Hoteliers celebrate full houses over Christmas

Brisk trade from Christmas to the New Year brought festive cheer to hoteliers, who welcomed a return to normality after the hype, high charges and disappointing response to last year's Millennium festivities.

Heavy snowfall towards the end of last week and restrictions in rail services failed to deter guests. Paul Whittome, owner of the Hoste Arms at Burnham Market, Norfolk, said his inn was full and resembled a "four-wheel-drive convention".

Many owners noted that Christmas and the days up to New Year had been booked earlier than previously, while New Year bookings had come in later.

Charles Garside, owner of the Miller Howe Hotel in Windermere, Cumbria, said he had turned away people for the New Year, many of whom were seeking last-minute alternatives as poor weather stopped flights.

Iain Shelton, general manager of the Lords of the Manor in Upper Slaughter, Gloucestershire, and the Feathers in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, believed that more guests had booked for the in-between period this year because more businesses had closed until the New Year.

Glasgow's One Devonshire Gardens found the whole of December busier than usual.

In London, Richard Fisher, general manager of the Capital hotel, said his hotel was nearly full over the holiday period. Occupancy on New Year's Eve last year had been a mere 22%.

Business in York was poor in the six weeks to Christmas thanks to exaggerated press reports of flooding and limited train services, said Stuart McPherson, general manager at Middlethorpe Hall hotel. But his trade recovered over Christmas and the New Year.

By Angela Frewin