Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby
TV Show · Documentary · Travel

Like a serene swan paddling madly under the surface, it takes a lot of hidden choreography to keep a luxury hotel afloat. Food critic Giles Coren and chef Monica Galetti go behind the scenes of the world’s most impressive hotels - from Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands, with rooftop gardens longer than the Eiffel Tower is tall, and Nairobi’s Giraffe Manor, where standards are as high as necks are long.

2017 · 51m
Starring Monica Galetti, Robert Rinder, Giles Coren
Director Max Shapira, Aidan Woodward

Season 1

  • EPISODE 1
    Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
    You’re poolside at one of the world’s most luxurious getaways, gazing over the elevated infinity pool at the bustling city 57 storeys below. Sound like heaven? You might feel slightly differently if you were in charge of the 10,000 towels generated by the Marina Bay Sands’ guests. Writer Giles Coren and chef Monica Galetti meet the hotel staff for whom your escapism is their full-time job.
    15m
  • EPISODE 2
    Mashpi Lodge, Ecuador
    Restaurant writer Giles Coren and chef Monica Galetti head to the Andean Cloud Forest of Ecuador to work at Mashpi Lodge, a $10-million modernist hotel featuring a gondola cable car that whizzes guests a mile through the jungle canopy at a dizzying height. Which might explain why 70% of the staff are former loggers, who have become proud conservationists since taking on roles at Mashpi.
    44m
  • EPISODE 3
    Giraffe Manor, Kenya
    Food writer Giles Coren and chef Monica Galetti discover Giraffe Manor, a unique hotel where giraffes, staff and guests coexist in a hunting lodge on the edge of Nairobi National Park. Impressing Giles and Monica is a tall order after their years in the hospitality industry, but Giraffe Manor succeeds by offering them the unforgettable chance to breakfast with giraffes in the hotel dining room.
    44m
  • EPISODE 4
    Royal Mansour, Morocco
    Attention to detail is key at Royal Mansour. The hotel, built by royal decree on an unlimited budget by Marrakech’s finest artisans, is frequented by world leaders, celebrities and billionaires who expect the best. Monica learns to ‘show love to curtains’ – 350 pairs of which must be caressed by hand to create perfect pleats. And Giles dons a butler uniform to administer to his guests’ whims.
    44m
  • EPISODE 5
    Fogo Island Inn, Fogo Island, Newfoundland
    Perched on top of zig-zagged stilts like the nearby fishermen’s houses, stands the remote Fogo Island Inn. Giles Coren and Monica Galetti meet the staff of this unique hotel in Newfoundland that pays homage to the European settlers that arrived from Ireland and Devon to fish cod here. They hope to revive the fortunes and folklore of their island home and forge a new future from its fishing past.
    44m
  • EPISODE 6
    Icehotels, Sweden
    Giles Coren and Monica Galetti don their thermals and extreme weather gear, and trek 200km north of the Arctic Circle to Sweden’s Lapland, where they enter a magical world of snow, ice, inky-blue skies, and Icehotel. Before bedding down in freezing temperatures, there’s work to be done – rooms to be carved, drinking glasses to be hewn and the local delicacy of reindeer meat to be prepared.
    45m

Trailers

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Related

Cast & Crew

  • Monica Galetti
    Host
  • Robert Rinder
    Host
  • Giles Coren
    Host
  • M‌S
    Max Shapira
    Director
  • A‌W
    Aidan Woodward
    Director
  • S‌A
    Samantha Anstiss
    Producer
  • R‌T
    Rebecca Templar
    Producer
  • T‌P
    Tom Peppiatt
    Writer

About

Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby

Documentary

Like a serene swan paddling madly under the surface, it takes a lot of hidden choreography to keep a luxury hotel afloat. Food critic Giles Coren and chef Monica Galetti go behind the scenes of the world’s most impressive hotels - from Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands, with rooftop gardens longer than the Eiffel Tower is tall, and Nairobi’s Giraffe Manor, where standards are as high as necks are long.

Information

Studio
bbc_two
Released
2017
Rated
TV-14
Region of Origin
United Kingdom
© 2018 BBC Studios Ltd

Languages

Original Audio
English (United Kingdom), English
Audio

English (United Kingdom) (AAC)

Subtitles

English (United Kingdom) (CC)

Accessibility

Closed captions (CC) refer to subtitles in the available language with the addition of relevant non-dialogue information.
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Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

  • Armenia
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bahrain
  • Botswana
  • Brunei Darussalam
  • Cape Verde
  • Egypt
  • Eswatini
  • Gambia
  • Ghana
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • India
  • Israel
  • Jordan
  • Lebanon
  • Mauritius
  • Mozambique
  • Namibia
  • Niger (English)
  • Oman
  • Qatar
  • Saudi Arabia
  • South Africa
  • Sri Lanka
  • Tajikistan
  • Turkmenistan
  • Uganda
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Zimbabwe

Asia Pacific

  • Australia
  • Cambodia
  • Fiji
  • 香港 (廣東話–繁體)
  • Indonesia (English)
  • 日本
  • Lao People's Democratic Republic
  • 澳門 (廣東話–繁體)
  • Malaysia (English)
  • Micronesia, Federated States of
  • Mongolia
  • New Zealand
  • Philippines
  • Singapore
  • 대한민국
  • 台灣
  • Thailand
  • Turkmenistan
  • Vietnam

Europe

  • Armenia
  • Österreich
  • Belarus
  • Belgium
  • Bulgaria
  • Cyprus
  • Czechia
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France (Français)
  • Deutschland
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Ireland
  • Italia
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg (English)
  • Malta
  • Moldova, Republic Of
  • Nederland
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Portugal (Português)
  • Россия
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • España
  • Sverige
  • Schweiz
  • Türkiye (English)
  • Ukraine
  • United Kingdom

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Anguilla
  • Antigua and Barbuda
  • Argentina (Español)
  • Bahamas
  • Belize
  • Bermuda
  • Bolivia (Español)
  • Brasil
  • Virgin Islands, British
  • Cayman Islands
  • Chile (Español)
  • Colombia (Español)
  • Costa Rica (Español)
  • Dominica
  • República Dominicana
  • Ecuador (Español)
  • El Salvador (Español)
  • Grenada
  • Guatemala (Español)
  • Honduras (Español)
  • México
  • Nicaragua (Español)
  • Panamá
  • Paraguay (Español)
  • Perú
  • St. Kitts and Nevis
  • Trinidad and Tobago
  • Venezuela (Español)

The United States and Canada

  • Canada (English)
  • Canada (Français)
  • United States
  • Estados Unidos (Español México)