Staff at a bathroom store were thrilled when their products were chosen on TV to revamp a Fawlty Towers style hotel.
Channel 5 show The Hotel Inspector hosted by Alex Polizzi visited the Little Thatch Inn in Quedgely, Glos., to bring it into the 21st century with some modern upgrades.
While the 23-room hotel might not be exactly like Basil and Manuel from the hit BBC comedy, it needed some improvements to allow owner Jacky McDougall to retire.
So when the team chose furnishings from JOYOU Bathrooms, part of the Grohe Group, staff there were understandably delighted to see part of their range featured on TV.
‘We have a great selection of complete bathroom suits, so it’s fantastic to see them praised on TV,’ the company said.
‘If they can help to improve a hotel, that’s ideal. Alex Polizzi knows a thing or too about interior design and hotels, so for her to chose our products is a real compliment. ‘
Alex comes from a long line of successful hoteliers – her grandfather is Lord Forte and her uncle is Sir Rocco Forte.
The products chosen included a corner-entry shower enclosure (760x760mm) and square shower tray, a Cape Town close-coupled toilet with soft-close seat, a Porto Basin (480mm) with pedestal and a Los Angeles waterfall basin mixer with click waste.
‘These are a classic combination – high quality and best value,’ the company said.
‘Alex is a great hotel inspector, but even with our range of bathrooms she would have struggled to turn around Basil’s hilarious shambles of a hotel in Torquay.’
Jacky, 71, has been running the business for more than 40 years and had agreed to step back and allow her daughter Beth Pullin to take over.
But the pair clashed over how to put the hotel back on the map. Beth said her mother was ‘stuck in her ways’.
The programme was shown on Thursday, May 21 at 9pm, but it can be watched again at any time on demand on Chanel 5’s Demand 5.Media
