Hartwell House copes with loss of US guests

Hartwell House, the Buckinghamshire hotel that is part of the Historic House Hotels group, said last week that 80% of its US guests had cancelled bookings since 11 September.

But manager Jonathan Thompson added that the damage was not disastrous for the 46-bedroom Aylesbury hotel because Americans made up only 12% of its visitors.

He said: "It has been the lack of enquiries which has been most noticeable, with our USA free fax being quieter than usual. London weekend business is very strong and we have experienced an increase in UK enquiries.

"International companies are certainly discouraging air travel for their staff and this affects the international conference business. The delegate numbers have reduced."

Thompson added: "Having said that, we have had an American couple staying for six nights and three couples from America staying last night."

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 11-17 October 2001