Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby

Rob Rinder and Monica Galetti work behind the scenes of a hotel that is built downwards into a quarry, with high-tech guest experiences and rooms with windows looking into aquariums.

Rob and Monica make the journey to Turkey to work at a hotel built into a network of caves, where modern luxury meets ancient history and every room comes with its own surprises.

Rob Rinder and Monica Galetti work at a luxury hotel in Ibiza where cutting edge biohacking therapies are offered alongside cacao ceremonies.

Rob and Monica work in one of Europe’s last remaining family-owned 'grande dame' hotels – boasting a deep history and celebrity clientele list right in the heart of the Eternal City.

Rob and Monica travel to the Malaysian rainforest to work at the Datai Langkawi hotel, where monkeys roam free and the soundtrack of forest wildlife is ever present.

Rob Rinder and Monica Galetti work at high altitude, 3000 meters above sea-level at a hidden gem of a hotel with Buddhist connections in the remote kingdom of Bhutan.

Rob Rinder and Monica Galetti work at Stanglwirt Hotel in the Austrian Alps, owned by one family for 300 years and offering world-class sports facilities and elegant Lipizzan horses.

Rob Rinder and Monica Galetti work in sub-zero conditions in Lapland as they collect firewood, cook reindeer stew and take cold water plunges at a hotel owned by a Sami family.

Monica Galetti and Rob Rinder travel to Kasbah Tamadot in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. With Sir Richard Branson as their boss, they discover how genuine Berber hospitality and spectacular views of the landscape make it unique. Monica helps the chef source local produce at the nearby market and gets to know a very famous visitor, while Rob mucks out the hotel stables and guides guests on a mountain trek.

Monica Galetti and Rob Rinder travel by seaplane to a paradise island in the Indian Ocean. Joali Maldives offers guests a luxury experience despite its remote location, but just how does the Maldivian resort manage it? Rob discovers there are 300 workers hidden in the centre of the island, while Monica uncovers how food is supplied to the island chefs. They realise that delivering paradise is like a giant theatre production.

Nusfjord Arctic Resort is a preserved 200-year-old cod fishing village in the Lofoten Islands of Norway. Working alongside the dedicated team, Monica and Rob learn to appreciate the difficulties of running a high-end resort in such an extreme environment. Battling snowy paths with housekeeping, facing huge waves on fishing boats and chasing the Northern Lights is all in a day’s work in the Arctic Circle.

Monica and Rob travel to the highlands of central Sri Lanka to learn about Ceylon Tea Trails - a series of colonial era bungalows that have been renovated and revisioned by a local family of tea entrepreneurs. Monica works with the tea pickers and learns the importance of the industry to the country, while Rob tracks leopards in the surrounding plantations. The highlands are a rugged landscape, but as Rob and Monica discover, with dedication and detail, guests can still get a luxury experience.

At Phinda Private Game Reserve in South Africa, Monica Galetti and Rob Rinder join forces with the hotel staff to learn how to deliver a luxury safari experience. The hotel is open to wild animals while delivering high luxury, so both wonder and danger are around every corner. Rob is put to work tracking cheetahs and preparing meals for the guests, while Monica wields a machete with the habitat team, learning how to rewild the area before taking some excited guests on a game drive.

Monica Galetti and Rob Rinder visit Italy to go behind the scenes of Borgo Egnazia - a hotel modelled on Puglia’s historical local villages. They work with the local staff to find out how you deliver a genuine version of Italy within a carefully designed replica. Monica makes focaccia for the cherry festival with chef Rocco, while Rob meets the decoration team who work hard to deliver an experience that blends reality with theatre.

In Scotland, Monica Galetti and Rob Rinder discover Glenapp Castle, where guests are treated to a magical stay made possible by a dedicated team of local staff. Monica and Rob are put to work collecting home-grown veg for the kitchens and giving eagle demonstrations in the castle grounds, before joining forces to deliver an intrepid sea safari and a glamping trip to the Hebridean Isle of Jura.

Monica and Rob discover what it takes to run Hotel Hubertus - a family-run resort which offers spectacular views of the surrounding mountains thanks to its panoramic aspect.

Monica Galetti and Giles Coren visit ION Adventure Hotel in Iceland, a design hotel levitating out from a dormant volcano. Guests visit here expecting the adventure of a lifetime, exploring lava flows and glaciers. Taking guests snorkelling in near-icy water reveals secret and stunning rock chasms between the earth's tectonic plates, and learning how to keep guests safe on an erupting volcano is a trip of a lifetime.

Monica Galetti and Giles Coren visit Reid’s Palace on Madeira, which first welcomed the world's glamorous elite 130 years ago and is working to keep its silver service traditions alive in the modern world. Giles irons bedspreads in a suite once loved by Winston Churchill, and Monica cleans crabs out of the historic tidal swimming pool. Madeiran food is celebrated with line-fished tuna and fruity ice cream treats called lambayecas for the sunbathers.

Monica and Giles work in an ultra-modern, glass-fronted hotel overlooking the historic Croatian town of Rovinj on the Istrian coastline. This new hotel is seeking to work in harmony with the people and culture it has come from. Giles explores a hidden art gallery deep inside the structure and prunes the thousands of plants that frame the view of the old town. Meanwhile, Monica cleans Europe’s biggest single glass window, and together they go truffle hunting with dogs in the Istrian landscape.

Monica and Giles travel to Copenhagen to work at Nimb Hotel in the historic Tivoli Gardens. Giles learns to be the brake man on one of the world’s oldest wooden rollercoasters, while Monica changes lightbulbs on the ornate Moroccan inspired facade and dives to clean an vast tropical aquarium. Giles learns how to get a table at one of the city's most avant-garde restaurants, and Monica dresses in horror makeup to give Giles the pleasure of being terrified.

Giles Coren and Monica Galetti visit Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort, an extraordinary hotel built where people usually struggle to survive - deep in a Middle East desert. Surrounded as far as they eye can see by vast sand dunes and scorching heat, guests relax in palatial comfort with swimming pools, huge baths and lush gardens. Giles and Monica explore how all this water use is made possible and meet the staff who are coping with living and providing hotel service in such an extreme environment.

Monica Galetti and Giles Coren visit London's most expensive and exclusive hotel, the Lanesborough. It's the first time the hotel has allowed anyone behind the scenes. The hotel is set discreetly in a grand and historic building on London’s Hyde Park Corner. It's suites, costing up to £27,000 a night, are often rented for months at a time, and even the cheapest rooms come with a dedicated butler. Giles and Monica discover a friendly staff that makes staying here feel like home, and no request is too big.

Monica and Giles travel to the self-governing Chinese city of Macau, which is the gambling capital of the world, welcoming millions of Chinese visitors every year. Joining the 6,000 staff of its newest super-hotel, the MGM Cotai, Monica gets special access to The Mansion, a secret VIP world of huge suites where even money can’t buy a stay. Giles flies through the air in one of the world’s most technologically advanced theatres and helps create the floral displays for Chinese New Year.

Monica Galetti and Giles Coren visit the Scottish Highlands to work at The Torridon, Britain's most northerly five star hotel. Its need to balance a luxury stay with being self-sufficient has Monica collecting sea-weed for the kitchen and helping to herd Highland Cattle. Meanwhile, Giles learns to change toilet seats and joins the staff in their afternoon off for a swim in the beautiful but freezing cold loch.

In this episode, Monica Galetti and Giles Coren visit Schloss Elmau, a hotel deep in the snowy Bavarian Alps that claims to be a cultural hideaway and restore their guests mind, body and soul. Monica joins in the daily meditation session for the restaurant staff, and Giles recites poetry and travels to a mountain hut to serve dinner, while dressed in lederhosen. They join the hotel guests for an evening of world-renowned musicians playing for free.

Monica Galetti and Giles Coren visit Jade Mountain, a hand-built hotel in St Lucia where each room has no outer wall and so is open to the ocean view - as well as having its own private infinity pool. Giles finds that room service here is tougher than it seems, and Monica dives for lionfish, which they both serve to guests visiting especially to have their wedding on the beach.

Monica Galetti and Giles Coren visit the Yorkshire Dales to work at Swinton Estate, the ancestral home of Lord and Lady Masham. By taking a look the heart of the grand house and its countryside charm, as well as the wider estate, which has opened up to for guests to enjoy, Monica and Giles learn about the challenges of making history pay in the modern world.

Monica Galetti and Giles Coren stay in the city they live in to work at the Shangri-La Hotel, in Britain's highest hotel. Their expectations of a standard business guest experience are blown away by discovering a hotel that makes guests' personal moments special. From bath butlers to marriage proposals, the hotel is a resort for celebrations in the clouds.

Return of the series exploring extraordinary hostelries. Giles Coren and Monica Galetti explore one of the world's most luxurious eco resorts on the small island of Tetiaroa in French Polynesia. Surrounded by a beautiful coral reef and an abundance of marine life, they work alongside staff of the exclusive Brando Resort to serve five-star luxury to guests paying up to £11,000 per a night.

In the second episode, Giles and Monica travel to the Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar in Oman. It is the highest five-star hotel in the Middle East and a resort seeking to blend local tradition with modern tastes. Built to resemble an ancient Omani fort, and situated 2,000 metres above sea level on the rim of a dramatic canyon, the hotel has recently made the most of its location by constructing a jaw-dropping via ferrata and zip-wire rope course along the cliff edge. Led by the hotel's mountain guru Maher, Giles and Monica undertake a test-run of the stunning adventure course before it opens to guests, facing 30-metre drops and Giles's prolific fear of heights.

Giles Coren and Monica Galetti head to the foothills of the Swiss Alps to experience a very different type of travel - health and wellness tourism. The Grand Resort Bad Ragaz houses not only multiple restaurants, spas and golf courses but also Olympic-standard sports facilities - and a high-spec clinic boasting 80 medical staff, who offer guests everything from sleep therapy to dietary advice and surgery.

Monica and Giles hop across to Ireland to scale the imposing and ancient ramparts of Ashford Castle. Founded 800 years ago & set in 350 acres, it later became the family home of the Guinness family. With the help of hotel historian, Fintan, Giles discovers that the castle has had a rollercoaster journey through the centuries, sporadically reaching moments of real jeopardy, only to be saved by a turn of events or new owners. As recently as 2011, the hotel went into receivership but was bought in the nick of time and, after undergoing a £50 million restoration, has the ambition to be the best hotel in the world.

Giles Coren and Monica Galetti visit a hotel in South Africa that has been built into a 187-foot tall former grain silo and which also incorporates a museum of contemporary art. They are challenged to wash the building's 96 windows inside and out, and discover how staff have coped with the challenge of keeping the place clean in the wake of the worst drought to hit Cape Town in a century.

Giles Coren and Monica Galetti travel to South America to work in Vira Vira, a hacienda hotel that overlooks an active volcano near Pucon, the adventure capital of Chile. Giles and Monica prepare a meal for guests, go trekking through the Chilean forests on horseback and hear how the chef has an abundance of Chilean produce for his recipes. Last in the series.

Giles and Monica join the 9,500 staff working at one of the world's largest hotels. As well as viewing some of the facilities on offer they go behind the scenes to see the parts of the hotel guests never see.

Giles and Monica visit Mashpi Lodge in the Ecuadorian rainforest which features a gondola cable car to transport guests through the forest canopy. The pair learn how eco-tourism is saving endangered species.

Giles and Monica discover a unique hotel in Kenya where giraffe, guests and staff all co-exist. They then visit the Sasaab Lodge a 6-acre plot set within 82,000 acres of land owned by the Samburu tribe who receive a fee for each guest.

Giles and Monica visit and go to work in the luxury hotel in Marrakesh, which was built by royal decree to showcase the region. Monica learns how to pleat the curtains while Giles dons the uniform of a butler.

Giles and Monica visit the hotel sited off the northeast coast of Newfoundland. Housekeepers Cynthia and Lori rope Giles into a boat race while Monica learns the secret of growing the perfect potato.

Giles and Monica's final stop-off takes them 120 miles north of the Arctic Circle into Swedish Lapland. Giles joins the artists who craft the rooms from huge blocks of ice while Monica meets the hotel's 82-year-old reindeer-meat supplier.