The Hotel Inspector star Alex Polizzi has vowed never to return to Hong Kong, describing the city as “overcrowded, dirty and polluted”.
Alex has been a fixture on the Channel 5 programme since 2008, where she aims to turn around the fortunes of struggling British hotels to prevent them from shutting their doors for good.
During a chat with The Times, she revealed that she has no intentions of revisiting one destination after a negative experience during her trip three decades ago.
Reflecting on her journey to Asia in the 1990s, she said: “One place I’d never go back to is Hong Kong, where I trained at the Mandarin Oriental for three years in my 20s. I found the region overcrowded, dirty and polluted.”
Despite her harsh assessment of Hong Kong, Alex admitted that the destination would be more appealing to the super rich. She added: “It’s a fun place to visit if you’re really rich, but not if you’re not.”
With a population of 7.5 million squeezed into just 430 square miles, Hong Kong ranks as the fourth most densely populated area globally, falling behind only Macau, Monaco and Singapore.
After initially launching a wholesale bakery business with her then boyfriend in the late 90s, she decided to embark on a career in hotel management.
Starting at her mother Olga Polizzi’s Hotel Endsleigh in Milton Abbot, Devon, it was in 2021 that the mother-daughter duo teamed up to open The Star in Alfriston, East Sussex.
However, Alex is perhaps most recognised for her broadcasting career, particularly as the host of The Hotel Inspector on Channel 5, a role she took over from Ruth Watson in 2008.
Her popularity has grown during her tenure on the show, and she has also appeared on a variety of other programmes including BBC’s Alex Polizzi: The Fixer, Alex Polizzi: Chefs on Trial, as well as Alex Polizzi’s Secret Italy and Alex Polizzi: My Hotel Nightmare on Channel 5.
Alex is also the niece of Sir Rocco Forte, one of the most famous names connected to the hotel industry.
Sir Rocco, who started his hotel empire with his sister Olga Polizzi in 1996, owns and operates an impressive 14 luxury hotels across Europe. The company currently has two locations in the UK, Brown’s Hotel in London and The Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh.
The Hotel Inspector is set to return to our screens tomorrow evening (Thursday, August 7) at 8pm on Channel 5.