Alex Polizzi is The Hotel Inspector, charged with turning around the fortunes of ailing hotel businesses, making them into Holiday Heaven instead of Hotel Hell.
She has also appeared as The Fixer on the BBC, sorting out the problems in family-run, small businesses.
Alex comes from a long line of hoteliers – her mother, the hotel designer Lady Olga Polizzi, is the sister of Sir Rocco Forte.
After reading English at Oxford University, Alex trained at the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong, worked for Marco Pierre White at the Criterion and then worked at various Rocco Forte hotels around the world.
Alex and her mother are the proprietors of Hotel Endsleigh in Milton Abbot, near Tavistock in Devon. Before taking over and stamping their mark on the Endsleigh, Alex and Lady Olga Polizzi had already launched the highly praised Hotel Tresanton in St Mawes, Cornwall.
Their third hotel ‘The Star’ in Alfriston opened in 2021.
The Star was originally a religious hostel built in 1345, to accommodate monks and pilgrims en route from Battle Abbey to the shrine of St Richard, patron saint of Sussex, at Chichester Cathedral. At one point Alex’s grandfather Lord Forte also owned the hotel.
It has won several prestigious accolades, notably being named “Best Hotel for Walkers” at the 2025 Good Hotel Guide Cesar Awards. It was also recognized as one of the Top 50 Boutique Hotels in 2025 and featured in The Times’ list of The Best Hotel in The South East.
Eric Sabourin from Falcon Vintners joins Alex Polizzi to dive into her background and how she built her career, where likes to go on holiday and everything she loves about Clapham.
Eric Sabourin
Eric hails from Montreal, Canada and settled in London in 1992.
After a brief stint in the restaurant sector, he launched Falcon Vintners in 1995 which has become one of the leading fine wine specialists in the UK for Italian wines and boasts a broad selection from around the world. His everyday tipple is usually a Langhe Nebbiolo whereas a top Burgundy or Barolo will feature on special occasions.
Included in your ticket price, we will be serving tea and cakes along with a glass of bubbles. All proceeds from ticket sales are in aid of Omnibus Theatre, as we are a registered charity and we receive no government funding or statutory support.
As part of our raffle, Alex Polizzi is offering lunch for two at The Star Hotel.
