Hoteliers have moved to support their guests' use of water following Works and Engineering Minister Alex Scott's criticism that visitors were not doing enough to protect the Island's precious water supply.

Mr. Scott said everyone must take steps to prevent further depletion of the Island's water supply and hotel guests must do more.

But hoteliers, while agreeing that guests used a lot of water unknowingly, said the responsibility to conserve water lay with them, not the visitors who were paying a lot of money to stay at their properties.

Muriel Richardson, general manager of Rosedon Hotel, said while it would be pro-active of the hotel to tell guests about conserving water, the hotel did not do this because its guests were paying a great deal of money for a Bermuda vacation.

"I know there are some hotels that have notes and the like in the bathrooms to guests not to use lots of water,'' she said.

"But the other side of the coin is that guests are paying a lot of money and if a guest wants to take a longer shower he should be able to,'' she continued.

She agreed with the Minister, saying: "The average American is used to running the water and the Minister is absolutely right -- they are the biggest offenders.'' Pompano Beach Club general manager Larry Lamb said the hotel had its own desalination plant and did not draw on the Island's water supply.

Before installing the plant, Pompano had informed its guests of the Island's water situation in a bid to get them to limit their water usage.

But he agreed that guests paid far too much money to be restricted.

He noted that the hotel's repeat guests were well informed on the Island's water situation, as they were at the Pink Beach Club and Cottage Colony, said general manager Michael Williams.

And the hotel relied on their common sense, he added.

He said all the hotel's literature indicated the importance of conserving water and there was little else it could do as it did not want to put notices in all its rooms.

"We're not that kind of hotel,'' said Mr. Williams.

But other hotels, which do utilise local water supplies, do everything they can to keep their guests informed of the water situation and said they had met with appreciation and understanding from guests for their conservation efforts.

Michael Kaile, vice-president/general manager of Fairmont Hamilton Princess said: "Many of our guests come from very environmentally friendly places and are happy to conserve water.'' And he said the hotel was involved in environmentally conscious programmes, as was the Fairmont Southampton Princess resort, through their conservation conscious parent company Canadian Pacific.

Norman Mastalir, vice president/general manager of the Fairmont Southampton Princess said, while he did not want to question what the Minister intended by his comment, it was fair to say that guests did not fully understand the importance of conserving water on the Island.

And the hotel did have low flow toilet and shower heads in an attempt to conserve water, he added.

Mr. Kaile said both hotels also conserved water used during laundry cleaning and asked guests to put towels in the tub when they absolutely needed to be washed.