Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5433 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-03-17
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 468 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Series two of Hotel Babylon picks up and quickly adopts the style of the popular preceding season. Once again following the things you never see at a luxury hotel--along with what the staff get up to when you're not looking--it's hardly classic television, but you can't deny its irresistible mix of entertainment.

So, with a cast led by Tamzin Outhwaite and Max Beesley, and with a few surprising star guests, Hotel Babylon soon gets down to business. Across this second series there's the arrival of a Premiership football team, for instance, along with a bit of politics and a few gangsters too. All of these sit side-by-side with the antics of the staff themselves, who aren't short of a few scandals to keep the entertainment factor powering along.

What sets Hotel Babylon aside from many of the shows that seem to quickly come and go is the sheer sense of fun. It's an ideal show to switch on and relax to, rarely requiring you to engage your brain, but not falling short when it comes to outright enjoyment.

Based around the book by Imogen Edwards-Jones, Hotel Babylon enjoys good performances, zippy direction and plenty going on. And, crucially, it works as a happily diverting piece of television, with a giddy sense of soap opera about it. --Jon Foster

Synopsis
Second series of the show that takes place in a luxury hotel; through a veil of consummate professionalism, the guests aren’t privy to the murkier goings-on but let head receptionist Charlie be your guide to what no one else is meant to see; glitzy manager Rebecca keeps the hotel ticking along but isn’t capable of balancing her working week with her home life; receptionist Anna has a seductive eye for the wealthier guests; concierge Tony can get you anything you need, just as long as you’re willing to pay; and then there’s the chambermaids – working on the frontline and seeing everything. If the staff aren’t wacky enough, there’s a whole host of new characters in and around the hotel, including the MP hiding out from the paparazzi, Russian gangsters and a premiership football team running riot, spicing up the proceedings accordingly.

Customer Reviews

crossroads
I haven't seen it or bought it, but it sounds like a remake of "Crossroads" to me. No way.

Wonderful Escapist Entertainment
Much derided by the critics but week after week it delivers mindless but good looking entertainment. As the producers would be the first to admit the format is very much based on the US series Las Vegas with rather less gloss but, at its best, a sharper script.

Loses one star for being not quite as "out there" as Footballers Wives but whether we will see a third season is up in the air.

More BBC! More!
This is a series that just fizzes with fun and has got better and better. The critics were sparing with their praise at the outset but BBC hasn't lost its touch and the public are loving it. So what's wrong with having handsome men, beautiful women and a good laugh on the TV? This has a sassy script, original plots, good actors throughout and brilliant editing. I wouldn't normally notice the editing but the timing is so sharp it makes the programme quite often. If you enjoyed the "Hustle" series you will know what I mean. It's taught me quite a lot about hotels too! This and "Dr Who" have been the best things on TV this spring. I can't wait for the DVDs to catch up with the episode I missed. Perhaps you can't too? Buy it!