★★ | The Hotel
Unfortunately, the new series of The Hotel fails to ignite any excitement but does raise questions on why bother to invest time and money in a programme that is as dull as the hotel’s carpet.
When Mark and the hotel first checked on to our screens, it was fun, it was campy and was an hour of guilty pleasure television as former hotelier Mark Jenkins misdirected his team into more and more moronic situations. However, this time round Mark is stymied at every turn and the programme has become turgid and rather dull.
This season sees Mark return to the Cavendish Hotel in Torbay, except this time, he’s not the boss; he’s the entertainment management. The roof is leaking and finances are at rock bottom. Desperate for a new lease of life, owners Vicky and Andy have agreed to take on the hapless Mark for the season as their new entertainment’s manager. Except the owners, Vicky and Andy won’t let Mark get on to it.
You do have to question why on earth the owners would allow Mark, who has had three hotel disasters himself, take control of anything, especially entertainment, except to possibly bring attention to their ailing hotel.
The programme makers say expect comedy and mishaps, but after watching an episode I’ve decided to take a pass on the rest of the series and check out.
