Escape to the new life….

So I’m sure you’ve watched the programmes. I look at them and wonder how people can get themselves into such pickles and have only 20 minutes to finish painting a room before the guests arrive. Well now I know! Strap yourselves in, it’s going to be a bumpy ride!

So it all started Friday night. A couple arrived who had on booking stated that they wanted to have a romantic break in the Monts D’Arree. I had emailed them and pointed out that the room that they had booked had bunk beds only and that if they were looking for a romantic break, then perhaps they would like one of my double rooms. No response. When they arrived on Friday they were a little disappointed and I explained that that was why I had written to them. And of course in the intervening period I had taken more bookings.

On Saturday they asked to move rooms. At that point there was availability in the room that they wanted for 2 nights out of their remaining 4. Ok I thought, let’s see what can be done. I suggested taking apart the bunk beds in the room that they were in and making it into a double. No, they would make do they said. So I said I would move them into the other room until it was needed. It was from here on in that things started to go wrong!

Saturday morning I went to get some shopping and whilst out I had a text from Airbnb with a request for that night. I went to reject it thinking that I had enough on my plate what with two other guests arriving and a market all happening on Sunday. Well it seems that if you try to reject someone Airbnb gets snotty. So I thought ok I’ll have to let them stay and I’ll just have to turn over the room. So I accepted the request.

Whilst driving home my phone rang. A woman announces that she has booked. Ah you must be the couple with the dog I say. No she says she is a group of 3 women. I explained that I didn’t have this booking and that I was in my car. I would ring her back once I was home. I drove straight to the gite with things that I needed to drop off. The 3 women were outside. After much to-ing and fro-ing I was able to establish that they had attempted a booking request that morning but that it had not actually come to me as such. The 4 bed bunk room was set up for the 4 guests for today but I thought if they were happy with that, I would have time to turn it over. 3 women happily in.

So back to my dilemma with the romantic couple and my small room. So I knew that I had a couple booked in on Sunday night for one night. They booked before I had 4 rooms on Airbnb and so they technically didn’t’ know which room they had reserved. The listing that they booked through is no longer live. Having suggested to the couple that we could take the bunk beds apart and put them side by side I decided that this would be the solution for Sunday night’s couple. Ha, ha! Not so quick. Of course previously I had had a lit superpose, a double bed with a single bunk over, in the room, the double measuring 140cm. However the two bunk beds were wider than this and would not fit.

After some attempts with click and collect that failed my son went to Ikea in Brest to buy a double bed frame. By the time he returned we decided that we were not doing anything else that evening. I then discovered that he hadn’t appreciated that the slats were a separate item. A message to friends on Facebook and amazingly someone had a set of slats that fitted that I could borrow.

So Sunday started relatively early. We needed to clean and change the room that the couple with the dog had been in. The large bunk room needed stripping but most importantly the bunk beds needed removing from the small room and the bed-frame needed building. We managed to take the bunks apart and carry them down to the back storage room. After that I was on cleaning and bed-making duties whilst my son constructed the frame. After a while I went off to collect the slats. Finally the bed was together and we put on the two single mattresses from the bunk beds. Of course they were too big. Ok no worries we have a spare 140 mattress here. So we raced here collected it from the loft and took it back to the gite.

We put the mattress on and made the bed. I had managed to get some cushions that would make the room look more inviting. My son had gone down stairs for something just after 4pm and said I think that there are two people outside with backpacks. I finished the last stage of making the bedroom and went down to discover they were indeed the couple booked in for that night.

A short time later the family who were also due to arrive did so. They thankfully were very straightforward. They seemed delighted with their room and and complimented me on my French. It’s not good but it is improving and is definitely better than 12 months ago. So after a 10 hour day I came back here to collapse.

This morning I gave the couple a free breakfast. In the grand scheme of things it’s probably good value for money. I changed the beds in the bunk room and ran backwards and forwards with washing. I went this afternoon to collect a small child’s bed that I need. There is a law in France, possibly throughout the EU, that states that children under 6 cannot go in a top bunk, so there are times when I need an additional small bed. I had inquired about the bed on Friday night before all that happened over the weekend. I need one next week and thought that I was getting myself organised in advance! The bed is currently in the back of my car where it will certainly be staying at least for tonight.

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Wish me luck, on Wednesday the small room has to return to being a bunk room! Until tomorrow…