While there might be specific reasons for that, he is nevertheless caught up in a bureaucratic catch 22 with no clear indication of how he might get out of it.

In the view of the authorities, his accommodation just off L’Ancresse Common needs upgrading to bring it up to the standard required by today’s discerning visitor. He counters that, because the business is struggling, he cannot afford to do so, which is why he defrays some of his costs by taking in longer term guests: residents rather than visitors.

And since he won’t upgrade, he has lost his three-star rating and is no longer being promoted by the machinery of VisitGuernsey which, presumably, further affects his profitability.

Commerce and Employment has to maintain standards and to ensure that visitors get a fair deal and come away with a good impression of the island, but it is not a company doctor.

Investment can be made only when a business makes sufficient profit and if the Swallow Apartments do not, all the regulation in the world won’t change that.

The other area where the proprietor might feel aggrieved is that he is not the only owner to have accommodated long term tenants rather than just summer visitors. It is not clear how many owners do the same, but it does go on.

Commerce and Employment says it must ensure the retention of an adequate stock of visitor accommodation to ensure tourism’s future economic viability which, if taken at face value, suggests it in some way hinges on sub-standard accommodation few visitors want to use.

At the root of this dispute, however, is the distinction between visitors and other occupants.

Mr Hesse has committed the crime of allowing the wrong sort of body in his beds.