As part of our plan to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, we have decided to close the shared guest kitchen in our guesthouse, and stop doing our guest's personal laundry when washing linen and towels. We also figured that these renovations would be necessary for us to get approval from the St. Lucian government to re-open to travelers outside of the regional bubble.
For the past three weeks, Keep Cool and I have been installing mini-kitchens, compact washing machines and spin dryers in each of our guest suites. Thankfully, we are very handy, and did all of the work ourselves. Keep Cool has a degree in environmental control and a certificate in construction management. He is a stickler that we do everything according to code. As a result, all of our changes pass inspection. Our house is made of brick and mortar, so we had purchased a grooving machine to make channels in the walls for the new electrical and plumbing. The amount of dust that was generated is almost unimaginable. I think it will take three more weeks to clean up.
Last week, we had an inspection by the Ministry of Health and Wellness. This is the first step to getting certified by the Ministry of Tourism. The entire process should take 4-5 weeks. Not very much time before the holiday season begins. Here are some before and after pictures.
The shared kitchen has been closed. We will sell the appliances on the local FB Marketplace. It is now the guest reception area with a handwashing station. By regulation, all businesses must provide either hand sanitizer or a place for hand washing at the entrance.
Former shared Guest Kitchen1Former shared Guest Kitchen2New reception area.
We purchased some Ikea base cabinets, and shipped them down with all of the appliances and kitchen fixtures. I painted the sink cabinets different colors for each room, and had the local granite fabricator make countertops from cut off pieces. Room 2 is our smallest space, and has slightly different appliances than rooms 3 and 4 (smaller area, one burner vs two burner cooktop, toaster vs. toaster oven).
Room 2 BeforeRoom 2 After
In rooms 3 and 4, we installed the kitchens in the former closet areas. We re-used the upper cupboards from the former shared guest kitchen, and the kitchen carts that were previously used as stands for beverage fridges in the suites.
Room 3 BeforeRoom 3 After
Room 4 BeforeRoom 4 After
Each of the en-suite bathroom now has a compact washing machine and a spin dryer. The guests will be able to do their personal laundry, and wash their towels. We'll exchange bed linen for guests staying longer than 9 days.
Room 2 laundryRoom 3 laundryRoom 4 laundry
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