British Colonial Hilton Nassau

British Colonial Hilton Nassau
Location within Bahamas
General information
Location	1 W Bay St, Nassau, Bahamas
Coordinates	25°4′42″N 77°20′44″W / 25.07833°N 77.34556°W / 25.07833; -77.34556
Opening	January 7, 1924
Owner	China State Construction Engineering Corporation
Management	Hilton Hotels
Technical details
Floor count	7
Other information
Number of rooms	288
Number of suites	20
Website
www.bchiltonnassauhotel.com

The British Colonial Hilton Nassau is a luxury five-star or AAA four-diamond colonial hotel in downtown Nassau, Bahamas, located on the only private beach in Nassau, on the site of the Old Fort of Nassau. The hotel, originally opened in 1924, is located in a grand colonial building and has been described as "the Grand Dame of all Nassau hotels", "the most elegant and most expensive hotel in town", and "the most distinctive and pleasant of the island's large hotels".

The site was occupied in the 19th century by the Old Fort of Nassau to protect the western entrance to the Nassau Harbour until it was demolished in 1873. Long before the fort was built, the first settlement was established here in 1666, when Nassau was known as Charles town, which had developed in a haphazard manner lined with brothels and taverns visited by pirates, cheats and vagabonds. The presence of pirates in the town caused attacks by Spaniards when the town people fled to American colonies. The town was rebuilt later with a fort and called Nassau, on the site now occupied by the Hotel. The town was attacked again in 1703 by the allied forces of the French and the Spanish who destroyed the fort. Piracy was decimated when the British Governor Woodes Rogers took over in 1718. Over the next two centuries, the town developed under American influence during the 18th and 19th century witnessing glamour and many buildings of architectural excellence being built with slave labour. It was not until the Greeks came in the 20th century to man the sponging industry that rich started frequenting the island. Prohibition in USA encouraged at that time (Civil war period) the GIs and tourist to visit the island for hooch. It was during this period that major hotels started coming up like the British Colonial Hotel and Fort Montagu, which initially operated for three months during the winter season till the Washington Ball was celebrated.

In 1900, the land was purchased by Henry M. Flagler, responsible for the Breakers Hotel in South Florida. He built an enormous wooden hotel on the site, the Colonial Hotel, which opened in 1901. On March 31, 1922 the hotel was gutted by fire. The Bahamian government gave a loan to the Munson Line, which purchased the land and built a brand new seven-story hotel, The New Colonial, on the site within six months. The hotel celebrated its grand opening on January 7, 1924.