Hotel Babylon - Season 1
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Movie Reviews of Hotel Babylon - Season 1
Movie Review: The best show you're NOT watching!
Summary: 5 Stars
I happened upon this show by accident and what a wonderful surprise. Smart, Funny, and it doesn't take itself too seriously. I'm watching the 3rd season now and I'm totally addicted. Give it a shot and I'm sure you will be too.
It's the best show you're not watching!
Movie Review: Clever, funny, addictive
Summary: 5 Stars
Great series with a great mix of comedy, drama, and romance. The characters have a great chemistry and the supporting cast just adds another additional reason to watch.Movie Review: "Guilty Pleasure?"...Nope, Just Good TV
Summary: 4 Stars
HOTEL BABYLON has to be one of the most incorrectly-advertised TV shows I've seen. When airing on BBC America this past summer, it appeared to be some glamourized soap opera with sexy women. BBC American salaciously promoted it on "Wicked Wednesdays". These commercials didn't even hint that HOTEL BABYLON was actually a breezy, fast-paced, funny, and surprisingly truthful look at a 5-star London hotel's happenings.
Each of the 8 episodes begins and ends with narration by Charlie (Max Beesley), the Deputy Manager of the hotel. Think Augustus Hill from OZ, or the opening quotes from THE WIRE. Charlie's philosophical monologues on the hotel business cleverly bookend each episode. Other characters include:
Rebecca (Tamzin Outwaithe) - the workaholic hotel manager
Tony (Dexter Fletcher from LOCK, STOCK, & TWO SMOKING BARRELS) - a loyal concierge who's mostly the moral center of the show
Anna (Emma Pearson) - the superficial receptionist you can't help but put up with
There are other hotel faces that you'll learn along the way, and each is given an appropriate amount of screentime. Cameos don't steal the show, and reoccuring characters are well-balanced throughout the season.
What separates HOTEL BABYLON from other tongue-in-cheek comedy-dramas is that although the stories in this show are exaggerated, they all carry a dose of reality. Should there be strange noises and electrical failures during the midnight shift? Probably not, but any hotel employee knows that midnight shifts are as weird as they get. Would rebellious staff members assemble a mock wedding at a guest's request? Highly unlikely, but I've been asked by a guest for stranger favors. Would hotel staff and guests have fraternize, flirt, and have private get-togethers? Well...yeah, I've seen that happen.
HOTEL BABYLON treads a very delicate between a variety of genres. There are gut-wrenching laughs and moments that elicit small smirks. The drama can be very serious, but it's never cyncial or mean-spirited. The show is sexy, but not pornographic. The music is sometimes classy, and sometimes deliberately pop.
What keeps HOTEL BABYLON captivating, however, is its truthfulness to the world it creates. The acting is very strong, the photography is incredibly stylish (Guy Ritchie - take notes!), the characters are portrayed more with conviction than mockery, the production is top-notch, and the adventures (even the crazy ones) are so well-paced and structured that you just can't help but go along for the ride.
People who've worked in a hotel will appreciate the outlandish circumstances this staff can be put in, and how ridiculously dedicated and knowledgable the staff are required to be. And if you've never worked in a hotel before...after HOTEL BABYLON, you'll appreciate the guest services provided and definitely be a better sport on your next vacation. Cheers!
Give HOTEL BABYLON a peek. Considering my favorite shows are darker ones like THE WIRE and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, this BBC gem along with the new DOCTOR WHO is a pleasant surprise.
Movie Review: Good trashy fun...most of the time
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm watching this series on Netflix while home sick with bronchitis. For the most part, I've enjoyed it a very great deal. The show provides a glimpse into a fictional five star hotel in London, which is a world that I'll never see behind from the perspective of an insider and probably won't see any time soon as a guest. While some of the capers and scams the staff and guests get up to seem a bit exaggerated for dramatic purposes, a lot of the stories do have some factual basis I'm sure.
"Hotel Babylon" seems to me to be a sort of combination of the much more inferior (and wholesome) "Love Boat" (with the regular cast being "the crew" interacting with various passengers and their storylines) and the superior British series "Hustle" (about goodhearted British con artists). Stylistically, the series uses a lot of the same tricks that "Hustle" does (sped up action and other visual stunts).
The cast is superior and unlike some I actually like the character of Anna (maybe because she's so pretty and has that sexy British upper class accent). The standout characters are Charlie, the super-concierge, and Max, the hotel manager.
The plots are fun most of the time with one of the best being when an all star British soccer team visits
The only major negative I would give the show is when they decide to have a plot that sends a sometimes overwrought political message:
1. a preachy episode plot about illegal aliens featuring a heartless immigration inspector
2. an episode plot featuring a Bosnian Serb war criminal whose resolution has the cast arguably colluding in a kidnapping and probably murder
3. an episode plot that decries child labor in the fashion industry
Another fault is that the characters lie to each other an awful lot and I think that would pretty much erode trust and friendships.
But overall, I'd say that if you can suspend disbelief some, it's worth "checking into" Hotel Babylon for a little fun. Just remember "What goes in Hotel Babylon, stays in Hotel Babylon."
Movie Review: Awesomely Fun!!!
Summary: 4 Stars
It took me about an episode and a half to fully be able to appreciate everything this show has to offer. The pacing is very well done. There is not a lot of downtime before character development begins automatically drawing you into the world that the characters inhabit. You immediately know which characters you are going to love and which ones you are going to love to hate. Working in the hotel industry myself in New York City I really enjoy seeing the characters go through the same trials and tribulations of the glitzy and glamorous world of it all if not a little more exaggerated and exciting. I particularly enjoyed the 6th episode with the crazy and eerie overnight shift. All in all I think that after reading the book this is about as perfect a representation of the material as can be made. I recommend the book and the series to anyone that works in a hotel or has ever stayed in a hotel. You will appreciate every episode for at least one of the subplots if not all of them. My only criticism is that the major story arcs that carry over from episode to episode develop a little slowly, but the payoff makes it all worthwhile. One more thing that I really enjoy is the soundtrack. It seems like the entire show is underscored with very nice music to help maintain the mood and create a perfect atmosphere to absorb you into every scene.