A GATESHEAD hotel was the star of the show on this week's Channel 5’s fan-favourite The Hotel Inspector.

Hotelier Alex Polizzi paid a visit to hotel-restaurant Michelangelos in Ryton on the hit show on Thursday, causing the hotel’s website to crash after an influx in demand.

The hotel and restaurant first appeared on the show in 2019, but Alex revisited the establishment on Thursday (August 4) night’s episode to see how brother owners Paolo and Giacomo Pieri had got on since her last visit.

When the show first aired last year, the brothers had recently faced a cancer battle, the death of their mother and were struggling to make any money from the hotel side of the business.

They were £500k in debt and were spending seemingly every waking moment trying to keep the business afloat.

But the 10-bed hotel was struggling along with around 30 percent occupancy and the décor left much to be desired with Alex slamming the “s*** brown” paint on the walls.

Hexham Courant: The Hotel Inspector is known for being tough on hoteliers. Picture: CHANNEL 5The Hotel Inspector is known for being tough on hoteliers. Picture: CHANNEL 5

Having revamped the rooms during lockdown, expanded with a new function area and overhauled the entrance bar, the pair were delighted to show Alex their work.

Owners Paolo and Giacomo told the programme how they’d refurbished the hotel during lockdown while keeping the business afloat through takeaways, and switched to a new online booking system.

They said: “We started with the takeaways and never stopped. We worked seven days a week throughout.”

Paolo added: “I just cannot wait for Alex to come and see this place. She’s going to die.”

And the famously-hard-to-impress hotelier was delighted with the transformation exclaiming: “Wow, this looks unbelievable, I can’t believe it. It’s great!”

The hotel is now also hosting weddings with the owners telling they had 24 booked in this year.

Fans of the show were also clearly impressed by the Gateshead establishment’s transformation, with the website inaccessible on Thursday night after it crashed because of demand.

Commenting online one viewer said: “Wow, just amazing what you two brothers have achieved, and what a difference.”

After the show, the owners used their Facebook page to thank customers for their support.

A post made on Thursday night read: “Thank you so much for all your wonderful comments!

“We are extremely proud of what we have achieved so far and we couldn’t do it without all of your fabulous support.”