US hotel apologizes after destroying passports of 42 British students, staff

The management team of a hotel in the northeastern US state of New Hampshire has issued an apology to dozens of students from England whose passports were destroyed during their stay.

The Barr Beacon School in Walsall, West Midlands, England sent 42 students and four staff members to the Kancamagus Lodge in Lincoln, NH for a ski trip. However, while cleaning and organizing the back office on February 19, a manager at the lodge accidentally threw away a box containing the passports, according to Boston 25 News.

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The passports were destroyed by the scheduled, contracted garbage disposal company that emptied the dumpster.

The management team at Kancamagus Lodge said they immediately notified the guests and began working with their guests and tour operating company to come to a satisfactory resolution.

The group then traveled to the British Embassy in New York to apply for emergency documentation to allow them to travel back to England. They initially planned on flying home the weekend of February 25 but flew home on March 1 instead, according to Boston 25 News.

“We are deeply sorry. We take full responsibility and offer a genuine apology to our guests and community,” Kancamagus Lodge management said in a statement on Facebook.

“In addition to offering our profound apologies to our guests and their families, we also offer our sincere apology to our community for not representing our industry to the best of our ability and for not living up to the expectations you have of us.”

The Kancamagus Lodge is putting new protocols into place to ensure this doesn't happen again and to better protect all their guests. They plan on connecting with fellow industry professionals to help them better understand the industry standards and amplify the guest experience to put guests first.

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