ABC’s New Landmark Series, Grand Hotel Debuts on June 17th

Review by Luis Reyes.

Grand Hotel, the new ABC television series is a stunning cultural touchstone, defining representation and diversity on 21^stcentury America in this Miami set glossy entertainment soap opera.

Latinos as part of the mainstream American scene as depicted in this ground-breaking progra puts Latinos front and center of the American dream as owners of a posh Riviera Grand Hotel in glitzy contemporary Miami Beach.

Grand Hotel portrays Latinos as nuanced multi-dimensional characters if somewhat clichéd but surprising storylines that are usually reserved for traditionally white privileged characters on television. Grand Hotel centers on members of the Mendoza family who own the hotel, the staff that runs it and the explosive secrets that will come to play during the run of the series.

The diverse cast is made up of veteran actors and fresh attractive young talent who bring all the characters to life beginning with Oscar nominee Demian Bichir. He is a commanding presence as Santiago Mendoza who has lost his wife and is about to lose his hotel when he finds himself in debt to dangerous people. 

Roselyn Sanchez (Devious Maids) in a role worthy of her talent, as his “Trophy” wife Gigi, who proves to be as smart and manipulative as she is beautiful, captivates with her powerful portrayal. His daughter Alicia played by Denyse Tontz (The Fosters), recent business school graduate returns to the hotel to help out the family business where she is eager to share her ideas and confronted by her stepmother (Sanchez). 

Bryan Craig, (The Young and The Restless) plays Javi Mendoza, the physically handicapped son who is desperate to prove his worth. Wendy Raquel Robinson (The Steve Harvey Show) plays Mrs. P, the loyal human resources director who keeps an eye on all the employee doings.  Justina Adorno (Seven Seconds) and newbie Feliz Ramirez play the rival twin Mendoza stepsister. Shalim Ortiz (Lady of Steel) is the shady Mateo Also in a pivotal role is Lincoln Younes (Love Child) who plays Danny, a new employee who is trying to find out about his sister’s strange disappearance from the hotel. While singer/actor Jeancarlos Canela (who was also recently cast in Netflix’s The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia) has a showy scene-stealing role as a rapper called El Rey. 

Chris Warren Jr. (High School Musical franchise) is effective as a young employee as is Anne Winters (13 Reasons Why, Zac and Mia) as Ingrid the young maid who finds herself in an unwanted pregnancy and who seems will be the focus of much drama as the story develops.

Let me be clear, this is a sumptuous fantasy entertainment at its best. written with an understanding of the American-Latino experience, the scripts are smart, fast–moving have strong character interplay and are hip to contemporary culture. The storylines are full of plot twist and turns, with accessible characters that play out against a new young hipster millennial Miami Beach. Beautifully dressed, perfectly groomed characters abound.

Grand Hotel is based on Spain’s mega-hit Gran Hotel, a 20th century-themed soap, and this ABC network, English-language version was developed by executive producer Brian Tanen with a Hollywood Latino touch.

The Grand Hotel storyline is replete with well-rounded loving relationships, personal secrets and mysteries, romantic entanglements, and scandals. The writing staff consists of Ramon Campos, Gema R. Neira, Bob Daily, Davah Avena, Desta Tedros Reff, and Nicki Renna.

Much of the credit must go to executive producer Eva Longoria, who also directed an episode and appears in the drama as the deceased mother in flashbacks. 

The host of talented people who have contributed both in front of and behind the camera cannot be overlooked. They include cinematographer Alison Kelly, casting director Doreen Frankel and Sibby Kirchgessner, and production designer Stan Saklad among many others.  

Grand Hotel is filmed on location in Miami Beach’s world-famous resort hotel Fontainebleau Hotel, which was the location for such iconic movies as Goldfinger and Jerry Lewis’s The Bellboy and where iconic entertainers Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. performed.

Grand Hotel is the best new entertainment show on broadcast television and I urge you to watch. Be sure to make a reservation for Monday nights 10:P.M. on ABC beginning June 17 for Grand Hotel, you will not be disappointed with this summer vacation and you will become hooked.

I hope Grand Hotel becomes a popular rating winner and audience favorite with its 12 episode summer run and goes on to more episodes and a permanent network timeslot for a second season run and beyond. They don’t come any better than this.

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