this is the Corinthia Hotel a stone's throw away from London's Trafalgar Square overlooking the River Thames the
Spirit is that we do everything with our hard heads and hats prime real estate
and five-star luxury for the super-rich the German general manager is Thomas Cox
previously of Claridge's Hotel luxury to our guests can be hundred different
things 200 different people with clients paying up to tens of thousands of pounds
a night its Thomas's job to make this day perfect look at the tower so this
already feels heavy and it isn't even wet yet the problem is there are about
25 hotels of similar grandeur in London and since the hotel opened seven years
ago another 10 have arrived or are underway with clients who can afford and expect
complete luxury how do you make sure yours is the best of the best
Toyota which is considered taking jackets off for weekends it's a very
different feel at weekends isn't it it's more of a leisure business I think that
would be borderline revolutionary we've spent 12 months inside the hotel with the staff as they strive to achieve
perfection for over a hundred thousand guests who stay each year and create an
identity for their young hotel in the fast-moving and competitive world of
London hospitality a business worth half a billion pounds a year to the capital
London is probably one of the most competitive and fiercest hotel markets
in the world also very wonderful through that because it gives the guests a very wide choice of hotels it will of course
make the hotels work a little harder it's all any help
Dean one of the eight concierges is half Scottish half Chilean he's been at the
hotel for six years the golden rule throughout my whole
career it's the golden rule is you strive not to say no to a guest that is
you don't want to do that you are a problem solver and you go the extra mile
it's quite surreal for myself and I was 20 when I first joined and I thought how
can people have so much money and live like this it's just a completely
different world but it does give you a look into that lifestyle and how they live and understand certain things and
what they expect expectations so now I'm going to show you one of our seven
penthouses it's in fact the largest one in the hotel and it is our Royal Suite
today's luxury is almost undefinable first of course you're met and greeted
by some incredible flowers we have a dining room here so this room
is set at the moment so you see you can have a lovely dinner in here it's even a
TV hidden in the wall for those who have the bad habit of watching TV while it's
dining so you have a large sitting area here you have some beautiful little
pieces and sculptures the fireplace luxury to our guests is what makes them
feel good and makes them feel better and gives them a satisfaction in that moment
little dining area where you can maybe have your breakfast or you can just have
a drink we have of course a wonderful bar here for your drinks I mean there's
a beautiful cognac available of course there should always be champagne there
is a wine fridge only for this suite so part of our Royal Suite is of course
also for those who need to work that there is an office so you have a nice
big desk where you can sign important contracts you have three TV screens
right in front of you where you can keep up with what's going on in the stock
markets or the news fabulous penthouses and fabulous houses of course have a
have an upper floor so we can go up to the floor above so this is the master
bathroom of the penthouse then this bathtub I mean it's almost the size of a
little plunge pool so it's it's it's it's really beautiful and large so
plenty of space for four to
so you have these MARY POPPINS of London
and I just think that's amazing when you see this I mean look you have it or at
your doorstep what kind of price can this command so the publish grade for this particular penthouse is 20,000
pounds per lives we had one client staying here for six months I suppose a
lot of your guests aren't approaching a stay with fear about how much it costs I
would hope not if you had 20,000 pounds why would you choose to spend it on a
night in a penthouse it's a choice that they have made you know they get
something they need and they have chosen to make their stay in London the nicest
and best stay and you know you know because right next door there was an
option that wasn't 20,000 pounds that was probably 450 pounds but it has its
limitations you know the 250 square meter suddenly
turned into 45 and it's it's it's it's just it's a different experience paying
such high prices means guests can express their desires to personalize
their stay the more you pay the more you can ask for a special if fiddly
last-minute request has come through from a VIP
oh this is for Carol ruffinelli she's celebrating here 83rd birthday she's
staying with us today she's arriving at 5:30 but we have a little bit of time
and the whole family is coming and yeah we're excited as eighty-three balloons
and to each balloon we have one of those beautiful pictures attached from her
life The Laughing blonde who requested the balloons her son Brian ruffinelli
yeah he really loves his mom as I can tell and yeah he asked us to go a little
bit over the top for her and that's our pleasure every love to do that for her
beautiful lady Brian ruffinelli the American party
planner who organized Chelsea Clinton's wedding has booked a suite in two rooms
for a five-night stay he wants 83 photographs of his mother tied two pink
balloons with gold ribbons for her birthday surprise on check-in
it's a tricky task given that the room won't be ready until an hour before the
guests are due to arrive and that's not his only request
she loves pink so we have the special made cake by the pastry kitchen we have
pink cotton candy homemade marshmallows we have some lollies buffer a nice pink
sparkling beverage drink and barf roof all in pink so it's a it's all
customized for her when she opens the door she would see all rose petals on
the floor one balloon and then she can open and she sees all the beautiful remaining balloons luxury isn't anymore
only something you can measure and touch it is really something in people's mind
and in people's heart and it's the experience that people value as luxury
spending time together that can be more the luxury than the size of the room I
know that you know it was it would be easier for us as well if it was more
measurable and more tangible sometimes but it isn't it is often people's
memories and people's feeling and living that moment and having that experience
that can be the luxury it's minutes before the guests are due
to arrive and the staff are still untangling the balloons
[Music] good evening welcome Thomas hello how
are you welcome good to have you it's a finale I'm putting in a case that's
wonderful a car I'm going to nice to help you please do come in this is
tearing our - scared
[Music] welcome
[Music]
and my sugar daddies
[Music] not everyone can afford a penthouse or three rooms for five day stay but many
of us would like a nice cup of tea under a chandelier within touching distance of a bit of luxury tea is being poured
every afternoon in Grand Hotel's for fifty pounds a head upwards Thomas wants
to maximize revenue with a more modern approach to this much-loved British
tradition and attract more clients you know I'm looking at the China I would
think about the glassware I would really think about all senses I would think how
what do you hear what's the music like what do you see like obviously our
beautiful baccarat chandelier so I'm thinking how can I bring this chandelier
to the table so and then of course you think about the glassware and there are
like the most beautiful baccarat champagne glasses which suddenly you can
touch and fear the weight of this immensely beautiful glass and you
brought the chandelier to life we were looking further and further and we for
example looked at this table over there and at the beautiful wall behind it and
we fared how can that come to life a little bit of theatre can you imagine if you can open the doors and you would
take something out and you would take it to the table and then your equipment is
there and maybe you would measure your tea on a scale and some of the items are
new some of the items are or words because we maybe found them in an
antique market so I really think it would be rather
fascinating and I can't wait Thomas heads a star for 500 from 54
nationalities and they're all working together to create the luxury that
guests expect the busiest department is housekeeping good morning
and so today we've gonna have you we will have a job today which is going to
be hoovering on the minute Tibet inna the deputy housekeeper and Yvette the
first floor supervisor are checking on last-minute tweaks to a penthouse before a very important guest arrives where are
we now we are now in the white almond house actually this one is better
I mean I think this view is pretty amazing
Oh beautiful as a penthouse how do you rate this one this is one of my
favourites to be on this year you know what I'm coming to check this type of
room I will check with pleasure with big pleasure say you know what are you
looking for up here Oh at the moment we've got engineering
in the room we've got housekeeping in the room preparing it so we're just
gonna have a look and and see what major things we we've got to do to get it
ready can you tell us he's staying here tomorrow I can tell you yes so it's Luke
Lee the new who's arriving here how do you feel about that
I mean it's special definitely but it's a room that you have to prepare and if
it is for Bill Clinton or for a neighbor it's the same it needs to be in good
condition the gas is still paying the same money still wants to have the same
experience Bill Clinton's gonna be here tomorrow night how does that make you
feel excited always when we have this top top top top top you know you're
putting more effort for that because you're there they choose your place
where you working so you need to make them back no as a stable
have you met him yes
he was Ezekiel I'll keep calm hello good afternoon sir
hello my dear how are you today oh yeah I'm very well sir
oh good how are you doing oh yeah I didn't expect that people ask me so many
questions
today a man with global influence in luxury travel has arrived
Matthew Upchurch from Texas crosses the world four times a year
and has seen thousands of five-star rooms he's here to inspect new Suites
and his opinion matters after all 35% of the guests are American
so these Suites I'm excited to see them yeah they're brand new this is the
bedroom mm-hmm gardens feet yeah I think it has a quite
British touch yeah a lot of cushion soft furniture today the demand for suites is
off the charts a client is not one you know one trip it's all whether they're
traveling for business or Biscay ssin they call it now it's a little bit of
business a little bit of vacation and by the way one of my favorite new terms is skip gen travel you know what skip Chen
is the grandparents take the grandkids and leave the parents behind and our
clients also evolve I mean their taste of all and this is why it's very
important I think to stay fresh and as some of these wealthy people say I
didn't get here by being selling either right so they're very purpose-driven about what happens with that particular
trip in 5-star luxury hotels you never know who's behind the room doors one
Oscar winner is here for five months whilst performing in the West End
I spend my life in hotels and I could tell you a little dark story that
actually has happened at ending is when my parents divorced and I was 11 or 12
and we were homeless and we were living in a car and we went from the car to a 1
motel to another hotel to another motel and I swore to myself I said one day I'm
gonna be so rich and famous I'll never have to stay in a hotel again and cut to 2018 and I'm back in these damn hotels
but there's so much nicer traditional afternoon tea is being refashioned to
reflect the contemporary spirit of the hotel and it starts with a cups and
saucers so finally it's here the newly ordered four spoke English China service
has been delivered to the basement 20 tea pots in red and 60 tea pots engraved
I think the red is stunning and look just how beautiful it has turned out
yeah I mean locating is gorgeous I think people will love it
[Music] so what is where are the cups you need
to see the cup this is nicer sauce us yeah there's one here Eddie
where are the golden cups Thomas what are the golden cups where they're for the special occasions exactly you know
when it gets really special no I mean there was also an option which all we have chosen the silver one because I
think they sit very beautifully but you always have to have something up your
sleeve you know that's a little more special maybe you know afternoon tears
it's in essence it's pure celebration so there are a lot of birthday party it's a
lot of baby showers a lot of really really special moments and if you can
give those larger parties something that not everybody else has then you know
it's it's it's always nice if somebody thinks about you so so for those
occasions we'll have golden cups we have them
that's played some late today some people stay on business for extended
periods so the hotel begins to feel like home
this guest is here for 10 weeks when you come into a room what do you look for
this is too big hmm but the piano room is the best
and then there's this little I don't know what they call it it's same floor
but over there and there's a little stairway that takes you upstairs to a
suite I don't know what they call that over there is that the dot Brown walls
yes the book room the piano room the book room and then the super upper plush apartment on the other end that's where
if Beyonce was here she'd probably say that the Royal the Royal if Tim Cook was here he would probably stay there but
you do have a sense of somewhere being too big
yeah the Royal Suites too big for me [Music]
making afternoon tea is a surprisingly complicated business and this is the
21st planning meetings many hotels use a tiered cake stand but to create an
impact a 100 year old silver trolley will be the star of the show displaying
the new pastries and fancies great height when we talk about the service
for tea I mean the service comes in different stages no I mean you take the
champagne order the tea order then you surf the sandwiches then you serve the
scones and then you serve the trolley but when the whole idea of the trolley
is this service in engagement and encouraging the dialogue as we said with
the tea brewing but you don't want to overdo it
you know like the it needs to be in the right doses because otherwise it gets annoying you really think of it but how
we actually gets them off the trolley do these items because it's a bit that you
know you drop them a really nice one something so that we don't have to use
the plastic gloves in silver to go with the trolley not stainless steel so you have to champagne
trolley on one side that pays to trolley on the other side and from there it sort of goes around the restaurant so that's
really different you know to brew the tea in the room to have the trolley
going around with sender the stand I think that's that would be nice yeah you
need to think color here a little bit weak more like an rhubarb store many a
bit of reddish pinkish yeah you know you don't want everything creamy you don't
want dough in everything you don't want everything crumbly you don't you want a
variety of flavors so you want to have maybe a certain fruit that is seasonal
and you maybe want to certain exotic flavor you for sure want chocolate I
mean that's like the law great and the tea making this is there are 26 teas on offer each will be
individually weighed and brewed to the guests specification by a tea sommelier
and voila the new baccarat champagne glasses cost 200 pounds a pair I think
that's really a very very beautiful table max is 16 and the youngest employee in the hotel he's gone from
schoolboy the five star apprentice basically awful for Porter and half of
concierge I was deciding deformity to do this overcome a plumber resolve those two options really yeah I think I made a
good choice hopefully it will turn sour what's your
ambition what do you want to be my mission is to be hotel manager or the
owner of the whole entire crew ferret always go big
I have two suits and five shirts how do you feel when you wear your suit
I feel like a different person definitely I don't know I just feel more
horseshoe courts say more bro not definitely at the love wobble when I'm
in the work environment yourself just came out of school so when
the teachers talk to me out for like a kid but when I'm in a work environment
everyone treats me as if just like everyone else
it's more about job golden age wish I like these days Hotel luxury is about
being surprised and stimulated as well as a good night's sleep Thomas is entering into exploratory
talks with a company who predict future trends and create fashionable moments
for guests what is really important with this project is to give you points of
differentiation to make you different from any other hotel we're going to be
creating a series of planned interventions experiences and
installations which should add something really really special to the guest
experience what happens if lifts fail you know the
great thing somebody says how do you create communities in the future well
the simple way is to make a lift fail people talk to each other as soon as the
lift breaks down or you can't do something you then have to create so
some ways what we might be doing is creating deliberate encourages we want
to do cabby in the coverage which is when you meet a London cab and they have
those conversations with you and they're always disagreeable you know you can
never find a London cab who will agree with you so let's choose a topic and
watch them disagree and we also have a carbon recovered cabbie in the coverage
you may begin the coverage you'd open it and you would say genetics and you'd
have a long talk to give you about genetics
we wanted to do things like philosopher in the bed so rather than having a book
at bedtime you went to your room and you found a philosopher in the bed you've
got 10 minutes in bed with velocity can I get your response to some of their
ideas so philosopher in the bed I want to see the philosopher first book list
instead of bottle of champagne yeah here you go why not it's great lifts not
working to spark a conversation yeah that was an interesting point wasn't it
I mean the the point that like technology has maybe taken some conversations away and that sometimes
disruption actually gets us to talk so but I have to say I'm not planning to
turn the lift off every 30 minutes [Music]
someone else who doesn't like disruption is Yvette from housekeeping she's one of
seven housekeepers over seven floors the job is make me happy I'm not and I'm not just coming to do the job I'm doing
because I like it what do you like about it I like that
that I'm responsible yeah that let's say everything is on my shoulders so and
when I manage I feel so proud of myself Yvette from Bulgaria arrived in the UK
as a strawberry picker and in 2010 went to London to work in hospitality she
joined the hotel 18 months ago and has been promoted to a first floor
supervisor I good morning this is my ladies this is our room attendant
they're in charge of the first floor always so they're the one who is setting
up the junkets looking after top VIPs all the celebrities yeah okay
you all know these people yeah they're not the first time when they're here
the main talent James we all know him yeah James Corden yes he nice yes he's
so friendly so friendly he's coming here hello ladies he gonna come and greet us
first because Oh before all the you know colleagues which one he have there his
first coming to us all these rooms which one I'm in charge and I've always been
like that they're like little family housekeeping hello there my little daughters because
it's rooms here they're females so all my little daughters I know them problems
yeah sometimes we have you know we have our housekeeping language here so let's
say if we have departure one get one night cast let's say and the room is
upside down and you say this our little one
it's teenager you know and when we say teenager we know oh my goodness there is
catastrophic air
[Music]
if you ask me now you choose one number
and say okay even can you tell me 135 how is their own I can tell you
everything what is in that room what one should be done what is our plans everything every color well tell me
about 135 135 we need to change the carpet because they split a red one and
it was late departure soon they didn't want to clean the room the red one when
it's go more than 20 hours in the carpet it's a permanent stage so it's not going out we need to change we need to change
the carpet there and also balcony needs to be a bit fixed otherwise everything
is on good condition it's my rooms all 5-star hotels rely on corporate events as well as regular guests the hotel is
hosting one of the biggest social gatherings in London tonight a Brit
Awards after-party so French patisserie chef Loic has created 30 chocolate
microphones for the VIPs who are overnighting to different virtual so we
put pineapple online but the free coconut truffle is in the truffle and
the microphone is made of chocolate only it's a good day and a half to do all of
that for a special breed 7 tonight obviously and who designed it oh you just came up in my mind like that Sarah
it's nice having sicilian-born young muy is director of rooms
the hotel is full to bursting tonight and he's doing last-minute inspections
before the VIP guests arrive always interested about you know what
was happening behind the scene five years old I knew that this was going to
be my future five years old I was five CF five six years old and I was already
I think he loved with hotels and I thought this would be definitely
something that will be part of my life so yes I think was always part of my DNA
so this suite is yes a beautiful view is called chiffon the suite because it's
actually facing Trafalgar oh good so the room is being set up already with
our lovely VIPs here so I always come here normally just to double check to just see the last touches so when I look
at the table look a shaper for perfection and I just want to make sure
that first of all there is always a welcome card what Concord is essential
for our VIPs guests and then that all the amenities they look up to standards this guest is got some specific requests
apples and bananas so we obviously add a bit more than the usual and blueberries
as well part of his diet this is first time with us so we are prepared
everything according to his taste so we hope that he's gonna come back and here
we are you can see as well the beautiful color on Nelson here bedroom now so here
we are in these beautiful bedrooms all set up ready for tonight and then there
are some extra requests as well hear from our top VIP he has request to have
extra towers extra bathroom so you can see as well this is not the normal setup
but this is actually a setup we spoke for him up in request extra 15 towers
always double checked being under the bed
just in case have you found anything under a bed yes barca show odd
[Music]
Ben Hoffa from Austria is head of food and beverage he'll be running three bars and two restaurants tonight and has
hired 50 extra waiters to deal with the demands of an extra six hundred guests
1000 bottles of champagne and hundreds of canapes will be served this has all
been draped specifically for the event usually we don't have those curtains
here it's just to make it you know attractive for our guests here and sort
of keep the area a bit separate for the rest of the hotel so we have really a
cool deejay tonight this is going to be the dance for it set up so we could have
created a little bit of a club feeling in the restaurant
we expect a lot of people they expect a really cool trendy crowd and we
extremely happy to have you all here and you're gonna help us making this a
success and you know I see lots of smiley faces everywhere it's more
effective I got to sneak past tonight okay have a good service thank you
[Music]
whilst the party carries on till 3:00 a.m. the hotel keeps working
[Music]
delivery's never stop four and a half thousand brussels 21,000
rashes of bacon and four thousand sausages a month
how many eggs do yesterday
unless 72,000 laurels a year and hundreds of rooms have to be cleaned
and prepared for new arrivals Elena is a room attendant from Bulgaria
who's been in the hotel for 18 months a favorite witness to work in our the
river Suites I concentrate with the work and the job thousand percent concentrate they have 11 rooms we work in high-class
service I'm from Bulgaria but I can say I love this country and I love my
working place I love the people that surround me and I in this country and in
this hotel I found myself so we started with this recently departed guest stayed for just one night
we change absolutely everything every day we clean everything the belt the
bathrobes the slippers of course everything
this river suite costs four and a half thousand pounds a night do you think money makes people happy I don't think
that everything is the money because there was a time that I was rich was
that yeah I was a we had a business with my
ex-husband after that everything just disappeared I can't say that I was a different kind of person so you've known
what it's like to be very wealthy and then to have to work yes did you have a
big house yes did you have people who came to work for you yes and around ten kharrus american cars only yes
if you ask me about the reason I can't tell you it's a much personally but
gamble our story I always finish like this so the money was lost yes unfortunately and I was the last person
that I understood after that I start to take care for my children by myself
does it hurt you to be a room attendant now no no for me so I'm happy I like my
job and I will do it to the moment when I can
[Music] max the 16 year old trainee concierge
has been summoned by a guest for an errand
today I'm going to Howard's to buy a Tom Ford suit and what sort of car are you in today a Jaguar and nussle fair I've
sort of adapted to it I don't want to sound like a there yeah we're going use
to it so where were you this time a year ago this time a year ago god
finish finishing my GCSEs and not man we've got him by an Seuss you know your
way around Paris I could still get lost in a place you're confusing especially I
keep switching between self Jersey Paris
my best shopping jobs who's going up to Louboutin where I had to buy a seven and
a half hours and what pan worth of stuff yes it's got a lot of stuff so I'll
sitting in there quite a lot of time and feeling that paperwork that they take
care of you I'll give you say a glass or cook their
food champagne but what was my age that's enough okay so fairly big meeting
today in the run-up of our afternoon tea launch which we have all worked on a lot so thank you very much to start with
another day another meeting about the new afternoon tea
Thomas is called a three line width to finalise decisions on sandwich fillings
[Laughter]
cream cheese
peace yeah I don't like the peace - you know I think it's - it maybe is a little
bit too sweet but I think you need one or two you need to keep classic hmm and
then three you can play with I mean or like I think the variations are such I
don't think it's like the truffle and the egg it's actually quite delicious
what do you have to think about when you think about sandwiches a lot what a good
quality of breads softness of breads proportions between filling and breads
flavor variety what is traditional how far do you push the tradition what do you have to keep what can you change
might want to be surprised and delighted I still I'm still coming for afternoon tea I'm coming for the finger sandwich
which is why I grieved keep it nicely said that the tea would be deeply
respecting traditions so I think so they I think this goes to step too far away
usually you want something to pop at the moment it's all very in a box in mind
which is great but why can't you have one open one square one triangle one
round so create some excitement
[Music] can you go to the check of the roof yeah
the roof it's just so basically we have been two alarms around the hotel and
every intruder alarm is linked so when there's somebody opens the door we get
an activation like that and then we will go and check and investigate it so light
now something's gone onto the roof they didn't get permission from us so one of
my team will go and see which is some people behave badly in hotels and turn
up where they shouldn't security is always an issue and there are regular
updates in housekeeping security and safety question I was actually raised if
a guest asked me to upon he's his door if he's giving me his name shall I open
the door or not so you will now ask the full name of the guest all right so Inger please so would you mind open my
door please can I take your name Adam yes mr. Moss and can I take your first
name please yes Natalie Natalie no problem then Inga will open the door for
me okay as I mentioned yesterday the intruder that we did have over the
weekend has heard the guest name okay and the room number however if it's
really my room I will know my full name correct yeah usually on the phone who
will say could you please open the room for one for two miss Simone's let's see
right okay but you never say to miss Natalie Simone's correct so please make
sure that you don't say no you do not refuse but you ask the full name of the
guest is that clear yeah very good
kevin is the star of the lobby a lawyer by profession he takes three afternoons
off a week to play to the hotel guests it's wonderful you get to meet people
from all over the world and my job is to uplift the human spirit and I love it I
really enjoy playing to people making them happy even though I'm a small part
of being a picture I love what I do being able to add something - I sort of
see it as a condiment I'm like an additive to add to the room I don't want
to take away from what's going on I want to be like a ketchups probably a bad
example but something on the side and you can add to enhance what you're doing
that's how I see myself sugar in the bowl yes all champagne pain in the glass the extra bubbles that's
made the bubbles will be flowing into the afternoon tea rehearsal with the
grand launch scheduled for tomorrow the team are concentrating on presentation
this t is really managed to do nothing but to deliver joy and pleasure and fun
Simon and Jody from HR are the guinea pigs
as always the devil is in the detail in whatever direction we decide they should
be that's how they that we need to put the jinn yes it makes sense that is
facing yes but then the son wishes since then the families need to reach yeah
exactly it's a bit wide as well is it too wide we can't read one sandwich too
much huh oh you need to be too strict like her like a cross actually maybe
some sandwich she's coming now I'm thinking is it may be too much to align
all the stripes but then again if they weren't aligned it would I mean that looks really messy and we can't have
that obviously so then I'm thinking is it nicer to have a long line or is it
nicer to see the fillings I am thinking like this the portion looks a little
large so I think like this it looks a little bit more elegant I'm also
thinking do we really need the green did what you mind - we just remove that with
your like Hawk lady just what it would look like without so because then you have the elegance of the slimmer look
but you still happy you know the benefit of seeing the filling I'm also thinking
is it maybe a little big I mean it also looks very generous on it looks very
generous and we always wanted spirit of generosity right
spectator sport so I can see with the X image that the filling is coming out on
the side is it bothering you Simon or is it all right no it's good it's fine
it's oozing out Thomas that we love that with the sandwich is sorted the next
consideration is the scones you come with them close like this you know this
is delicious constitute keep warm you show them with a look at it if the box is to keep the moment you should
mention that that's why they're in the box you can as well I mean if people are inexperienced in afternoon tea they
might think well you've closed the box and let's touch it so ok so that we need
to know for - yeah yeah corn were Devon cream first gem first cut the course go
and break the skull and what would the Queen do what would the Queen do or would the Queen do she would break yeah
so I'm told I never had team
[Music] the dream guest for the hotel is one
that returns again and again so this is a room that we refer to as a long-term storage as you can see it's almost at
capacity but forgets who have a reservation to come back and stay with
us but you know don't necessarily need what they have here until they're back
at the hotel so the obvious thing is clothing and suitcases and and boxes six
or seven friends but these are the hope here we go these are the types of things
that months at the moment that could end up being residence for a couple of years
very regular guests from Qatar actually he left us today and I did remind him
that they were still here but unfortunately didn't decide to take them with him and do you ever find guests
forget that they've left something here 100 percent we could dig things out as you know we've been open 7 years I'm
sure we've got some items down here touching on 6 or 7 years and who likes to store most is it Middle Eastern
guests or Chinese guests or English go find Middle Eastern guests
I'm not sure if they want to store more regularly but they just have more to store they've got yes like the countless
or endless amounts of bags I don't travel with clothes so how does it work
where are your clothes so my clothes are here have clothes in New York have clothes in Hong Kong have clothes and
that's it LA in New York so New York I have clothes in London New York Hong Kong do
you do you ever forget where something is if you really want to wear something you think where is it which city no
because I have like duplicates will I am told
he never carries luggage no we do we do um he does little he does like to leave or the people around him like to leave a
lot of stuff to where it is these cases is I'm not easy and you may even be here
at the moment I do think he's here but I think we've actually got them tucked
right down the back Bears are keeping an eye on it for him
[Music]
today the afternoon tea gets its premier a 2-foot lemon drizzle cake has top
filling [Music]
there's some confusion over the best route to take the trolley double marks
at nine the cakes have made their own way up to the seventh floor graph
phenomenon [Music]
I think a lot about the team you know because I really really believe if the team doesn't enjoy delivering this tea
every day and if they don't have fun and if it's if it's in essence if it's a
pain every day it's not a great idea it needs to work
[Music]
after three months of planning and 25 meetings involving 20 staff the trolley
makes its debut in the crystal moon lounge the guests will be paying 65
pounds ahead for afternoon tea with champagne
[Music]
no need for furious yeah language once the way that we've organized it in terms
of staffing it's not working we need to we need to actually split up to the
world so you actually need one person whose election painfully Gompers on the sweet trolley it's too slow
[Music] it's a wobbly start for the lemon
drizzle cake
[Music] - exactly - little rice yes let's do
that exactly so this is four so let's next time let me do it differently so it
doesn't fall again
[Music]
there needs to be a rhythm and there needs to be a certain routine at a
certain flow that feels natural and that just works you never really know what
happens when service changes but the first day I think everybody's always
worried about what do I do next trolleys there gingerly moving around
what is the speed limit what should we call it one mile per hour maybe after a
hesitant start the afternoon teas punching its weight on the London 5 star
scene covers have doubled to 500 a week 25,000 scones have been served
and only 12 of the baccarat glasses have been chipped you know to have an
environment like this really really means that you have to
be at the top of your game all the time every good Helen wants a slice of the same cake and I think you know this
makes it very different in London to perhaps other markets in the world
because you really constantly need to adapt you constantly need to be sure
that you know the world around us is changing very very fast we have to watch out that it's not changing faster than
we are next week out with the old restaurant
and in with the news - beef - sold - beep - so Tom carriage comes to town
Thomas is invaders to promote the hotel and here's some extraordinary requests I
need to fly my gerbil in a first-class seat from New York to LA and table tips
to fan the rolls can you show it it's a bit of a trade secret though
[Music] you