Five's documentary series examining failing hotels in the UK returns to take another look at some of the establishments that featured in earlier programmes. Following on from the first visit of hotelier and author Ruth Watson, this week's show sees the cameras return to Langtry Manor in Bournemouth to see if the staff have managed to turn around the hotel's fortunes.
In this week's instalment, the hotel inspector heads back to Langtry Manor, a three-star hotel in the resort town of Bournemouth. Originally built by King Edward VII for his mistress, actress Lillie Langtry, it was bought by Pamela Howard more than 30 years ago and has been run as a hotel by she and her family ever since.
When Ruth first visited the hotel two years ago, her initial impressions were mixed: "It's a really fine Edwardian house, but I don't know why they've painted the bricks," she said. Things soon got worse when she inspected one of the hotel's 27 bedrooms. "Oh dear!" she cried. "It's like some elderly lady decorated it in the late 50s!"
The restaurant was next on Ruth's agenda and, again, it was a mixed picture. The "hugely generous helping" at breakfast got the thumbs-up, but an over-complicated and unseasonal dinner was less impressive. The dated table settings did not improve the overall experience. "I loathe these burgundy napkins," said Ruth. "They just look rather Trusthouse Forte, 1982."
Ruth soon identified some more serious underlying problems. The main issue concerned the fact that owner Pamela Howard wanted to be involved in the day-to-day running of the hotel, despite having supposedly retired and left her daughter Tara at the helm. Tara, meanwhile, did not have enough confidence to run things her own way - leading to ongoing conflicts about all manner of issues, including room decor and hotel maintenance. Arguments between the two were commonplace, meaning that important issues such as high staff costs went ignored.
Although Ruth warned them that they needed to cut back, Pamela and Tara found it hard to consider the prospect of making any of their 30 staff redundant, creating the need to make savings elsewhere. One of the most important changes Ruth insisted upon was that the women establish their roles more clearly and schedule in a structured meeting once a month. But could they stop squabbling long enough to put any new ideas into practice?
Over two years after Ruth's first visit, the Hotel Inspector returns to Langtry Manor to see what changes the Howards have made to their business. Is the decor still firmly rooted in the 50s? Has the chef managed to develop a less complicated dinner menu? And have mother and daughter managed to put aside their differences in order to create an effective partnership?
Although I have enjoyed watching this programme and totally agree with the improvements that Ruth has suggested tonight, I must add that I totally disagree with her adding salt to the cooked breakfast, there are many, many people who have heart and high blood pressure problems and need to cut down on salt, surely it MUST be the guests choice as to whether they have salted food or not, surely it just shows an ignorance to add it without asking if the guest wants it. I know Ruth said it gives flavour to food but there are many other ways to flavour food if necessary.
May 30th - 8:47amSue Hopkinson said...
If you watched the original programmes, then don't expect very much that's new! This "new series"! seems to be about 50 minutes of the first visit, followed by a short - less than 10 mins - re-visit. I was disappointed.
Having watched almost all of the series of The Insepctor Calls over the years, we would like to point out that in every single programme when the cooked breakfast is shown being prepared, it is always fried, rather than grilled. In this era of healthy living we feel that Ruth should encourage proprietors to use grilling in preference to frying. As B&B proprietors for the last 10 years we feel this is an important point.
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