Although he said he would return to Bermuda, a Canadian visitor said he would never recommend the Brightside guest house after he claimed the owner deceived his party into staying in rooms that were almost twice the price of what they had reserved.

George Ewer and 13 others arrived on the Island on July 17 for his daughter's wedding. Upon their arrival, he said, they were greeted by owner Willard Lightbourn, who showed them around the Flatt's property so they could see the types of rooms offered.

Mr. Ewer said they were shown accommodations that they believed were deluxe suites. Then, he said, the group asked Mr. Lightbourn for the price of the room, to which they were told "We'll work something out". He said they questioned the rate because they had reserved three deluxe suites for $200 per night and wanted to affirm that these were in fact the rooms they had booked.

But according to Mr. Ewer, Mr. Lightbourn never firmly responded to their query, and to their surprise, at check out they were presented with bills which reflected room rates of up to $340 a night.

"Three of us argued with Mr. Lightbourn about the rates twice that morning," Mr. Ewer said, but claimed that the owner would not adjust the bill.

However, Mr. Lightbourn only remembered one discrepancy the group had, he said: "They said they wanted the charge for the use of the pool house removed from their bill," he said. "But I do not recall any other discussions about the rates." While he admitted that the guests were given accommodations more expensive than those they booked, Mr. Lightbourn was adamant that he did not deceive the Ewer party.

"The rooms they booked were not large enough for them. I knew they would be entertaining wedding guests and the studios they had booked were too small for that," he said.

When Mr. Lightbourn was asked why he did not tell them about the rate change, he said they were shown a rate card.

But Mr. Ewer said the claim was simply untrue: "Besides a rate card in the office, he never showed us anything."

However, Mr. Lightbourn said the group paid much less than what they owed. Besides conceding to giving them use of the pool house for free, he said he provided them with other services that they did not pay for.

"If I charged them for everything I did, they would be paying through the nose," he said.

And while he admitted he could have explained things clearer, he insisted that he did not rip the visitors off: "They got what they didn't ask for, but they paid for what they got. We bent over backwards to accommodate them."

Though he does not expect any type of refund, the incident has left a nasty taste in Mr. Ewer's mouth. "We will never recommend the Brightside to anyone," he said.