The Hotel (Season 2)

The Hotel 2 is the second season of the reality competition show devised by SJ productions. The show was created and fronted by Simon, leaving it solely to him to simulate, wrist and host the show. The series follows a group of contestants living in a custom built hotel, with each week seeing one individual checked-out (evicted) from the hotel. The final seven individuals eliminated from the game vote for who they wish to win out of the final two, crowning the winner and rewarding them with a £50,000 prize. The show generally prioritises social and strategic interactions, with physical/mental competitions also featuring as a precursor to gaining power.

This season was filmed in a cabin resort on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. The winner of the season was Danny McCormack, defeating Joseph Bremner in a 4-3 vote to become champion of the hotel.

The season is remembered for being postponed midway due to Simon's lazy writing, but is also praised for having more likeable gameplay, casting and season narratives.

Week 1
Twelve new ‘guests’ moved into a cabin resort in the Scottish Isle of Skye.

Damien gets wasted night one, throwing up in front of the campfire and having to be put to bed by Bernard. Marcus agrees to wash the sick away, which pleases a lot of his fellow campers and it is generally agreed that Damien has painted a target on his back night one.

The next day, Bernard and Damien manage to succeed in the Manager Challenge, whilst Liza refuses to participate due to her hydrophobia. As the group shower after the challenge, Fiona becomes pushy and demands she use the communal shower room first due to her age – which multiple housemates disagree with. In the end, Bernard is voted the first manager of the season.

Fiona believes that Fraser and Marcus would make a cute couple, so attempts to matchmake the two. However, due to some miscommunication, Fiona ends up agreeing to a dinner date with Marcus that evening and discovers he is bisexual. The two bond over the mishap.

Bernard gives cabin keys to Liza, Abigail, Zara, Damien and Pippa.

Marcus and Danny bond over breakfast cereal and begin to talk strategy the next morning. Marcus notes that Bernard and Joseph don’t like each other, so they need to try and encourage an early exit for Joseph. However, Zara is struggling with the gameplay taking place and considers leaving before being talked down by production. She excuses her absence for feeling sick, however Marcus is not convinced by this and begins to question her – which causes Cleo to turn on him for his aggressive gameplay style and forces a big blow up between the two while the group watch in silence.

In the end, Liza saves Danny, Abigail saves Fraser, Zara saves Cleo, Damien saves Marcus and Pippa saves Joseph – meaning Fiona is the first to leave.

Week 2
As the groups unwind in their cabins for the night, Marcus tries to strike up some sort of alliance with Damien, however Damien suggests that the game needn’t be a strategic one which causes a small argument between the pair. In the blue cabin, another argument takes place between Pippa and Joseph over his dislike of Bernard which creates tension between the pair.

Danny, Fraser Cleo, Marcus and Pippa win their roommate duels, with Marcus and Fraser ultimately winning the Manager competition.

Zara and Cleo bake cupcakes for the group after the challenge, with a special rainbow cupcake causing Fraser to open up about his coming out experience. This in turn causes the whole group to speak out about their LGBT+ experiences, which causes Danny to become uncomfortable and suddenly outburst at Fraser who asked him to talk about his family.

Fraser becomes the new manager and goes a little mad with power – refusing to let Liza shower in his Manager cabin. However, Pippa still wishes to work with him and creates an alliance between herself, Zara and Fraser with the intentions of targeting strong duo Danny and Marcus.

Fraser gives cabin keys to Pippa, Zara, Joseph and Damien.

To finish off his reign as Manager, Fraser suggests a ‘Pride Party’ and the group get ready by putting on colourful outfits and makeup. Zara tries to force Danny to put on glitter, but his protests cause the box to spill everywhere and an argument erupts. Liza also tried on Damien’s underwear during this party and defaced them without his consent, getting her a warning from production for this.

At the ceremony, Fraser saves Abigail, Pippa saves Bernard, Zara saves Cleo, Joseph saves Danny and Damien decides to save Liza after his fight with Marcus. Marcus wishes his friend Danny luck before leaving the group, with an upset Danny promising vengeance.

Week 3
Abigail strikes up an alliance with Fraser after he saved her last week, but isn’t subtle about her enthusiasm and irritates the house because of this. The same night, Danny questions Joseph about why he decided to make a move and save him – the men agree Fraser is too big for his boots and make a pact to work together to take him out.

Bernard, Zara, Danny and Damien win the roommate duels, with Abigail and Zara ultimately winning the Manager competition.

Pippa decides to create a fake ‘First Dates’ restaurant to encourage the guests to go on speed dates. During his date with Damien, Danny gets flustered and has to be saved by his friend Liza. Cleo and Fraser also share drunken kiss later in the night.

Zara is voted manager and whilst reading her letter from home is comforted by Fraser. This creates tension as Bernard accuses Fraser of gameplaying and the two bicker in the Manager Cabin. This annoys some guests, with Joseph joking he’d rip up Bernard’s letter from home as punishment.

Zara gives cabin keys to Cleo, Fraser, Pippa and Joseph. This annoys a lot of the other guests who note the same group are being given the keys.

Zara decides to end her reign with a prom party – with various guests doing promposals, including an original song from Bernard when asking Pippa. Damien and Cleo flirt during the dance, but this is overshadowed by Liza drunkenly confessing she was the sole vote against Zara’s Manager reign.

The next morning at the ceremony, Cleo saves Danny, Fraser saves Damien, Pippa saves Bernard and Joseph saves Abigail. Liza leaves, realising her drunken reveal might have shifted the target onto her.

Week 4
Bernard explains to Pippa that he is weary of Zara, who he thinks is playing a strong social game. This worries Pippa who is aligned with both and doesn’t want them targeting each other. Meanwhile, Abigail & Joseph create a song that starts an impromptu square dance the next morning.

Cleo, Fraser, Bernard and Abigail win the room mate duels, with Bernard and Abigail winning this week’s manager competition.

Straight after the challenge, Damien complains about the puzzles used, which causes a small disagreement between himself and Bernard. The tension of the house causes Joseph to consider leaving, but he agrees to stay after resting for the day.

The alliance of Zara, Fraser and Pippa have a disagreement on who to vote for as Fraser feels close to Abigail and Pippa feels close to Bernard. However, the groups strategy session is interrupted by Danny who sits and talks with the group about gay clubs in the UK. During this conversation, Danny condemns the LGBTQ+ club scene, insulting the seedy nature of gay nightlife. He also uses a slur, which offends Fraser and Zara who leave in anger. Danny later admits to Pippa he can’t get on with outwardly homosexual people like Fraser.

Abigail is voted manager, in a close vote decided by Zara siding with Fraser as they believe Abigail to be easier to control. Fraser immediately asks Abigail to target Danny, however Abigail is somewhat irritated by this and suggests the boys talk out their differences. After going to find Danny, the three have a deep discussion where Danny admits to having been sexually assaulted in his past. He explains this is why he finds it hard to interact with someone so confident in their sexuality, with Abigail and Fraser offering him support throughout this talk. The three agree to stay in the Manager Suite for the night to avoid questions of why they’ve been crying.

The next morning, Abigail gives cabin keys to Damien, Joseph and Fraser. Bernard gets annoyed at this result, telling Pippa he told her this would happen if they put trust in Zara. This causes Pippa to confront Zara in front of everyone, with the two arguing about the decision to elect Abigail. Fraser desperately tries to defuse the situation, but then Damien pipes in to defend Pippa and exchanges blows with Zara who claims Damien will be in danger future weeks. Later, in the Manager suite, an annoyed Zara asks Abigail if she would use her reign to split up the “power couple” of Bernard & Zara.

At the ceremony, Damien saves Cleo and Joseph saves Zara which leaves Pippa and Bernard. Pippa is teary as Fraser chooses to save her, meaning her closest ally Bernard becomes the first member of the jury.

Week 5
During a discussion in the red cabin, Damien teases Cleo for having a crush on Zara – which causes her to reciprocate that he has feelings for Abigail. However, the conversation seems flirty. Meanwhile, in the yellow cabin, Fraser comforts a blindsided Pippa. Fraser admits the group took out Bernard because he was wavering Pippa’s loyalty to the alliance, with Pippa pointing out that the same could be said about Cleo and Zara’s closeness. She suggests targeting Cleo next.

Damien, Zara and Pippa win the room mate duels, with Danny and Pippa ultimately winning the manager competition.

After the challenge, Damien complains about losing to Cleo, saying he was humiliated to lose to a girl. Bernard tries to comfort Damien, but this just causes Damien to make inappropriate violent comments regarding Bernard’s opponent Zara.

Fraser facilitates peace talks between his alliance of Zara and Pippa – with the group agreeing to let the past week lie. They begin to discuss strategy, but are interrupted by Abigail, who refuses to leave when asked. This causes a small fight between Pippa and Abigail, with Abigail accusing Pippa of targeting her.

Pippa becomes the next manager, with Danny somewhat disappointed but also confident in a protection deal the two worked up. Strategy is put on hold as Abigail organises a surprise party for Fraser’s birthday. Abigail goes to an impressive effort to set up the party, but also irritates all the guests as she fixes the party games for Fraser to win.

The next day, Pippa gives room keys to Danny, Zara and Fraser. Cleo decides to sulk in the orange cabin after this result, with Damien entering to comfort her. However, Cleo assumes his advances are flirty and hurls an empty deodorant bottle at him – getting her a warning from production. On top of this, Cleo refuses to co-operate with the production team, consistently turning her microphone off and covering up cameras in the orange cabin.

At the ceremony, Danny saves Joseph, Zara saves Cleo which irritates the entire house and Fraser must choose between Damien and Abigail. After a heartfelt plea, Abigail is saved and Damien becomes the second member of the jury.

Week 6
Joseph and Danny celebrate their final two pact in the red cabin, with the pair agreeing to work on bringing outsider Abigail into their alliance. However, in the yellow room, Abigail is making a final two deal with Fraser and asks to be brough into the “trio” alliance; he agrees to talk with Pippa and Cleo.

Danny, Zara and Abigail win the duels, with Zara and Danny ultimately winning the manager competition.

The trio agree to target the pair of Joseph and Danny this week, with Cleo walking in during the middle of this conversation. Cleo explains she wants to be given the red cabin, which is met with protests by Fraser and Pippa who say strategically this doesn’t make sense. This builds into a fight when Zara tells Pippa she can’t keep using Bernard’s blindside as leverage in the game, with Pippa hurt by this comment and storming off. Fraser tries to coach Zara to play a better social game.

In a shock flip vote by Pippa, Danny becomes the new manager. This causes tension in the alliance, who are surprised it was Pippa who flipped instead of Cleo. Danny uses his power to solidify an alliance with Abigail, but their pact is interrupted by Zara who tries to suggest Danny targets Cleo. At the same time, Pippa is trying to talk strategy with a distracted Joseph who just wants to make food.

Danny decides to give his cabin keys to Joseph and Abigail, which causes Fraser and Cleo to attack Pippa during the ceremony at how she has ruined the alliance’s game. Later on, Joseph admits to Cleo that it only makes sense to target the alliance leaders and that she is likely safe this week.

The next morning, Danny, Joseph and Abigail meet to discuss their target. Danny explains he thinks Fraser is holding the other side together and should be targeted, which makes Abigail uncomfortable due to her bond with him. However, at the manager ceremony, Danny saves Pippa, Joseph saves Cleo and Abigail makes the teary decision to save Zara – meaning children’s TV host Fraser is the third member of the jury.