Thursday, June 24th, 2021
On Monday this week, guests had booked to stay for three nights, neatly following the previous weekend’s guests and filling in weekday gaps before my next set of guests due to arrive today. Nice to have a whole, uninterrupted week’s worth of income for a change, following the disastrous summer season of 2020. One couple at a time on most days, here for a peaceful and relaxing break and sightseeing, is the ideal scenario for me. I dislike the pressures of catering for multiple guests at the same time.
All went well until 7 a.m. on Tuesday morning, when a burst water main somewhere in the area caused the water to be shut off until late evening. There was no warning and no notice. No one from the water company brought drinking water, although they are supposed to in the event of prolonged disruptions. I had to keep phoning the water utility company to find out what was going on. The time to completion of repairs kept being put back. My guests, understandably, felt they would have to curtail their visit and cancel their second and third nights. The prospect of having to keep flushing the WCs with buckets of water did not appeal. Nor did the lack of even a cold shower, never mind a hot one.
Ironically, as soon as the guests had packed their backs and were on their way out of the front door, the water came back. Too late to change their plans. If I’d been in their place, driving all the way home late at night instead of enjoying a pleasant mini-break, I’d have been hopping mad.
Southeast Water, if you google yourselves and come across this page, please note that I am not happy. Unscheduled disruptions to our water supplies happen far, far too frequently in this area. How can I run a B&B without a reliable supply of water?