Torquay coaching hotelier Mark Jenkins is enjoying celebrity status and an increase in business, due to Channel 4’s fly on the wall documentary, The Hotel.
One of his coaching hotels, the Grosvenor Hotel, located in the heart of Torquay’s Belgravia hotel district, was shown on the programme, and bookings have soared.
Mark is well known in the coach trade owning three popular coaching hotels. In addition to the Grosvenor Hotel, which he purchased in 2009, he owns the Inglewood Hotel next door and the Kistor Hotel on the opposite side of the road. The hotels are situated a short level walk from Torquay’s promenade and can cater for up to seven coach parties at any one time.
Mark said: “The programme’s done exactly what I hoped it would do for the hotel. It’s done marvels for Torquay. The beginning of every show and with the great footage out and about, it says Torquay is one of the top holiday destinations for more than 100 years and home to some of the country’s finest hotels. With a total viewing of more than two million people, what better advertising could you get? I know there will be thousands and thousands more people staying in Torbay as a direct result of the programme.”
Mark is a member of the Torquay Hospitality Association (THA), a trade group which represents accommodation providers in south Devon, including a variety of coaching hotels.
The THA’s coach trade coordinator, Linda Hill, said: “Coach business enquiries have increased considerably since the Channel 4 programme went on air only last week. The THA’s office in Belgrave Road, Torquay was visited by a coach party of visitors touring in the UK who had been watching The Hotel. They asked if we could give Mark a ring and fix up a meeting with him. Mark was very happy to oblige and they had a cup of tea and biscuit with him.”
