On a typical episode of Channel 5’s long-running series, The Hotel Inspector, award-winning hotelier Alex Polizzi checks into a bed and breakfast or hotel in a popular British location, is startlingly frank with the owners and comes up with a drastic action plan to help attract new customers. In the latest series, however, Alex left the UK’s holiday resorts behind, setting her sights on business in picturesque south-west France instead.
“This is a beautiful retreat in the Pyrénées,” Alex says at the start of the show. “There’s a lovely swimming pool and it’s all in the most immaculate taste. It sounds right up my street.”
Owners Mike and Joss Tucker, both 44, moved to Gaudiès in Ariège in 2014, after visiting the area with friends.
“There and then we started window shopping,” Joss says. “We met an agent who showed us a few properties and we carried on looking on their website when we got home. Within a week we had spotted the house.”
They put in an offer on the beautiful 200-year-old stone farmhouse straight away, moving in just a few months later.
“We didn’t realize just how spectacular the view of the mountains was until we walked through masses of brambles and overgrown trees and shrubs,” Mike says. “That was a really lovely surprise and it has since become a major selling point for us.” Although the house was habitable when they arrived, there was a large amount of work to be undertaken from tackling the garden to the rendering of the property and repairing the shutters.
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