Episode 3 Hotel 24/7

-This time on Hotel 24/7...

-Let's go, then, guys!

It's a busy night for 22-year-old Azmat,

in charge of service for over 500 guests.

It's a military operation going on, with them queuing up for their plates.

Wedding co-ordinator Fran adds romance to a special day.

I think it makes it feel like their wedding night for them.

And Silvia has an emergency to deal with in the kitchen.

I'm late already, I need to go help the girls doing breakfast.

This is a week inside the Celtic Manor Resort.

A behind-the-scenes look into the life of its hard-working staff.

Seven days of ups and downs as they cook,

clean and cater for their guests.

This is Hotel 24/7.

It's early morning in Newport

and Perry Williams is on his way to work.

He likes to go the extra mile when it comes to his job.

Broccoli...ice, is it?

Right, thanks, then, Mark.

I'll see you next week, then, Mark.

Next Friday, is it? Cheers, Mark! Bye!

There are ten kitchens across the hotel,

and Perry works in the busiest one.

-OK, we'll start from the top. Dave's beef.

-Dave's beef, yeah.

-Did we sort out the milk order yesterday?

-We did, yeah.

Perry's boss is Head Chef Simon Crockford.

Perry's our storeman, he kind of does all the stuff

that the chefs don't do.

He probably covers more ground in the whole hotel

than anyone, I would say.

And the good thing is, he always says yes.

Except that is when it comes to using the kitchen's service lift.

I got stuck in there for a half hour, so...

Bit scary.

Perry uses every other lift in the hotel.

But he's not taking any chances with this one.

It's only good enough for his trolley.

There's flashing lights in there.

HE LAUGHS You don't get stuck in there.

High above the M4 motorway sits the Celtic Manor,

a five-star luxury resort spread across 2,000 acres,

strategically located at the gateway to Wales.

Boasting world-class championship golf courses, restaurants and a spa,

the hotel is a sought-after venue

for both corporate and private events.

Hello! How are you doing?

-OK.

-Yeah?

Fran Masters is one of the hotel's wedding coordinators.

It's Fran's responsibility to make sure that each bride feels

special on her big day.

Let's see your hair all done, then.

Bride Zara Hussain is pulling out all the stops for her wedding.

OK, these are the dresses, right.

-Which is the first dress?

-This is the first dress.

-Lovely.

-That other one is yours as well, with sequins on?

-Yeah.

-Wow.

I tried it on and I fell in love with that one as well.

I need them both!

-I need them both, yeah.

-Oh, fantastic.

As a special personal touch,

I'll always get a wedding card for the couple,

just write a short, sweet message in them.

As soon as they book, you're with them throughout their whole journey,

as they plan their wedding.

So you get to know someone quite well by then,

cos it's quite a personal day,

they're quite forward with information,

and will tell you quite a lot about their lives.

You know them quite well.

But it's not just the bride that Fran has to look after.

Groom Adam Richards is a police officer in the RAF.

'Ello, 'ello! Yeah! How's it going?

We're getting there. Almost getting there.

-Getting nervous?

-I suppose I feel a little bit nervous.

-But I have got my twin brother.

-He'll be all right.

You'll know how to pin a buttonhole, you've got that sorted?

I think so.

Sadly, Adam will have to walk up the aisle without

the support of some of his comrades.

A few of my friends, which are currently deployed in Afghanistan

at the minute, so unfortunately, they couldn't be here.

But yeah, I managed to get a few,

a few of my friends, so I'm glad about that.

Let me sort out your buttonhole. You've got it on back to front.

Oh, yeah, it's the wrong way round.

You want to see the flower.

It takes an army of porters

to keep the hotel's ten kitchens spick and span.

This is my first thing in the morning.

Manager Silvia Capelo is in charge of the troops.

Oh, yeah. I don't work without espresso.

I'm a Portuguese person.

Morning! All right, Bernard?

Yeah, fine, thanks. Yourself?

Yeah, yeah.

Oh, Dave, where's my hug?

-Huh?

-My hug.

-No.

-Come on, give me my hug.

-I haven't got time today, Sil.

Give me my hug.

Ha!

Thank you, Perry.

There you go.

There was a big wedding yesterday here.

The wedding was served on in the bottom,

but the chefs prep in here.

You see the floor?

So I need to ask my guys to come back here and clean it up.

Sorry, guys, but I'm late already.

I need to go help the girls in breakfast.

-Why's that?

-I have a sick person.

Does that happen a lot?

Every day!

One, two, three, yeah, one, two, three.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Like you see, one person less is a very, very big deal.

I have a fantastic team.

-Hard workers?

-Oh, they are, they are.

-Where are they from?

Um, most of them from Poland, Portugal, Romanian.

Most of my staff have very low, low - like me - English skills.

Every month, I have two or three new staff, every month.

They learn English, then go to another department. It's quite good.

You know, they learn, they evolve, they move on. I find that amazing.

Good to see my staff grow.

More?

That's it?

Oh, we're good, we're good, then.

I love my staff, that's for sure.

Right, girls?

See you!

The resort's three world-class golf courses attract

players from near and far.

Many are keen to try their luck on the 2010 course,

which was built for the Ryder Cup four years ago.

It's our Lady Captains holiday. We're from Carden Park near Chester.

And we've been here four days. Four days have gone.

We've had some rain, but we've had lots of sunshine,

and the staff have been excellent.

Today, we are playing two teams, Team Europe and Team USA,

Ryder Cup style, and the winning team will get a little mini Ryder Cup.

We've got one more to do

and then we're going over to the hotel to have afternoon tea.

While the Carden Park golfing ladies head off for their afternoon tea,

in the kitchen, Head Chef Simon

and his team are busy getting to grips with a new menu.

This is one person no cucumber,

two people no salmon, OK? So we give them chicken instead.

Yep, that's fine.

We serve afternoon tea within 2½ hours, so it's quite a quick process.

Um...

But you will find we get a lot of dietaries to deal with, so it's easy

when someone has a stand as is, but then you've got to be

really careful with gluten-frees, dairy-frees and that,

so it's quite a big thing for us.

-Quite a few. At least 160.

-Really?

Yeah. At least.

Right, 113, yeah?

The kitchen has run short of some items, but luckily Perry's on hand.

OK, I do need you to go to the Manor to get me about 15 small tartlets.

-No worries.

-If that's OK?

-Yeah. ..Let's go to the Manor.

Now Perry's probably got to run a mile to go and get stuff

from the Manor for us, cos our ordering isn't as good.

So Perry's got to pick up the pieces for us for that.

-Where are we going now, then?

-Manor.

-What for?

-Get some tartlets. 15 tartlets.

Don't really get time for lunch.

Don't really get time.

The Carden Park golfing ladies arrive for their afternoon tea.

Let's have a photograph. We ready?

-Thank you for a good holiday.

-Cheers! Cheers! Cheers!

Absolutely gorgeous. Really scrummy.

I think the piece de resistance. It's absolutely wonderful.

We couldn't have asked for more.

I've never seen an afternoon tea like this.

I've had an absolutely fantastic time.

Beautiful place and beautiful courses.

The ladies are eager to find out which team

won their Ryder Cup Challenge.

For USA, come out, please!

Well done. Well done.

-Thank you so much.

-Stand in the middle.

But while the ladies celebrate their win, in the kitchen,

there's been an accident.

I didn't go over, I just jarred it.

One of the team, Chris, has slipped on some Yorkshire pudding mix

left on the floor and hurt his back.

Right, let's not make Yorkshire puddings

in the middle of an afternoon tea service.

I just jarred it myself, that's all.

So...just...stand up.

So...

Accidents do happen.

Chris just jolted his back a little bit

from a bit of grease on the floor.

We're just going to keep a monitor on him.

Fill out the accident report form with him, but again, it's...

It's a kitchen. Accidents happen.

So it's just making sure he's all right now,

and we follow the right procedures.

Good afternoon!

Silvia is on her daily round of kitchen checks.

You're just calling me again.

Hello, Sylvia.

Yeah? RESPONSE INDISTINCT

Yeah, of course, I don't want to help you...again!

And she's got a bone to pick with Chef Stewart.

-Nothing's been signed, Chef.

-Yeah, that's because

-BLEEP

-is he?

And...?

What would you like me to do?

SHE LAUGHS

Up-to-date cleaning records must be kept for each kitchen

to meet with health and safety regulations.

I don't want you to sign.

What do you want me to do?

We're going to guess where it's clean and not clean.

It's like that wall over there. Not sure they won't move everything.

So we need to make sure they do it.

-Yeah?

-Ceiling on the list?

-I don't know how stuff ends up up there.

-It's your guys...

-Oh, yeah, we always do that.

-..playing.

See? That one is the worst.

All the people where it's not signed, so I'm not very happy with that.

Cos they know they need to clean, but they need to sign as well.

Silvia has tracked down someone else

who hasn't filled in the kitchen paperwork.

Hello, hello! How are you?

-OK?

-Oh, no.

-Oh, yes.

-Tell me.

-All the papers signed?

-We no signed paper.

-Why?

So I pay you less?

-Yes.

-Yes.

So maybe I pay you £5 an hour?

No sign papers, less money, yeah?

-No.

-OK, then, sign papers, yeah?

And up money?

No, no, you don't sign papers.

Sign the papers.

See you!

-I think you're here to do a job, so do it.

-Yeah.

If it needs having a go at somebody, you need to have a go at somebody.

I forget all the time anyway. I do whatever I need to do and then...

Some people don't, they sulking...

It's quite difficult to work with them,

but in the end you start to learn how to speak with these people as well

and they're quite all right.

But after ten years, not now.

There's a slight hitch with the wedding.

The couple's vows are on hold as they wait for some important guests.

Her family was stuck in traffic, her dad and mum and ten nephews.

So...they were close by.

The registrar's happy to wait a few minutes,

which is really nice cos she wants her family there.

So they've just arrived and we're ready to go.

HARP PLAYS

Ladies and gentlemen, would you please be upstanding for your bride?

They look lovely, don't they, together?

You are here today to celebrate the marriage of Zara and Adam

and to witness their vows of matrimony.

Adam, will you take Zara to be your wedded wife

-and remain true to her for the rest of your life?

-I will.

Zara, will you take Adam to be your wedded husband

and remain true to him for the rest of your life?

-I will.

-Thank you.

Before our family and our friends...

Before our family and friends...

..I give you this ring...

..I give you this ring...

-..as a symbol...

-..as a symbol...

..of my love and respect for you.

..of my love and respect for you.

You are now husband and wife.

APPLAUSE

I feel calmer once the ceremony's over, sort of...

just know it's all going to flow now,

it's always getting the first step over with.

CHEERING AND WHISTLING

But as well as catering for intimate events,

at the other end of the scale, the ability to host large

corporate conferences means big business for the hotel.

Today the Football Conference League is here

for their Annual General Meeting and Gala Dinner.

Afternoon, then, guys.

We've got a dinner on today, Football Conference Association.

For, er...550.

22-year-old Azmat Amin is the floor manager in charge of service tonight.

Make sure the back of house is done.

And then if we concentrate on the room as well

and make sure everything's getting done in the room.

-Let's go.

-Cheers.

But first the room needs to be transformed from a conference suite

into a dazzling banqueting hall.

Despite the large scale of the event,

Azmat insists his team pays attention to the small details.

Put yourself in the guests' shoes.

Look at the table.

Yeah? Stand back and look at it.

It still doesn't look right, does it?

You've just got to make sure every single thing is straight.

Yeah? So that's how every complete setting should be.

-OK?

-Right.

-Let's get it done.

You've got to be authoritative

as well as at the same time ensure that everyone's happy.

But with a large team, you've got so many personalities to... Ooh!

You've got so many personalities to manage as well.

As the chandeliers are lowered into place,

Azmat checks that the room's transformation is complete.

It's all looking good, isn't it? Yeah.

So the guys have enough time now to go on break, come back down

and ready your head for the busy service ahead.

Single file, please, guys. Left-hand side of your table.

Perry's back with the tartlets.

Get the box down there.

Where does 12 turn into 240?

Ha, that'll be hard.

But 228 surplus tartlets are the least of Simon's worries.

With one man down, afternoon tea service must go on.

So that's not to go yet. That's not to go?

I need a hamper for that table.

Yeah, but you just said don't send hampers.

-I need a hamper...

-So you can send hampers.

In a minute, I need one gluten-free stand from you, yeah?

Get Dave sorted, then do one gluten-free.

Mo, just take what we tell you

and we'll only send checks that come through.

-Yeah...

-Yeah, that's fine, let's go.

Any dietaries need to be said to me straightaway.

-You did send the chicken.

-Where's the check? Where does it say on here?

You write it on here and I'll do it, but...

this is rubbish, man.

I need 117 hampers, yeah?

Mo, Mo, Mo, again.

I'll send, you take.

This is pretty much the way it's going to go.

We've had a little incident with Chris,

but we've all got to muck in now.

HE WHISTLES

He's up.

Yeah? He'll have a little dance tonight, he'll be out on the town.

Are you OK there?

So, give me a call and then, as far as we're aware,

-back Wednesday.

-Yeah.

Permitting.

-Cheers, thanks a lot.

-Thanks, cheers.

We are in control all the time.

It's catering, you know, you never know what's going to happen

or what'll get thrown at you.

So we need one, two...

In the back it might be a bit crazy, but we make sure that out the front

it's all singing and dancing.

In the pavilion, a lavish spread is ready

for the newly-weds and their party.

Oh, just all of it, I just love it!

All of this type of...

Can I ask the top table if they would like to go to the buffet.

This is the part I've been waiting for.

The ceremony was just one of those things that needed to happen.

It's all about the food.

Lovely, isn't it, a very nice spread.

I'm very impressed with it.

I'll have to give the tops to Zara for that one cos she planned this.

But while the adults tuck in, the children are still

waiting for the meals that were ordered separately for them.

We've gone differently to what we normally do with the barbecues.

Everyone just goes there, the children don't have separate food.

So I think that difference wasn't picked up quick enough.

Fran calls the kitchen to track down the missing food.

All right, cheers, bye!

They're plating up the children's meals now.

Sorry about the delays with kids' meals.

I think Chef wasn't happy with them.

So rather than send them out, he wanted to make sure...

But they're on their way up now.

He's plated and they're on their way, just to let you know. OK?

Finally, the children's meals come up from the kitchen.

-Chicken dinner?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-About an hour late, but, you know.

Not much I can do personally, it's more the kitchen side,

so I've gone over to them one-to-one and apologised, so...

just making sure everything else goes smoothly

so it won't seem such a big deal by the end of the night then.

Individually, please, checking your tables.

If you've finished yours, check someone else's.

In the Convention Centre,

the Football Conference Gala Dinner is about to kick off.

We've opened all the doors, staff are all in position.

Let's get rock'n'roll!

It's the FA Trophy

from about six weeks ago at Wembley against Gosport Borough, 4-0.

And we're very hopeful that it'll be Wrexham's turn next season.

-Are we all OK there?

-No, we're waiting to order wine.

-Some wine, is it?

-Yeah.

-What would you like, sir?

Azmat's got a lot on his plate this evening -

he and his team are expected to deliver a flawless service

to over 500 guests.

Everyone stand behind your team leaders.

Remember, we said quiet in the kitchen, please.

We resort back to the teachers in school

so the team leaders I refer to as the teachers, and the pupils behind,

while they're waiting for the chefs to go.

Are we ready to go, then, guys?

Just up there.

Come on, guys, quick as you can, please.

With four courses on the gala dinner menu,

the service staff have a long night ahead.

How many tables have you got left?

-They're done.

-Go out and help someone else then. Yeah? Let's go.

Are you done?

-I need to do a drink order, but haven't got time.

-Help someone else.

If we've done our tables, start helping someone else.

Remember, you're working in pairs, take it as slow as you need to be.

Don't want to see any breakages in the room.

OK? Let's go then, guys.

I'm going home.

That's what the idea is.

I have two kids waiting for food, dinner.

And of course we have the ironing and cleaning and all these we don't like.

But Silvia has one last kitchen to check on.

Hello!

You guys are in a bit of mess, aren't we?

What's happened with my floor?

-I'm busy.

-You busy?

-Yeah.

OK, you need a hand?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

If I do this, you clean the floor for me?

-All right.

-Let's go then.

So no time to go home yet.

As usual, Sylvia...

KITCHEN NOISE DROWNS SPEECH

Yeah, that's why sometimes I just leave at ten o'clock.

Cos every time, something happens.

-How long have you been here?

-Ten years.

Ten years. Life sentence, isn't it?

My girls, my work, I like to do it.

It's my family, at the end of the day.

I like the challenges as well.

Every day is different.

How much have things changed for you since ten years, when you first came here?

A lot.

I think I did a lot myself, actually.

Don't speak English to be where I am now.

I know it's just clean pots and pans in a suit, but...

Still...

In the Olive Tree Restaurant kitchen, Chef Simon's day...

Got an issue with Perry.

..is going from bad to worse.

We feared Perry's been a bit upset,

just want to get to the bottom of what's wrong with Pez.

Perry's upset because some of the staff have been leaving their rubbish behind.

Pez, had a bit of an issue with yoghurts, I hear.

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-I do have an issue.

-Can I swear?

-You can swear...

-Some

-BLEEP

-yogurt pots on the floor.

-Which means...

-BLEEP

So, yeah, so we'll have to stop it.

-These are them.

-Evidence.

They're the wrappers, the tops.

-It's annoying.

-It winds Pez up, you know.

Just...if someone wants a yogurt, we'll willingly give them a yogurt.

-But don't just...

-Put it on the floor,

especially when there's a bin six feet away from you.

Yeah. So you can see Pez gets a bit upset with that,

-so we'll go and talk it out with the restaurant now.

-Yeah, good.

-Catch you in a bit.

-Yeah, you will.

-Cheers.

I think other guys got pride in their job, to be honest with you.

I don't think it's just me.

I mean, we all try

and make the Celtic Manor the best hotel it can be.

Perry has finally reached the end of his shift.

There's just one place left for Perry to run to -

home.

It's a pleasure to welcome the Vice-President of Wales, Trevor Lloyd Hughes...

At the Gala Dinner, the speeches are over-running.

The main course is on hold, and the chefs are not impressed.

Five minutes he told me when I went out there,

so I'm hoping half past we should be done. I'll go and check again.

It's time to get really annoyed now cos it's chicken

and chicken gets spoiled really quickly,

especially when it's cooked.

so they want to get it out as quick as they can, but...

So I'm the guy in the middle getting the brunt of it from all areas.

They're saying hurry up

and these ones saying faster.

With the speeches finally over,

it's action stations for Azmat and his service staff.

As you can see, it's a military operation going on,

everyone queuing up with their plates.

Overall, we should be serving main course

for 450 people within four minutes.

And it takes a well-organised team to deliver that speed of service.

Let's go then, guys!

Over the next two hours, Azmat co-ordinates his staff

as they serve and clear away each course,

from starters to after-dinner coffee.

While the guests enjoy their disco, the night is far from over

for Azmat and his crew, who have a massive clear-up job on their hands.

It's been a brilliant day.

It is all about team work. I'm only as strong as my team.

But the night is still young

and we've a hell of a lot to get done before we finish tonight.

Fran's got one last opportunity to add a romantic touch to the day.

Things like this you see on the telly in the movies as well.

I think it makes it feel like their wedding night for them.

-Oh, that's nice.

-We've got the living room here

and then if you follow the petals, it takes you round to your room.

I think the rose petals, surprised to see that, so it's good.

Of all the different places you could get married,

in all the different cities and countries,

yeah, this was perfect for us.

-We loved it.

-Yeah, I'll repeat that.

It was the first venue we saw and chose it straightaway.

-Yeah, honestly.

-And the sun came out as well,

which is a change in Wales, so I'm happy about that.

-I'll say I did that, it was all me.

-Yeah.

OK, one, two, three.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Ladies and gentlemen, can I please ask our bridegroom

to escort his wife onto the dance floor

for the first dance.

For Zara and Adam, it's nearly the end

of the special day that Fran has organised for them.

I've always wanted to work in weddings.

All girls, I think, dream of your wedding.

So, yeah, always been wanting to see weddings here.

I'm so happy for them cos it's all their plans have come together.

Next time on Hotel 24/7...

The heat's on in the kitchen for Mike,

whose cooking is scrutinised by three of the hotel's top bosses.

Every single plate passes by one of our sets of eyes.

Yeah, mine definitely do, I don't know about the two of you.

The resort's owner, Sir Terry Matthews,

pays the breakfast staff a surprise visit.

How many people would have come in for breakfast?

-600.

-600 people came in today?

And Operations Director Matthew takes a dive.

Have I got a split?