Grand Hotel

Grand Hotel was a soap that premiered in the summer of 2019 on ABC. Grand Hotel was based on the Spanish series Gran Hotel. Grand Hotel lasted one season and had 13 episodes. It was about Santiago Mendoza, who along with his wife his second wife Gigi Mendoza ran a hotel in Miami, Florida. It was a soap that followed the inner workings of a hotel. It was cancelled due to low ratings.

Grand Hotel was a fun soapy summer show. I had a feeling it was going to get cancelled. Sometimes when you watch a show, you just know that it won’t last. I would have been more surprised if Grand Hotel had gotten renewed. It may have had low ratings, but I think it could have lasted as a summer series. I am not sure how the streaming numbers factored in. ABC made the decision to cancel this a month after it aired its finale. I would also think if Grand Hotel had set the streaming world on fire, it would have gotten renewed. Grand Hotel ended on a cliffhanger. In this case it really should have continued to be able to resolve it. More on that later.

Grand Hotel had an ensemble cast. The show starred Demian Bichir as Santiago Mendoza, Roselyn Sanchez as Gigi Mendoza, Denyse Tonts as Santiago’s daughter Alicia Mendoza, Bryan Craig as Santiago’s son and Alicia’s sister Javi Mendoza, Wendy Raquel Robinson as staff manager Helen Parker, Chris Warren as Helen’s son and waiter Jason Parker, Lincoln Younes as the new hired waiter Danny Garibaldi, Shalim Ortiz as Santiago’s right hand man Mateo, Anne Winters as housekeeper Ingrid, Feliz Ramirez as Gigi’s daughter Carolina Renna, and Justina Adorno as Gigi’s daughter and Carolina’s twin sister Yoli Renna.

There are spoilers from this point on.

Grand Hotel had a mystery. During a hurricane line chef Sky Garibaldi disappeared. Sky was played by Arielle Kebbel. From the start of the series it was revealed that Danny Garibaldi took the job at the hotel so he could find out what really happened to his sister. The mystery was resolved by the end of the first season. As with any soap, things got complicated. Danny got involved with Santiago’s daughter, Alicia. Eva Longoria played Beatriz Mendoza in flashbacks. She was Santiago’s first wife and the mother of Alicia and Javi. At the start of the series Beatriz was dead. There was a lot of tension between Alicia and Javi and Gigi once Gigi married Santiago becoming their stepmother. Gigi was Beatriz’s best friend before marrying Santiago. For a soap about a family owned business there is bound to family drama. Look at Dallas.

The series had its fair share of twists and turns and romances. The series ended on a cliffhanger. Obviously, there were plans for additional seasons. This was not announced as a limited series. The series ended with Santiago getting shot by an unseen shooter. The mystery was who shot Santiago as well as if he was going to survive. I think it is safe to presume he probably would have lived if the show kept going. They could have decided to be daring and kill him off. I don’t know how much risk the show wanted to take when it came to big twists like that. Dallas never killed JR Ewing no matter how many times he was put in jeopardy. He was shot a lot also.

Grand Hotel was a fun show that I wish got to continue. It seems now a days there are not many primetime soaps anymore. If Grand Hotel had taken the world by storm it would probably be on now. If it were still running it would be in season 5 by now. It had a great cast, and it would have been interesting to see how the series could have evolved. Anything is possible but I don’t see a revival happening. It’s already been four years. If it were going to be saved by another network or streaming service it would have happened by now. On the plus side the cast has gone on to do other things. Rosalyn Sanchez currently stars on Fantasy Island. Demian Bichir has been doing movies including Chaos Walking and Godzilla vs. Kong. Brian Craig has done more television including Good Trouble. Wendy Raquel Robinson currently stars on The Game.

Grand Hotel had a lot of potential if given a chance. If it started out on streaming maybe it would have had better success. It still is a fun show and one that if anyone who likes fun soaps, I would recommend checking it out. It currently streams on Hulu.