Both TV series are about the lives of upper-class Europeans and their servants in the early 20th century in a prestigious residence (the residences are the titles of both series). If you've seen both, which do you prefer?
shareI've seen them both, plus Upstairs/Downstairs, a similar kind of drama. I think Gran Hotel was more exciting than all of them combined even having to watch it with subtitles. For one thing, there were the various murder mysteries with Inspector Ayala and his faithful companion Hernando, which was gripping and fun at the same time. Then the Spaniards, I've noticed, come up with some really despicable villains, which I don't recall Downton Abbey having although naturally they did have some nasty folks. Only Poldark seems to come close to Gran Hotel in characters you love to hate. Of course, that was the 18th century, but I had to bring it up since it's my latest obsession. ๐ As for Gran Hotel's being the Spanish Downton Abbey, I suppose with the storylines involving both the servants and the upper classes, that gives it a certain degree of similarity, but the tone is quite different. So what do you think? I know I was almost beside myself at the end of season two when I couldn't get season three of Gran Hotel on Netflix for six months. Downton Abbey rarely left me with such a fantastic set of cliffhangers as Gran Hotel did, aggravating as it was. ๐
shareI watched Grand Hotel after a recommendation for something like Downton Abbey. I loved GH, but I much prefer DA. It's one of my all-time favorite shows and it's better overall. GH started out very DA, but soon grew very campy and a bit silly, and sort of like Desperate Housewives. It relied on a lot of predictable twists (could someone be eavesdropping?) and then sort of became a comedy. GH is definitely addictive though, and I bingewatched the whole series in about a week! Still a good show, but not in the league of DA.
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Hmmm. I wouldn't say the last season of Gran Hotel was even sort of a comedy. It got really dark although it ended well. The second season had most of the humor, and I found it a great relief. By that time, I'd really gotten to know all the characters and had feelings about them, both good and bad. Yes, there was a lot of eavesdropping, but with all those halls and doors, that was understandable. Anyway, I'm glad I found it because it opened a door on a bunch of shows from Spain I had no idea existed. Now if I watch a Spanish movie or show, I often see actors I'm familiar with. Who knew that would ever happen?
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