[Updated 20/9/12 with hotel location details]
Now this is going to be interesting. Channel 4 have just released details of their latest commissions, one of which will see Gordon Ramsay working alongside Mary Portas to open a pop-up hotel.
Hotel GB will follow the pair's attempts to take over a hotel and "turn it into a fund-raising machine and training ground for a range of currently unemployed people desperate for a break."
Ramsay and Portas will train and mentor the hotel's staff and every day of the production will test them with a major event or challenge. Given that both Portas and Ramsay are such forceful alpha types - it might be worth tuning in just for the bunfights that are bound to occur between the two of them. Other members of staff include Gok Wan, who is going to be bar manager and Phil Spencer (from Location Location) will be maitre d' of the restaurant which Gordon's running.
"We are all putting ourselves on the line to help kick-start careers for young people in the service industry," said Ramsay. "The real excitement will come when members of the public book a room or visit the spa and restaurant and pay for the services if they think they are up to stretch."
Update: Want to put them to the test? We've just found out, courtesy of local London SE1 forum, that the hotel will be the Bermondsey Square Hotel, where the infamous Gregg's Table restaurant is. It's now shut for four weeks in preparation for filming.
Want to book into the hotel or eat at the restaurant? Email Hotelevents@optomen.com to find out more.
