Every hotelier heads off to bed dreading the midnight call with news of a fire. And that’s what we had from The Old Coastguard last Tuesday night. Our systems worked and all our guests were evacuated safely, frankly all that matters. Our first thanks go to them for being so remarkably understanding. And there are many others we need to thank on the record.
Our senior team were seriously magnificent in assisting all the guests and finding them somewhere to stay. And have continued to be as we plan for the future. The Ship Inn in Mousehole was a refuge of genuine hospitality for guests while we found places for them to stay. And hotels from around West Cornwall were rapid in finding beds for our guests in the middle of the night.
We must thank Cornwall Fire & Rescue for their prompt work which minimised the damage to the building (of which more below). And finally, those guests and suppliers who have contacted us in the last week with their messages of support and offers of help.
With parts of the ground floor entirely out of action and smoke damage throughout the hotel, the outcome is that we’ll be closed until the end of the summer at the earliest. We’re working with our insurers to ensure we know how the fire happened and how we get the building up and running as quickly as possible. We should have a better idea of a re-opening timetable in the next couple of weeks.
If you were booked to stay or eat with us in July and August, we’re calling you one by one to ensure you know that we won’t be open. Thank you to all of you that we have already spoken to for being so universally understanding. For those who were planning to join us for Social Sunday in aid of Hospitality Action, we have postponed this until after we re-open.
While The Old Coastguard will be closed for the summer, our sister inns will be open all day, every day. Many of our Mousehole team will cross the moor to help look after guests at The Gurnard’s Head where the cooking is as good at the moment as we’ve known in all our time there.
We’ll be in touch shortly with something much more positive. In the meantime, feel able to contact either of us if you’d like to know any more by replying to this email. Or talk to our team here who will remain very much in place until we re-open and who will play such a big role in making sure that the new Old Coastguard is better than ever.
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