The Hotel Inspector vs The Astor: Was it Accurate?

Part 3 of a 3-part series of articles about TV programme The Hotel Inspector and it’s visit to the Astor Hotel, Plymouth. In my last article, I discussed some of the business lessons in the show. This time, I ask for your opinion: was it a fair programme or was the hotelier stitched up?

I’m not going to give my opinions in this article. Instead I’d rather hear from you. So most of this is a series of questions that I’d like to pose for you to answer.

Be Careful What You Wish For

The fact is that all edited content is biased by it’s very nature. Much more material than gets used is filmed. At some stage in the process, the Producers and Editors decide But isn’t that what we want in the end? This is a television programme after all. Is The Hotel Inspector meant to be entertainment or documentary? It seems to me that the “fly on the wall” approach would be very dull indeed. Would we really like it to be strictly “accurate?”

Tell Me a Story

There is always a strong drive to create a story and this is true for all media whether it is television, radio, public speaking, blogs or anything else. We all understand the world through narrative structure. Let us also not forget the axiom that the more drama a production has, the better TV it makes. So could the producers be forgiven if they worked a few angles to make the story as entertaining as possible?

Your Verdict

What is the verdict? Judge for Yourself; watch the programme again and look at the clues. Try to read the non-verbal cues: does Alex Polizzi look genuinely frustrated by Joseph’s behaviour?

Does Joseph look like he is listening and is sold on the benefits of Alex’s suggestions?

The Next Steps

I would really love to hear your opinions. Do you think the show was an accurate representation of what happened? Or was he stitched up? Over to you…

Links

To find the best Plymouth hotels read the Plymouth Hotel Guide.

Read the other two parts of this article: Part One & Part Two