Last Saturday I discovered that ‘after dinner’ does not always mean ‘immediately after dinner’. While three of the four couples had arrived neatly within the regular check-in times (from 15:00 to 20:00), I decided to send the last couple a WhatsApp-message asking them at what time they approximately expected to arrive. Their liberating answer soon followed. They were still on the beach in Oliva (a thirty-minute drive from Benialí) and were going to come here after dinner. Now I know that Spaniards usually dine late and that I might had to wait until about eleven or twelve o’clock, but I never expected them to be this late.
So when I could barely keep my eyes open around one o’clock and still hadn’t received any sign that they were on their way, I decided to message the couple again. Under no circumstances did I want to wake the other guests, who had already been sleeping for a while now. The guests, who were still in Oliva, understood this and assured me that they would leave immediately. To make sure they wouldn’t ring the doorbell, I decided to wait for them outside. With a temperature of thirty degrees, it was still warm. From the sound of the televisions in the rest of the street I learned that both the neighbors and the neighbors from across the street were also still awake.
And when a car parked across the street almost an hour later, I thought the guests had finally arrived. Because I didn’t want to disturb the guests who were sleeping in the rooms next to and above the door with my voice, I only raised my hand to wave but did not greet them otherwise. I waited patiently until they finished unpacking the car, while the lady of the couple kept looking at me strangely. Only when I saw that two children climbed out of the car a few minutes later did I understand why she looked so worried. These people weren’t my guests at all. She was probably wondering why I was staring at them incessantly in the middle of the night. To break the ice, the man briefly struck up a conversation with me. Because I still didn’t want to disturb our other guests, I hardly dared to answer. But me, not answering, probably contributed to the idea that they already had of me. That I was crazy.
But hey, I couldn’t blame them. It is completely crazy that I was still waiting the arrival of two more guests at two o’clock in the morning. Guests who would only stay with us for that one night. For a multi-day stay and because of a late flight, I would happily make an exception, but for one night and without a good reason, I’m not going to do this to myself again. A fox is not caught twice in the same snare. And so I decided not only to emphasize the regular check-in times even more strongly in our confirmation email, but also to create an automatic email that is sent one day in advance. That checking in outside regular check-in hours is possible, but only in consultation. And although I find it annoying to contact guests – who have read all the information carefully – once again, I hope that this will make it easier for me to create a rhythm and routine for myself in our Bed & Breakfast. Because as long as I’m still on my own, days from 07:00 to 23:00 are difficult to maintain. Without enough rest/sleep, I fear that I will actually go crazy during/after a busy summer season. The last thing I want is to scare even more innocent residents who decide to arrive in the middle of the night.