Fawlty Towers in the Stockholm Archipelago Unfiltered Notes from the Guesthouse #1

Between check-out and check-in, I've scheduled exactly one hour. Why, I honestly can't remember anymore, but it's too late to change it now without half the calendar collapsing. Today I'm mostly hoping that guest A sticks to the check-out time and guest B doesn't show up too early, or your humble hostess has a problem.

I run my Airbnb as a kind of dress rehearsal for Bed&Books, with the idea that I'm already preaching slowing down here. Rest, a book, a window with a view, a calm walk to the sea. Behind the scenes of my guesthouse, meanwhile, it looks a lot more like Fawlty Towers. I myself spend the whole summer carrying laundry baskets under my arm, à la Polly, while somewhere deep down I like to think I run a tight ship, à la Sybil — organized, everything under control, nothing left to chance. The truth, as usual, lies somewhere in between.

Take last week. My regular guest, who usually stays on my side of the house during these months so I can rent out the guesthouse, was on holiday. I thought: quick, let me ask when he's back. He writes: I'm arriving on such-and-such date, but my friends are arriving on such-and-such date. Turns out I had completely forgotten that those friends would also need somewhere to sleep. A pure Manuel moment — "I know nothing" — minus the Spanish accent, though, and plus a Dutch, or maybe Swedish, one.

The funny thing is: it always works out. Guests barely notice. My guest's friends ended up with a beautifully made-up bed after all — in this inn, there's always room. The cleaning is always finished on time, with the sweat on my back to show for it. Maybe that's the real secret of this place — not that I have everything under control, but that it keeps working despite me.

More often than not, I find myself, à la Basil, staring around dazed, trying to remember what I was even doing. Beyond that, I'm mostly Polly with the laundry baskets, occasionally Manuel who knows nothing, and every once in a great while, a bit of Sybil — if the schedule cooperates, that is.