The Hotel

With time running out for Mark Jenkins in his role as entertainments manager at the Cavendish, this, he decides, is the right moment to give the hotel a new lease of life by swapping their usual old aged clientele for a younger class of guest. “The Cavendish is like an old peoples’ home…what we need is families. It could become Torquay’s number one family destination”. But there’s one obstacle to Mark’s plans to make the hotel more child friendly. As he freely admits, “I don’t really like children”. Nonetheless plans for a Family Fun Day give Mark the perfect opportunity to tackle another problem he believes is holding back this family business, namely eldest son and general manager James. James, Mark believes, is not an effective manager: “He can’t make a decision, he has to check with everyone else first”. So Mark gives James the test of running Family Fun Day in the hope he can learn to be more decisive and stand up to his meddling mum and boss Vicky. However with the news headlines suddenly dominated by the impending Hurricane Bertha that is threatening to wipe out the outdoor fun day, Mark now has more than hotel management on his mind. Vicky decides they must cancel in the face of the looming storm, but can James find the strength to overrule her and prove he finally has what it takes to run the hotel? When the day of the big event arrives however there is another dark cloud on the horizon as Mark receives shocking news about his own mum Stella... Checking into the Cavendish this week for a nostalgic holiday are fun loving brother and sister Andy and Julie, here to recapture memories of times spent together in Torquay as kids. Also booked in, especially for Family Fun Day, is Daragh and expectant Mum Kelly Phelan on a last special holiday with five year old daughter Eleanor before the new baby arrives.