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No hot water in Sahagun

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Camino Preparation Guide
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
alexwalker said:
The fate of pilgrims: Suffering...
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Indeed…. Whilst certainly not ideal, it could be worse…. I’ve found that the occasional cold shower does me the world of good, but maybe that’s just me! Last time it happened to me I felt super lucky every time I had a warm shower for the whole next week!
 
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Karlacola said:
We're staying in Sahagun at the Hostel San Juan. There is no hot water. We've tried showering at many different times today to no avail. Management left..... I wouldn't recommend staying here.
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A light inconvenience.Hopefully you can tell the owner tomorrow about it.
The hotel gets good reviews on different platforms.
Maybe you are better to post your criticism on one of those sites seeing the owner most probably is not aware of this forum.

Oh yes, technical issues or not having hot water can also happen when you stay at home.
In that case I also will have to wait till a plumber finds the time for a visit later that week ( not even counting he will be there the day after ....)
 
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Oh, well.
I live in a place much of the year where we use a dipper to pour water from a bucket over our heads. Cold of course.
At least yours was running from a showerhead. Much more convenient.

That said, you can definitely file a complaint, if you paid good money for decent accommodation and it turns out to be sub-par:
complaint-forms/

I've never had to do this but am told it works wonders.
 
Tincatinker said:
Hmm, isn’t listed on Gronze. Booking.con implies 24 hr reception and a “public” spa. There must be some staff about somewhere, or take it up with booking
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A spa without a warm shower?
 
Karlacola said:
We're staying in Sahagun at the Hostel San Juan. There is no hot water. We've tried showering at many different times today to no avail. Management left..... I wouldn't recommend staying here.
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Hot water is not a guarantee on a pilgrimage.

Some of the sweetest places on the Camino have no hot water nor electricity.

I realize it's just my opinion, but the Camino isn't supposed to be a vacation; it's a pilgrimage.
 
Train on the 4-day Catalina Camino
Train for your next Camino on California's Santa Catalina Island March 16-19
Hmmm... while I do like my hot showers - there are certainly worse things in the world. Definitely not a reason I would recommend against a place.

Reminds me of when I was in the Sacred Valley in Peru with a tour group filled with high maintenance women who wanted perfection everywhere - we arrived at the 17th Century Monastery where we were reserved for the night. My good friend and I LOVED the place - but the women all complained to the tour operator that the water heaters weren't keeping the water warm and space heaters couldn't all be plugged in at the same time. They insisted in moving to a more modern hotel. My friend and I insisted we not be moved that night. Got a hot a hot shower and slept in a warm room, best sleep ever. Next night we were forced to move to the other "modern" hotel with the rest of the group. Room was way too cold and the showers were even colder. Just goes to show the grass isn't always greener somewhere else.
 
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On a pilgrimage you deal with what occurs.

I always carried an electric coil which when needed during winter walks was VERY useful!

November 2012 at 7 am in El Acebo it was lonely and VERY COLD while waiting for the safety of dawn to continue walking.

Plunked in the middle of the loo floor a large full water bucket with dipper provided the only water available.

Thus a very welcome HOT early morning tea was boiled with my invaluable electric coil (the only 'luxury' in my kit); that single cup tasted especially splendid waiting in the cold for the sunrise!
 
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Doing the winter walrus dip is very healthy and enjoyed by many people, especially at Christmas / New Year times.
Unfortunately, this San Juan experience would be nowhere near cold enough to feel the benefits. Too warm by far.
 
Karlacola said:
We're staying in Sahagun at the Hostel San Juan. There is no hot water. We've tried showering at many different times today to no avail. Management left..... I wouldn't recommend staying here.
Click to expand...
Do you do a vacation or a pilgrimage?

Yip, cold water is slightly unconvenient, but a very minor one. Just take it as a prescribed medical treatment.
You know: the Camino will provide what you need, not what you want!

Buen Camino!
 
Karlacola said:
We're staying in Sahagun at the Hostel San Juan. There is no hot water. We've tried showering at many different times today to no avail. Management left..... I wouldn't recommend staying here.
Click to expand...
Hi @Karlacola, you've already received sympathy and encouragement and you now know that cold water can fortify body, mind and soul. But, yeah, cold showers suck, figuratively speaking, after all you opted to go on Camino in Spain and not on a multi-day trek through the higher parts of the Alps where you would not have expected hot water coming out of a pipe anyway. Well, your stay is only half a day and a night, and apparently they do have an issue with their system, see guest reviews on Booking.com for May 2023:
  • Waterdruk in de douche was zeer laag
  • Hot water system failed the afternoon we arrived & was fixed. But it failed again later in evening till morning.
  • Pas d'eau dans la douche ... après remarque a la réception, il semble que le problème est connu et nous avons eu un peu plus d'eau ensuite.
But you know what it's like with these reviews ... other guests were perfectly happy with their stay. Breakfast is apparently not too brilliant either but you probably have found out on your own by now.

In any case: Buen Camino!
 
Let us pick up your suitcase once you arrive in Europe....
...and ship it to Santiago for storage. You pick it up once in Santiago. Service offered by Casa Ivar (we use DHL for transportation).
The great thing about being faced by a cold shower when you were expecting hot is..
the next evening you will approach the cubicle with trepidation, praying for hot water. And if/when it arrives you will be so full of joy and gratefulness you will offer untold thank-yous to the camino spirits looking out for you .
You will have successfully survived a camino adventure - OK, perhaps not of the order of falling down a himalayan crevasse or being chased cross a swamp by a hungry crocodile. And perhaps you won't long hold the attention of the gathered throng at the bar where you regale your escapade... but all the same, a small camino challenge met and overcome. As the saying goes "As we build the road, so the road builds us"
 
Karlacola said:
We're staying in Sahagun at the Hostel San Juan. There is no hot water. We've tried showering at many different times today to no avail. Management left..... I wouldn't recommend staying here.
Click to expand...
The last two nights I've had cold showers.
Both a consequence of me arriving earlier than planned and being the only person staying in the facility. Casa rural and a hotel.

But today was a hot one
 
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Camino wristwatch
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Karlacola said:
We're staying in Sahagun at the Hostel San Juan. There is no hot water. We've tried showering at many different times today to no avail. Management left..... I wouldn't recommend staying here.
Click to expand...
It gets good reviews on booking.
Sxxt happens sometimes.
If it was a 4 star Hotel i would complain

I hope this is the worst of your worries on Camino and that you will look back on it and laugh.

Or.....if this is your biggest challenge....you have done well.

Seriously
........go well Pilgrim. Relax. Reflect.
 
Rick of Rick and Peg said:
We're camping now and don't have and haven't have a shower available. I'm expecting complaints from Peg soon. That I need a shower.
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For the two of you that might care, I got a shower this afternoon. Right after finishing our hike we pulled up some chairs and opened up some beers. Then the rain started. It really wasn't heavy enough or long enough but getting in my bathing trunks and doing some scrubbing I'm ready for tomorrow.
 
I am guessing it wasn't hot? And you survived?
 
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Just as a comment and not intended to do anything else but give a somewhat interesting piece of history - I think there are still quite a few of us around who remember well when hot water was the exception and cool or cold water was the norm. I learned quickly how to shower without really standing in the water for most of the time. Dip a body part in the water. , step out and lather, dip back in to rinse!

(Humming to music) You put your left foot in, you take your left foot out, you put your left foot in and shake it all about ….

And washing machines were unheard of although one albergue did have a spinner that took most of the water out of hand washed clothes.
I do prefer warm or hot showers.
 
cecelia said:
(Humming to music) You put your left foot in, you take your left foot out, you put your left foot in and shake it all about ….
Click to expand...
A very cute and appropriate song.

I haven't read all the posts, but I certainly prefer a warm or hot shower.
When they have occasionally been unavailable for whatever reason, I default to what we call a "GI military shower". You step in, get wet, turn off water, lather with soap, and rinse off as quick as you can...mission accomplished.
 
Camino Preparation Guide
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
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