As they started to walk down the pathway to the main entrance, Nina tried to see The Summer Hotel through the eyes of these investors and potential buyers. With different eyes she could see the beauty of the high ceilings, the bespoke porch, the unique to Lovely shell shaped roof tiles, and the beautiful windows on the upper floors. Along with that she also saw and evidently knew, too, the amount of work involved.
Stepping in through the main doors, Nina mostly listened to Ella doing her thing. Holly and Xian were very serious despite first impressions. Both of them listened intently, asking all sorts of insightful questions here and there.
It was very clear to Nina as she listened and watched that they both had vast experience in both property and business. As she observed, Nina was slightly mesmerised by Xian whoseheadphones were now perched precariously on her head as she fired questions and discussed aspects of the listed status with Ella. Nina couldn’t take her eyes off Xian as she interspersed asking questions and listening intently to the answers with quick swigs from the silver hip flask. The more Nina watched, the more she wanted to be Xian in her next life.
Walking through the hotel, Nina felt an odd mix of hope and sadness as she recalled the first day she’d arrived at the hotel. She hoped the hotel would find owners who appreciated its potential, but she also felt a pang of sadness at the thought of it changing and finding a new life.
About an hour later, all four of them were back outside, where the conversation had moved from the hotel to Ella asking them about their bakeries and the fact that Pretty Beach was serviced by a fast train.
‘Times have changed since we first moved there.’
Ella nodded. ‘I bet they have. Yes, you have the train down there now, don’t you? What's happened to the area because of that?’
‘It’s brought a lot of buoyancy to the job scene and done the economy the world of good. It's really transformed our part of the coast. It attracts people, especially if they can commute, but there was a lot of opposition to it in the early days.’
Xian nodded. ‘For us, it’s been fabulous for business.’
‘What are the transport links like here?’ Holly asked.
‘It’s not too bad. We have the train line here, and if you want to get on the express train, you can do that if you change. As you know, it’s an easy hop to the motorway. So yes, the same thing, really.’ Ella looked up at the old hotel. ‘Having the train and the transport history brings a lot of visitors to the town.’
‘Right, yes. Well, it’s definitely lovely, as the town name itself says,’ Xian noted.
‘Any thoughts so far?’ Ella asked.
‘Yes, many thoughts. It has a lot of potential.’ Holly gestured to her mum, flicking her hand back and forth between them. ‘We need to have a chat about it.’
‘Not at this price,’ Xian interrupted. ‘We wanted to come for a second look, but as I said on the phone, if it’s not negotiable, then it will have to be a no from us.’ Xian got her phone out. ‘I’ve done the numbers, and it will need a lot of money spent on it to put it out as an Airbnb, for example. This garden alone will take a bit to get right and to bring up to its full potential.’
‘Yes, it would.’ Ella agreed.
Holly laughed and turned to Nina. ‘I bet it looks a bit different to when you first came here, from what you told us before.’
‘Oh yes, definitely.’ Nina nodded.
‘You must have worked hard,’ Xian said as she whipped her flask out, quickly opened it, and swigged.
Nina didn’t know whether to acknowledge the swigging or not, so she ignored it. ‘I did, for sure.’
Ella shuffled her feet a bit. ‘Anyway, it’s been nice chatting with you ladies.’
Xian held out her hand. ‘Yes, thanks for taking the time to show us around a second time.’
Holly also shook Ella’s hand. ‘You must come to Pretty Beach one day.’
‘Love to.’
Holly squinted. ‘Or visit one of our bakeries. We have a gorgeous one on Darling Island not too far from here.’
The penny suddenly dropped for Nina as she remembered the bakery on Darling Street when she’d been out for the day to Darling Island with Robby. ‘Ahh, yes! I went there for the day recently. We went over on the floating bridge chain ferry.’
Holly nodded. ‘We have a branch there. Mum sometimes stays in the flat above. It’s so lovely there with the tram and everything and some of the coastal walks are out of this world.’
‘Yes, yes! As I said, I went there the other day with my husband for a day out. We had such a beautiful day. We went to the jewellery shop, Love Emmy x, on Darling Street because I wanted to buy something for my friend for her birthday. We ended up having a lovely day.’
Holly nodded eagerly. ‘Oh yes, that’s a wonderful little shop. Emmy has done really well.’
Nina agreed. ‘I could have spent a fortune.’
