Familiar Killyclogher face returns to TV screens in luxury hotel series

A KILLYCLOGHER man who works in a prominent position in the North’s hospitality sector will be returning to our TV screens next week.

From a well-known local family, James McGinn became a familiar face in households across the North after his starring role in the BBC fly-on-the-wall documentary series, ‘Lobby Lives’, nearly 20 years ago.

Now, occupying a senior role within the Hastings Hotel Group, Mr McGinn will be seen once again on local screens in a new show due to start on Monday night on BBC One NI.

‘The Hotel People’ is a warm and invitational six-part observational series following the team at the North’s largest family-owned luxury hotel chain, as they try to bounce back from some of the toughest times the hospitality industry has ever faced.

In this series, beginning on BBC One NI on Monday, August 22 at 10.40pm, staff at all levels in four of the group’s hotels will be followed as they pull together to navigate this new post-Covid version of hospitality.

We see housekeepers trying to keep hundreds of rooms spotless while tackling bogus bedbug claims, bar staff hoping to win the Instagram crowd with killer cocktails, and chefs delivering high-end banquets for hundreds while mending wobbly wedding cakes to keep a big day special.

General manager at the Europa Hotel, and also the group’s director of hotels, during the series, Mr McGinn, is seen celebrating his own personal milestone of 25 years at the hotel group.

A passionate perfectionist who spends almost every hour at work, he worked his way up to Director of Hotels, supporting his team of managers, while coming up with plans to ensure not just the hotels’ survival, but their development and continued success.