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Refurbished hotel wrecked
MANAGEMENT at Horncastle’s top rated hotel admitted they were “heartbroken” after counting the cost of major flooding - just weeks after completing a major refurbishment.
Staff at the Admiral Rodney Hotel were still “mopping up” on Friday after water had swept straight through the ground level reception, restaurant, kitchen and bar areas the previous day.
Manager Alison Davis said initial estimates indicated the flooding had caused damage running into “thousands of pounds”.
She said: “It’s heartbreaking. We’d just finished the refurbishment. It’s going to need all new carpets again and obviously it is going to take a few weeks for the floors to dry out.
“When we saw the damage, everyone was stunned. But we got to work straightaway and as far as we’re concerned it is business as usual.”
Mrs Davis said the flooding was caused by water crashing into the hotel from the rear of the building.
She added: “The water came through the back. It cascaded down the staircases - straight through. It went left and right. There was no way we could have stopped it.
“It flooded all the (ground floor) rooms and went into the Admiralty Suite restaurant. It also came through the back and into the kitchen and into the main bar.
“It all happened so quickly. I couldn’t believe the force of the water. It was a like a river. We were lucky in that we managed to lift most of the furniture off the floor so that wasn’t damaged. It could have been a lot worse.
“The fire brigade were brilliant. Our guests were really good. Some of them went out to other places for dinner on Thursday night and some of them had sandwiches.
“The staff have been excellent and we’ve just got on with the job of clearing up.
“As I say, it was just the flooring but you are still talking about thousands of pounds (of damage).”
Staff managed to keep disruption to a minimum and although the bar was shut in Thursday evening, it re-opened the following day.
Mrs Davis added: “We’re coping as well as we can. The kitchen is OK and we used one of the function rooms upstairs as a temporary restaurant.
“The main restaurant was up and running as soon as possible - minus the floor covering.
“It’s very unsightly but I’m sure people will understand.”
Mrs David indicated it was over-flowing drains at the rear of the hotel which struggled to cope with the water.
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Weather for Horncastle
Saturday 18 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 7 C to 14 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: West
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Temperature: 8 C to 17 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: North east
