The Hotel Inspector

Did You Know?

• The 17 series of the programme are available for streaming on FilmRise and its partnering services in the United States and Canada.
• Some series are available on the YouTube channel Taste and 7plus in Australia.

Summary

The Hotel Inspector first aired in late September 2005 and quickly became a ratings success, drawing up to 2.5 million viewers and leading Channel 5 to order more episodes. A second series followed in July 2006, and a third in September 2007. That year, a companion show called The Hotel Inspector: Unseen aired on the digital channel Fiver (now 5) right after the main episode, featuring extra footage and video diaries from the hoteliers. After three series, Ruth Watson announced on her website that she would not return, even though the show remained one of Channel 5’s most popular. She then signed an exclusive deal with Channel 4 and hosted programmes like Country House Rescue and Ruth Watson’s Hotel Rescue. For the fourth series, Alex Polizzi—niece of Sir Rocco Forte—took over as the inspector and has kept the role ever since. Polizzi has also presented five other series: The Fixer, Secret Italy, Italian Islands, Chefs on Trial, and Help Our Heroes. The twelfth series began in June 2016. From that point, the separate narrator was removed, and Polizzi handled both the voiceover and direct-to-camera segments filmed separately. Mark Halliley continued as narrator for The Hotel Inspector Returns, which aired after series 12. The show’s theme, titles, and graphics were also updated, notably adding a computer-generated smartphone display that pulled excerpts from each hotel’s TripAdvisor reviews to highlight reasons for its poor performance.

Spin-offs

Channel 5 has twice reused The Hotel Inspector's blueprint for other shows, each sending an expert to help a struggling business turn things around. The Business Inspector, with Hilary Devey, launched in March 2010 to aid small firms. The Restaurant Inspector, featuring Fernando Peire, followed in June 2011 to boost restaurant profits, and returned for a second run in 2012.