Hotel Babylon

Hotel Babylon is a slick bit of business, superficial yet entertaining enough to a degree; the show does benefit from Max Beesley's observant second-in-command, aloof and cool, all-seeing on the lobby floor, his interior monologue serving to give us a sense of a philosophical insider's perspective. Dexter Fletcher benefits from being one of those street-wise, connected types who seems to have a remedy for every problem. Oddly, despite her glitzy status as manager, Tasmine Oouthwaite came off sexier and more personable in the gritty drama The Fixer than she does here, where her character is often hard yet brittle, with only intermittent flashes of humanity. Again, the goings-on are slickly rendered with the break-neck pacing, cross-cut story lines and slick production values to keep us distracted.

As the series went along though, two problems became increasingly apparent. One, the hotel crew are always up to something, some sort of cover-up or switcheroo, whether in the name of their clientele or themselves or both in some instances, which may in reality be part of the territory but they come off as a kind of a deceitful, slapdash bunch, hardly as all knowing, professional and savvy as they're made out to be, all ultimately deserving the sack. Secondly, the characters generally do not come off as likable or honourable, more obsessed with making a buck. There is one episode where the Raymond Coulthard character cheats in a wine-tasting competition, going up against an old rival. One could have empathy for him if he was dealing with some n'er-do-well who deserves comeuppance, but Coulthard's catty character is merely desperate and out of his depth, compromising a colleague to aid in the deceit. Do we like this guy? Nope. We're not given enough character development to think otherwise. Ditto for the self-absorbed lobby receptionist, who's petty, venal and superficial. True, people like this can be found in any workplace, but watching them week after week minus any other redeeming traits gets a bit tiresome.

I realize these are picky complaints but if our protagonists were bit more rounded or at least made empathetic or charming in spite of their foibles, then the series might have had some resonance and depth, raising it beyond the trifle that is, dissipating from the mind as quickly as a wafer disappearing from the tongue. Nothing lasting beyond the initial sensation.

I came upon this show accidentally last week. I couldn't be bothered finding the remote so I put up with it. Within thirty seconds I was absolutely hooked. It is the most brilliant show to come out of anywhere in years.

The characters have a depth rarely seen on any prime time show. They are sexy, charismatic and appealing to everyone. The humour is black, yet subtle, and I love the way the camera work glides here and there-- it is very "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" in style.

Speaking of "Lock, Stock", Dexter Fletcher plays the savvy concierge Tony, clearly the most appealing character. The others each add their own to the show, however, it is the individual guests that bring out the best in the regular characters.

I'll be watching this for a while, or at least until the syndicates take it off to be replaced with some other piece of crap show. I give it 4.5 out of 5.

This is an Good not great BBC show that has some of the best looking women I've ever seen. The plots are good, & it doesn't have have all of the edited FCC crap that we have here in the U.S The only way to see this is on DVD. The women in this show are extremely attractive, especially the gorgeous Emma Pierson who plays the extremely sexual & flirtatious Fanny. She is so good in this show I hope to see more of her. She is so nice to look at that everything she says sounds like poetry. I'm exaggerating to most people (she's a 10 in my book), but one look at this women & you will be hooked. The entire cast is one of those casts that just has that "IT" chemistry, this is that cast. The stories can be endless when you have it set in a hotel. I hope this show goes on and on as anyone could walk into your hotel. I especially remember an episode where a woman strips down to her underwear & has an absolute phenomenal body. If this were an American show, many of these stars/guest stars would work steady. One of the best things is that there is a wide variety of cast members as well. It's not like "Friends" where it is 6 white people. Give this show a try and prepare to enjoy it. The only I don't have it rated higher than 7 is because there seems to be about 10 minutes too long & it meanders in places where it doesn't need to be. A very enjoyable series that puts all the reality crap that is on the air to shame. I'm glad I picked this up & most would enjoy this as well.

I wasn't a fan of season 1 simply because I was busy watching other shows but by accident I ended up watching 50 seconds with Natalie Jackson Mendoza and I was hooked.

It was interesting to see a likeness to shows such as Las Vagas which I was a fan of for a brief period.

The characters are all interesting in their own ways and the writing is brilliant with the employees of Hotel Babylon dealing with the celebrities and the problems they bring.

The most interesting character so far seems Tony a man who should not be reckoned with.

I give this show a full ten simply because its smart, funny and sexy.

When Hotel Babylon first started I thought I'd give it a go although I suspected it would be the sort of programme that I'd watch a few episodes of before getting bored of. How wrong I was, four series on and I'm still enjoying it. This is mostly down to the great cast, even though members have come and gone over the years the replacements have quickly established themselves.

Set in a London five star hotel we follow the lives of the staff as they interact with each other and the stream of fairly eccentric guests that stay there. The cast includes all strata of the hotel staff from housekeepers and receptionists, a Spanish head barman, a pompous head waiter up to the managers. Every viewer will have their own favourite character, mine is Anna, the beautiful receptionist, played by Emma Pierson, who sees her job as a temporary thing till she can find a millionaire to marry. All the main characters are fun though so I'm sure they will all be somebody's favourite.

As with any series that lasts a few years characters will leave as their actors move on to other things, thankfully even though almost half the original characters have departed it is still as much fun as ever. Being set is a hotel there can be a regular stream of guest characters each with amusing characteristics to bring to the story. Since each episode is self contained don't worry if you haven't seen it before, it won't take long to realise what each character's position in the hotel is along with how they relate to each other.