands off for the most part, which in my opinion is a good thing. I've stayed at other B&Bs where the host sits down with you at breakfast and is really chatty, etc. Carole is not that way... she lets guests be on their own.

Each morning we had a lovely continental breakfast layed out for us in the common room -- complete with crystal stemware for Orange Juice. Each guest makes their own individual coffee in a French Press coffee maker and has 2 choices of coffee grounds. The rest of the food consisted mainly of scones, toast, jam, cereal, oatmeal, muffins, a cup of fruit (pineapple one day, melon another day), yogurt. That's about it. My husband was disappointed that we didn't get a hot breakfast with the cost of the room (as we have at other B&Bs), but I knew what to expect going into it.

While Watercolours is on the Harborfront, it is in no manner beach front. I would venture to say you couldn't walk to the beach from there (it would be a loooooong walk up hills and winding streets). So unless you plan to spend all of your time taking the nearby ferry to downtown hamilton, you better count on renting a moped. There is a moped company that Carole will refer you to that will pick you up right at Watercolours and bring you to their bike place and at the end of your visit you can just leave your bikes at Watercolours and they will come to pick the bikes back up.

On bike you can be at the beaches in 10-15 minutes, which was a lot closer than I had thought it would be.

I thought Watercolours had quite a convenient location for people who wanted to get around a lot and not be stuck in one place. Easy access to Hamilton via ferry, easy access to beaches via motorbike... the only place that was a haul was St. George which was about 45 min away on bike. We never did find where the bus stop is from Watercolours...let's just say that it probably isn't too close or convenient.

Oh, the pool at Watercolours is very pretty and cute although it was too cold to go in it when we were there. The backyard of the place facing the harbor seems like a lovely place to hang out when the weather is warm... we just got stuck with bad weather all of the days we were there.

A few reviews of the area:

1. Tom Moores Tavern: elegant dining in a unique manor house setting. Food was excellant. Many entrees made or served table-side (eg: Pasta appetizer was made tableside, desert was flambeyed tableside). Men must wear jacket. This was a whopping $30 EACH WAY cab ride from Watercolours. We could've biked it in about 25 minutes, but we were all dressed up for dinner and I didn't want to arrive to a nice place on a motorbike.

2. Lobster Pot in city of Hamilton: I LOVED this place. But of course, I love lobster. And all other shellfish for that matter. Not too fancy of a place. And not exactly specializing in Bermudian cuisine (although you can certainly find bermuda fish dishes on the menu), but I thought their array of lobster dishes were out of this world -- curried lobster, lobster theramador, lobster newberg, etc.


3. Swizzle Inn. Swizzles were good. Nachos were enormous!

4. Baraccuda Grill, city of Hamilton. Disappointing. Food tried to be creative, but ended up being bland tasting and very ho-hum overall. I had lobster something or other and it had more rockfish than lobster (didn't call this out on the menu description). My husband had calamari that was supposed to be seasoned with wasabi -- but really it was just fried calamari rings that had a hint of green to them, but didn't taste like much of anything. We had chocolate fondue for desert and it was below par-- something about it just didn't taste like real chocolate. This was our most expensive meal and our least enjoyable.

5. Gibbs Lighthouse restaurant: Cute place, had breakfast here on last day. Lively breakfast menu with lots to choose from. Also would recommend this place for doing the traditional afternoon tea thing.

Things to do:

1. Crystal Caves -- we did this because it rained when we were there, but it was interesting enough. Wasn't on my original agenda, but thought it was worthwhile.

2. Horseshoe Beach -- way better than Elbow beach. Keep walking and walk through all the interesting rock formations beyond it. Never have seen a beach quite like it in all of my ventures through Hawaii and the carribean.

3. Dockyard -- looks like a cool place to be when the weather is nice and people are there. I would like to have seen the art stuff there, but it closed at 5 pm on Saturday. Try the Bermuda beer sampler at Frog & Onion. And feel free to take your motorbike with you on a ferry from the Dockyard back to Hamilton.

Things I'd skip:

1. Blue Hole Park. Wasn't that impressed with the blue hole.

2. Elbow Beach.