News

Munich, 19 Nov 2012. British media has praised Beta Film’s lavish drama series Grand Hotel as “Spanish Downton Abbey” (“Daily Telegraph”, “Sun”). The series, which debuted on Sky Arts on November 18, is set in 1905 and features extravagant sets and costumes, as well as intricate storylines, which have led to comparisons with ITV's Downton Abbey, currently aired in its third season. The film and TV guide “Radiotimes.com” sees a “hunger for Downton” and a “Downton Effect, (…) creating an entire upstairs/downstairs period drama industry” that also puts Grand Hotel in a line with the BBC America drama series Copper and Titanic: Blood and Steel by Italy’s De Angelis Group. “ATVtoday.co.uk” refers to Spanish newspaper “El Periodico,” labeling Grand Hotel as “the television sensation of the year.” “Sun” quoted channel director of Sky Arts, James Hunt, who described Grand Hotel as “one of Spain’s finest period dramas”. And “Radiotimes” compares the “real star of Downton Abbey” - the resplendent “Highclere Castle” - with the “sumptuous Palacio de la Magdalena that steals the show in Grand Hotel. Originally built as a seasonal residence for Spain’s royal family, its majestic turrets and immaculately manicured lawns overlook the bay of Santander.”
Grand Hotel has been the recipient of a variety of Spanish National TV Academy awards including best actress for Concha Velasco, Best Director of Photography and Best Set Design for a drama.
The series follows the story of Julio, a young man determined to discover the truth behind his sister’s mysterious disappearance from the Grand Hotel, where she had been working as the head chambermaid. The dashing and handsome Julio infiltrates the luxury hotel in the guise of a footman and begins his investigation into the bizarre array of guests, inhabitants and workers of the hotel. Grand Hotelgra (25xone hour), starring Adriana Ozores, Yon Gonzalez, Concha Velasco and Amaia Salamanca, was produced by bamboo producciones and Antena 3.