The Hotel (Singaporean TV series)

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2001 Singaporean TV series or program

The Hotel

大酒店
Genre| Dramedy
Written by| Hong Xi 洪夕
周少文
Directed by| 黎致明
Starring| Edmund Chen
Ivy Lee
Chen Hanwei
Jacelyn Tay
Chen Liping
May Phua
Yang Libing
Country of origin| Singapore
Original language| Chinese
No. of episodes| 20
Production
Producer| 马家骏
Running time| approx. 45 minutes
Original release
Network| MediaCorp TV Channel 8
Release| December 2001 (2001-12) –
2002 (2002)

The Hotel (Chinese: 大酒店) is a Singapore Chinese drama which was telecast on Singapore's television station, Mediacorp, in 2001. It was released in December 2001 and was slated to be the blockbuster for the year 2001.[1] The series has been rerun on MediaCorp Channel 8 and also on AZN Television. It stars Edmund Chen, Ivy Lee, Chen Hanwei, Jacelyn Tay, Chen Liping, May Phua and Yang Libing as the casts of this series.

This series is unique as it has a large ensemble guest cast featuring over 95% of MediaCorp Channel 8 artistes appearing as hotel guests, including Zoe Tay, Gurmit Singh (Phua Chu Kang), Xiang Yun and many others. Most artistes' character names were similar to their own and, unusual for a drama series, their names were introduced on screen, not only in the credits at the end.

## Synopsis

[edit]

The Hotel revolves around a family-run business named Queen's Hotel which has been around for 2 decades. It is Christmas time and the staff are busy running the hotel and preparing for guests. Jointly run by Seto (Ivy Lee), her sister, Rainbow (Jacelyn Tay), brother, Ah Boy (Andi Lim) and sister-in-law Lychee (Yang Libing), their 3-star hotel goes downhill due to poor management. Alarmed at the poor financial situation, sleeping major shareholders and Emil (Edmund Chen) and his younger brother Sunny (Chen Hanwei) step in to salvage the failing business. Emil introduces a series of budget cuts, which results in friction between the brothers and Seto's family. He strives to instill professionalism and a customer-oriented attitude into his staff, but his straight-talking demeanour makes him much hated, especially by Seto.

Very different in character, Seto and Emil do not see eye to eye with each other on many issues. Emil however admires Rainbow's frankness and decides to court her. Seto, who deems men as good-for-nothings, is unexpectedly drawn to Sunny's manliness. Sunny and Rainbow are dreadfully worried about the affections of each other's elder siblings; they pose as lovers in order to fend them off. However, the two of them fall genuinely in love instead, leaving Seto and Emil devastated.

As fate would have it, a series of events in the hotel dissolves the animosity between Seto and Emil and they soon develop feelings for each other. However, pride prevents them from admitting their feelings.

Under Emil's management, the hotel business sees some improvement. A businessman offers to take over the hotel but is rejected by Emil as his beloved has a stake in it as well. Just as he finally decides to express his love for Seto openly, the hotel is served with a lawsuit by a mysterious lawyer who turns out to have a long-buried grudge against Emil and Sunny.

## Cast

[edit]

### Main cast

[edit]

Cast | Role | Description

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Edmund Chen | Emil Qin aka Email King | Hotel General Manager
Elder brother of Sunny
Ivy Lee | Miss Seto "Caidie" | Hotel Resident Manager
Elder sister of Rainbow
Chen Hanwei | Sunny | Front Office Manager
Younger brother of Emil
Jacelyn Tay | Rainbow | Public Relations and Purchasing Manager
Younger sister of Seto
Chen Liping | Pang Yuyun (Dodo) | Housekeeping Manager
Cousin of Seto, Rainbow and Ah Boy
Huang Shinan | Zhang Dage ("Tiger") | Supervisor of Maintenance
May Phua | Kitty | Hotel receiptionist
Andi Lim | Ah Boy | Hotel chef
Brother of Seto and Rainbow
Husband of Lychee
Yang Libing | Lychee | Hotel Food & beverage Manager
Wife of Ah Boy
Yao Wenlong | Dr Long | Hotel resident doctor
Brandon Wong | Ben | Hotel bellboy
Carol Tham | Judy | Hotel receiptionist
Raymond Tan | Joey | Hotel waiter
Zhu Xiufeng | Chen Lianfeng | Hotel housekeeper
Pei Xiaoling | Liu Ling 刘铃 | Hotel housekeeper

### Star appearances

[edit]

Episode | Artiste(s) | Role

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1 | Zoe Tay | Biyu 碧玉 | Seto's ex-classmate
Johnny Ma's first wife
Pan Lingling | Nancy Lim | Johnny Ma's second wife
Chen Tianwen | Raymond Boo | Johnny Ma's lawyer
Terence Cao | Johnny Ma | Plastic surgeon
Yang Tianfu | Brother Jie 杰哥 | Loan shark
2 | Huang Wenyong | Mr Goh | Hotel guest
Tay Ping Hui | Bill Fong | Travel magazine writer / hotel guest
Andrea De Cruz | Grace Wong | Bill's wife
3 | Gurmit Singh | Phua Chu Kang | General contractor hired by Dage
Li Wenhai | Mr Li |
4 | Chew Chor Meng | Fang Baiming 方白明 | Airline pilot
Joey Swee | Xu Qiqi 许淇绮 | Air stewardess
Liang Tian | Uncle Tian 田伯 | Fang Baiming's uncle
Yan Bingliang | Yan Jinliang 严金量 | Hotel's meat supplier
Huang Bingjie | Big Head 大头 | Airline pilot
5 | Zheng Geping | Tang Tiancai 唐天财 | Neurosurgeon
Childhood friend of Seto and Rainbow
6 | Yvonne Lim | Lan Chuping 蓝楚萍 |
Xiang Yun | Diana | Chuping's older sister
Roni | Mohamad Ali |
7 | Jack Neo | Liang Guoqiang 梁国强 | An acrobatic troupe
Mark Lee | Li Xiaohuang 李小煌
Henry Thia | Cheng Zhihui 程志辉
Patricia Mok | Mo Xuling 莫旭玲
Lin Yisheng | Lin Fengsheng 林丰盛 | Miss Seto's ex-boyfriend
8 | Sharon Au | Sharon | Rainbow's former university mate
Alan Tern | Wang Yafu 王亚复 | Sharon's fiance
Richard Low | Liu Tianyi 刘添益 | Sharon's father
Underworld boss
9 | Moses Lim | Nishimura Jumin 西村寿民 | Japanese hotel guest
10 | Cynthia Koh | Xu Yizhen 许宜珍 | A blind pianist
Deng Mao Hui | Liang Zihui 梁子辉 | Yizhen's son
Liang Weidong | Liang Ruidong 梁瑞东 | Yizhen's Ex-husband
11 | Huang Yiliang | Huang Zhongliang 黄忠良 | Taiwanese hotel guest
Tracer Wong | Wang Jinxiang 王金香 | Huang Zhongliang's wife
Priscelia Chan | Huang Xiaomei 黄小梅 | Huang's daughter
Nick Shen | Huang Dajun 黄大峻 | Huang's son
12 | Vincent Ng | Zou Dahai 邹大海 | Hotel bellboy
Wong Li-Lin | Lynn Song Leling 宋乐玲 | Movie director
Hong Huifang | Gong Jingfang 龚靖芳 | Lynn's mother
Ryan Choo | Chow Weng Foo 周文福 |
13 | Florence Tan | Chen Yunli 陈云丽 | Runaway Chinese bride
Cassandra See | Xue Aishan 薛爱珊 | Hotel guest
Robin Leong | Rob Liang Hanru 梁瀚儒 | Hotel guest
Andrew Seow | Chen Youyou 陈有友 | Yunli's fiance
14 | Fann Wong | Rose 玫瑰 / Ye Xiaofang 叶晓芳 | Hotel guest participating in an auction
Xie Shaoguang | Xu Wenguang 许文光 |
Zhou Quanxi | Gilbert |
Ye Shipin | Ye Guopin 叶国品 |
Pierre Png | James Poon |
15 | Dasmond Koh | Yang Maorong 杨茂荣 | Architect
Hotel guest
Aileen Tan | Yang Ruizhen 杨瑞贞 | Yang Maorong's older sister
16 | Christopher Lee | Shawn |
Huang Biren | Huang Yiren 黄伊人 |
17 | Jin Yinji | Dr Jin 金医生 | Lychee's gynaecologist
Penny's mother
Emil's godmother
Lin Meijiao | Penny | Emil's old friend
Hotel guest
Rayson Tan | Chen Yiming 陈一鸣 | Penny's husband
Carole Lin | Lin Peipei 林佩佩 | Chen Yiming's secretary
18 | Qi Yuwu | Qi Weiwu 戚威武 | University students / hotel guests
Vivian Lai | Lai Meiling 赖美伶
Fiona Xie | Zhuang Xinyu 庄心瑜
Huang De Yuan | Huang Yiyuan 黄逸远
Chen Guohua | Xie Jiehua 谢杰华 | PI hired by Xinyu's dad
Mai Haowei | Zhuang Qianwei 庄谦为 | Xinyu's dad
Li Nanxing | Cloudy | Rainbow's online friend
Later Dodo's admirer
19 | Chen Shucheng | Richard Lee | Business partner
Chen Huihui | June Tay | lawyer
20 | Fang Hui | Helen | Seto and Rainbow's mother
Jeff Wang | Jeff | Hotel guest

## Reception

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Lionel Seah of The Straits Times wrote that while the show is an "ingenious idea to feature over 90 artistes", but criticised the "bad" acting, "funereal" writing, "cartoon-like and two-dimensional" characters, "bogus" plots and "sad" jokes.[2]

Yeoh Wee Teck of The New Paper wrote that the performances "punctured any hope that The Hotel was going to be a series of high calibre."[3]

## References

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1. ^ 庄致颖 (23 November 2011). "阿哥阿姐《大酒店》中抢镜". Lianhe Wanbao. Singapore.
2. ^ Seah, Lionel (12 December 2001). "Welcome to Hotel calamity". The Straits Times. Singapore.
3. ^ Wee Teck, Yeoh (7 December 2001). "Visit The Hotel? No thanks". The New Paper. Singapore.

## External links

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* "The Hotel". Archived from the original on 21 January 2008.
* The Hotel on Mediacorp website
* Theme Song on YouTube

*[No.]: Number