Season 8 · Episode 1

The Hotel Inspector: The Milton Lodge, Dorset

Alex visits a hotel in Dorset which has seen a steadily declining occupancy rate. Could the answer to the hotel’s problems lie in a spirited assistant? The beautiful hotel is set in six acres of Dorset countryside, and comes complete with stables, an outdoor pool and even its own cricket pitch! It also comes with an owner whose collections of knickknacks are liberally littered around the hotel and its ten bedrooms. The owner and his wife have lived in the lodge for over 20 years and consider it their home. But having decided to close the door on letting the whole place out for money-spinning functions, they have seen their income dwindle. They are now worried about how the house will support them in the future. Alex feels that modernising the hotel is the only option if they are going to attract more visitors. Can Alex win the apprehensive owners round to her way of thinking? She finds a possible saviour in the form of the couple’s assistant, who has worked with them for more than twenty years. Could she be the light that guides the hotel into a bright new future?