Water Cut off near Malaga

adamapple

We've arrived in Torre del Mar near Malaga for a weeks stay and due to the heat the local government has cut the water supply each night from 11pm till upto 9am. 

Although the property owner was aware of this she failed to notify us of the situation.  Since we have children with us its become a serious problem for us as we're unable to go to the toilet as we're unable to flush it during the cut off hours.

The owner is unwilling to take any responsibility for not informing us and Booking.com, who we booked through have also said they can't do anything either.

Considering we've paid £1600 for this villa for 7 days, the situation has turned this into a holiday from hell, is there any action we can take?

oldernonethewiser

You could solve the flushing issue by having containers filled during the time water is available and keep them near the toilet.

An inconvenience but a "holiday from hell" seems OTT unless there are medical issues involved.

daveyjp

Fill some buckets and if its yellow let it mellow.

bagand96

Whilst it would have been nice of the property owner to notify you of the issue before arrival, it's clearly an issue beyond their control.  Are you suggesting that if you had been notified you would have cancelled?  That would very much depend on the T&Cs of the contract you agreed to.

Agree with others that whilst it's an inconvenience, especially with the children, a few containers of water pre-filled will be sufficient to flush the toilet.  The big 5L bottles of water from the supermarket would be ideal  (use the water for drinking and refill the container out of the tap during the day!)  Some bottled water to brush teeth etc?

adamapple

I'm sure it feels like a minor inconvenience to look at from the outside, but enduring this daily and having to implement a routine to rush home to fill buckets and take a shower and visit the loo is not the way you want to spend a relaxing 7 days. 

Alongside this, the air con switches off after every 1.5 hours as an "energy saving feature" meaning you have to get up 3 times through the night to reset it.

And no parking for half a mile as the streets are full of visitors to the local hospital. 

And a shared pool which the local community clearly doesn't want to share with strangers.

Not to mention the constant power cuts if the iron or the hair dryer or the oven is used at the same time as the air con.

Holiday from hell is the only way I can describe the situation.

eskbanker

But drip-feeding a further four different issues (some within the owner's control) doesn't change the fact that there's no point in moaning about the overnight water restrictions that are imposed by the local authorities?

oldernonethewiser

adamapple said:

I'm sure it feels like a minor inconvenience to look at from the outside, but enduring this daily and having to implement a routine to rush home to fill buckets and take a shower and visit the loo is not the way you want to spend a relaxing 7 days. 

Alongside this, the air con switches off after every 1.5 hours as an "energy saving feature" meaning you have to get up 3 times through the night to reset it.

And no parking for half a mile as the streets are full of visitors to the local hospital. 

And a shared pool which the local community clearly doesn't want to share with strangers.

Not to mention the constant power cuts if the iron or the hair dryer or the oven is used at the same time as the air con.

Holiday from hell is the only way I can describe the situation.

Fill buckets before you leave the property for the day? Shower before 11pm.

The air-con issue is another inconvience.

Imagine, people wanting to visit a hospital!

Are the local community stopping you from using the pool? Have you spoken to anyone about this?

Power cut or breaker tripping?

Another inconvience.

All annoying no doubt but not by any stretch of the imagination as hyperbolic as you assert.

NoodleDoodleMan

The villa owner should have passed on a warning about the restrictions and timings.

Otherwise, as said above, circumstances outwith normal control.

adamapple

The terms provided ample time to cancel, which the owner clearly knew, which i feel is why they didn't warn us about the water. It might be mere inconvenience but it's inconvenience I'd rather do without. Especially if I'm paying the normal price. 

MattMattMattUK

adamapple said:

Not to mention the constant power cuts if the iron or the hair dryer or the oven is used at the same time as the air con.

It is not a power cut, it is you tripping the power. This is complicated because the UK generally has no power limits up to the maximum draw of the individual circuit and/or supply and our residential supplies are normally much higher capacity. In most of Europe they have a capped maximum draw far lower than ours by default, though they can pay more for a larger maximum power draw. Because the maximum draw is lower than ours it js much easier to reach that cap and trip the power, however it also means that their grid generally has to cope with far less peak draw than ours, people will not run multiple high draw devices simultaneously. This is not a fault with the property, but an understandable lack of understanding in the differences of how electricity supply operates in different countries. 

adamapple said:

Alongside this, the air con switches off after every 1.5 hours as an "energy saving feature" meaning you have to get up 3 times through the night to reset it.

This is not uncommon and in some Spanish regions it is mandatory. Realistically if you ran it before bed and then set for the extra 1.5 hours as you went to sleep then one would not expect to need it on again during the night, although it may be warm when one wakes up in the morning.

adamapple said:

Holiday from hell is the only way I can describe the situation.

You have listed a few minor inconveniences or annoyances, nowhere near to a holiday from hell. Try being in Paris whilst there is a major terrorist attack, and even that I would say from personal experience is not pleasant, but not something I describe as "hell". Having to deal with a government mandated overnight water shut off, or not using the hairdryer, oven and air-con at the same time time is going to be so trivial as to not make much of a dent in most normal people's enjoyment of a holiday, let alone turn it into "hell".

Westin

adamapple said:

The terms provided ample time to cancel, which the owner clearly knew, which i feel is why they didn't warn us about the water. It might be mere inconvenience but it's inconvenience I'd rather do without. Especially if I'm paying the normal price. 

What would you have done with the pre-paid air travel?