Gracellie Hotel Isle of Isle of Wight meets The Hotel Inspector

At a special party in April, the hotel unveiled its fresh new look, a newly refurbished balcony (with enviable views of the English Channel), decorated rooms, and an upgraded kitchen and reception, as it celebrated the reopening of its restaurant.

One of the largest hotels on the Isle of Wight, with up to 50 rooms, its enthusiastic owners had spent three months hard at work, revamping in time for the summer season - and we can now reveal that it was with the help of The Hotel Inspector herself.

This week, in the second episode of the long-running tv series, Alex heads to Shanklin where, "12 years ago Philip spent a pretty penny on the 50 bedroom hotel, with a basement bar, restaurant, sun deck and pool."

Gracellie Hotel in Shanklin, Isle of Wight.

"With no prior experience running a hotel, over a decade later, even in one of the UK’s staycation hotspots, the hotel has only once made an annual profit.

"70 year old Philip now dreams of leaving the hotel to daughter Kelly and is determined to finally make it a success," says the show's synopsis.

Covid-19 and a poor reputation had compounded to pile on the pressure, so the Hotel Inspector steps in.

• Read more: 'Home away from home and no washing up' pledge as hotel restaurant reopens 
• Scroll down for how to watch the Gracellie on The Hotel Inspector

The Gracellie Hotel, Shanklin, Isle of Wight.

When we met her in April, Kelly Vincent, who has been co-running the Gracellie, on Hope Road, since 2019, told the County Press the venue has a new family-friendly and dog-friendly vibe for this year.

Situated on the Isle of Wight's coastal path walking route, breakfast, brunch, snacks, afternoon tea and events, including a steak night, were all on the menu.

Originally from tiny Whiddy Island (just 3.5 miles by 1.5 miles), off Cork, Ireland, Kelly's dad is its long-term owner.

Philip Wagstaff told us: "We're here for the long term. The Isle of Wight is stunning. No matter where you go there are some beautiful things to see and there are some beautiful people. We want to be part of it.

The Gracellie team are Kelly Vincent, Philip Wagstaff and manager Charlotte Corbett.

"We're hoping to get much busier. We want to give good value to our clients and we want people to think, 'That's a family hotel. That's a nice hotel.'"

Working with Alex, who has presented the Channel 5 tv show since 2008 and is herself a hotelier, the family have been working to turn around the fortunes of Gracellie Hotel.

• How to watch: Watch the show on Thursday night, at 9pm and if you can't watch is live CLICK HERE to watch on catch-up, after that.

In May, Gracellie scored the best mark possible - a five - for its food and hygiene rating, as the Isle of Wight County Press reported.

Yards from Shanklin's Gracellie Hotel is its enviable view.