Beaumont rescues stricken hotel

Friday, 5 June 2009

It must be a hotelier's worst nightmare. The season's just picking up. The hotel is full, with 130 guests including three coach parties. The kitchen's working hard from breakfast to evening dinner service; and early in the morning and late in the evening the en-suite showers go into overdrive. Then suddenly, bang! The DHW generator packs in and there's no hot water.

That's exactly what happened at the 75-bedroom Pentire Hotel in Newquay, Cornwall, when a 15-year-old Beaumont Speedmaster suddenly gave up the ghost, leaving Manager Julie Ball and her team facing potential disaster. Time to call Beaumont!

“We got the call at 9am on Monday and I realised straight away that we had to act fast,” said Beaumont General Manager Jim Fallon. “You can't run a hotel with no hot water!

“We hadn't built a Speedmaster for nearly 10 years, but the height restriction in the hotel's plant-room meant none of our current models would fit. So we dug out the old blueprints and got straight down to it.”

Working round the clock, the team had a brand-new Speedmaster built and ready to go in just 24 hours. After a five-hour drive from Beaumont's Wiltshire base they set to work on the installation, and within 36 hours of getting the call the Pentire and its guests had their hot water restored.

“We understood the gravity of the situation so we pulled out all the stops,” says Jim. “I think we must have beaten some sort of record, and I can't tell you how proud I am of the way the team buckled down and got the job done.”

“The hotel was pretty much full and very, very busy; and then suddenly, no hot water,” says Julie. “When it happened, I thought: 'oh no!' – or words to that effect.

“It could so easily have been a disaster, but Beaumont were very quick and we got great service. From nothing to a brand-new boiler good for another 15 years or more in 36 hours flat – that can't be bad!”