compares favourably with any of the Island's hotels, according to its general manager, Mr. Alan Marlow.

Mr. Marlow has sought to reassure the East End's business community that the day-to-day running of the club will not be affected by it being placed into receivership.

"Essentially the club will continue and will expand in March with another four units opening to take our numbers up to 69,'' said Mr. Marlow.

He said the club was fully booked right up to November and was even half-full during January, which was usually a poor month for Bermuda's tourism industry.

"I think our occupancy rates are a lot better than the rest of the Island, although we are not as big as the Southampton Princess or the Hamilton Princess,'' he added.

East End businessmen will be delighted by his confidence in the club, which pumps an estimated $7 million into the local economy each year.

Speculation about the club's future has been rife since it was seized last year by its principal creditor, the Central Guaranty Trust Company, of Canada.

The club's previous owner, the York-Hannover property group, has gone bust in several countries around the world with debts of several hundred million dollars.

Bermuda Police began investigating an allegation of fraud against York-Hannover in relation to monies borrowed to build the St. George's Club more than a decade ago.

Receiver Price Waterhouse is currently negotiating to sell the property to Canadian-based Trans-America Corporation.

But some creditors have described the negotiations as a farce and claim Trans America is controlled by the same people who ran York-Hannover.

Mr. Marlow said the club would continue as a going concern.

"The club will be allowed to continue because we still have 2,700 owners paying the maintenance fees,'' he said. "There was never really a danger that the club was going to close.'' Despite all its ownership difficulties, the club had not slowed down its operation and had not laid off any staff, he said.

The club employs 35 Bermudians and another 25 part-time staff, who have continued to work while other hotels have had to make cutbacks.

St. George's North MP Mr. Phillip Smith said: "The club has probably been running at a better occupancy level than any hotel on the Island this year and they are full from March until November.

"It has been estimated that the club provides $7.1 million of business for the town per year. That is something we cannot afford to lose.

"It is a tremendous asset to every business in St. George's. It works very closely with all the businesses.''