Episode 1 Inside Claridge's

Claridge's, in the heart of London's Mayfair,

is a five-star luxury hotel favoured by royalty and celebrities.

Here, things are done a little differently.

The million-pound chandelier has 800 unique pieces that have to be

individually hand-cleaned overnight.

It's not going to take much for it to go and to get one of these

replaced is probably going to be nigh on impossible.

In an age of austerity, some guests are prepared to pay the price of a

small family car to spend one night savouring its enduring glamour.

It's £6,900 per night.

For the first time in its long history,

Claridge's has allowed cameras behind its doors.

We've spent a year filming upstairs and downstairs following

the staff as they provide luxury to a discreet and exclusive clientele.

This is as good as it's going to get.

I mean, the next stop is Buckingham Palace.

How does Claridge's make you feel?

Well, that they're expecting me.

It's not a blind date.

Those who stay can demand impeccable attention to detail

and staff who go to enormous lengths to please.

No request is too outrageous.

We might think they're outrageous but we will deliver.

Good morning, Claridge's. How may I help you?

-You're taking the Eurostar, yes?

-'Yes.'

That's going to be from St Pancras station, sir.

-'How many...pounds will it cost? Do you know?'

-For the taxi?

Let me connect you with the Concierge.

-They do an accurate estimate for you.

-'OK.'

-Thanks so much.

Notice I didn't say, "I don't know."

-Do you ever not know?

-Oh, yes, but that's...

I guess that's the trick.

You can't ever let the caller hear you sweat.

Never let them hear you sweat. "One moment, please," is great.

"Let me find out for you."

One of the most wonderful tools that we have here in Claridge's,

that not everyone really knows, is called Google,

and Google will answer everything.

So we seem like geniuses up here

but a lot of the time it's just typing into Google.

Good morning. Claridge's. How may I help you?

Doors have been open to guests

ever since Mrs Claridge established a hotel on the site in 1854.

Her portrait still watches over the comings and goings in the lobby.

Famed for its Art Deco interior,

the hotel has two miles of corridors, 400 staff

and serves over 1,000 lobsters and 60,000 bottles of champagne a year.

You've got one hour to get these down.

Where do I feel happiest?

I love our lobby

because the lobby embraces everything that Claridge's is about.

There is the glamour. There is the beauty of the building.

You can feel it when you walk through the revolving doors that

you're entering a very, very special place.

At the helm of this thoroughly British institution

is 41-year-old Thomas Kochs.

He's the youngest General Manager in the hotel's history.

We are waiting for Mr Basso and Mr Kominoto.

They're very, very regular visitors from New York.

They've been coming to the hotel for many years

and are really, really very dear guests of ours.

They spent a week in Paris,

so I'm sure they have lots of interesting stories to tell.

-Hello, how are you?

-Good to be here.

-Good to see you. Welcome back.

-Joanna.

-Nice to see you.

-Gorgeous weather.

-I know. We have the sun on order for you, of course.

Dennis Basso is an American designer.

After you, and then it's the second-floor Piano Suite today.

-Oh, my favourite.

-Your favourite, good.

If I only knew how to play the piano.

The Piano Suite costs £5,100 a night

and comes with its own private butler on call 24 hours a day

to pander to every wish.

OK, you have a wonderful stay. Enjoy and see you later, OK? Take care.

What strikes you about this room when you come in?

You feel like you've stepped back a little bit.

Like you're in some fine English... mansion in the middle of London.

It's beautifully matched and beautifully done

but it's not forced.

You have all your modern conveniences,

so you're able to press a button and have the butler come,

reach the Concierge.

This is a perfect example.

This is clearly the most modern element, to have that instant

cup of espresso here,

but yet you're in this traditional

environment and I think that's what really has made this

something quite unique.

This is pretty special. I think the best of the people come.

The best, when I say that,

I mean the people who have travelled far and wide.

This is an exceptionally large salon.

Do you ever feel that luxury is a difficult thing to

celebrate in these times?

You know...

..there's always going to be...

luxury.

John Alves comes from the island of Madeira and is keeper of the

last man-operated lift in London, transporting treasured guests.

Most of the time I receive the guests. Very important guests.

They say this is the best lift in the world.

They've never seen one lift like this.

I'm very, very happy to have this clock, this very nice clock.

It is 115 years old. It's beautiful.

The Queen of Spain was here last week.

The Emperor of China has been a couple of months ago.

Tom Cruise, he's been in this part

because he likes to be here in front of this mirror.

Madonna liked to sit over in this place over here.

And the other people have really enjoyed this lift.

It's a delicate business addressing VIP guests.

Every morning, Thomas sits down to compose the welcome cards.

Card signing sessions with Kristy are always a bit different.

-How about let's start with...

-This weekend, no?

-..this weekend.

-Tom Hanks.

-Tom Hanks. Small card? Big card?

-Big card.

-OK.

Who gets a big card and who gets the little card?

-Ooh!

-That's Kristy's discretion.

-OK, then our lovely band members.

-Members for which band?

-U2.

-U2, OK, good.

-So they're here to attend the Q Awards.

I'm not exactly sure what that is, to be perfectly honest.

THEY LAUGH

So I'll say, "Have a wonderful stay. Enjoy the Q Awards."

-OK. This is...

-Edge.

-Hmm-mm.

We never know. We always have the same predicament.

Do you write, "Dear Edge?"

-It's um...

-I forgot his real name now.

Isn't he known as THE Edge?

No idea, but you can't write, "Dear Mr The Edge."

Someone needs to be the guardian of all of this, you know.

Someone needs to have a little bit of a helicopter view.

You're like a conductor in an orchestra.

'I believe you need to really wholeheartedly want to do this.'

How are you? Good to see you.

Hello.

Do you find it amusing that everyone says it so British

and you're German?

Yes, I do find it amusing at times,

but, you know, it's good to see things a little humorous as well.

That's why I don't find it challenging to represent

a British brand, but, yeah, Claridge's is the quintessentially

English hotel in London and I'm German and I can't change that.

Let's just remind everybody, if you have a broken lamp, please

remove the shade, label the shade and leave the shade in the office.

I found two shades downstairs in technical services which were

just on a shelf.

Deputy head of housekeeping Anne Barnes

is one of the few English members of staff.

She executes her job with obsessive attention to detail.

You can smell the dust.

-What do you notice in here, Anne?

-The flowers.

The flowers are dead.

118 bathroom, there's a golf-ball light bulb missing.

Why this is missing, I do not know.

Simon, the other day,

I reported that the TVs were showing one hour ahead.

What's happening?

Alvin, when you clean the chairs with your damp cloth,

can you make sure you do the legs?

Can I show you? Look here, can you see the dust?

There's a very bad stain on the carpet right by the valet storage.

OK, can you please make sure that you highlight that?

-Please don't put that up in here.

-Not on you.

The guests have just arrived.

-Housekeeper.

-Housekeeper.

-It's noisy.

I'm always checking inside the bag now,

because we had a case that once a guest chucked out

and he left a lot of money in the bag which was folded this way, flat.

And then the next guest who checked into the room found the money.

-How much was it?

-It was a lot. It was a couple of thousand pounds, yeah.

They were all flat and nicely folded.

So that's why I'm always checking inside now, just in case.

The girls find a lot of money, they find a lot of money in the room.

Sometimes it's locked in a safe

and, if the guest is not asking for it,

I think it's for six months. Ann?

-Yeah.

-The girls will get it.

Yeah, it can be a lot of money.

-I think it depends on the value.

-On the value?

-Yeah.

-It might be longer.

-One of our room attendants, she just got 2,000

which was left locked in a safe.

Yeah...

Ann, are you like this at home?

No! I've a dog.

No, not at all.

Not at all.

Not every dog is left behind.

Sammy the spaniel has stayed over 20 times at the hotel.

The minute he gets out of the car, he walks straight up to the door

and puts his nose up and says, "This is it."

Sometimes, I drop him and the luggage off and they check him into the room.

They always ask, "Is Sammy coming, too?"

Then they put out a little towel for him and the dog bowl.

They then get his bed out and things like that.

Sometimes, it takes a long time to check in and check out

because everybody is so busy talking to Sammy.

At check-out, Sammy's toy, food and water bowl

are put into storage, awaiting his next visit.

Before we came to Claridge's

Sammy used to get depressed staying in London. One night was enough.

I mean, they have a depression, you could always tell.

The head would droop and he'd just say, "Get me out of here."

Ever since we've been staying at Claridge's,

he's says, "I'm very happy, thank you very much,

"and I'm quite happy to stay another night."

-Hi, Stephen. You're very kindly going to take him for a walk.

-Of course.

-And I'm afraid I'm going to give you...

-Certainly.

So where's Mummy? Where's Mummy left you?

What you found?

What you found, Sam? Come on.

What you found?

And do you ever say no to a guest?

I never say no to a guest.

I cannot say no to a guest.

I will do everything in my power

to do whatever it is they want me to do.

So let's just briefly talk about what we can do today

on the third-floor rooms. Yeah?

318, 316, 321...

Claridge's has 83,000 guests a year.

As well as those booking for a night, or two,

the hotel is used to dealing with people who demand a whole lot more.

I'm going to take the Bibles out.

In three days' time, they're expecting the arrival

of foreign royalty, who want to occupy the entire third floor.

They're all paying a lot of money, it's a very high rate,

so we need extra care with them. Yeah?

Hi, Chris.

The arrival time is still about six o'clock.

I presume security will be on-site, probably close to noon.

Basically, we just make sure we take all the alcoholic products out.

From us, everyone knows how important this group is,

how perfectly it needs to go.

The whole floor will be taken over by 27 female guests

with their women-only security guards.

No men will be allowed to set foot on the floor.

We have to...line all these glass doors, so people can't see in.

We're making very, very soft bed for the Princess.

She wants very, very soft bed. We are putting the extra duvets for her.

-How many duvets?

-Four.

Yes, she want very, very soft.

There are 40 rooms on the third floor.

Ten have to be cleared of all furniture to create

space for private dressing rooms and dining rooms.

All these rooms will be connected.

We will be opening the connection doors throughout the whole floor.

So the guests will be able to go around in one big circle.

They can do that, yeah.

The other bedrooms will be turned into kitchens.

We completely cover the carpet.

They will lay banqueting tables all the way around the room, and fridges,

and then put serving dishes on top and things like that, hot plates.

Two entire suites will be used just for storing shopping bags.

Presentation must be perfect.

All scuffs are touched up, dripping taps fixed...

It's just actually running here from the tap.

..and one bath is re-enamelled.

Basically, what we've done, this has been a chipped bath,

-taken all the chrome off.

-Yeah.

And then sprayed it, now it's being heat lamped, so being hardened.

Rather than replacing the bath, we're repairing all the chips.

However, the guests have yet to confirm their booking.

-They've already delayed a day.

-They have, yes.

Is there still a chance they could cancel? Does that happen?

Possibly. Travel plans change.

Is it London, is it Paris?

Will it be the US, or the Alps, maybe?

They might go skiing, they might go to a skiing resort.

You know, the schedules of people's lives are very demanding

and very busy. We have this with a lot of our top, top guests.

They probably have every intention to stay here on Wednesday

and then the day changes, demands change, different plane,

different demands for a different city, and they arrive

on Thursday or a week later. We deal with that all the time.

So, for one room, that's slightly different

in comparison to a whole floor.

It's taken two days to transform the third floor into a temporary

palace, but still the booking has not been confirmed.

Could the guests still cancel?

Yeah. They could. Mm-hm.

-After all this work?

-Yeah.

Or they could delay their visit.

-How would you feel if...

-If...?

They cancelled?

Well, obviously...very upset.

The royal family finally arrives, two days behind schedule.

So, have you met Her Highness?

Her Highness I haven't met, no.

I haven't been to her room, I haven't shaken her hand,

I haven't spoken to her or had an exchange.

So it's really not unusual for... for me not to see certain guests.

One wouldn't think, would one?

With more than 11,000 five-star luxury rooms in London,

Claridge's faces stiff competition.

Thomas knows he needs to keep attracting

the likes of the guests currently occupying the third floor.

How can people understand how big a business Claridge's is?

It is all relative.

There are companies and corporations in this world

that probably turn over more revenue with 420 people than others

that turn over less. Claridge's is a £58 million business,

-in turnover terms.

-A year?

-That is a year.

Is there pressure on you to increase the revenue every year?

Yeah, yet again you can call it pressure or...

Look, I'm probably the one to ask for more.

So, it's what you do to yourself.

It wouldn't be a healthy budget if you said,

"Yeah, it was amazing what we did last year, let's just do the same."

You would always want to do a little bit better and a little bit more.

More than a third of Claridge's guests are from the United States

and a couple of times a year, Thomas travels to New York to meet

the most influential American travel agent.

It is really very, very important that the general managers go

once or twice a year, themselves.

There's nothing more valuable than personal contact

and that's really why I'm here.

Will the general managers of other hotels in London,

like the Ritz, the Dorchester, the Savoy, come out to New York, too?

I'm pretty certain they do.

First stop, Fischer Travel.

Father and daughter Bill and Stacey

craft ultra-luxury experiences for the super-rich.

They can't be found on the Internet

and you can only get their number by paying a joining fee.

We charge 100,000 to become a client

and 25,000 a year to stay on as a client.

And that's before you've even made a phone call on their behalf?

Well, we'll make one call.

There's a fishing story you'll like. A woman liked to fish

and she wanted her husband to fish, too, and they were in Africa.

So, we wanted... She said, "I want to make sure he catches a fish."

We had to hire a frogman to go in the water to put a fish on the hook.

He caught a fish but we still had to pay for the frogman.

-You can have a seat right there.

-All right, OK, perfect.

-Welcome back to New York.

-Thank you very much, always good to be here.

-The hotel is going well?

-Yeah, the hotel is doing well.

London is like New York, I mean, New York is doing terrific.

Our forecast looks very, very positive but then, of course,

when you read the press and when you see what's going on...

The press is always negative.

The reality doesn't quite reflect our business.

The press doesn't really know these type of clients.

-Exactly!

-It's true.

-Yeah, that's true.

You know, the press, if they stay in a room, they're spending

£100, £150 a night.

They're not spending 1,000, 2,000, 5,000 or whatever.

That's the difference. They're just...it's out of their realm.

-Does Claridge's not suit certain people?

-Sure.

It's not for everybody.

You know, they don't maybe like the Art Deco style,

they want something a little more contemporary, a little more modern.

-It's not for everybody.

-Maybe something smaller.

-Yeah.

More boutique.

Have you ever had clients requesting rooms redecorated for them

-at Claridge's?

-Oh, yeah.

-And is that done?

-Yeah, they need... they don't like the colour scheme

of the room or they don't like...

So, they'll go in and do it.

Of course, charge them for it and when they leave,

put it back to what it is.

-And they don't mind paying?

-Not if they're asking for it.

Andrew...

Yeah, I can hardly hear you, I must say.

Thomas is never off duty.

He knows what's going on in Claridge's

even when he's on the other side of the Atlantic.

Did anything amusing happen in the hotel last night?

It was a pretty straightforward, normal night.

Shame...

No, I just think sometimes you must have things that happen that

just make you smile, or make you groan

but they're very human, like the overrunning of the baths.

Yeah, that happens a lot.

-Yeah, how often do baths get overrun there?

-Too often.

Of course, you know the way houses are built. It all drips through,

so you have a leak in the room below.

-Oh!

-I know.

So when that happens, you just think, "Here we go again."

Here we go again, yes. It's a shame, it's very wasteful.

Often new carpets, ceilings have to be painted, made good.

-Do rock stars trash their rooms?

-I knew that this would come up!

Exactly, guitars breaking, glass tables being smashed...

Peanuts all over.

No, they're very well behaved, OUR rock stars.

Claridge's rock stars are good rock stars.

Next stop, Barry Liben.

He booked 500 nights for clients in Claridge's last year.

Thomas is determined to improve on that.

Nice to meet you, a pleasure. Absolutely delighted, thank you.

Today, I think, I checked two hours ago,

the market was collapsing again, unfortunately.

When I looked, it was about 350 points down,

based on some stuff in Europe.

So, you know, people are concerned.

Do you have new supply coming into the market?

If I was a London hotel, yeah,

I've been nervous about all your new competition.

-I mean, there's a lot of it right now.

-There is a lot of it, yes.

The Savoy, the Corinthian, the Four Seasons...

Boy, there's a lot of new beautiful rooms in there.

Absolutely, yeah, yeah, absolutely.

I think someone who likes your hotel will stay with it.

I don't see why they wouldn't. You have a great product.

But everybody likes to see the new kid on the block

-when they first open.

-Mmm.

But, you see, we always have to be cautious.

-You know, you have to stay mainly...

-You can't rest on your laurels.

-No, absolutely not.

-You can't rest on your laurels

but you have a great name, you have a great reputation

and you have great service levels.

How much is a luxury room worth?

At what point does it become ludicrous to spend that money?

That's really an individual thing.

One man's ludicrous is another man's normal,

so that's really an individual thing. You know, erm...

There are certain suites in the world that go for...

You know, I might pay 2,000 for a suite

and another person think that ludicrous

and another person will pay 15,000 a night for a suite

and I think that insane.

I know what I paid for one night in the best villa

in Terre Blanche in Provence at the Four Seasons,

that other people would have a heart attack.

-May I ask what that was?

-13,000.

In Thomas's absence, his deputy, Michael Bonsor,

is responsible for the day-to-day running of the hotel.

Continuously through the day...

We're walking outside of the building, but twice a day

our duty managers come out and specifically walk the area,

and that's more for cleanliness

and just to make sure everything is shipshape and in order.

Oh, hi, Charlie, it's Michael.

Outside Claridge's bar entrance, there's footprints

on the black granite.

Can you have housekeeping or back of house come up and wipe it down?

OK, great, thank you.

This whole area gets knocked a lot.

I think we're probably painting this every two or three days

and it does need a bit more of a touch-up.

That can literally be like that today

but three days ago, it wasn't there.

-The cabling needs attention.

-Yeah, this cabling is not good.

Unless someone's working on it.

Why don't we bring one of those to this side?

I think we need two...

-No, you need a couple of people.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

-You need a few people to move that.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Just put one there...

-One in there.

-Yeah.

-Do you want to...

-Yeah, I'll follow that up.

This is a view you can't put a price on. Or, actually, you can.

We need to know the price, don't you think?

Claridge's likes to flirt with its fashion

and cultural connections and now has an artist in residence,

who stays 52 nights a year, in exchange for drawings.

You've got all of London,

all these things, you just think of all the lives going on.

All the people working...

It's amazing.

What do you think they're thinking about you?

I hope they're thinking, "God, he's in the Brook Penthouse.

"He must have done something good. He must have done well."

Artists doing well, that's what I want them to think.

My title is fashion artist in residence

and it's the "in residence" we love. That's where...

That's the bit I keep repeating.

I'm going to be recording,

in drawing, some of Claridge's favourite guests.

Some of them are very famous, some of them unknown.

There is an underlying thing about style within

the group of people that we're going to draw.

Internationally famous model Carmen Dell'Orefice is 81.

And she's been staying at Claridge's since the early '60s.

The one wonderful thing that is still operative is that breakfast

comes with the most discreet people,

who see me in my curlers,

my flannel nightgown in the morning, you know.

And they never look at me. And it is always,

"Madam, may I pour this for you?"

And it is a real treat to have somebody pour something for me.

'She doesn't get how great she is, thank God,

'because she could be a monster.

'And that's 66 years in an industry that hates 30-year-olds.

'So it's no wonder she's good at it.

'As I always say, she damn well ought to be.

'Because 66 years of practice.'

What's your favourite room?

I like 114.

I like a lot of them, actually, but 114 I am very keen on.

It's a great big suite on the first floor,

where you get a butler or two.

You only have to ring the bell and two people come.

It took me ages to ring the bell. I didn't dare, I thought,

I'm not a person who has a butler,

I'm not a person who rings for a butler.

So I would ring down to reception and ask them what to do,

rather than ring the butler.

But they're great. They're great at their job.

Have you got used to having a butler?

I don't want to get used to it. It's dangerous.

Cos you do have to go home, eventually.

I love people, I love serving people,

and...a great challenge, and I like challenges.

I have a bad day now and then, like everyone else, but I think

you know, if you are dealing with people, you have to like people.

It's no good coming and saying, oh...

You have to be willing to serve, you know.

And I like serving people.

Michael Lynch first came to work at the hotel in 1976,

when he was 16 years old.

I grew up in a little village in Limerick.

Limerick is in the South West of Ireland. About 1,000 people

and you knew everybody.

And what is special about this suite?

It is one of my favourite suites.

It is very, very nice and it is very peaceful, very quiet.

And when we have royalty in the hotel,

they usually stay in the Royal Suite or heads of state.

Hello. Good afternoon, ladies.

Welcome. Welcome to the Royal Suite. Here we have the sitting room.

It's Edwardian, it is very nice. We have a French and marble fireplace.

Here we have a piano.

It says here, this piano belonged

to Richard D'Oyly Carte of Gilbert and Sullivan fame.

I can play, but not very well.

Who is the most famous person you have ever had to be a butler to?

I would say probably Donatella Versace. She was wonderful.

I loved her. She was very, very nice.

She stayed in the penthouse, she was really sweet.

She was all in her leathers and she could walk very straight.

She was very sweet. She was very nice.

And Mariah Carey, she was lovely. A very nice lady. She stayed upstairs.

And when you are famous, you can't use your own name,

you have to use your alias.

You can't be Mariah Carey when you are staying at Claridge's,

you have to be something else.

So it is quite nice.

Here is the dining room, here, if I can take you through.

You can have a few meals here, it seats up to 10 to 12 people.

Put the lights on.

Sorry.

And here's the bedroom here.

Again, you have call buttons on either side, if you'd like.

And this leads into the bathroom.

And because Claridge's loves you, when you stay here, you don't

have to lift your leg too high to get into the bath, it is sunken.

And when you are in the bath, if you need a valet

or the maid to come, there is call buttons there as well.

Shower and everything else. Thank you very much.

-Good morning, this is your 6.45 wake-up call.

-'Thank you so much.'

-You're very welcome.

-'Can you tell me what the weather is today?'

Today is going to be cloudy with some light rain in the forecast,

and the high is going to be approximately eight Celsius

-or 46 Fahrenheit.

-'All right, thank you so much.'

-Do you get prank callers?

-Yeah, you do sometimes.

They were calling with what is called a soundboard, where they take

a celebrity's voice and they splice it up into various little audio bits.

But you get used to the ones they will call you with all the time.

They call you with Arnold Schwarzenegger quite a lot,

so you will pick up the phone

and say, "Good afternoon, Claridge's, how may I help you?"

And then you will hear, "Who is your daddy and what does he do?"

Christie. Is Christie here?

Tell us a little bit about the weekend in store.

We have news about a very exciting booking that came in overnight.

She is going to be checking into our penthouse for one month,

starting on November 1st.

So if we can all get to familiarise ourselves with her,

-and there will be more details to come on that shortly.

-Absolutely.

-And Karl, you...

-Can I just come in on the Jacuzzi?

Basically, the requirement is a Jacuzzi, to put a Jacuzzi in.

We just need to make sure it is ordered today.

We need the room for Monday.

Christian, make sure it is off for Monday.

We're going to rip everything out Monday and start building Tuesday

until the end of the week, so it is quite a lot of work.

A lot of marble work.

And that is it for today.

OK, have a good day, everyone, thank you very much.

Can you tell me a bit about the pop artist

-who is coming? Because that is quite exciting.

-It is.

We just heard about it at 11 o'clock last night,

so we don't know a whole lot.

We have to now do some research,

but she does have a crew of 35 people that she travels with.

One of her preferences was to have a Jacuzzi.

A Jacuzzi, but also to stay on a high floor and to stay

in a penthouse. And our penthouse at this point doesn't have a Jacuzzi.

But it will have one in about four days.

Out goes the 15-year-old bath.

In goes the Jacuzzi, surrounded by the original marble.

-Have you done this before?

-Not a Jacuzzi.

-Not a Jacuzzi.

-A gym.

A real, real big gym. Actually, I have pictures of that one,

I don't think I have ever showed you that.

Wait.

Ian, do you want to kick off and start through arrivals from Friday?

The artist going into the Brook Penthouse.

She is actually pre-registered for arrival on Saturday.

Everyone has received the memo.

The Claridge's team has researched their new guest

from her stays in other hotels.

I was just looking through e-mails, quite interesting -

specific comments made by her team from previous stays.

As Ian said, going to that suite without any pre-authorisation,

without being accompanied by their staff,

without going through the butlers can't be stressed any stronger.

It is just imperative that nobody, for any reason,

goes to that suite.

Also, they had issues there,

they had like a tap falling off, which put the whole stay

into jeopardy. So it is obviously quite a serious thing to happen,

but that one thing nearly lost that hotel the entire piece of business.

We're going to look at the Jacuzzi that we have installed last week

for our arrival on Saturday.

-OK. Let's have a look.

-Let's hope we like it.

So, one Jacuzzi.

-Wow.

-Nice low remote control.

OK.

OK.

Well, this looks very... very good.

You see, the most important thing is that you always test everything,

because, of course, everyone is telling you it is perfect

and it is ready and it is installed,

but we believe that it is only once you have seen it, it really works.

So someone will have to sit in this Jacuzzi before she arrives.

-You.

-No!

-THEY CHUCKLE

The pop star has arrived

and been settled into the £6,700-a-night penthouse.

Of course, let me connect you with the foyer and reading room.

-Thank you.

-You're welcome.

All the numbers are up here.

I can't remember what I had for breakfast this morning,

but I can remember all the numbers.

-And have you had many calls from the pop artist?

-Not one.

I have not spoken to her once.

Her manager, yes, he calls a lot, but her herself,

no, I don't even know if she has a voice.

-Have you seen her?

-I've not.

I think I've seen a video on YouTube, but no, not in person.

Good afternoon, Claridge's, how may I help you?

Have you met the pop artist who is up in the penthouse?

-Has she been in this lift?

-Yes.

And sit over here...

..and is very happy to be up and down in this lift.

And does she ever say anything?

She says good morning, good afternoon, but always is very tired,

because she is working most of the time.

Good evening!

I met her twice, and she said,

"Hello! I am going now, you can do my room."

But this is full of luggage. Hundreds of luggage.

What did she buy?

She buys shoes, designer like Chanel,

Louis Vuitton, all designer clothes.

High heels, really sparkling shoes. She have hundreds, maybe.

Because this room may be, I don't know, it costs a thousand a night.

-What do you think of that?

-Very, very expensive!

This is the most expensive room in Claridge's.

So what have you learned about rich people? Are they always happy?

I think... What I think about rich people is they have too much money.

-Would you like to be famous?

-No!

I think ordinary people like us

is a better life. We can do whatever we want.

We have liberty, but not with bodyguards.

-Hello!

-Done 737.

Christmas season is key for the hotel.

More is spent in its four walls than at any other time of the year.

I think the time it takes to put these baubles on,

it takes a very long time.

It's such a nice time of the year, isn't it, Christmas?

It is, when you see how it all comes together, and yes, really lovely.

It's a piece of Claridge's tradition that every year

the hotel has a famous designer to build its Christmas tree.

For the past two years, this has been John Galliano,

but not this year.

Another French couture house has been approached.

I don't know if you've all seen it. Here is a printout.

This is a visual, drawn by Alber.

Alber is the head designer for Lanvin.

It's a completely and utterly different design from anything

we've done before, which I think is probably a very good thing.

Personally, I love the idea of the tree.

I think it has something very artistic

and it has got something very bespoke and personal.

This is really Alber Elbaz creating a Christmas wish.

And I can remember the attraction that the tree has been over

the last few years and I can really see people coming in,

and families under the tree and children just being super excited.

That tree is obviously not just magically appearing,

it will require some meticulous planning

and getting ready for this to happen, but in essence,

we have the timeframe between

midnight and 6am, so that is only six hours.

The tree just has to be ready, it has to be ready at six,

the latest 6.30, lit.

There comes a point when everybody gets tired

and everybody gets more interested in coffees and sandwiches.

We need to watch that.

This is Madame and Monsieur Lanvin. Oh, mon dieu!

-And who is this?

-This is the mistress of the house.

Oh, my goodness, look at her fingers and her jewels

and her red ruby nail varnish.

THEY LAUGH IN DELIGHT

Wow! Yeah!

Looks good. Looks great.

Do you think I could have this suit afterwards?

THEY CHEER AND APPLAUD

-Are you pleased with it?

-I absolutely love it.

I am very, very pleased, yes.

So, first of all, what you see is

you see an amazing big Christmas tree

and you think, wow, it's a great tree, and then you look closer

and the first thing you probably discover is the scene around

the tree of Mr and Mrs Lanvin

and his mistress after the Christmas lunch.

What do you think about the Christmas tree?

I think it is really lovely. I love this place. It's really Art Deco.

Are you able to say how much it cost Claridge's to put up

all these decorations outside and inside?

Shouldn't that be a well-kept secret? How much does magic cost?

Jack and Norma Melchor are in their late 80s and have been coming to

the hotel for 40 years.

This year,

they'll spend Christmas with their family in the Royal Suite.

Jack sold his software company to Hewlett-Packard

and Norma jokes she bought early shares in Google.

Very happy, a very happy life we've had together.

These many, many years.

Yeah, it's been fun.

And the times we have spent at Claridge's have been delightful.

We always enjoy there as well.

I see, if you hold it this way, you can read it.

"Congratulations to Jack and Norma on their 65th wedding

"anniversary from the entire Claridge's team."

We know them so well. They are like family.

Our first visit to Claridge's, to London,

we went up to Harrods, I think.

-Fortnum and Mason.

-Fortnum and Mason.

And saw that, and that is what we got.

MUSIC BOX PLAYS

We get the Royal Suite constantly now,

so we are in there every time we go over there.

I think excellent, caring and beautiful, that would be mine.

You could say that about me, I won't mind.

I think they screwed it up

when they gave that ten-year lease to the restaurateur.

-Oh, Ramsay.

-I think they made a mistake.

-Oh, that was awful.

'OK, well, let's look at the arrivals.

'There's one pre-registered on there today,

'the Melchors are coming back tomorrow, so let's pay a lot'

of attention there and prepare this, it's their Christmas Day.

Looking forward to having them back.

But they are staying for 16 nights,

so it is a long stay and they are going to celebrate Christmas here.

Make sure that everybody in your teams who has joined after

their last stay is discreetly being introduced and pointed out to them.

They are our most regular guests, they have been coming for 40 years

and it is such a special stay, so they should be recognised and known.

-They love to be introduced.

-They love to be introduced, exactly.

Good, thank you.

OK, Mr and Mrs Melchor coming in for 16 nights, Catriona. 111.

I need to prepare the beds for Mr and Mrs Melchor.

And plus I need to organise some furnitures for them.

They like a wing chair in the sitting room

and a little table next to it.

Anything else that we need to do? Everybody knows who the Melchors are?

-Yes.

-Good.

And next to the connecting doors...

The Royal Suite is being minutely prepared for the Melchors' arrival.

A detailed guest profile document is gathered on all returning

guests, that outlines their every preference, from how the beds are

made up and types of pillows

to where the furniture is placed within the room.

This is the set-up of the pictures here, the set-up

of the sitting room, how it looks, and the set-up of the bedroom.

The husband has a different way of making the bed

and then the wife has a different way as well.

But they are like traditional people, they really love...sheets.

For example here, bed next to the window

is for Mrs Melchor. And we are using only two sheets and blankets.

She don't want nothing else.

And on the top, we're putting an eiderdown.

It is like a duvet, but it is just on the top.

-Caroline?

-Yes.

-Can we just make sure those beds are tidied up at the end?

-Yeah? OK. See you later.

-See you.

The colours are good in here, aren't they? The reds are perfect in here.

-This is exactly what we need, red in this room.

-Yeah.

-You know?

-It really brings the gold out as well.

-Is it real?

-Of course it is real.

-Is it real?

Of course it's not.

And typically, what does this suite cost to rent for the night?

-This suite is £5,500.

-A night?

-Yeah.

It is a lot of money, but I think you

can quite easily spend £10,000 flying to New York for a five-hour flight...

..so it's all become very relative.

It is a management tradition that on her arrival,

Mrs Melchor is handed an old set of keys to the doors of Claridge's.

They joke that she knows the hotel better than any of the staff

and can act as honorary night manager.

They are always in the same place

and they have been for a long time, because this has been

the general manager's desk for, I think,

probably more than 50 years.

Does she look very pleased when she gets them?

Yes. I mean, Mrs Melchor is

a fantastic woman and she has a great...

I think she has a great spirit and a great sense of humour, so you can

actually see a twinkly eye

when she gets these keys and as they disappear in her handbag.

-Yes.

-OK.

-Do you have a key?

-I have a key.

-Good.

After a day of preparation,

Thomas checks every last detail before Mr and Mrs Melchor arrive.

So...but Ian, let's just wait here for a moment.

I think we should take the orchids away, because that clashes

with the wreath. It is not the same, so we can just maybe get...

either nothing or a fruit bowl or more traditional flowers

or another Christmassy arrangement, but not orchids.

So that's very nice, very traditional Christmas arrangement.

-Pretty much.

-Where will Mrs Melchor sit?

-This is her seat.

And this space is always left here for just a little coffee trolley

in the afternoon.

Mr Melchor. Biscuits always here

and then here is for his iPad for his reading.

Everything is prepared perfectly. That is how it always is

and it always has to be like this, so it is good, all done.

Just a few flower changes and then we're all set.

We need to add some amenities, like the fruit,

but, of course, they're not here yet.

They come fresh from the kitchen.

Do you ever wonder when their last visit will be?

-No.

-Do you think that when you see them?

-No, no, no.

Let them enjoy this visit

and I am sure there will be many more to come.

Michael has been serving the Melchors

since he started working in the hotel.

They are still coming.

I have been here 34 years, and they have been coming longer than that.

It is the best part of our job,

we get lots of returning customers.

It is lovely to see the familiar faces coming back. It is nice.

Mr Melchor, welcome back.

-Mrs Melchor, how are you?

-So glad to be here.

-Welcome back!

-Most important thing, the keys. The keys.

-Finally, someone in charge.

-I recognise you!

-I know that. Two hours from the airport.

Two hours. God bless you.

During their 16-day stay, the Melchors only leave the hotel twice.

We are all creatures of habit.

That is the great thing about butlers,

people have breakfast and usually have the same thing.

The Melchors, they have the same breakfast every morning.

They have coffee for two, toast, well-done white toast, that's it,

maybe an orange juice. Now they might have some porridge.

-Are you amazed at how much money some people have?

-Yes. Yes.

It's amazing.

These very difficult times,

you get someone coming to Claridge's and paying rack rate.

But you get used to it. It just goes over your head. Sometimes...

Some hot, strong coffee. I'll just open it for you here.

Frothy milk.

A little honey. Actually, apricot. There we are.

And for you, Mr Melchor.

It makes it nice when you know exactly what we need, right?

Monday's my good day, you are very lucky. Monday is my good day.

-You got your morning papers all right?

-Yes.

-I read almost half already.

-You've read them already.

-The good butler is not here.

-No, you're stuck with me today.

But I'm off for the next three days,

so you'll have the good butler tomorrow.

-Have you ever got jealous or envious of them?

-Never.

Never, ever. Why would I get jealous?

No, I think more power to them. They have probably worked

very hard for their money. No, I've never been jealous of our guests.

Thank you very much.

In very, very simple terms, every time someone visits,

you need to create a reason to visit again, so there needs to be

at least one memory that will encourage another visit.

And to create loyalty and to create that...emotion or that association

with the hotel that will make this person turn into a regular guest.

My late mother would always say,

"Don't do half things. Give 100% or else don't do it."

I think that's a very good outlook on life. Don't do half measures.

I just want to be happy. Life is very short. We are only passing through.

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