Polizzi hopes for a room with a view
The Hotel Inspector Channel 5, 9pm
ALEX POLIZZI is not one for pulling her punches and is never afraid of dishing out some tough love.
Her grandfather, the notable Scottish hotelier Lord Forte, was the founder of the Forte Group, known for renowned brands such as Travelodge, while her mother Olga Polizzi, was a former councillor for Westminster City Council and interior designer.
In her formative years, Alex trained at the Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong, and worked with Marco Pierre White, so you could say she is well qualified to dish out hospitality advice on her long-running Channel 5 series The Hotel Inspector, which continues its 19th series tonight.
In an interview with the Express in 2021, she explained her approach: “I spend a lot of time trying to work out how to say things in a manner that is going to be effective. And in quite a short space of time without hurting anyone’s feelings.
“Inevitably, when you criticise someone and you criticise their business, it feels very personal. But, I do try quite hard to do it as nicely as I can actually.”
Of all the problems Alex has dealt with on the show and in her life, there is one particular issue that she finds the most infuriating.
“I really do believe cleanliness is next to Godliness,” the 52-year-old says.
“There’s just no excuse for something not being cleaned properly and I’m amazed at how often I have to remind hoteliers and hospitality providers of that.
“You’d think that it would be 101 in hospitality, but I’m often faced with grubby shower curtains and dirty plug holes.
“You know stained carpets, all of those things which actually none of us wants to see when we’re spending our hard-earned cash.
“I don’t know about you, but you can be in the nicest place but not be looked after properly.
“And you just feel cheated, and I think especially when you work really hard and those holiday moments are so important.”
After visiting Riders Rest tearooms in Somerset, a seven-bedroom 1930s former hotel in Chapel St Leonards, two pubs in Salisbury, a glamping business in East Sussex, Billy Andy’s in Northern Ireland, and the Lantern Theatre and Café in Brighton, Alex is now called to the quaint Essex village of Battlesbridge.
Fraser’s is run by sisters Georgie and Frankie, and includes a sixbedroom guest house, tea rooms and an events business.
It is located within the grounds of the family’s antiques business, which was established in the early 1970s by the sisters’ grandmother Sheila.
Living off less than minimum wage and barely turning a profit, for the last five years, the sisters have struggled to keep the doors open and their heads above water, and are quickly running out of ideas.
Enter The Hotel Inspector, who spots an opportunity to keep this special place from going under.
Weddings are big business (the industry is worth a staggering £14.7billion in the UK alone).
However, the sisters are not cashing in – they only have three events booked in per year and they are not making the margin to survive.
Alex needs to show them how to put the trouble and strife behind them and create the best budget wedding venue in the area.