The Hotel Inspector - Season 18

Alex Polizzi comes to the rescue of a beleaguered hospitality industry, in which many businesses are struggling to stay open in the midst of rising costs and customers with less spending money. This time, Alex meets a wannabe hotelier from losing everything before she's even opened the door, as Claire tries to launch a bar and hotel in Redcar.

Alex Polizzi is on a rescue mission to revive a stagnant pub and tackle a broken relationship before it breaks the business.

Mark and Michael tied the knot 17 years ago, launching their new life together by purchasing The Kings Arms, the now last-remaining pub in Scalford, a village of around 600 residents, near Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. The establishment has a bar, a 50-seater restaurant and a separate garden and two guest rooms, all set on a half-acre plot. It's a labour of love and the pair split the workload. But times are tough for the pub trade and even after almost two decades in the business, the couple have little to show for it.

Alex arrives in the nick of time, and at face value, the queen of clean is satisfied with the immaculate interiors and the good food. But Mark and Michael are working hard but not working smartly. The vast garden is a black canvas and The Hotel Inspector wants the pair to open their arms to a wider clientele and reach out of their comfort zones, and it all starts with one lesson: to make an omelette you must break eggs.

The Hotel Inspector needs to help them open their eyes quickly, if they're to save the only pub Scalford has left.

This week, The Hotel Inspector Alex Polizzi has a call for help from deep beneath the Yorkshire Dales: the historic visitor attraction Stump Cross Caverns. The limestone cave system has been open to the public since its discovery in 1860. Now the attraction boasts its own cinema, gift shop, cafe and outdoor play area.

Owned, run, and home to former children's nurse Lisa, who is now joined by her fiancé and gift shop manager, Nick. Now after 20 years of giving everything to the cause, this family business is facing an uncertain future, and pushing this attraction into profit seems impossible.

The Hotel Inspector arrives at a packed car park but soon finds the caves hold an eccentric mix of installations and artifacts, and each area of the business, from the shop to the restaurant, needs streamlining and smartening. Calling in some visitor attraction expertise, Alex begins to formulate a plan.

If the family can't find a way to make their visitor attraction pay, the next summer season could be their last. Will The Hotel Inspector manage to help Stump Cross Caverns see the light or will Lisa's dream be buried forever?

Alex Polizzi digs deep to find the magic needed to pull another failing business back to life. Eighteen months ago, husband and wife Gareth and Gemma took up the tenancy at the York Hotel, in the North-West seaside town of Morecambe. This grand three-storey Victorian building houses eight bedrooms, a downstairs pub, a large function room and outdoor seating area.

The hotel offered a chance of a new life and a permanent home for them and their children, but being pub landlords is a far cry from their former lives in the army, and the couple are struggling to fill the rooms.

Enter The Hotel Inspector, who tells it to them straight. Room occupancy is practically zero, the customer base is narrow, their gross profit on food and drink is at an all-time low and on top of that, Gareth and Gemma are using their military pension to pay the bills and are still making a loss. A lick of paint will only take this business so far, so Alex calls in local experts to help formulate a tangible plan to put this establishment back at the heart of the community.

The Hotel Inspector knows they have a mountain to climb and she's determined to show the well-intentioned couple the light. But can Alex help make the changes needed to pull this project into what they have dreamed of?