The Hotel Inspector · S8 E6
Who'd A Thought It Guest House
Kent
This one survived. It remains in business.
The short answer
Now trades as 'Who'd A Thought It' champagne & oyster bar with boutique rooms; official site live with booking.
What happened on the show
Self-styled showman Joe had spent twenty-three years popping champagne corks at his family's eight-bedroom Kent venue, a champagne and oyster bar with rooms, aiming to bring four-star city luxury to the quiet countryside. His unique taste in decor, though, was not to everyone's liking, and Alex Polizzi had her hands full in series 8 trying to persuade him to make the place a little more female-friendly. A night in the so-called Champagne and Shoes room, complete with mirrored ceilings above the bed and a dance pole, made clear that Joe's naked ambition had overreached. The case was a battle between a proprietor's flamboyant vision and the broader appeal a viable hotel needs, with Polizzi pushing for restraint. Joe's flamboyant champagne-bar concept aired in November 2011, and the show returned in 2013 to a property that has since leaned further into his showmanship.
After the cameras left
Who'd A Thought It is still trading and, tellingly, has leaned into exactly the identity Joe cherished. It now operates as a champagne and oyster bar with boutique rooms, its official site live with a functioning booking system and current promotions as of 2026, in Maidstone, Kent, where Joe has run the eight-bedroom property for over two decades. The show returned for a 2013 revisit. Rather than sanding off Joe's flamboyance, the business seems to have found a market that embraces it, and it endures.
Location
Kent
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Sources
Confidence: high. Last checked 2026-07-19.