During the week the hotel is home to all manner of traditional clientele, from ladies who lunch to business people attending meetings and conferences. When the weekend arrives, the city floods inside and the Midland is transformed into a venue for parties, romantic dinners and celebrating football supporters until the small hours. No matter who has checked in, there is always a guaranteed sight the next morning with people staggering downstairs for breakfast five minutes before the buffet closes.
The Midland has always aimed to be a cut above the rest. It prides itself on its long history but keeping up with the modern hotel trade is never easy. In this episode, the housekeeping staff face a meltdown when the boiler breaks down and the laundry grinds to a halt. They are forced to spend thousands buying new linen and sending the soiled items out to external laundries. But their efforts are still not good enough –they cannot get all of the rooms ready in time and face every hotel's commercial nightmare of having to close some.
Meanwhile, sous-chef Mark has some radical ideas to transform afternoon tea from the traditional silver service selection championed by Assistant Manager James. But what will the Midland's loyal clientele think?
Elsewhere, chief moderniser and manager Mr Magrane has his sights on the hotel's outdated loss-making gym. He wants to turn it into a luxury money-making spa but he faces a rebellion from the members, including several of the hotelʼs long-serving staff.
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