Woodlands Manor, the country house hotel in Clapham on the outskirts of Bedford, welcomed Gogglebox stars Steph and Dom Parker as part of a new Channel 4 series, The Great Hotel Escape.
Filmed over the last 12 months, the 20-part documentary series follows Steph and Dom as they meet families who are planning to open, or who are already running, their own historic hotels in some of Britain’s most beautiful locations.
Although best known for appearing on Gogglebox, Steph and Dom renovated and ran their own hotel, The Salutation in Kent, for 12 years.
Each episode goes behind the scenes to meet the couples and families who have risked everything to turn their dream of running a hotel into a reality. From newlyweds working against the clock to renovate a 16th century castle, to a couple opening the doors to their 18th century boutique hotel for the very first time.
The show is screened on Channel 4 every weekday at 4pm. Woodlands Manor has been featured every day this week.
“We’ve had a fantastic time working with Freeform Productions on the show,” said Freya Whitney, commercial and operations manager of Woodlands Manor.
“It was a great opportunity for us to gain exposure and show everyone how we are growing the business and what a beautiful, historic venue in Bedford we are.
“My aim is to put Woodland Manor back on the map and this forms part of that goal. We are a friendly family run business that offers superb customer service whatever the occasion.”
Throughout the series, viewers will see a whole host of stunning, interesting and quirky buildings as Steph and Dom lend a hand to help.
They get stuck in knocking down castle walls, digging up manor gardens, helping launch the hotels and even corralling noisy peacocks.
Steph and Dom are excited about the show, saying: ‘We’ve had tremendous fun filming the series and have met some exceptionally brave souls over the past 12 months. Hopefullywe’ve done our bit to help some of these new hoteliers along the way!’
Michelle Heeley, Senior Executive Producer at Freeform Productions, said: ‘We are thrilled to be making this series for C4.
“The hoteliers we are meeting are awe-inspiring – they are determined to make their dream of running a hotel work.
“And Steph and Dom are the perfect hosts – of course they are great company but they also have masses of experience from running their own hotel.”
