Monica Galetti goes behind the scenes of the world's most amazing destinations

Thanks so much for speaking to me today Monica. I’m really looking forward to your next series of Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby. This is your fourth series now, but I want to go back to the beginning. How did this come around? We obviously see you mostly working with food on MasterChef, but have you always been passionate about travel too?

I've always loved to travel, equally as much as cooking. Travel was always a huge part of it for me. So when the BBC approached me to present Amazing Hotels with Giles Coren, honestly, it was a dream come true. It worked out quite well because my restaurant opening had delayed by three months. So I could fit the filming in for the first series.

I guess working with food makes you want to explore different cultures and travel more?

Naturally. That is why I love to travel. It's about the interest in the different cultures, and of course the style of cuisine comes into it.

I would say you have the luckiest job in the world, but you do have to work when you're at the hotels and by watching previous series I see you get really stuck in. Why is that important for you to do?

It certainly gives you a better understanding of what happens behind the scenes. You're not going to really understand the hotel and get a feel for what happens there or get to know the people that work there if you're just sitting by the poolside ordering drinks all day. Although, that does sound amazing.

When we were filming, the hotels were actually more appreciative of us making the show because we really do genuinely get stuck in. Also, we actually get to know the team much better. So it's almost like staying with friends because we spend so much time with everyone. It's actually a really neat thing to do.

At Wanderlust, we’re passionate about getting under the skin of a destination. Would you say you do this in your series?

Very much so. Sometimes it's really amazing when you get into these hotels and realise how in depth the design, or the sourcing of ingredients, or the interior is. We get to know the figures of how many guests they're getting to visit, and find out what sort of outrageous requests guests have, the really nosy bits. Then of course, if there's a bit of history behind it that's always interesting. For example, we were in Croatia and there was this beautiful old town there and the hotel had cleaned up its streets as part of its refurbishment. It's just wonderful.

Can you tell me a little about what we’ll expect to see in the first episode? I see you’re heading to Iceland…

The hotel is not one of the most glamorous ones, because it is more about the natural wonders that Iceland has to offer. But the hotel is lovely and comfortable, and it’s a hotel to go back to and unwind and recharge the batteries. Have a nice meal and a hot drink and then get ready for the next outdoor adventure.

[In Iceland] We go from horse-ride trekking to snorkelling in icy cold waters, where you come out and can’t feel your face because its frozen. It was also just so mad to see live lava flowing [from a volcano] and people can just walk right up to it. The elements are all there. Some mornings you can’t see your hand in front of your face, and then it clears up and reveals the most magnificent scenery around you. It's just wonderful.

I know in previous series you have come across a lot of eco-initiatives by the hotels. Are there any which impressed you in this series?

Yes, hugely so. Iceland being one at the forefront with renewable energy and natural resources. They have power plants producing electricity for the hotel. Also, the fact they could trap nitrogen and pump it back into the rocks in the ground, it's just phenomenal. Things like that they blow my mind, and you just wish more people would be able to access that kind of technology.

I also think what we're seeing worldwide is a lot of hotels taking initiative to support local as much as possible, finding better ways to use water, and to avoid plastic use. People are getting aware of sustainable tourism more and more so. It’s a good thing we can see happening throughout.

I think it [sustainability] has to go hand-in-hand with tourism. There has to be a way we can travel sustainably and protect the environment as much as possible.

I saw on your Instagram you shared a sneak peek of riding camels in Abu Dhabi's deserts in this series. How was that whole experience? Complete extreme of being in Iceland...

I know! The camels look frightening, but actually, they are so lovely and such wonderful animals. The one I loved kept putting his head next to my leg for a scratch behind the ear, and it reminded me of my dog that I was missing so much.

The heat was quite extreme. We had to do the filming either first thing in the morning and stopped in the afternoon for a couple of hours because it was getting up to 40 degrees, and then pick it up again at around 3pm. But for them, that was actually the cooler season, so 38 degrees is cool compared to 55 degrees, so they go out all day pretty much.

It was also just wonderful again to learn about a culture I’d not yet experienced, and of course the food there is just so exciting for me as a chef.

That leads me nicely to my next question, would you say the hotels you visit reflect the culture of the destination well?

More and more so. I thought in the Emirates they definitely did with their food. Croatia was also about sourcing locally - even I didn't know you could get white truffles in Croatia. And they just had beautiful seafood. Iceland was a bit more difficult as it’s in the middle of nowhere and had many international and American guests so they had to keep a simple menu that sort of pleased everyone, so it's not always easy to tick that box.

Obviously, the destinations you visit are wildly different. But are there any highlights or stand out experiences?

For me being out in the desert was very surreal to keep waking up to. And I mean, it's all you could see. It was just everywhere, and I've never experienced that. I just thought that’s the most amazing thing, and something to at least witness once in a lifetime.

I discovered Croatia, and I’m sort of annoyed that we’re going to share that with more people as I want it to stay a hidden gem. It was a place called Rovinj, and many people say ‘I haven’t heard of that’, but it’s such a beautiful part. It has a little old town that you can walk to within 10 minutes, and you feel like you’ve gone back in time with the pebble streets. It’s just gorgeous. So, the world is going to discover this little hidden gem. I should just tell people it’s the worst place to go.

Oh yes sounds awful! And you travelled during the coronavirus pandemic. How was that for you?

Of course we had to follow the guidelines. When the red list happened, we had to pull out of all sorts of countries that we were about to travel to. So, at first it was pretty much going to be the majority filled within UK and Europe. As everything started to open up, we managed to get out to Abu Dhabi, for example, which was a nice addition as we lost Jamaica which went on the red list at one point. We had to do a lot of tests because of the BBC are quite strict, so we were testing every day before filming as extra precautions. But it’s the price you have to pay to be out there.

I guess its nice for people to watch your show who are perhaps a bit hesitant about travelling at the moment...

Hopefully, and I think that's why the show was so popular during lockdown. People were remembering what it was like to be somewhere else.

If you had to recommend one place from the new series for our readers to go, where would you suggest?

I thought they were all quite wonderful for different reasons. Copenhagen has such a foodie hub around it. But the hotel was quite special in the fact that it was five-star luxury. An amazing spa, fabulous gym, and then you had this theme park. I know my daughter and her friends would absolutely love to go to with my husband. But it wasn’t a crazy, mad theme park. It's beautifully done and it’s 100-years-old, and apparently Walt Disney went there to get inspiration for Disneyland. It's got charm, it's got little stands, and there's an ice cream parlour there that was also 100-years-old. It was all just very beautiful, so that one was quite special.

Catch the new series of Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby presented by Monica Galetti and Giles Coren from Tuesday 30 November on BBC Two.