This article is from page 31 of the 2013-12-31 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 31 JPG
HUNDREDS of members of the leisure centre at Woodstock Hotel learnt for the first time they could be out of pocket to the tune of between € 200 and € 400 following the shock closure of the four-star hotel last Friday.
This fear was raised by a number of leisure centre members who contacted The Clare People and voiced their anger that membership fees for the pool, spa and gym facilities were accepted into the weeks leading up to the hotel’s closure.
“We don’t know if we will get our money back,” one member of the leisure centre told The Clare People . “We paid money in good faith, but now don’t know if there’s any comeback and our money could be lost,” another member added.
Membership rates for the leisure centre ranged from € 200 to € 400, while it’s believed that over 100 people may have already paid their fees for 2013.
No spokesperson from Fort William Ltd, the operating company behind the management of Woodstock, was available for comment but a former employee revealed; “There is going to be a director’s meeting called on January 23 and the directors will have to give a statement of affairs at that meeting.”
It has also emerged that many of Woodstock’s 60 employees were only given a half-hour’s notice of the emergency meeting that announced the closure of the hotel.
Staff were called to a meeting at 3pm where they were told that the hotel was to cease trading with immediate effect.
The hotel had built up a reputation as a popular wedding venue over the last number of years, but it’s understood that no wedding was due to take place the weekend of the story, while none are booked in for the following weeks either.
Woodstock Hotel was developed in 2000 as a standalone development separate to Woodstock Golf and Country Club which was designed by renowned golf course architect Dr Arthur Spring and opened in 1993.
This year, Woodstock Golf Club celebrates 20 years and is unaffected by the latest demise of the adjacent Woodstock Hotel.