All a Bit Rich

Thomas Kochs is a precise man. Everything has an exact place and standards are always maintained. This is par for the course if you're General Manager of Claridge’s Hotel. Thomas was just one of the many real-life characters featured in the 'upstairs/mostly-downstairs' BBC2 Documentary 'Inside Claridge’s', a fly-on-the-wall feature on the Mayfair Hotel. While 'thetvreviewguy' found some of the guests to be as obnoxious as you'd expect (a Cuban Exile Sugar Magnate or the young arriviste American financier indulging in his plutocrat fantasies), he did enjoy looking at the sheer mouth-dropping luxury of the place. Last night's episode, set during the Olympics, featured the arrival of some delegations that frankly don't have the GDP to be living it up on their country's expense. But the staff treats old and new money alike, with obsequious deference and kindness where required too. The temporary installation of the utterly pretentious Noma Restaurant during the summer (200 Pounds per 'cover' where you can eat salad leaves and ants) made for enjoyable viewing; people with money will buy any old shit if everyone else is doing it. Perhaps Thomas put his finger on it when he said that what (rich) people are looking for now, is a series of special moments and events in their lives; while the levelling instincts of 'thetvreviewguy' were to the fore when viewing this, he would need all his strength to turn down a cup of tea in Claridge’s Hotel; he definitely doesn’t have the money to stay there.