The general manager of Marriott's Castle Harbour Resort yesterday shot down rumours that the hotel was set to be closed down, despite its most successful period to date.

Mark Conklin was responding to claims that the chain's vice-president Bill Marriott had visited the Island at the weekend and made the decision to shut the hotel's doors.

Mr. Conklin said the last time Mr. Marriott was in Bermuda was in March when he attended a resident and general managers' meeting that the Hamilton Parish hotel hosted.

He stressed that the latest round of rumours about the hotel was "unfounded'' and he admitted he had gotten tired of hearing them.

The facts, he continued, were that the first six months of this year had been the best the hotel had enjoyed in years. It had been "outstanding...phenomenal,'' he said.

Occupancy had been up by seven points and sales had improved significantly, pointed out Mr. Conklin.

However, all was not rosy, he admitted. There was concern over the Island's market condition as July and August looked to be "soft'' in comparison to other years.

But this was not only being experienced by Marriott, he added.

And after August, continued Mr. Conklin, sales and occupancy rates looked very promising.

The GM put the soft period down to increasing competitiveness from cruise ships and high airfares to the Island.

In February, the local Marriott was recognised as being the chain's most improved hotel in the area of customer satisfaction.

Mr. Conklin said this had been an area the hotel had focused on improving in an attempt to boost flagging occupancy rates.

A Marriott front desk manager has been taken to task by senior management at the hotel for writing an insulting memo to her staff -- a memo which spawned a front page story in The Workers Voice, the Bermuda Industrial Union's newspaper.

"The matter has been dealt with,'' Marriott General Manager Mark Conklin said. "We do not condone that type of behaviour.'' The controversial memo, copied to management, union and The Monitor Group -- a tourism watchdog organisation -- referred to certain hotel staffers as "dumb people.''