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Ashdown Park Hotel and Country Club has announced it had to close its doors after the hotel’s water supplies were cut off due to Storms Eunice and Franklin, with its water supply having been off since last friday.
The East Sussex hotel comprises 106 bedrooms, two restaurants, afternoon tea service, Spa and treatment rooms, all of which have now been closed for six days.
The resulting compensation to Saturday night’s guests alone was in the region of £15,000. Overall, the hotel has since lost between £15,000 and £20,000 daily, which is a combination of loss of accommodation, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner income, plus spa day and treatment revenue.
The hotel also has 40 staff living on site, all of whom have reportedly been without water facilities since Friday night.
The company predicts it will take at least 24 hours to get the hotel operational again once the water supply is restored. It said it has crockery, cutlery and glassware to clean and polish, linen and towels to wash, iron and distribute, and every bedroom will need to be re-serviced.
Ben Booker, general manager at Ashdown Park Hotel, said: “The hotel was forced to take the decision to close to guests on Sunday morning; we are simply unable to deliver acceptable levels of service without running water.
“I cannot overstate the damage that this lack of a basic water supply is causing to our business – made worse, of course, by coming immediately on top of the dreadful Covid pandemic.”
He added: “We need urgent action by South East Water to enable the hotel to re-open as quickly as possible.
“It is simply awful to have had to let down our valued guests over the past five days. We look forward to reopening and welcoming back our guests in the very near future.”
