The series that transforms failing hotels continues. Alex Polizzi, whose family owns the renowned Rocco Forte group of hotels, is on a mission to change the fortunes of some of Britain’s most calamitous establishments. This week, Alex tackles a small B&B in a lighthouse near the Bristol Channel. The stunning building is let down by all manner of strange clutter and the rooms need a fresh look. Can Alex convince the reluctant owners to heed her advice?

Award-winning hotelier Alex Polizzi is on a quest to salvage some of Britain’s worst-run hotels and bed-and-breakfast establishments. As the granddaughter of Lord Forte and the niece of Sir Rocco Forte, Alex has all the industry experience and authority needed to turn flagging hotels into profitable ventures. She trained at the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong, worked for Marco Pierre White at the Criterion, and has done stints at Rocco Forte hotels in Cardiff, Rome and St Petersburg, as well as setting up her mother’s successful hotel, Tresanton, in Cornwall. She is now the proprietor of the prestigious Hotel Endsleigh in Devon.

This week, Alex visits the West Usk Lighthouse, a unique four-bedroom establishment on the edge of the Bristol Channel. Owners Frank and Danielle bought the lighthouse after seeing an advert in Exchange & Mart. Twenty years later, despite a base of loyal repeat customers, the business is barely keeping its head above water. “If we don’t get more money, a better turnover, a healthy profit, we will not survive,” says Frank. “I want to stay here and fight, if you like, for the survival of the lighthouse and my business.”

Alex is very taken with the hotel from a distance, but the approach to the lighthouse is unkempt and littered with building works. Once voted the most romantic B&B in Britain, the lighthouse has become a personal workshop and paranormal laboratory for the somewhat eccentric Frank. The interior boasts a weird collection of dusty bric-abrac, including a life-sized Dalek.

The bedrooms have also been subjected to Frank’s quirky brand of DIY, with miniature lighthouses and ships glued to the ceilings. “I don’t know what the hell is on my ceiling, but I don’t like it,” Alex says as she arrives in her room. “It just looks like it has been done by someone on very bad drugs.”

Frank admits that the guestrooms might not be the hotel’s most impressive aspect. “The ‘wow factor’ is normally the view, rather than the rooms,” he says. However, the part of the hotel with the best view is off-limits to guests. The Lamp Room is occupied by Frank’s experimental device for contacting the spirits of dead scientists.

A flummoxed Alex believes that the lighthouse has massive potential, but its gloomy, cluttered interior falls way short of its £130-a-night rate. She decides that Frank and Danielle need to update the rooms, finish the building projects outside and reclaim the Lamp Room for living, paying guests.

Alex returns a few weeks later to find that Frank is still having doubts about the Lamp Room. To convince him, Alex invites successful wedding planner Josephine Carter and her fiancé to tour the lighthouse. They both agree the B&B could be a very lucrative business, but only if the interior matches the stunning location. Alex then takes Danielle and Frank to see her mother’s luxury seaside hotel in Cornwall. The pair are soon inspired by Tresanton’s stylish nautical rooms and Frank finally agrees that transforming the Lamp Room is more important to the business than his paranormal investigations.

On her last visit, Alex is amazed by Frank’s improvements. With newly tidied grounds and a refurbished hallway, the B&B offers a much better first impression. The central feature of Alex’s scheme for the Lamp Room is a stunning glass floor, which is winched into place just in time for a champagne reception for some special guests.