Renowned hotelier and author Ruth Watson continues her mission to reverse Britain’s reputation for poorly run hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs. Tonight, Ruth meets Vincent and Lidy Van Nuyk, the Dutch owners of the 14-bedroom Safari hotel in Bournemouth. Drowning in debt and unable to carry out vital renovations on the hotel, Vincent and Lidy desperately need help if they are to turn their fortunes around.
Vincent and Lidy took on the Safari after 13 years spent running a successful restaurant in Ireland took their toll on Vincent’s health. However, their hopes of a quiet life are unfulfilled: the hotel has failed to turn a profit and they have been driven to the brink of bankruptcy. The lack of money is reflected in the shabbiness of the hotel, which is in dire need of renovation. “We feel defeated,” sighs Lidy. “We want to improve, but we have no cash for it.” To save money, Lidy and Vincent do all the work themselves –including cleaning the 14 bedrooms and doing all the cooking –and are forced to live in one room. Overwhelmed, they have no idea how to pull themselves out of this hole and need someone to show them how to improve things.
Step forward Ruth Watson. Arriving to assess the situation, she immediately notices the “dubious” signage – including an unfriendly ‘No Jobs’ sign in the front window. Things do not get much better inside, as Ruth clocks the hallway’s eye-watering colour scheme. “I see yellow and red décor and I know I’m in for something vile,” she shudders, before moving into the chaotic safari-themed lounge and bar. “It’s just junk!” she gasps, taking in the vast array of jungle-themed bric-a-brac. “I just find it so depressing.”
When Ruth meets Vincent and Lidy, she pulls no punches. “There’s no way of me saying this without it sounding offensive,” she states, baldly. “I hate this.” Reeling slightly from the criticism, Vincent shows his new guest to his best room for the night – but she has nothing good to say about that either. Ruth immediately notices a stain on one of the towels, crumbling décor, unpleasant bedding, a “pitiful” bathroom and a mirror “you wouldn’t steal from a skip”. The other bedrooms do not fare much better. “Look at this shower!” shrieks Ruth after spotting a skirting board installed, bafflingly, halfway up the cubicle wall. Eventually she comes to the difficult conclusion that she cannot stay the night – but returns for breakfast, which she deems one of the hotel’s stronger points.
Ruth tells Vincent and Lidy that the hotel’s books make “woeful reading”, and explains that the only way to resolve their “Catch-22” situation is to make radical changes. She suggests transforming the lounge into a chic, all-day breakfast café, which would provide muchneeded revenue to be ploughed back into the hotel. “The future’s looking beautiful,” declares a smiling Vincent.
However, the transformation proves to be an uphill struggle as Ruth worries that Lidy and Vincent may end up slumping back into despair if they let the scale of the job overwhelm them. A team of professional cleaners gives the hotel a much-needed once-over; the bedroom is transformed; and the lounge is reborn as a cool, modern café with tasteful safari touches.
When the day of the café’s opening arrives, Ruth worries that Vincent is not ready. “They’re not going to get their act together,” she frets. After four months of hard work, is the newest café on the block going to be enough to get the hotel back on its feet?
Right after The Hotel Inspector on Five is ‘The Hotel Inspector: Unseen’ on Five Life. In tonight’s edition, Vincent catches problem guests on camera and Ruth passes on some culinary tips when she joins him in the kitchen.
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