She’s the most famous ocean liner in the world. Back in the day, she was the place to be seen. Now she has a new home in Dubai and a new life as a luxurious hotel. She’s a little bit of Britain with a royal heritage. Fighting her corner in the world’s toughest hotel market. But with a multi-million-pound refurb under way and a new team at the helm, will it be sink or swim for the QE2: the world’s most luxurious floating hotel. QE2: World’s Most Luxurious Hotel, Channel 5 2020
Bigger than Titanic, she’s six double-decker buses tall. As long as three football pitches and she sailed over six million miles before she was retired. ibid.
She cost almost half a billion pounds to build and is one of the largest ocean liners ever. ibid.
Friday brunch has become a big earner for Dubai’s hotels as it’s the place to celebrate and socialise. QE2: World’s Most Luxurious Hotel II
After four decades at sea the QE2 is embarking on a new journey as a floating hotel in Dubai. Now permanently docked, staff have spent over two years from flagship cruise liner to successful hotel. It’s a daily challenge to make it all work. QE2: World’s Most Luxurious Hotel III
Every Friday the hotel welcomes 250 guests many of them ex-pats hungry for a taste of home. ibid.
Dubai has over 100 5-star hotels. ibid.
No other city on Earth does Christmas like New York. And no hotel does Christmas quite like Manhattan’s iconic The Plaza. Boasting one of the most prestigious addresses in America on the corner of Central Park and 5th Avenue, the world-famous Plaza has welcomed the great and the good. Christmas in New York: The Plaza, Channel 4 2020
The Plaza is fully booked with 400 guests … The Plaza is renowned for its luxurious Christmas. ibid.
As well as the 1,800 guests welcomed each week, The Plaza attracts hundreds of day guests and New Yorkers queue to sample a bit of the Plaza magic. ibid.
Its 282 sumptuous rooms cost a minimum £800 a night over Christmas … The £23,000 a night price-tag. ibid.
When The Plaza first opened it was decorated with 1,650 crystal chandeliers which has proved irresistible to some souvenir-hunting guests. ibid.
All the great philanthropists of our time are businessmen. They’re entrepreneurs. Innovators. My safe haven project for refugees which began in ’98 is the true expression in my belief to a commitment to the wider world. Because my good fortune means nothing if it doesn’t lift up my fellow man. Thank you. The Night Manager I, novel John Le Carre, starring Tom Hiddleston & Hugh Laurie & Olivia Colman & Tom Hollander & Elizabeth Debicki & Alistair Petrie & Natasha Little & Douglas Hodge & David Harewood & Tobias Menzies & Antonio de la Toree et al, director Susanne Bier, opening remarks of Roper, BBC 2016
January 2011: The hotel is absolutely the safest place for you to be at the moment [bomb drops]. ibid. Jonathan to guest
Rex, Richard Roper is selling arms to the youngest Hamed brother in the heart of Cairo in the middle of what we hope is the Arab Spring. Isn’t that what we’re looking for? ibid. Angela
Apparently, there are political reasons why an inquiry into the Cairo Papers would not be productive at this time. ibid. Rob to Angela
Just get her out, Mr Pine. Her life is at risk. ibid. Angela
Can I speak to Angela Burr, please. My name is Jonathan Pine. ibid. dog-n-bone
So why did you do it? Why does Jonathan Pine, respected hotelier, risk a career stitching up his guests, first in Cairo and then here? ibid.
If there’s a man selling a private arsenal to an Egyptian crook and he’s English, and you’re English, and those weapons could cause a lot of pain to a lot of people then you just do it. Anyone would do it. ibid. Jonathan
A hotel with a notorious past is the site of another bizarre case. It’s one of the most obsessively followed true crime cases of the century. Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Hotel Cecil I: Lost in Los Angeles, television news, Netflix 2021
The Cecil is a very deceiving hotel. There’s a lot of beauty to it. But it was the complete opposite of beauty. ibid. man
We’ve got missing persons, suicides, overdoses … ibid. woman
With Elisa Lam, you’re talking about a 21-year-old college student that just completely disappears. ibid. man
Her laptop had been left behind, her prescription medications, other items of value … ibid.
The LAPD has released bizarre surveillance footage [elevator] of 21 year old Elisa Lam. ibid. television news
It’s [video] been intentionally knocked out … They determine the video has essentially been slowed down 33 to 35 per cent … The edits could have possibly been done by the hotel before it was supplied to the police. Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel II: Secrets of the Cecil, web sleuth
There is a ladder on the roof to get to the tanks. On top of the tank there’s a little hatch. And when I went to look that’s when I saw her. ibid. hotel maintenance man
Jack Unterweger begins to research a story about how the police deal with prostitution in downtown Los Angeles … Jack Unterweger is actually a convicted killer. A pimp. A rapist. Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel III: Down the Rabbit Hole, woman
There appeared to be no evidence of external or internal injuries that could have led to her death. ibid. man
If you reduce the plot of Dark Water down to its basic elements, it’s almost the story of Elisa Lam. ibid.
She had at least four prescription medications … Elisa stopped taking her medications. Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel IV: The Hard Truth, woman
You would also then have to come up a ladder with a body. ibid. man
The death of 21-year-old Canadian tourist Elisa Lam has been ruled an accident due to drowning. ibid. newswoman
She looked like she could be having hallucinations. ibid. woman
This is a tragedy about a woman who was suffering. ibid.
Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager went on to create two hotels together and introduce the concept of the boutique hotel. Schrager has gone on to create 38 more and continues to revolutionize the hotel industry. Studio 54: The Documentary, Sky Arts 2019
A luxury world where only the best is good enough … Berlin’s most expensive hotel suite is being prepared by the butler and his team: Kempinski Adlon … and commands tens of thousands a night … The choice of millionaires, celebrities and even royalty. World’s Most Luxurious Hotels, Channel 5 2022
The Group opened a new hotel in one of the fastest growing marketplaces: Dubai. ibid.
Keith Moon, God rest his soul, once drove his car through the glass doors of a hotel, driving all the way up to the reception desk, got out and asked for the key to his room. Pete Townsend 2005
An icon of old-school glamour in the heart of London’s Mayfair. For 130 years it’s been a home from home for world leaders, film stars and royalty. Those who stay can expect impeccable attention to detail, But after decades of under-investment the cracks are beginning to show. To prepare for the future the hotel is taking on a massive renovation project, adding 50% to its size. The Mayfair Hotel Megabuild ep1, BBC 2023
The most audacious hotel upgrade ever attempted … tunnelling a few feet under an occupied building … taking over seven years. ibid.
2019: Just metres away from the elegance of the foyer restaurant is the enormous construction site. The Mayfair Hotel Megabuild ep2
The crowning glory of this massive built – a four-bedroom penthouse rumoured to cost up to £100,000 per night. ibid.
A grateful clientele is flooding back to savour its world-famous old-school charm and unbridled luxury. The Mayfair Hotel Megabuild ep3
A globetrotting Colombian whose crimes it’s estimated made him more than a million pounds in the last decade, and seen him named as one of the most gifted confidence tricksters in the world. Conmen Case Files s3e5: Juan Betancourt: The Perfect 5-Star Hotel Con
Five-star hotels his hunting ground and developed the ultimate strategy in order to effortlessly infiltrate their finest suites and raid their bountiful safes. ibid.
Towering above the capital’s most exclusive neighbourhood is the London Hilton on Park Lane. A five-star hotel welcoming the rich and famous. Ambassadors and heads of state. Inside the Hilton: Park Lane I, Channel 5 2024
The hotel is fighting to be top dog on Park Lane by gambling tens of millions on a top to bottom renovation. But the guests keep coming. ibid.
The ambassador could be late for his carriage to the King. ibid. II
Part of the lobby is still under reconstruction but the new reception desks are now open. ibid. III
Throughout the night builders and staff have been racing to finish the job. ibid. IV
Not me. I am not making a pig of myself … a civilised weekend … Play for Today: The Fishing Party, fishermen’ talk, BBC 1972
You might get fixed up where folk are not so particular. ibid. boarding lady
I don’t know what entrees are. ibid. fisherman
It’s [hotel] got its standards. And we can live up to them. ibid.