Travel with millionaire clients on a holiday to some of the most exclusive high-end luxury destinations on Earth, including the Seychelles and Barbados, and witness the extraordinary effort it takes to create a seven-star experience.
00:00 When Millionaires Travel
When millionaires travel, these are the destinations they choose. Kelsey, Natalie, and Holly also visit the Seychelles to help us gain insight into how travel agents research how to create a paradisiacal experience for their clients.
00:58:17 The Romance of Travel
Martyn and Richard embark on a trip to Barbados, and one of them has a big surprise in store. Also, in search of the perfect romantic trip, husband and wife Peter and Christine, two seasoned travelers, take a very special trip to India.
Imagine going to some of the most luxurious holiday destinations in the world. For some people, money is no object. Welcome to the Millionaires Holiday Club. Jane goes on 12 dream holidays every year and loves the champagne lifestyle. I’m going to have to blow my nose in a minute. While Mervyn works all year to afford his perfect paradise and wants everyone else to just bugger off. I’m a miserable bugger when I’m at home, but I’m even worse when I’m on holiday. This guy came over and started talking to her and it was Richard Gere. Just chatted to her on the beach. Trying to provide people like Mervyn with the perfect holiday… I am working on a nice one at the moment, which is about £70,000. …is the business of one specialist tour operator. We’re creating perfection. Thank you very much. The answer is yes, now tell us what you want. That one set them back… 115,000? Ooh! Happy days! And if you work here… Have you ever been to Thailand before? You too can get to join the club. Now this is luxury. I know it’s changed my life. That first trip I went on, I was like, am I really experiencing this? This is unbelievable. Somewhere in the Caribbean, 95 holidaymakers are spending a small fortune to take a tour of the islands aboard the luxury cruise ship Sea Dream. Morning. Oh, good morning. Hello, how are you? Oh, very good. Look at you, Miss Glamorous. Oh, yeah, well, I make the effort in the morning, you know. I have been up since five o’clock. You haven’t? To gym. Jane built an innovative dental supply company. Twelve years ago she sold her business and she and her partner Michael have been on holiday ever since. Good morning. How are you? I’m fine, how are you? Nice to meet you. Last year they took 12 sumptuous trips. Where did you go away last year? You seriously want me to remember? Okay, breakfast. I can tell you what we’re doing this year. We’re going to the Caribbean, to Dubai and the Seychelles. We’re going to Rome and then up to Venice, Croatia. Then we’ll go to Australia. It’s going to sound bad, isn’t it? It is. I can hear it. We’ve got an exceptional year this year. Then we’re going to the south of France to a friend’s wedding. Then back to the Caribbean. So, busy. Busy year this year. Oh my goodness, look at this view. We’ve actually got a list in the room of who all these yachts belong to. Give me some money, two big players here. Well that’s Abramovich, isn’t it? That’s the eclipse. That’s Armani’s yacht, I think. The grey one over there, the stealth-like one. There’s a lot of money on this water. There is a couple of billion, yeah, a couple of billion. Oh my… Looking after every detail of Jane and Michael’s exclusive holidays is a specialist tour operator based in Chester. Good morning, ITC Luxury Travel, Jane speaking. Can I help you? The telesales team sell tailor-made holidays to the world’s most incredible locations. I mean, all three properties are lovely. I mean, Cobblers in Barbados is a beautiful property. I wouldn’t sort of discount that one. I honestly believe for all the facilities that are involved in Mauritius, they would really tick all of the boxes because you would get the privacy and also the service and the butler. The average Briton spends just over £800 on an annual holiday. So you’ve got your two diamond sea view rooms on a half-board basis and that’s £15,100 in total. These holidays can cost tens of thousands of pounds. I am working on a nice one at the moment which is about £70,000. but they are looking at a month away. It’s £15,000, so that’s nine nights in Abu Dhabi. But it’s a family of five, so it’s getting quite a bargain there. Would I pay for it? I don’t earn that much. What’s the most expensive holiday you’ve sold? A Maldives booking, which was about £100,000… £115,000. But yeah, they wanted top suites and first class flights and the whole shebang. It’s an insane amount of money but it’s what it’s there for, spend it. I would! Jen joined the company in 2004 and took over six years ago. They now sell £90 million worth of high-end holidays every year. We have a complete mix of clients, from established landed gentry to celebrities to self-made millionaires. Six nights was £13.8 million. You’re buying into an exclusive club, you’re buying into something that not everybody can have access to. My Gorham! How are you? Very good. Good. Can you tell me what the difference is between the cruise you go on and normal cruises? No, because I’ve never been on one of those big cruises and I have no intention of going. I don’t queue. Thank you sweetheart. My pleasure. Many Caribbean cruises have up to three and a half thousand passengers. On Jane’s cruise ship there are less than a hundred. I hate that we’re a cruise ship. This is a yacht and our motto is it’s yachting not cruising because we are functioning very much like a private yacht. So this is your yacht you have invited hundred any other friends with you and that’s that’s what it is. Thank you sweetheart. What’s on the menu? Raspberry, ginger tea and some yogurt. We have 94 crew members so we have a ratio of one to one almost because this product is all about service. You will see from time to time these gentlemen are passing around each guest and offering them to clean their sunglasses because when you’re on vacation you don’t want to do anything, you just want to sit back and relax and that’s the key thing, you anticipate the guest’s needs and when you do that you succeed in any service. Jane and Michael’s frequent holidays have earned them a place in a special club. Oh hi, it’s Natalie Corley from ITC Chairman’s Club, how are you today? The Chairman’s Club is our… Top client travel club. The luxury junior suite, is that available also? They are our highest spending clients. I think we’ve got some that have spent over a million pounds with us on holidays. As an account manager of the Chairman’s Club, Natalie’s responsible for fulfilling the holiday requirements of 80 select clients. Are you always this busy, Natalie? Always busy, yeah. Always making people’s dreams come true. Jane’s my number one, without a doubt. She’s the number one client. I promise I won’t. We do actually speak every day on the phone. Do you? We do. Jane’s actually more like a friend, I would say, than a client. For the Caribbean cruise, Natalie has booked Jane into the owner’s suite, the best accommodation on board. So Jane’s room would look like this. You get the lounge dining room area, so you can dine in your suite as well if you want. And how many of those suites are there on the boat? Just the one. What would a week on the cruise cost? 15,000 to 16,000 per person. Per week? For a week, yeah. Before flights. Jane and Michael flew first class and have actually booked a stay on the boat for three weeks. In the last 15 years, the couple have been on Sea Dream 54 times. Oh, thank you. You’ve obviously done… Cruises a number of times. Right, well let’s get this absolutely clear. Cruises are a nether to me. When James first insisted on going on a cruise, I thought, please, God, no. I saw the film Carry On Cruising and I thought, right, that’s probably just exactly what it’s going to be like. This particular boat we go on, it has a maximum of 100 people. Very well-travelled people, sophisticated people, quiet people, a bit like myself, so no big deal there. But basically it’s a home. It just floats. How are you? I’m fine, sweetheart. Had a good breakfast? I had a very good breakfast, unfortunately. What’s it like being on a holiday all the time? Do you know, I’m hating the word holiday. Thank you so much for the can of pose the other night. I’m not going to a ruddy camp. It’s a little bit more sophisticated than going on holiday. I prefer the use of travelling, but please, you know, I’m just being pedantic. Being a pain. MUSIC PLAYS Go on. Most people can’t understand why we’re in Chester. Most people go, where’s Chester? You know, they do expect us to be in Sloane Square or, you know, one of the Stepford Wives, kind of all kind of cloned, etc. HE CHUCKLES Cardi, we’re going to my nan’s first, because she’ll do the school run for me this morning. Single mum Kelsey… Joined the company last year, but has worked in sales since leaving school. I’ve been in travel for seven years, because I work for Thomas Cook and Co-op Travel, but then this is luxury travel and it’s a tour operator. Completely different. The sales team’s salaries start at £18,000 a year, plus commission, if they hit their targets. Do you have to be posh to work here? I am not posh at all! I have a phone voice, you know. You’ve always got to be professional. Good afternoon, ITC Luxury Travel, Kelsey speaking. How can I help? To enable her staff to successfully sell holidays they have never experienced themselves… Jen has begun to send them on research trips. The next trip is to the Seychelles, and includes the private island where William and Kate spent their honeymoon. The Seychelles is one of the world’s most exclusive places to go. They are the most beautiful collection of private islands. Some of them are so private that you need permission to even fly over them. People are going to the Seychelles for that extra level of luxury. It’s exclusive, it’s hidden, it’s hard to get to. It’s some of the best places that money can buy. The tour of the Seychelles will begin on North Island, where a team of 150 look after a maximum of 22 guests in 11 villas. A villa can cost up to £60,000 a week. Each villa’s got a little private garden. with a little private pathway that leads onto the beach. The guests that we have staying with us demand the very, very finest and one of the things that we’re well known for is the attention to detail. It’s all about the detail. You know, there’s a lot of thought that’s gone into the design of these villas. If it’s not done just right, it completely falls apart. I mean, a very good example are these teardrop vases. And if the water level is not exactly… right to the top, you’re not going to get that effect, that magnification effect. If you don’t have that, it just looks like an empty vase. All of the information of all of the guests we keep on a little, what we call a day sheet, which is essentially a cheat sheet that tells us really everything that we need to know about them. For us delivering a truly luxurious experience is delivering what the guest wants. How far will you go to make sure they get the perfect experience? As far as it takes. A guest that visits us every year happens to be very into basketball. And prior to his arrival every year, we build a basketball court for him, two NBA specifications. What type of people come here? Who are the guests? This guy. No, we don’t, that’s something that we, it’s something that we don’t talk about at all. And it’s the reason why we’re chosen as a private getaway, as our guests know that we’ll never share any information about them. The secret guests on North Island will soon be joined by three of the sales team from Chester. I was absolutely gobsmacked when they told me. It’s just an experience that I never thought I’d be able to have. It’s one of the perks, the privileges of the job, so it’s nice to go out and see what it is that we are actually selling. Jen manages to get reduced rates, but still spends well over £100,000 a year on these research trips. The main focus of this trip is the private islands. We’re doing really good in the resorts, but the private islands are obviously that much more expensive and actually where we can add benefit to those internet-based operators. You can read what the brochure says, you can go on the website, but there is nothing that replaces first-hand experience, first-hand knowledge. On the beach, take your shoes off, because the beach is… Talcum powder, white sand, it’s my recommendation to anyone that goes. Made a note. It’s amazing. Not only is it then that they really get to experience the property and see what’s right for one client above another client, but they also develop the relationships with the people at the hotel that can give the waivers the favours and support them when the clients are actually in resort. Thank you very much. What rules do you think each of you might take on this trip? Mum. Thanks, mum. Yeah. Back to mum. I’ll take the child because they’re both mums. We’ll look after Holly. Not everyone is after brand-new experiences. This 125-acre fruit farm in Somerset is run by Mervyn and Heather. They’re in their 70s but still work 51 weeks of the year. And go on one week’s dream holiday. This is my husband, Mervyn. The present. I have been married to him for 48 years. Are you still romantic? Yeah, we are. Because you get treats when you’re romantic. You get flowers, don’t you? Oh, it’s me. I thought you meant you. You’re just… You might kick mine out of the gutter. Why this choice in dress sense, Mervyn? I went to school in shorts and I’ve stayed in shorts ever since. What does Heather think of your choice of dress? She’s got used to it by now. Has he got shorts for every occasion? Yes. These are the holiday ones. Smart pair like that. A pink pair. And this is your bedroom? Yes. She gets invited in now and again. He’s got good sense of humour, this one, Heather. I know. Is that what attracted you to him? I think so to start with. He’s worn a bit thin now. After making money manufacturing in Bermuda, Mervyn returned to the UK 38 years ago to run a successful farming business. That orchard there is Cherries, and over that side of the farm is the Cider. What kind of boss would you say you are? Probably a bastard, but… If they’re not pulling their weight, they have to go. I’ve been chased with a machete. Luckily, he was thick enough. To know that I was standing in front of a glass window, I could see him coming up behind me. So I turned around and said, if you can’t do it to my face, then don’t do it behind my back. 12 years ago, Mervyn found a holiday destination that suited him perfectly, and he’s been going back there ever since. Welcome to Jamaica Inn. Because we were built in 1950, we got first pick along the whole coastline. So for just 52 suites on property, even if we’re fully booked, it’s never crowded on our beach. What reaction do people have when they see the place for the first time? The most common word I hear is wow. What kind of holidays do you like? Lazy ones. Yes, we work 24 hours a day back here, so that is the one time when we don’t do anything. We don’t like the television, we don’t like… The radio and we don’t necessarily need newspapers because it’s a holiday. This is our main building. The design of the hotel is pretty colonial. In here we have our library where there’s lots of history. That’s Marilyn Monroe on her honeymoon with Arthur Miller. Do you get lots of film stars staying here? Yes we do. Let me grab my list. I have a list of approved persons so I can just refresh my memory. Celebrity guests. We have Princess Margaret. Winston Churchill, Mr. T.S. Eliot, Noel Coward, Errol Flynn, Kate Moss. And I’m sure there’s an even longer list. Oh yes, a much longer list. Accommodation at the Jamaica Inn costs up to £1,200 per night. Mervyn and Heather are going for nine nights. You don’t want to be the richest people in the graveyard? Hardly think that would happen. No. Jane and Michael’s cruise is approaching St. Barts, one of the most exclusive islands in the Caribbean. Passengers have the day to explore. If you’ve been on that number of cruises, what’s the difference between that and somebody who’s gone for the first time? What do you do? Don’t get off. Because everybody else gets off and we have this beautiful yacht to ourselves. St. Barts is an exception. St. Barts is the sort of Saint Tropez of the Caribbean, if you like. The celebrities, they go to St. Barts. You know, all the millionaires bring their yachts to St. Barts. Look at these ones. Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Are there famous people here now? Do you know? There was last week. Ellen DeGeneres was here and… Kim Kardashian. And Prince was here. Robin Thicke, who I’ve never heard of. Yes, you do. OK, I have it. That record that you can’t bear. Duh, duh, duh. Oh, I get it. And this is where I saw Alan Wicker on this very spot, which was a hero of mine. Isn’t that Peter Robin’s thing? Oh, God, yeah. It’s kind of got that cachet of real success. Obviously, hugely glamorous, great shopping, one of the most kind of exclusive. islands within the Caribbean. Every time I come to St Bart’s, this is, oh, where am I going to go? Here. Oh, Christine. Jane has been shopping at Mascara for the last ten years. Oh, Christine, I love it. A one-off haute couture dress can cost £800. I can fly in it. Yeah. How many of Christine’s dresses would you say you have? Oh. Minimum 50 pieces. Yes, it’s a lot. She is full pedal. She really goes for it. What do you mean? Well, she’s got the confidence. And she’s always elegant. Mind you, that dress is far too short for her. No, no, no, no. No, Christine, just completely like this. Ah, OK. Is looking good important to you? Yes, because I enjoy it. And you know, I think I’ve spent so many years being very, very serious and having to concentrate on business. And I’m going to just enjoy the frivolity of it. Let’s have a look. I thought everyone would be really glamorous. No. There is a dress. It’s code, but it’s certainly not tuxedo for men. I like it. I love it. Yeah, I prefer it, yeah. They call it yacht casual. Would this be yacht casual? Well, I must admit, one day a woman did say to me, she came up to me and said, so is this what they call yacht casual? And I went, in Jane’s world, yes. Are you going for it, Jane? I’m going for it. Why not? I would also like to just point out that the dress I’m wearing did come from Zara for £17.99. Mmm! Thank you. Bye bye. Bye bye. Mervyn may be a creature of habit, continually returning to the same colonial Jamaican retreat, but this year he wants a change. He’s invited along a guest. This is our daughter Samantha. She’s quite feisty. She’s coming with us to Jamaica, which will be fun, I hope. Her father offered to pay for it, so I think that was… Quite a deciding factor. How much does your holiday cost you? That’s for me to know and you to find out. After 14 years of working in hospitals overseas, Samantha has recently returned to live with her parents. When you see what he does and how he works, you can’t really sit on a sofa on a Saturday morning in your pyjamas and drink coffee and think, what shall I do today? So, nurse slash… Farming assistant. What’s their relationship like? It’s very good, except that she will answer him back if he says anything she doesn’t like, whereas I’ve just learnt to sort of ignore it and go along with everything. What’s your dad like at the moment? Usually very fair, but if he gets cross or upset, run for your life. Don’t you believe what she said, she’s making me out to be an ogre. I’m a lovely fellow really. A cheeky one isn’t he? He’s very cheeky, but everybody loves him. Hello, how are you? Oh, get me to that bar. Get me to the… Do you know how to get the party started? She is the party. You didn’t see her dancing on a table yet. Your motto is more is more. Is that what it is? My Jane and Michael have been together for nearly 30 years. When they met, she was building her business and he ran an architectural design practice. The holidays that I went on when I was working were disasters. Utter disasters. I would work my cotton socks off to get away to go on holiday. And then having got away, I would absolutely collapse. I was a wreck and all I needed to do was sleep. What’s on the plan? Are we going to go for drinks in the bar? The biggest luxury of all of having retired is time. You are just the person I need to see. Full stop. That’s the biggest luxury. Do your work. Let’s go to my favourite seat. What do you love about champagne? When Michael and I first met, we really seriously didn’t have any money at all, and it was my birthday, and he brought me half a bottle of Bollinger. We opened the bottle, and both of us just went… It was like nectar. It was just like a light went on in our lives, and I have loved champagne from that moment on. Yay! It’s joyous. I mean just to hear that BOP! It’s just like instantly I feel wonderful. I mean it’s just like love it, love it, love it, love it. Cheers darling. The first few years when we retired we travelled, but it was the same manic travelling as we were working. It took us five or six years to get to the point where we can actually just come on board and relax. And you know, why wouldn’t you be with these great guys? They’re our friends. They’re family. Well, we’re the rich uncles and aunts. We love one another. Did you ever think of having a family yourself? Michael, did we ever think about having a family? No, no. We had employees. I mean, they were bad enough. Look at me, look at me. From an early age, mm-mm. But you never wanted to be a mum? No, never. I never ever wanted to be a mother, no. And now I’m going to come across as a bitch from hell. Why do you say that? Well, because it doesn’t sound… Most women do have that need, or… Not need, that sounds… Well, it’s called a maternal instinct. It’s not a need, it’s an instinct. And I just didn’t have that instinct. Seriously. This evening in Chester, there’s a party taking place in the office. Tomorrow morning, Natalie, Kelsey and Holly are heading off on a week’s research trip to the Seychelles. I can’t think why you’d want to leave this lovely weather out here. I know, I woke up this morning and I could hear the rain outside and I was thinking, oh, what a shame, I’m off to the seashill tonight. I’ve just been and met my mum and dad for a coffee and they said, oh, you’re so lucky going off to the sun on a day like this. I said, well, you know, it’s part of the job. You’ll cope? I’ll have to. Someone’s got to do it. Your friends must just hate you. Yeah, they do. I’ve been to Morocco, Miami and Turks and Caicos as well already this year with work. So, this is my third trip. Mmm, aww, Mummy will miss you. Yeah, I’ll leave you with Daddy. Aw, good girl. Bye bye sweetie. Bye bye. I’ll text you. Bye. Worst mum in the world! I’ll try not to think about her too much because I think if you dwell about home a lot on these sorts of trips you could become quite homesick so it’s quite a busy itinerary which helps to not miss home too much. I can’t believe you’ve braved flip-flops! Are you alright? Yeah, you? Yeah! Let me fill you in on Kelsey. Oh god, last night? So, I texted this morning and I went, Morning, how are you feeling? And she said, I don’t know how I’m going to get through the day, I can’t remember getting home. Oh no! Now she’s got 12 hours flight to do. Yeah! Hi! How are you feeling? Rendez, what a night! You don’t look, Rendez! Power of makeup girls. I sent the biggest apology this morning to Alexa. Oh at least you weren’t actually ill. Oh no. Yeah I was coming up. Oh in the car? Well at the side but I don’t know what. I said, I don’t know if I’ve made any mess or something, just let me know and I’ll pay for it to be clean. She was like, don’t be silly, we are getting that stage. And I was like, thanks Alexis. I don’t even know where the handle is. Oh, it’s there. There we go. Before starting here, I’d never travelled long haul. I was your bucket and spade type of gal. In Spain, Canaries, on my package holidays. And so before I came here, I didn’t realise that this type of thing existed. So everything that I’ve seen has just blown my mind. Upgraded to personal! Woo! Hey! For business? You know, the amount of people on my newsfeed that go sick at me, and they’re like, who are you? I’m feeling very spoilt, but it’s nice. And have you got a drink? I’ve got my fizz, my champagne. That girl partying at the weekend in Ibiza, and now she’s in the Seychelles. What? Bye! At the Jamaica Inn, they try to keep everything as it was 50 years ago. Preparations are underway for the arrival of the new guests. Okay, sweet, we have Heather and Mervyn returning for nine. nights and they are bringing in their daughter with them this time. Welcome to the South, Trandall. How did you two meet? We met in Bermuda where we’d both gone out to work and I don’t think we talked to each other to start with. Mervyn was engaged to somebody else and I was… Playing the field. And then Mervyn was taken to hospital because he’d been ill and he’d come back from hospital and we met on a beach. I think I wrote to your girlfriend. You did. Engaged woman, fiancée, whatever they’re called, and I had to tell her that I’m sorry, that that was off. So it’s quite shameful, really. After a month, we were married. Was it quite unusual to meet someone and get married that quickly? No. You don’t try the goods until you’ve bought it. Thank you. He tends to say what he thinks and doesn’t always think of the consequences. He never means any harm by what he says, but his lack of filter can get him into trouble. What are we making, Nicola? This is a swan. And how many swans do you make a day? Oh, it all depends. Sometimes I make a different design and the guests come and say to me that. Could you make us one for me and I have to pull it back up and make another one? Would you say the guests who come here have high standards? Yes, yes. They’re looking for the best. Miss Marsh, give me a minute. Let me just point out unwanted. Would people really expect that you get two aunts out of their room before they arrive? You want to always give a very good first impression. You just never know. after a long trip, the psyche of someone. And if they saw an ant in the room, it might give them a little bit of cause for concern. How discerning are you both? I would like to say we’re very discerning. Yeah, with a capital S. This will be Mervyn and Heather’s seventh holiday at the hotel, but their first day in the premier accommodation, a seafront cottage. Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow. Are you happy, Heather? Well, I suppose you could say happy, yes. It’s lovely. Ecstatic. There are no real words, it’s just heaven. All sorts of things happen in the plunge pool, so I’m led to believe by novels you read. Novels? He doesn’t read novels. Why would you say he doesn’t read? What’s your verdict? When you get back to England… Can you go down to Somerset and lock up? Tell everybody we won’t be back. Natalie, Kelsey and Holly’s work trip has begun. They’ve landed on the largest island in the Seychelles. To transfer to and from North Island, the owners recommend chartering a helicopter for around £1,200. Like all guests, the team have been asked to send ahead a list of their likes and dislikes so their personal attendant can customise their experience. Looking forward to receive my guests. Three guests from Britain, so I’m used to their culture, I understand them very well. So what do you know about British women then? I know what they like, vodka, they like gin, they like wine, some they like sushi, sashimi. That information helped me to understand them. What type of people come here Fred? Everyone is allowed here. Some, you know, they work hard to come here. A guy like Fred, like me, it can take me maybe 15 years to come here for two nights. While others take them two months to come here. So I can say they can come, but there’s a difference still. So this is your beautiful home. Welcome, welcome home. We’ve got to a stage in the world where they all kind of have the same things. So you get your Bang & Olufsen surround sound and your plasma screens and your Egyptian cotton sheets and your sunken baths and outdoor showers and infinity pools and blah blah blah. Radio will be taking care of you. But all hotels of a five-star standard offer that. What makes something really special is always the service. Every time I come here I will be ringing the bell. For your privacy. It’s always the things that they do above and beyond. The fact that they know you, they know what you like, they stock the mini bar with the drinks that you particularly like. So I saw your request, the gin. So you’ll love this one. Thank you. I feel this… There’s butlers and concierge people whose sole job is to make them have the best experience, and they’re wonderful. If there’s like a big spider comes in in the middle of the night and we need you, how long will it take to get you here? Oh, Spider will be very fast. Quick, quick, quick. Good. Good. Quick, quick. At the Jamaica Inn, the staff look after 48 suites spread over eight acres. Over there? No, right there. The beach is only open to the paying guests. Are these your favourite seats, then, Robin? No. Well, because these virgin skins, when we are used to it, will move further in the middle. Because if they get burned. Don’t touch me and then my holiday is ruined. Given the choice, what do you like to do on holiday, Mervyn? Nothing. Relax. Unwind. And that’s it. Provided the sea goes in and out, the sun comes in and out, and the bed’s there, what more do you need? This young lady is going to supply us with rum punches and water. Why did you decide not to have any more children? If you’d have seen the trouble that we went through with the first one, there was no way I was going through it again. with another one. The doctor said it’s touch and go whether you get one back or two back. I thought no more after this, if we get through this one that’s it. But I think she’s a good girl. I mean she’s my child and I always think she’s the star shined out of her eyes. I hope she enjoys it, but she has a stressful job and when she’s got to treat people younger than her that have got a life expectancy of that much, it gets to her. She shoulders it very well. You work very hard though. We work hard so we can enjoy ourselves. And if we won’t do it, look out. Hi, I’m here with our signature drink, our planter sponge rum based drink. They are the best. What are your guilty pleasures in life? Do you want to know all their names? I haven’t got any guilty pleasures, maybe a… We like to eat out occasionally and we like to drink occasionally, but not to excess, believe it or not, normally. Dear Holly, Natalie and Kelsey, very warm welcome to North Island. May you have a truly wonderful and unforgettable stay with us. Aww! Thank you! You’re welcome. When does the work actually start then? Now! Right now! It’s billing time! Woooo! Frank have you not got your bikini? Hahahaha Thank you! I can try one. You can try one. Thank you. Enjoy. Thank you. Thank you very much. I just think the staff are amazing. They can’t do enough for you, which is great to tell our clients. You know, like, if you were a client and your butler was just, like, stood around all day, you’d feel bad. I’d feel a bit uncomfortable. You just want them to, like, be your friend and be part of the group, don’t you? Yeah. Jane and Michael’s cruise has reached the British Virgin Islands. To end every week, the crew throw the guests their signature party on the tiny island of Jos van Dijk. All right, so today is one day that we do the beach barbecue. You have a place where you can eat, you can drink, and you can socialize. Why wouldn’t you want to do something like that? Life is not fair, so let’s start off with that. Whether you agree with it or not, a Philippine girl who is eminently qualified, she’s probably got a degree even, and she can only get a job as a cleaner. It is damn hard work. There’s seven days a week. They have a plan in life. Their kids are being brought up by their grandparents, and when they’re mid-30s, they’ll come home, they will then set up a business, they will then be grandparents, and so the cycle goes on. All right, let’s take off our shoes, let’s throw them on the beach. Whoa! I’m just intrigued and I’m inspired by the way these people have lived their life. And the crew, I think, are our friends. I mean, what they think of us. is another matter. We certainly respect and love them. The Jamaica Inn does not have in-room butlers, but it does pride itself on the unique service it provides. Oh, wow. Well, we’ll pop it in here. Good morning. Good morning. That would have been awful. You didn’t get that, right? What’s your relationship with the staff when you’re on holiday? Customer and staff. Don’t trip over your shoelace. My shoelace? Yeah. I would have to do that, this. You don’t cross the path of trying to be the buddy. Hey, Dindin, how you doing? I’m good. Thank you. Voila! Hello! Welcome to the beach. Nice to see you. How are you, my dear? I’m fine. Champagne, honey. Thank you, sweetheart. Do you feel more comfortable with the staff or with the guests? Oh, gosh. If I don’t know the guests, if I’ve just met them, the crew, absolutely, they’re my friends. They’re just extraordinary, lovely people. What’s the highlight of this beach party? The champagne and caviar splash without a doubt. Suddenly it will appear, a surfboard, and it will be floated in the water and we’ll be all invited to go in and have some caviar. What larks! What larks! We will have larking about. As Jane and Michael signed up for a three-week cruise, this is their third champagne and caviar splash of the holiday. Face off! Awesome! Happy to die! On North Island, the sales team are beginning work in earnest. So hungry now. Ready for breakfast. Yeah, definitely. Morning! Good morning. Thank you. Thank you. Look at that. Gorgeous, isn’t it? Wow, good morning. Wow. Enjoy. Thank you. I’ve heard that champagne goes very well with pancakes. Can I just…? Are you ready for a little glass? Yeah. Why not? Really? Part of work is to experience it as your guest would, so… Yeah, definitely. You can say no as well. Do the work trips work? Absolutely. You know, why a client comes to us is because they want that. that first-hand knowledge. Today, Natalie has an extra assignment for Jane and Michael. She’s booked them a holiday in the Seychelles for next month. Thank you so much. Oh, that was lovely, thank you. They will be staying on the main island where apartments can be nearly 20,000 pounds a week. Natalie’s flown back to the resort to make sure everything is of an acceptable standard. This particular villa that I’ve booked them into is an ocean panoramic view. They should have a gorgeous view of the ocean. That’s something I’m keen to see to make sure it is what it says on the tin. Expectations they do have high expectations, but I’d have high expectations You know if I was in their position traveling around the world I had my pick of where I wanted to travel to you know I think you’ve got to so this is the actual villa number is it the number In fact, it’s our highest ocean panoramic villa with a fantastic view over the ocean, which I’m sure your guests will enjoy. You feel like you’re away from everything in your villa. So this is what they will wake up to. This is what they will experience during their stay. Can I take a couple of pictures of it so I can send them to her before she gets here? Brilliant. Often the complaints start with a little thing. If they arrive and they’re not met by the top dog, then it can start degenerating from there. Perfect, so the room is through here. That’s the room. What happens is people then look at, there’s a plug socket that hasn’t been screwed in properly, or, you know, my coffee was too cold, my butler looked at me in the eye, whatever it might be. You like it? Yeah. But we’ve had all sorts of things, you know, in the Maldives, I could see another island in the distance. It’s supposed to be a desert island. OK. Pretty nice bath. Or, you know, there’s too many fish in the sea that stop me swimming. Again, it’s supposed to be a desert island. it’s one of those things where you kind of say well have you considered the infinity pool, the lap pool, the plunge pool or the other beach on the other side of the resort. I mean sometimes I look at some of these complaints and I go really but for them in that moment it is really really important to them and me going for goodness sake that isn’t going to help the situation all we can try and do is say what do I need to do to put it right and there comes a point where you actually say maybe this isn’t the right resort for you and we move people. and we have and we will and we do. I know she loves a particular rosé and I know her favourite champagne so I’ll give all of this to you. Please, please, it would be great. Because I think those sorts of things she’d be really, really touched by if sort of a bottle of her favourite rosé was in the fridge when she got here. Yeah, that’s the idea, favourite music so that when they arrive it’s their favourite music playing. I know that as well. If she arrived and opened the door and there was… It’s a bit of, I know it sounds cheesy, a bit of Lionel Richie playing. I think she’d be like, wow, how did they know? Sam has persuaded her parents to leave the hotel grounds. Now you salute. They’re always lovely and cool. You’ve left the hotel? Yes. It was the first time for five years. We’re having a tour. Local area. Yeah. Family outing. That’s an impressive place. It is. It’s huge. A house like that used to be like a plantation house. We call them great house in Jamaica. Is there still a lot of hardship in Jamaica? Yes, sir. We have extremely rich and extremely poor. Very, very little middle class. Sometimes the poor people are much more happier than the rich people because they don’t have nothing to lose and they have a drink and make themselves happy. Does it ever sort of make you think? No. No, that’s the beauty of it. We work bloody hard here and we earn what we earn and we don’t waste a penny of it. And if we didn’t go there, who’s going to employ them? It’s all wheels within wheels. On Jos van Dijk, the champagne and caviar splash is drawing to a close. Is it going well? Not well, very well. If you would touch here, or there, or there… Can I? Can I? You can! Of course, you’re the only one who can. So yes, I am wet. Well, I think they’re… and I hope they are blown away. Look around, everybody’s smiling here. And they’re going to go home and say, you know what? Let’s go back to Seat Dream. Because that’s where we had the best day of our life. Every time I see that shirt… I fall in love with it every time, all over again. I just absolutely love it. Do you not ever get bored of it? No. I wish I did. It would be much better, the balance. Never get bored of it. It’s always an adventure. All the staff and everything, you do sort of think of it as family. I wonder what they think of you. I hope they think of us as friends. Family would be nice as well, but that’s maybe taking it… I would love to think they felt like that. One day somebody said to me, Jane, we see more of you than we do our own family. So in a way I think I’ve become the surrogate. OK, we don’t do the… I’d love to say sister, we might do the mother to them. Would you consider the best to be your friend? Look, obviously who you are, what you’re earning, what position you are in the social ladder, that definitely has… An influence or an impact on relationships. Let’s be real here. I have a specific position in life. I’m not going to hang out with somebody on a higher degree and vice versa. At the end of the day, we are giving a service. Customers obviously pay for a service. We can interact on a certain degree. But let’s be real. There will always be that gap. Here’s the queen. Here’s the Queen! Thank you, Tindon. Thank you very much. At the Jamaica Inn, on-beach dining can be arranged on request, but the normal dress regulations still apply. You’re not trying to drown us, are you? What makes you laugh, Mervyn? Watching her undress. Thank you very much. Oh, life makes me laugh. His own jokes make him laugh. It’s an odd concept but I don’t know why they’ve had to put sugar in the cucumber soup. Mmm, tastes like an old bush. Do you go around tasting old bushes? Two daiquiris and she’s gone. I’ll have a little of your nuts if you’d like to have the rest of my bush. Let me try your old bush. Aboard Sea Dream, the award-winning chef is presenting a seven-course taster menu for the guests. OK, one asparagus for Jane can go. Oh, thank you very much. Oh, my gosh. Oh, look at the colour on that. Asparagus. I tell you what, asparagus goes so nicely with this wine. Yeah. Wouldn’t it be fair to say your philosophy is live life to the full? Philosophy, I’ll hand that over to you darling. What’s the philosophy? You said to me the other day, in 20 years time, we probably won’t have the energy to do what we’re doing now. So our philosophy is, let’s enjoy it now. Have fun. Until you don’t. We’re planning for Armageddon, you know, sort of decrepitude. We have parents, we know what it’s like, especially as we kind of… Slightly above the recommended level for alcohol intake. We’re realistic. This is the time for us to enjoy ourselves. It may not last forever. It won’t last forever, but we are going to enjoy ourselves. And we’re going to enjoy ourselves with people who we have respect for and who we like and admire. As part of the North Island experience, The owners have tailored a special evening for their guests. Has this been health and safety checked? Oh look at that beach though, look at it, it looks amazing. Hello ladies. Hi! Do you enjoy it? It’s like Lhasa Rose bottles. Thanks Damien. Cheers! Cheers girls! This is really special. I’ve never experienced champagne on a rock before. This has wowed me. The whole resort has wowed me. I know it’s changed my life. Absolutely changed my life. Thank you very much. That first trip I went on, I was like… Am I really experiencing this? This is unbelievable. And everybody that goes on those trips, it changes their life. Are we actually just sat here on North Island in the middle of the Indian Ocean? I don’t know, it’s crazy, isn’t it? No, I’m watching the telly. It feels like it, it feels like it. I’m watching the telly with a radiator on, full whack. It’s mad, isn’t it? It’s crazy. Do you believe in growing old gracefully? No. There we go. Some people would say wearing tweed skirt and twin set and pearls is graceful. I can’t quite see me doing that, but one never knows. It’s always an option, I suppose. Don’t think it’s gonna happen. Yeah, I got some famous posts about me. What? I’m just gonna… I thought you were puckering up your lips. Mervyn and Heather only have two more days before they have to return to working their farm. Are you two growing old gracefully? Of course we are. Yes, I should be wearing a skirt and blouse next. Are you conscious of them getting older? Old age comes to us all, so I’m grateful that they’re as young at heart and agile as they are. I’m going to have to blow my nose in a minute. Do you worry about them? Yes, but then who doesn’t worry about their parents? What’s important in your lives? Stay healthy and happy. Independent. Never have to have somebody else wipe our bottoms, feed us. I think if we get to that stage, we’re going to save the money and go to Dignitas. Cut your losses. Go to heaven or hell or wherever you’re going. If the vet didn’t do it in the village, I’d go down to the vets. So how does it feel to have her worry about you? She shouldn’t worry because I’ve had a jolly good life, I can’t complain. I should die with a smile on my face. Who’s this holiday for? All of us. And we were honoured to think that she’d want to come away with two old people. This is our way of saying, you know, have a good time. Because when we die it’s all going to the cat’s home. Jane and Michael’s 54th cruise on SeaDream is ending in Puerto Rico. How long does it take you to say goodbye, Jane? Erm, quite a long time. Hi, Michelle. Hello, Sir Michael. Hi, darling. Nice to see you. Oh, my dancing partner. Take care. We will talk on Facebook. OK, I don’t like to be the one… No, do I. We start crying. How long…? How long do you think you’re going to keep going with the number of holidays? For life, for God’s sake, it’s as simple as that. Safe life on darling. You go on some of these big boats, they’re all designed for people of all sorts of inabilities. Bye bye George. You’ll find ramps, lifts, grab rails, nurses, incontinent bags. Bye-bye, Tim. There’s no excuse for you. You go out there and enjoy yourself. Bye-bye. You can do it. I will be doing it. The clanking glass. Every day I just think how privileged I am. I have just such an amazing, amazing life and I’m jealous of myself. It’s just like, how did this happen? God. I mean, it’s just, life’s wonderful. Bye. And it would be a crime not to enjoy it. Wouldn’t it, Bryn? It’s time for the Seychelles 3 to pass on their findings to the rest of the sales team. Right, I’m just going to do some Seychelles training. People can get caught up in the world of luxury travel and start thinking that we are the clients. And actually, we are here to serve the clients. I guess taking your butler example, in the whole Downton Abbey scenario, we are the butlers, if you like. So we flew into Mahi, and then from there it’s about a ten minute… transfer to the helicopter departure point which is the best way to do it because it gets there the quickest and it’s only about 1500 euros so if the client If you’re paying for North Island they should be able to factor that in quite well. I think you can absolutely get lost in these holidays and you almost think that this is life. If you’ve got any larger clients that need seatbelt extensions, that’s the only issue that they would have. I do quite like to go for walks to the park and go and do my own food shopping on a weekend. It’s nice to be normal sometimes. because we sent on our preference form that We liked gin and vodka, there was like full bottles. We specifically said Grey Goose as well, there was a bottle of Grey Goose waiting for us when we got there. And that’s included for any guests. At the moment I’m loving my job, but obviously if I had a family then obviously that would become more important. Once you settle down you won’t be able to go to these incredible places. Oh I will, I’ll make sure of it, I’m going to marry a rich man. Best robes ever, so they go to the floor. It was just all the little things I was like Before when I started, you know, I was just happy doing my two weeks in Tenerife. But now there is a whole bigger world out there and I do get a bit picky now when I choose my holidays. No butler? No way! Eagret there. Peter and Christine go to India and walk in Charles and Camilla’s footsteps. I just think Prince Charles has stepped over here. In Barbados, The paparazzi are lined up in one of the world’s premier celebrity hotspots. Little do they know it’s Martin and Richard from Balan. Oh, my God. And concierge Katie experiences Thailand as the newest member of the Millionaire’s Holiday Club. We’ve changed Katie. That’s it now. There’s no going back. Martin and his partner Richard are just beginning their fifth luxury holiday of the year. Nicely hot. Here we are. Welcome. What are the differences between a normal holiday and a luxury holiday? Um, well do you know, I don’t know what a normal holiday is anymore. Here we are. Oh hello. Most holidays that we go on would be a five figure amount. Thank you very much. Where’s our car then? And I think occasionally we have gone over the 30,000. Will they all go in? Have you enough room for all these bags? Thank you. But when you’re paying that sort of money, we’re having a dream holiday every time, basically. So how far to the villa then, driver? Probably 30 minutes. It’s rush hour in Barbados. The couple’s Caribbean vacation begins with two nights in an exclusive villa in Barbados. A typical holiday villa can cost around £1,000 a week. Martin & Richards is ten times that amount. As usual, their holiday’s been arranged by a specialist travel operator based in Chester. Good morning, thank you for calling ITC Luxury Travel. It’s been to KT. We’ve got a VIP meet and greet service in Antigua, because we’ve got our office there, so they’ll be met and guided through. You’ll be able to go straight to the terminal, then get onto your helicopter straight away, so there won’t be any waiting around for you. Here, the telesales team sell over £90 million worth of luxury holidays every year. It’s a total price of £10,836. If there’s a £15,000 holiday, that’s pretty normal. That’s what we do, bread and butter, day in, day out. The remaining balance on there is £6,324 for you. And how is it that you’d like to pay? You know, £100,000, a little bit more unusual, but we do it every week. So yeah, if you think of anything else before you travel, then let me know. So there comes a certain expectation with what the client’s going to get for that. You do have a private butler included within your villa package, so we can actually arrange for him to be your private chef. We create perfection. We create and sell perfection. For Richard and Martin’s first two nights in Barbados, the travel team have chosen their villa for them. Where have we arrived? Amazing. I like it. Wow, look at that. They’ve also arranged for a butler, a housekeeper, a chambermaid and a personal chef to be on site. Thank you very much. You’re welcome, butler. Thank you very much. Welcome, you. Very kind of you. Do you think you’re both demanding? No. Thank you very much. Oh, lovely. Thanks. I think we are demanding. Hello. Hi. Pleased to meet you. Yes. I would say Richard’s more demanding than I am. Shall we go in? That smells nice. Hello. That’s a fair comment, isn’t it? No? Yeah, no, probably, yeah. I think I am demanding. Wow. What a welcome. Would you guys like a tour? I’d love to. I always say if you’re not walking into somewhere… It’s better than your own home then you were not selling the right product. Wow look at this! So you have to walk in and go oh my god this place is amazing. Wow this staircase is amazing. You don’t have to even peer into the kitchen because obviously you’ve got your staff to sort that out and you’ve probably got a bedroom for every night of the week. This is the last bedroom. Phew! Let’s see the bathroom. I’m quite fussy about bathrooms. You know bathrooms can make or break a holiday. Oh nice. Everything you need. I quite like a bath. Fantastic. And a his and his sink is always quite good. Ooh, that’s a nice wind. A villa like that would be £10,000 for the week, something like that, maybe slightly more, depending on the time of year. This is it. I’ve found it. Paradise. So what are we going to do Martin? Are we going to just relax? So what time will dinner be ready? It can be ready whenever you’re ready. What made you go for the villa option? We don’t normally, we normally go to a hotel actually, but we just thought it would be quite nice to relax here, get away from the world just for a couple of days after London, it’s rather nice. We thought it would be quite nice for somebody to do all the waiting on us and the indulgence and the extravagance of it really. Do you think it would be strange having people waiting around for you? Oh I’m sure I can cope with it for a couple of days. The worry is that we might get used to it. The travel team’s involvement does not stop when the guests reach their destination. OK, so that’s only feather pillows in the room. That’s absolutely fine. We can have that arranged. My department is concierge and client services. Is there any specific type of car you’d like, or is it just as long as it’s black? So, basically, I make all the bookings amazing. Ten bars of still water, not every eye. What I’ll do, I’ll send you the different options so you can pick from them. If someone wants a specific cigar, I’ll find them that specific cigar. If someone wants to dine on a certain table, I’ll get them on a certain table. If someone wants to go swimming with dolphins in the ocean when they’re not allowed, I’ll make it allowed. I’ll make it possible. We give the client something that they couldn’t get. All of the finer touches, if you like. I want to propose to my girlfriend. I want a dozen red roses, I want them to be flown in from wherever. That’s the kind of concierge service that Katie and the team manage. It’s like, the answer is yes, now tell us what you want. I’ve already confirmed a sundown at Orfora, which takes her into the desert, and then they’ll have a huge Bedouin dinner in the middle of the desert under the stars. 22-year-old Katie joined the team two years ago after completing a college course in tourism. When I first started here it was a bit like, oh right I’ve got to think twice before I say something. Oh! If I was just talking to someone, I would be like, here you go, have a look at that. But when I’ve got an ITC email, it’ll be like, I’ve sent you this for your perusal. What are you making for us? Yes, it’s a rum punch here. I’m going to serve you to get started. Are you going to try a rum punch also? Yes, please, yes. Is this your speciality? Richard is an award-winning architect, noted for designing the interiors of some of the most iconic buildings in London. Is it going to go and blow my head off? Please enjoy. Thank you very much. Here’s to Barbados. Martin is a manager at a specialist hospital. If I was going on a luxury holiday every month, I think I might take it for granted. This has got a bit of a kick hasn’t it? A bit of a kick, yes. I need to have a few bad weeks at work to be able to appreciate relaxation. Can I get you a little top up please? Or even a large top up? Having two, meaning that’s like the icing on the cake. You don’t just go for one. So what do you do if you do three? Well do three, but then you’re taking it to a different level. And I quite like that three, four month cycle. that we’ve sort of got ourselves into. It’s not a bad life. So I think I’m going to do shrimp, tuna and then some steak. Is that too much? No, as you want. I mean, you can actually come back for the steak afterwards if you wanted. What do you reckon? What do you reckon? Sounds good. Is that okay? You’re on vacation. What would you say to somebody who thought that it was slightly extravagant? Well, we don’t have children and we don’t spend money on other things. Bear in mind, you know, yesterday I was in client meetings. And having all the stresses of work. And like we had breakfast in Balham and now I’ve got people serving me a wonderful salad and lovely fresh fish caught in the morning’s catch. I mean it’s slightly different isn’t it? We sort of live for our holidays really. Amazing. And that’s where we are extravagant. It’s our thing isn’t it? It’s our thing. Yeah. So it’s our time together and it’s our special thing. Can I clear your plates please? Yes, that would be lovely, thank you. And this holiday may be more special than most. As after 16 years together, Richard is planning a surprise proposal. Peter has been married for 54 years. I expected you. I didn’t know that you’d come in. You’ll remember quickly. Hi Simon. Hello. How are you? I’m fine thank you. What are you baking? I’ve got a quiche in the oven and I’ve just made some mince pies. Before he retired, Peter was chairman of an international clothing business. Choose an onion. And Christine was responsible for raising their three children. Do you like cheese and onion? This was painted ten years ago in Christine’s 60th year by a guy called John Edwards. He’s had commissions to paint the Queen. And it was put on display. Was it expensive to get a royal painter in? A few thousand. Worth it? To me, very much worth it. Once their children left home, Peter and Christine began to travel the world, taking five-star holidays. Our daughter thinks we’re away all the time. It’s not quite true. But we are away a fair amount of time. Good driver, nice to meet you. We’ve been to Nepal and Thailand and Malaysia and China, South America, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, Mauritius, so on and so forth. Are you spending your kids’ inheritance? Yeah, skiing. Spending the kids’ inheritance. Yeah, we’re doing that. We don’t want to leave them too much, they wouldn’t like it. What do you call it? Skiing. Spending. Kids. Inheritance. I’m not going to get my pound back. Do you consider yourself wealthy? No. He’s going to get his pound back on the trolley. What I can say is that I’m still pretty numerous and I’m pretty good with money. You watch the pennies? No, forget those. You’ve got to watch the thousands. Today, Peter is taking Christine away for a romantic holiday in India. Kerala, in the south, has one of the most exclusive hotels in the country. Set in 25 acres of coconut groves are 59 traditional-style luxury villas. Kerala is known as the god’s own country, and this is one of the best parts. Staff work around the clock. to keep the hotel in pristine condition. And this colonial resort has even received a Royal Seal of Approval. This is where the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall had stayed. We got to meet them and they thanked us personally, which is kind of a rare honour, I would say. This is the main bathroom of the suite and we had redesigned it for the royal couple. Because they… wanted a tub. Previously we just had a shower so we added this bathtub just for their visit. Peter and Christine fell in love with India seven years ago and have been back every year since. Memories abound of what you have done. Perhaps out of all, the very best one is of being where green land meets the Arabian Sea. India, of course, where else could it be? Bit of a wordsmith. Is that one of your own? Yes. But not on there. Peter and Christine’s India excursions have all been booked by Nikhil. I think Maradi Beach Resort will certainly be a better option. As I always say, there’s nothing that can prepare you for India, even if you’ve been many times. Welcome back. Nice to see you. Because it’s not what you know, it’s who you know in India. And it’s not what you do, it’s how you do it. Will Peter and Christine get the wow factor? Every time. Thanks Kavi, thanks. I know that they will have a wonderful time, there’s no doubt about that. I’m quite confident to surprise them, to look after them and pamper them. What have you got on your sleeve? Surprises. You’re not going that way, you’re going this way sir. This way? Yes. This is where you’re staying this time. Nikhil has arranged for Peter and Christine to be upgraded to the royal suite. I just think Prince Charles has stepped over here. Please. Thank you. Please come over. Yes, this is where the royal couple stayed. Are you quite patriotic, Peter? I think I am very, yeah. I love this country. This is God’s own country, whatever they think in Kerala. This is the bedroom. Oh, that’s lovely. Sanjay, there is one important question. Yes. Which side did Prince of Wales sleep on? We don’t know that. I’m going to guess it was that side. Are you? How do you feel being in this room? I don’t know. I have to get my breath back. But it’s… It’s very special for us, very special. In addition to the upgrade, the Concierge team has helped Peter plan a surprise romantic trip for Christine later in the holiday. What have you got that you need help with? Whilst Katie helps perfect these opulent breaks, the sales team are expected to sell over £10 million worth of dream holidays in the peak winter months. Oh, hi, good afternoon, Alison. It’s Laura here from ITC. Laura is the singularly most positive person I have ever met in my entire life. Hi, I’d like to speak to room reservations, please. She gets up at 5am to curl her hair. She comes to work like she’s going nightclubbing. OK. Okay. I’ll do that for you, no problem. Last week, just on her own, she did a quarter of a million pounds. We’re looking at a price of 13,268. In a year, she’ll do well over two million pounds worth of holidays. Well, you know me, whatever we’ve got to do to secure the booking and to get a happy client… She’s a great seller. Let me know what we need to do to get it booked. The company is about to pay for Laura to go on a research trip to the top resorts in Thailand. These trips are an essential part of our job. If we didn’t do them, then we’d be just reiterating information from a book or a website. And it’s exciting, it’s glamorous. You get to travel, you get to go to lovely dinners, you get to see a place in the world that I would never have been able to see in another job. It’s a bit gutting really when you see someone jetting off to go on a work trip for a weekend. You do sit there going, oh, happy me. While this will be Laura’s third recce trip of the year, Jen has decided another member of staff will also be going. I was just counting up, you know, we’ve done 33 trips this year. Jen, I know you’ve seen lots of your friends and colleagues go to all these far-flung, glamorous locations. I’m being very jealous. I’m being very jealous. So I want you to go on one of our long-haul trips. Have you ever been to Thailand before? No. You want somebody in the business that’s got a sparkle. Laura. And Katie’s got a sparkle. I’m coming to Thailand with you. Ah! Yay! It’s going to be great. Oh my God, you made off. Yeah, I just need to go buy things now. OK. In Barbados, Richard and Martin have settled into their villa. We came down and we had a lovely breakfast prepared by our own chef. Yeah. Richard’s told no one about his secret plan to propose. Not even his 78-year-old mum, Jackie. So now Martin’s having a swim. Oh, yeah. Can you see? Oh, is that the staff hustling about? There’s people there, yeah, everywhere. There’s more people here than there are guests. The couple’s villa comes with access to the facilities of the Sandy Lane Hotel, one of the most exclusive on the island. Hello, hi, how are you? Lovely to see you. Nice to see you. The tour operator’s rep in Barbados, Kerin, is organising the staff to make sure Richard and Martin have the perfect day on the beach. Are you quite an organised person? I’m very organised. But you need to be, you have to be. It takes a lot of coordination for the end result that you see. I’m taking down the towels, make sure that the beach bed is already out. The drinks must be in the fridge. And they’re having champagne, so champagne glass and everything is all set up. They’re waiting for them. Richard and Martin have decided they don’t want to be chauffeured. So we go down this road here to the main road turn left. Over here, Country Club and Sandy Lane. And you reckon that’s what, 25 minutes? We’ll walk slowly, wear my hat. Yeah, let’s do that. It’d be nice. We need some sunblock. We’re probably like mad Englishmen, aren’t we, walking in the heat, midday heat. And I don’t think, I think they’d rather us go in a car, but we like walking. And it’s good to see the area, I think. Where do you go on holiday? I go to the UK. I do, I love the UK, it’s lovely. Especially when it’s raining, it’s fabulous. Get away from some of the sunshine. So you’ve read the directions? When I lived with my parents, we never went abroad at all. Do you think this is right? And then when I went to college, university… Wow, these are amazing, these houses. I started to explore, and I did the usual things, inter-railing, and I did the round-the-world backpacking. Excuse me, is this the right way to the beach? Yeah. Straight down, Sandy Lane, yeah? Thank you. And clearly I’ve moved up the luxury scale. I’ve seen it at the bottom, and I’m now having a taste of it sort of at the higher end. What’s it taste like? It tastes good, yes. I just like things to be neat and tidy. That’s all. Just neat and tidy and done properly, yeah. I don’t want to go back to work now. I want to stay here and have a swim. Is this where Simon Cowell lives? I don’t know. I think he comes here for Christmas, doesn’t he? Quite often. As soon as the X Factor’s finished. I’ve got three sisters, so there were six of us went on holiday. All piling into a great big caravan and a big car. And we used to drive down to Cornwall. Something always seemed to go wrong. There always seemed to be a car overheating or I remember the wheel came off the caravan once. So, yeah, we don’t go to the caravan anymore. So this is the private beach. For the people who own or stay in villas in the Sandy Lane estate, next door to us is the Sandy Lane Hotel. So I think it gets lots of celebrities, which is why there’s all these paparazzi here. What’s really funny is everyone’s now staring at us, thinking we’re somebody famous. Little do they know it’s Martin and Richard from Balham. At the colonial retreat in Kerala, guests are attended to by 180 staff. Hello. Hi. And as a regular visitor, Peter knows most of them. Ramesh is a very, very good gardener. Well done. Well done. I was very ambitious. I ran a company that produced workwear in corporate… clothing. And where do your ambitions lie now? Mine now? Keep breathing. I still miss work, but on the other hand, the evening that I concluded my work in life, I walked around the factory, got back to my office, and I said out loud, and now for the rest of my life. This morning, Peter’s decided to leave the resort. One needs exercise and there are things to see. Well, this is the real world. So you’ve got the resort with all its niceties and then this is the real part of India where people live. Hello. We’re not the people to sit in the resort and twiddle our thumbs or to read all day. We like to get out and we do get to know people. It’s making a bit of connection with people. Wait. He nearly got me. Hello. Would you like some sweets? Those? Would you like some of those? Yes? There we are. They are from England. I had three children within five years, so they were all little at the same time. Ta-ta, ta-ta. Do you miss your kids not living with you now? Yes, I do. There is an empty space there for a while, but they’ve been all able to share and enjoy the upbringing of their children. It’s a great responsibility, it’s a great financial responsibility. It’s not all about finance, it’s about love and care and so on. In our case, I provide the finance and Christine provides mainly the love and care, or provide in, past tense. For the past six years, Peter and Christine have been visiting 15-year-old Ashna and her family. Hold it, you’re going to give me a kiss? Yes. Thank you, thank you. How are you? Fine. I have a little gift. It’s hand cream. Thank you. For your hands. Thank you so much. Do not fight with your mother over which colour. No, no, no. That comes from a very big shop in England. I’m going to show you the shop. It says M&S. Here it is. And every city in England has one of those stores. Or what would you say to people who might say that’s slightly patronising to give presents to people? No, I don’t think it’s that. We don’t take presents because they haven’t possibly got any hand creams, for example. But we know they haven’t got an M&S. In the Indian way, it’s because the pleasure is for the giver. So you ask me what I get out of it, I get the pleasure of being the giver. It’s a nice drink, nice and cold. It’s nice and cold. See you next week. Have a great time. Two weeks. Two weeks. Yeah, two weeks. Have a safe journey. All right. Enjoy. Oh, you’ll see it all on Facebook, Keris. Katie’s first work trip is about to begin. Bye, home. See you in a week. She and Laura are leaving for Thailand. Everything that we do from start to finish, it will just be a wow experience. You’ll love it. She’ll love it. Morning. Hi, how are you? Yeah. Oh, this is so exciting. We’re going to Thailand. Yeah, right. This is awesome. What sort of holidays would you go on? We went down Cornwall and down south a lot when I was little, so I think I’ve just kind of, that’s how I’ve grew up with it, really. I’m all about a three-star all-inclusive every day. That or give me a caravan down in Cornwall. Bye. Give me a little tiny automatic car for a week. Sorted. Hi Laura! Katie and Laura are flying business class. Cheers babe! I hate you. Good night. Good night. Cheers. The first leg of their Thailand tour takes them to the tropical island of Koh Samui. Good afternoon Miss Long, I’m Jeff, the General Manager. So nice to meet you. Pleasure to have you with us. For the next two nights the girls are staying in a four bedroom villa that can cost at least £4,000 a night. Oh my goodness. Wow! Oh my gosh. I don’t know how you describe this right now, this is amazing. This, now this is luxury. Gorgeous. This is, look at the size of the pool. Oh my god. Wow. This is fab. Let me introduce you, this is Kun Oak. Oak will be your butler throughout your stay. Hi. So if you need anything, anything at all, whatever, you know, from making up the room, making your breakfast, organise your meal, buggy service, you just need to let him know. Thank you. Thank you so much. So long, Blanc. Where does the butler live then? All right, so the butler is actually staying underneath the living room, so they will be on standby for you 24 hours throughout your stay. Did you know that you would have your own butler? No. What do you think about that? It’s insane. Right, I’m just going to pop that there. Oh, thank you very much. Oh, we’re being spoiled here, aren’t we? This is my kitchen. Is there anything strange that people have asked you to cook for them? They just want to eat bat. Batman. Bat. So… One guest wanted to eat bat. Bat, yes bat, bat man. So we can, whatever they like, we can fry it for them. What does bat taste like? Chicken. Really? Chicken, chicken. You eat chicken, it’s better, believe me. I’ve got a few clients actually that I think would really like this. So now that I’m here, I can give them a call when I get home. See if they’re interested in this because this is amazing. That’s it now, anything after this will be slumming it. There we are. Five star. I can’t get over it. This is huge, it’s absolutely huge, it’s amazing. So obviously this is the main bedroom. I’m going to enjoy sleeping in that tonight. So this is kind of like all of the huge bathroom here. And then jacuzzi. And then an outside shower. But you’re now a five-star, Casey, aren’t you? I am five-star. I’m club, I’m five-star, I’m business. I’m here. I’ve turned left, officially, for everything in life. At the villa in Barbados, preparing breakfast for Richard and Martin takes a staff of three. They’ve been going on luxury holidays together since they met 16 years ago in London. Where did you two meet? So we were in the Lonely Hearts section of Time Out. In the classified section at the back of Time Out. And I’ve still got the Time Out magazine. What year is this? It’s 1999. Tall, athletic. Don’t, don’t meet it out. When Richard walked in, was it bingo? Richard ticks a lot of the boxes, yes. A lot? You mean all? Richard and Martin try to visit four countries every year and have now holidayed in over 70 exotic destinations. We’ve had a few cases actually when we’ve been away and we’ve checked. And the receptionist has said, now the booking is just one bed. Have we got that right? Well, I think we can help, you know, by just being not embarrassed and normal and straightforward and just get on with life, really. A lot of it with my parents was unspoken. We just didn’t talk about it. Ironically, actually, Richard has only met my parents about two weeks ago. For the first time. Why was that? I think I invented problems in my head that… and I thought, well, we’ll just maintain the status quo. They were nervous, I think, just waiting. What was really sweet was that my mother sent us a Christmas card. And it said, happy Christmas to both of you. And Martin’s dad was lovely, because I said, one thing you must not do is ever worry about Martin. Because I said, you know, we have a great lifestyle, and we, you know… And he said, that’s really nice to hear, and you look after him, and he’ll look after you. Yes, we’ve moved to the next level. We’ve turned a corner. On the work trip in Koh Samui, Katie and Laura have requested a fried breakfast. Oak, the butler, who lives below the villa, is also the chef. So his name is Airport. For you, for you. He’s been waking up this morning. His name is Airport? Airport, Airport. Yes, it’s a strange name because I met my wife at the airport. Your project. You keep in touch with your… your family on social media? Yes, social media. I try to tell my son, please understand me. I work for you. I work for our family. Yes, they understand. The work trip involves visiting nine hotels in seven days. It’ll be the longest Katie’s been away from her boyfriend. What did you want to be when you were growing up? Cabin crew. When I ended up meeting my boyfriend and then it got proper official and then we bought a house. I didn’t want to be away for hours and days on end. So I put my dream back for him. It’s all good. Thank you very much, David Asnell. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you, you’ve been so lovely. Thank you so much. Do you think you’ll marry him? Oh, aye. I’ve been telling him I want him to propose for ages, but he won’t do it. I said a Haribo ring will do, but… He said he won’t do that. Please come back again. Please, please. I said, please, bye-bye. Do you love him? Oh, of course. He’s my babes. In Kerala, Peter and Christine have chosen their favourite spot to eat, overlooking the freshwater lake. That looks nice. It’s good. You know, when you pay a high amount, definitely the expectation will go high. We will try our best to keep that up. level. Especially English kids, they don’t want any mosquitoes around. So we try to eradicate all this first side. Second thing is the level of service and the quality of food. English people are very easy to handle but they’re very fussy on their tea. The tea should be perfect. How long have you been married? We’ve been married for 54 years. Yeah. Look at these jackfruit. They’re massive things. That’s so heavy. What’s people’s normal reaction when you tell them that? They look at my wife and say, well, you don’t look old enough to be married that long. Steady. And then they look at me and just nod. It always looks like a Wild West carriage. Yeah. Isn’t it? Nutmeg tree without nutmegs. I was 19, she was 16. It sounds incredibly young now, but it didn’t feel like that at the time. Here’s the leaf picker-upper, keeping it all nice and neat. It’s a constant job. Very good. I was just fortunate that this very pretty girl actually fancied me. It’s quite a pretty flower, actually. I thought that. It’s quite delicate. And it’s the sort of thing my brother sells in his garden centre for perhaps three pounds a time. I mean, this must be half a million quid’s worth here. We were at a village hall and he was with another person dancing, thing. But somehow I just thought, oh, he’s rather nice. Was it love at first sight for you? It was, yeah. There was something about that man dancing with someone else that made me feel I wanted him all for myself. Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, is one of the most popular stopovers for travellers visiting Asia. Thank you. Hi, I’m Laura. Hi, nice to meet you. Hi, lovely to meet you. I’m Katie. Lovely to meet you. Laura and Katie have come to inspect one of the most exclusive hotels in the city. Wow. So we’ve actually booked you in our Grander Lock suite category. Thank you. It is gorgeous. A top suite here can cost £3,000 a night. I love this. This is amazing, isn’t it? It is. Right, we need to get ready. You think, well, the money they’re spending, in some cases, could be a deposit on a house, could be an actual house. It’s a lot of money that they’re putting down on one trip. All right, let’s go. So it needs to be right, and if they’ve got a list of things that has to happen, then we need to make sure that it does. So this is our Peninsula Suite. So this is around 364 square meters in size. It’s a two-bedroom suite, basically. This is our topmost suite that we call it. They will ask about an extra room for the nanny. Some will want a gym in their room. Some will ask about bodyguards. Rooms need to be private and on their own for certain celebrities. So there’s a lot of things that can be Quite important to clients in the luxury market. This area you would see a dining area and you also have a kitchenette because some of our guests would actually prefer to have their own chefs. We also provide butler service for all our theme suites. When I first started I had a gentleman call going, I’ve made this book and I would like to hire a yacht. I was like right okay, absolutely fine. Dive in, lie on that. And then I went back to him with a quote and he went, it’s not expensive enough. So I went okay, so what would you like to spend? He went, Well, I’ve got about £45,000 to spend. And that blew my mind a bit at that point, because I’m like, I save for two years to go on a grand holiday. The hotel boasts four fine dining restaurants with gourmet food from around the world. When a client spends that kind of money, they’re expecting a certain kind of standard. Here is our selection of seafood with some lobster, we have tiger prawn, we have three different kinds of oysters, all from Australia, different areas. They tend to be chefs that will be from all over the world, they’ll be able to create masterpieces, seven course gorgeous dinners, but it’s not just that, it’s about tailoring it to their needs, making sure it’s right for them. Can I get the chicken butt? I’m a really pussy eater. So can I get that with just like plain chicken and chips? With under… With like chips, like potatoes. Plain chicken with plain chips. Is that okay? It’s absolutely okay. Oh fabulous. Does anything faze you Katie? Food does. I’m just really worried with food. Thank you. What is your favourite food? Pizza, has to be. Pizza or cake. All the way. You know, luxury is about making clients happy. And if a hotel can look after them and not make them feel uncomfortable, then they’ve done their job right. We’re quite foodie, whiny people. A good dinner in the evening is quite important to us. We don’t dress up, but we wouldn’t go in in shorts and flip-flops, you know, we’d sort of put a shirt on, long trousers, and look forward to dinner. Hello. And, you know, dinner is sort of a highlight of each day really. We’re going to the Cliff restaurant, which is quite famous on the West Coast, and we’ve been quite lucky to get in on a Friday night. And we haven’t eaten all day, we just had breakfast. We deliberately not had lunch. Yeah, we’ve saved ourselves. That’s very smart, isn’t it? Hello, how are you? I’m very well thank you, Peter Harris, welcome. I love your decorations, they’re amazing. Well I knew you were coming, especially for you. How are you sir? Fantastic. The concierge team have managed to secure Richard and Martin one of the best tables in the restaurant. This is our nice romantic corner, is it? Now, who will be the wine connoisseur this evening? That’s him. That’s you, by popular request. Can we have something sparkling just to… Get going. As in a drink or in water? Oh no, as in a drink. As in a drink, okay. What would you like, some bubbly? Yeah, that would be good. I love these flames actually, don’t you? I think they’re great. That our first sight? Yeah, probably. Can I just ask you, the mahi-mahi, is that really a dolphin? No, it’s actually a dolphin fish. I couldn’t eat it if it was dolphin. Of course, we wouldn’t serve it. I don’t think you’re allowed to kill dolphins, are you? I can remember it so vividly. Walked into the bar and Martin was sitting at the back of the bar. I saw this picture with a bottle of wine and two glasses and I thought… Not only is he good-looking, he’s also got a bit of style to him as well. Oh, wow, here we go. Wow, what have we got? The swordfish. Oh, that looks amazing. Wow, that looks good. Thank you. He was late, actually. I’m always late. Look, we got on straight away. We, um… That was a good evening. Are you guys married? No. Do you think you will get married? Maybe. Good question, isn’t it? Now that I’ve got the problem with my parents out of the way, it makes life much easier. Well, I’ve always said that we wouldn’t get married unless Martin had told his parents. Well, you’ve told your parents now. I’ve told my parents now, yes. You’re not trying to force us into some kind of proposal, are you? Next year’s a leap year as well. Oh my God. What does that mean, a leap year? It means that the woman can… What does that mean in gay terms? It doesn’t mean anything, does it, in gay terms, no. But then you see, we’re not sure who should ask who. That’s the challenge. Tomorrow evening, Richard and Martin will be leaving for the island of Mystique. It is 5.40 in the morning. What on earth are we doing up at this time? Yoga on the roof. Wow. This is amazing. Wow. In Thailand, the hotel staff are ready to run any exercise class their guests desire. This is a once in a lifetime. How cool is this? Inhale. Exhale. I get up at about five every morning, go to the gym for an hour. No, it doesn’t look like I’m not a size zero. Do a workout and then head into work and I’m ready for half eight then. You’re very smiley for this time in the morning. Are you always this smiley? Of course, and Thailand is land of smile. What if you don’t want to smile? What if you’re in a bad mood? We have to understand that the guests would like to see our smile. Do you feel like a new woman? Oh, you can go here. Oh God. What do you enjoy doing for fun, Katie? Oh, my fun is chilling and doing nothing. Literally. I’m the most unexciting person you’ll ever meet in your life. At the weekends, I want to stay in bed until the afternoon, have a brew, sit on the couch. I might do a bit of gaming because I like to play Xbox. So what do you want to do with your life? I just want to enjoy it, really. You never know what the day’s going to bring. You just take what comes at you and just roll with it, really. I have bad days. But you just get over them, don’t you? You have a brew, have five minutes and then carry on. What’s your philosophy on life? You’ve got to make the most of it. You’ve got to make the most of every day. You’ve got to… You know, you’ve got to… Well, you’ve got to enjoy yourself. I was about 40 when I was diagnosed with cancer. They said it was quite serious. You know, doctors never say things are serious, do they? So you think, oh my God, it must be serious. Did you think you’d see 50? I wasn’t even sure I’d see 41 at the time. You’ve got to contemplate, this could be… This could be a… You know, I could die. And then I saw a fantastic consultant who said, well, the cancer’s been removed, and you’ve got an 80% survival chance now, and my job is to make that 80% go to 100%. And once I realised there was a good chance that I would get through it, it has made me think we need to enjoy ourselves, be supportive of each other, and get the best out of life. I think I make a good fist of it, yeah. Yeah, I try very hard to enjoy most days. Yeah. They’re going to come straight away. Goodbye to our lovely home. Yeah. Goodbye to our lovely stay. Yeah. We’ve really enjoyed it. We should have come for longer save a bit for next time. Yeah As this day is coming to an end Peter has organized a surprise for Christine They’re going to spend their last few days taking a romantic cruise aboard a traditional Carolyn houseboat You’ve got two swans Made of the Bastels. And what are they doing on Valentine’s Day? They’re either pecking one another to death or they’re kissing. It is extremely a luxury experience for the guest to be on board with three staff members, the captain and engine driver on the back, and the chef. Chef is going to be like a butler. So it’s going to be like king and queen. You’re gonna make me cry again, aren’t you? Peter romantic, Christine? Very. There’s always a spark though. You still got your spark? Yes. Absolutely. Definitely. Absolutely. It’s lovely. It may be chicken soup, but it’s chicken soup with a difference. Yeah? Richard and Martin are off on the second leg of their Caribbean holiday. A short flight to the private island of Mustique. A favourite with A-list Hollywood stars, the retreat costs £2,000 a night. Richard and Martin will be staying for ten nights. At Barbados airport, Karen’s on hand to give her clients a VIP escort through to departure. Oh really? We’ve only been here two days? You say all the right things. Wow, look at the airport, it’s packed. With thousands of passengers travelling before the Christmas break, today is the busiest flying day of the year. Richard and Martin have spent an extra £1,500 to travel in comfort. Mustique Airways, here we are. We chose to charter our private plane. I suppose we wanted it to be quite special. We didn’t want to have other people on the plane. Just to see that place again. It’s not busy here, is it? It’s busy over there. It’s nice and quiet, mustique. That’s what we’re going for, quiet. Tasha’s going to take you down to the aircraft. Are we going now? She’ll accompany you and see you right through. Really? So no queuing? Bye. You have a good Christmas. Bye-bye. One hour after Richard and Martin’s scheduled departure time, their private plane has yet to arrive. The flight can’t be cleared to come out of Masjid. We’ve got a congestion here. Too many planes. Yeah. This wasn’t supposed to happen this way, was it? Most people go with an expectation that they’re paying a good price, they work hard, they want to… A perfect holiday and they’re going to get one and more often than not they do. I mean inevitably things go wrong. That is the nature of life, that’s what makes life colourful and stressful. So we were at the gate, we sort of thought we were going and then they came up to us and said that we have to go tomorrow morning. Apparently it’s just so busy here. The planes can’t even land, that’s the problem. Hotels in Barbados are usually fully booked at this time of year. Despite that, Karen is expected to find somewhere for Martin and Richard to spend the night. Our clients expect to get what they want and they don’t take no for an answer and neither do we. If a room isn’t available, we make that room available because we say, come on, we’ve got this really important VIP, they need this room. I say try is not a word that the brain understands and neither is no. I treasured it. Is it good? Is it a good hotel? I’ll come down on the mystery road tomorrow morning. And I don’t want tomorrow morning either. OK. See you tomorrow. See you tomorrow. If they have to find us another flight or they have to book us in another hotel because we’ve missed a flight, we’d expect them to be good at that. It is disappointing. You’re paying extra money for that safety net. So what I need from you is your full name. Is it just one from two of us? Just one more for the two of you, yeah. I’m going to get the beds separated because they didn’t tell me anything. Oh, we’re okay. You’re okay? It was a nice big bed. Okay. Thank you very much. May hope you enjoy your stay with us. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Ooh, sea view. Where would you rather be, the villa or here, in terms of sea view? What do you think? What do you think? I said I wasn’t sure. You were lying. I was being very diplomatic. Who needs a butler? Who needs a butler? Katie and Laura are at the end of their Thailand research trip. Throughout their stay they’ve been sending regular updates back to Jen in the office. Look at this I feel like I’m with them. Oh she’s done a good job marketing will be chuffed. Look looks like she’s gonna topple over. It looks like they’re having a ball. Hello? Hello, is that Laura? It is. How are you getting on? I’m just checking in. I’ve just been looking at a picture of you at the top of the peninsula doing yoga at sunrise. How was it? Oh, it was amazing, wasn’t it? Katie, did you like the yoga, darling? I try my best at it. I’m not the most flexible person ever so… And the most important question of course Katie is, how’s the diet going? What are you eating? Are you eating chips with every meal? Nearly every meal! I’ve been quite good Jen, I’ve been trying. Katie tried some coconut chicken soup. Yeah, that was amazing. My goodness, you’re being exotic Katie, you’re a changed woman for life. I’ll definitely see you Monday then ladies. Safe travels, bring a bit of Thailand back to Chester for me will you please. With the congestion cleared, Richard and Martin are finally on their way to the exclusive island of Mustique. This is the time to fly. Are we flying today? Are you sure? Our plane has arrived, so we’re definitely getting to Mustique. Yes! Thank you very much. Woo! Hi, how are you doing? Guests are only allowed to set foot on the private retreat if they’re booked into one of the island’s boutique rooms. So you’re excited Richard? Really excited. From start to finish, perfecting Richard and Martin’s dream holiday has taken 15 people. Peter and Christine’s latest five-star tour of India is nearly over, but they’re already planning their next. We did say this time that perhaps India may be now our last holiday, but we arrived and within two days we were saying to each other, how could we possibly leave this behind and not come again? very nice room where the Prince of Wales stopped three years ago. Why did you think this time around it might be your last time? Well, I just think because we’re both in our 70s now, that 12 months is a long time and you don’t quite… now what’s around the corner we’ve got to get back up yet that’s easy bit 76 i don’t really feel old it’s only when i look in the bathroom mirror that i realize oh yeah i have got to that stage This man up here is cleaning his teeth, look, or he’s having a shave. Hi. We’ve gone round the lap pretty well. We’re now in the home straight, and the finishing tape is not too far away. Here’s the lady knocking the living daylights out of her washing. Do you ever think about the fact that you may not be around? Yeah, I do think about that, and in one major respect, and that is my wife. The lady here is submerged in the water. I know that she’ll be OK financially, but I know that she will be, to a degree, lost. Oh, Lady Fisher. She’s waiting for her supper now. She’s caught something. Oh yeah, she’s got a fish. It’s wriggling around. It saves going down to the supermarket. For me it would be difficult because he is my rock and I would find it very hard to adjust life without him. Life is finite. But of course, in saying it’s finite, none of us ever know when. Don’t do that! Come to bed, Martin. Welcome. Richard and Martin eventually made it to paradise in Mustique. This is heaven. Are you going to be able to cope with this, Richard, for Christmas? This is heaven. And Richard… Finally popped the question. What did you think when Richard proposed? I was a bit thrown because although it wasn’t a total shock, I wasn’t expecting it to happen on Christmas Day. So what sort of wedding are you going to have? I’d like something low profile, discreet, not too much fuss. And I want something big and flash. And brash. So we’ve got to have a compromise. And I’m not sure what that middle ground is, Richard, if I’m honest. Do ITC do weddings? Do you think we’re always going to need luxury tour operators? I’d like to think so. Perfect. Well, I’ll speak to you this afternoon, Nathan. Hopefully with some good news and a booking. We are a successful society and therefore people are always going to want the best of what the world can offer. Would that be something that you’re interested in? Are you interested in associating it and connecting it with a private Dan experience as well? It will always rain in Britain. Is it Lam Amunia that you’re interested in staying at? The weather will always be bad. Are they wanting Mahe or a private island? Therefore everybody’s always… always going to want holidays. I can see you’re flying into Barbados, so you’ll be staying there for the two-week duration. When I got home, I had lunged my suitcase in. I just looked at my boyfriend sat on the couch. I was like, you should be carrying this. Is it just basically a private airplane that you’d like to be able to use whenever you’d like throughout the two weeks, do a bit of island hopping? I am all right now, but the first week back, it was a bit like, oh, on Thursday, I’ll have to stand up myself.
17 Comments
Awesome
Well you see this does absolutely nothing for me. I do not like the activities of the rich tbh.
Что с человеком ни делай – он упорно лезет на кладбище …😢 М.Жванецкий .
That’s my dream one day one day
Con game island of the lonely…
There is an emptiness to these people. Where everything has less and less meaning to the point of meaninglessness.
frillionaires.
I was a 🇺🇸 travel agent in the 90’s and traveled to many places on familiarization trips, it was the highlight of that career until they kept all the commissions at 10% and we all lost our jobs
I like her i also decided not to need children. I love other people’s children and enjoy being able to do whatever I like.
Nope. Can't stand this. Stopped after 6 minutes. Ok to have lot of money; no need to throw it in my face
That was fun
Explain to me once again why we have world, hunger 😮 between this a Jeff Bezos, all the riches at the Vatican all the riches at the king and queen have all the riches that are American billionaires have why is that world hunger .
Millioners idiots people.
The frist half of this émission was ..?…up lifting , light and the people invouled we're interesting..where as the secound half just , well we're quite les interesting and fun to watch as the frist half of the show…but…everyone has their own opinions..l sincerely thank you for this émission..it was professionnel and , just for me , the first half was a real pleasure to watch..Thank you for this upload..🎉
I can enjoy this as much as anyone..
Truly 🙌 I'm happy to spend time with my cats
Each of us comes into this world with a longing to experience its beauty. Whether rich or poor, the true wonder of life lies in the scent of everyday living — in the warmth of backstreets and corners, in the joy of people laughing beneath a beautiful sky.
Even if I were a billionaire, during my moments of absolute freedom I would never choose to confine myself to a private yacht or retreat behind the sands of an exclusive beach. I would rather smile at the endless variety of strangers and embrace the warmth that only the shared world can offer.
No matter how breathtaking a private view may be, or how exquisite the service, such isolation remains a solitude of the soul — a Truman Show of one’s own making. Now I finally understand why so many of the wealthy are quietly unhappy.
humans are such a dissapointment,