Basil is a
snobbish,
miserly,
xenophobic and sexually repressed
paranoiac misanthrope who is desperate to belong to a higher social class. He sees the successful running of the hotel as a means of achieving this ("
turn it into an establishment of class..."), yet his job forces him to be pleasant to people he despises or aspires to be above socially. His unstoppable wife
Sybil will often get in the way of Basil's treatment towards the guests, often trying to bridge the peace, or pick up the pieces, to quite limited avail.