Compleat Angler Hotel

Traveler Review Rating :

This property is no longer open.

This property burned in January 2006.


The Compleat Angler Hotel, Hemingway's residence from 1935-37 is a museum,
raucous bar, angler's trophy room, and funky 12-room hotel smack in the
middle of Alice Town, North Bimini. The dark wood-paneled walls and floors
make this a noisy gathering place. Bring your earplugs if you want to sleep
late or turn in early. Sometimes the bar gets boisterous, and the sound
carries. The opportunity to soak up all this 30's, 40's, and 50's celeb
history though, is not to be missed. The walls are covered with memorabilia
of hundreds of championship big gamefish tournaments, smiling celebrities
standing next to huge, strung-up fish, Hemingway writings, newsclips, and
photos galore. Spend an evening visiting with sailors, fishermen, and those
who just arrived by seaplane from Florida to soak up the quiet,
get-away-from-it-all feel of Bimini. Who knows, someone you recognize from
the big screen may saunter in and sit down next to you at the bar.

The development rush has missed Bimini so far; you won't find a disco,
expresso machine, 5-star hotel, casino, or anyone dressed in anything but
casual, comfortable clothes and bare feet. With these islands just a
25-minute seaplane flight from Miami on the re-born Pan Am Airlines, you
would expect to find much more hustle and bustle. That's the beauty of
Bimini, it's so close, yet so different from South Florida. A great get-away
and a chance to chat with Congressmen, Generals, and movie stars that drop in
for a relaxing weekend of bonefishing and sipping libations at the friendly
Compleat Angler bar.