Inside Manchester's Midland Hotel

During the week the hotel is home to all manner of traditional clientele, from ladies who lunch to business people attending meetings and conferences. When the weekend arrives, the city floods inside and the Midland is transformed into a venue for parties, romantic dinners and celebrating football supporters until the small hours. No matter who has checked in, there is always a guaranteed sight the next morning with people staggering downstairs for breakfast five minutes before the buffet closes. The Midland has always aimed to be a cut above the rest. It prides itself on its long history but keeping up with the modern hotel trade is never easy. In this episode, the housekeeping staff face a meltdown when the boiler breaks down and the laundry grinds to a halt. They are forced to spend thousands buying new linen and sending the soiled items out to external laundries. But their efforts are still not good enough –they cannot get all of the rooms ready in time and face every hotel's commercial nightmare of having to close some. Meanwhile, sous-chef Mark has some radical ideas to transform afternoon tea from the traditional silver service selection championed by Assistant Manager James. But what will the Midland's loyal clientele think? Elsewhere, chief moderniser and manager Mr Magrane has his sights on the hotel's outdated loss-making gym. He wants to turn it into a luxury money-making spa but he faces a rebellion from the members, including several of the hotelʼs long-serving staff.

The Midland faces its busiest week of the year when the hotel deals with two of its biggest annual events – a white-collar boxing event and the Labour Party Conference. The Grand Alexander Suite, usually used to host to award ceremonies and weddings, becomes the venue for two hours of novice boxing, witnessed by nearly 500 enthusiastic fans, friends and family, many of whom will tuck into a three-course meal. The staffʼs responsibilities include ensuring that the rival boxers are not seated next to each other, as well as maximising the alcohol sales. Preparation for the boxing event leaves Conference and Events Operations Manager Liam on tenterhooks as promoter Danny continues to take a last-minute approach to finalising guest numbers and table plans. With over 400 attendees expecting a three-course meal, drinks and entertainment, Dannyʼs haphazard attitude leads to a hectic and anxious run-up to the big event. Ahead of the arrival of the Labour Party, the housekeeping staff have their work cut out turning bedrooms into offices, gathering in special requests and making sure any unwanted items are removed from the rooms. As the enthusiastic guests arrive for the conference so do the equally enthusiastic protestors… Just as things begin to quieten down at the hotel, an electrical problem leads to a complete shut-down and the staff are forced to prepare for a evacuation.

The hotel is hosting their most important wedding of the year and they need to pull out all of the stops to make it a success but things soon start to go wrong.

The security team are on high alert when campaigners gather outside the hotel to protest about an event taking place there. Complaints from customers manage to take their toll on the Breakfast Manager.