According to the Vermont Attorney General’s office, the owners of the Equinox Hotel in Manchester have agreed to refund over $60,000 to the Equinox Preservation Trust, a local environmental group. The attorney general said that the money was improperly transferred from the trust to the hotel in 1999, when the hotel was sold.
The Equinox Preservation Trust is a non-profit organization formed in 1993 to protect about a thousand acres of wild land on Mount Equinox in Manchester. Since 1993, the trust has been funded primarily through donations given by visitors to the Equinox Hotel. Donors were informed in writing that “all proceeds” would go to the Trust.
Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell said that in addition to the improper transfer, the hotel misled donors by stating all donations would go to the trust. The owners of the Equinox Hotel deny violating any state laws, but agreed to repay the money.