Fiat clears up guide fiasco

Hoteliers who thought they had lost £300 each when the Artizan Hotel and Guest House Guidebook went into liquidation, have been offered help by Italian car giant Fiat and guidebook publisher Priory Publications.

The troubled guidebook first hit the headlines last year when Dorset hotelier Dan Walker of Britmead House, in Bridport, revealed how he had paid £250 plus VAT for an entry in a guide said to be sponsored by Fiat. Four months later he received a letter saying the guide had ceased trading.

Fiat had agreed in principle to become involved with the Artizan guidebook, but it had never signed a formal undertaking. Although, as a result, it was not legally responsible to the hotels, the car company accepted an offer from Priory Publications to include the hotels in its Signpost Guide to Premier Hotels.

The guide inspected all the hotels concerned and has included 31 out of 40 of them in the new budget section of its 1996 guide.

Priory Publications has also produced 5,000 special editions of the guide funded by Fiat, which will be placed in their rental cars.

Malcolm Orr-Ewing, managing director of Priory Publications, told Caterer: "There aren't any losers. The hotels are delighted to get something out of it, we have increased our circulation and Fiat has honoured its moral obligations."

Mr Walker said he was satisfied: "Credit must go to Fiat for making a conscious effort to rectify the situation."