Checking in for a lavish new series
Posh Hotels with Sally & Nigel
Channel 5, 9pm
OVER the past few years, Channel 5 has made a habit of teaming up celebrities and sending them off on trips together, but those jaunts are rarely luxurious. Often the famous faces are in barges, caravans, or in the case of Celebrity 5 Go Camping, which comes to an end tonight, under canvass.
So, it may initially seem like actors Sally Lindsay and Nigel Havers have lucked out with their new series, Posh Hotels, which, as the title suggests, sees them checking into some of Britain’s most luxurious five-star establishments.
However, we won’t just be watching them order room service, load up on free toiletries and swap anecdotes about their stints on Coronation Street. That’s because as well as finding out what the hotels have to order, the pair will also be mucking in with the staff who ensure the guests get the VIP treatment. (Think of it as a more celebrity-focused version of BBC2’S Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby).
They begin with a trip to the Berkeley in London, a favourite destination for fashion-conscious A-listers – Will.i.am is a regular guest and has even been known to store his clothes there between stays so he doesn’t have to bother with luggage – that can set you back up nearly £20,000 a night.
As you might expect, the guests paying that sort of money will get more perks than just a free shower cap and a packet of shortbread biscuits next to the kettle. Sally and Nigel discover that the perks include a Michelin star restaurant, a designer dress-up box, Ferraris on tap and a £1,500 Burberry coat to borrow for starters.
But the pair can’t luxuriate in their surrounding for two long, as Nigel has to join the staff for a housekeeping shift. He’s soon put to work pressing trousers, which some viewers may think would be a doddle for such a famously dapper actor.
He discovers though that some guests can arrive with hundreds of suitcases and will expect everything to be whisked away and pressed to perfection. Nigel also learns that the higher-paying guests can even expect to wake up in monogrammed bed linen, courtesy of the housekeeping staff.
Meanwhile, Sally gets a 4am wake-up call so she can put in a shift with the hotel’s famous florist, before manning the concierge desk. She’s working with the unflappable Alan, but will Sally be able to keep her cool when she’s faced with some extraordinary requests, including cheering up a homesick VIP with a room full of puppies?
Luckily though, the pair won’t spend their entire visit at work. Sally gets a chance to book herself a seat at Marcus Wareing’s chef’s table and joins Nigel for a few killer cocktails in the hotel’s Out of the Blue Bar. They even get to go home in style when they bag a ride in a Ferrari.
But this is a four-part series, so perhaps there will be even more lavish hotels waiting them over the next few weeks…