Hotel Impossible - General Discussion

[tgp1994]

Oh... So essentially he was reading off his credentials, but no big hotels are necessarily featured in the show then?

 

That's sort of a bummer... I was reading reviews of a four/five star hotel in Chicago that Anthony supposedly visited on this show, I can't think of the name of it though...

[Galloway Cave]

 

Oh... So essentially he was reading off his credentials, but no big hotels are necessarily featured in the show then?

Yeah, just listing his credentials. He only spends a week (actually less, with the filming schedule the way it is) at each site and the budget is limited and paid for by the production company, so we will never see any big-name hotels getting a make-over. Anthony has also made it clear he wants to help out the mom-and-pop places (or places deserving of help) that we see on the show, places that may not have the money or expertise to come back from the brink.

[tgp1994]

Ok, thanks for the info!

[Wings]

I just discovered this show and have only watched 3 episodes.  It needed a bigger budget.  It has a Trading Spaces feel to some of the renovations!  I will keep in on my DVR.  It is an "I can't sleep at 2 am show."  

Edited May 12, 2015 by wings707

[Wings]

I just discovered this show but my DVR search did not bring it up.  When does it usually air?  I caught some re runs this morning.  

[silverspoons]

I just discovered this show but my DVR search did not bring it up.  When does it usually air?  I caught some re runs this morning.  

The new season starts in September so I think right now reruns are just kind of random filler. It usually airs on Mondays at 10 or 11pm (MST).

[auntjess]

I just checked, and he posted the morning, 5/12, that there were reruns on this morning.
Best bet ito set the DVR, because so far, it always seems to be on the Travel Channel.

[SpaghettiTuesdays]

The new season comes out in September, per Anthony's facebook page. I'm very excited! Looks like they found another syringe...

[califred]

I enjoyed last nights episode. Although a quick read of Trip Advisor says the hotel they changed the name of us still not doing great.

[NowVoyager]

I enjoyed last nights episode. Although a quick read of Trip Advisor says the hotel they changed the name of us still not doing great.

The "Route 66" episode was weird because the host was so complimentary to the hotel proprietors. I took it as a charitable gesture to try to help a struggling economy. Did he really say the new children's play area cost $42,000??? There was that cool train & everything, but damn! What kinda budget is this show working with? Hmm, "show me the receipts..." (RIP, Whitney Houston)

[califred]

I thought just the train was 42k.

[SanDiegoInExile]

I enjoyed last nights episode. Although a quick read of Trip Advisor says the hotel they changed the name of us still not doing great.

 

I thought it was dreadful. 36 minutes of show = roughly 9 minutes for each property and 9 minutes of trite, silly, juvenile travelogue (burro city, infomercial for RV company).  I doubt the former brothel would have passed Anthony's test in past seasons. Cluttered, dingy-looking, and tacky.  And golden apple pie? Apple pie is hardly indigenous to the Arizona Desert.  Might be a great marketing tool for a northeast inn/restaurant, but for a roadside tourist restaurant in AZ?

[auntiemel]

Has Danielle been on this show before, or is she new to HI? This show really does treat HGTV Design Star as the farm team. :)

[auntjess]

I enjoyed the Rt 66 rpisode.
It's a change from the ususal, and I wouldn't want Anthony to do lots of feel-good episodes, but showcasing and helping people who were doing their best, was a nice way to kickoff the season.

[potatoradio]

 

I thought it was dreadful. 36 minutes of show = roughly 9 minutes for each property and 9 minutes of trite, silly, juvenile travelogue (burro city, infomercial for RV company).  I doubt the former brothel would have passed Anthony's test in past seasons. Cluttered, dingy-looking, and tacky.  And golden apple pie? Apple pie is hardly indigenous to the Arizona Desert.  Might be a great marketing tool for a northeast inn/restaurant, but for a roadside tourist restaurant in AZ?

 

Me, too. And I generally like HI and AM. This one just felt too unfocused and like one big plea for everyone to save Route 66. AM didn't get a chance to really pinpoint what was going wrong - just picked out obvious fixes and gave away a lot of stuff. It could have been interesting - I'm all about saving historic icons, but this was weak. Hope the show gets back to what it does well next ep.

 

And WTF with the super expensive apple pie gimmick? That's not saving Route 66 for the average American family, that's giving rich hipsters a shiny new "gotta have" toy. 

Edited September 3, 2015 by potatoradio

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Rt. 66 ep was a super cheap ep for production.  That's why they did it.  It was nice, though, to see AM dealing with folks he genuinely respected.  Basically, it was a free ad for the featured properties.  

 

The flop house ep was bad.  Really bad.  That was as hopeless as just about any ep in the series.  Odds that the lady takes the e-Cornell classes?  

 

I hope the next ep is more about the promise of a jump start than the empty promises of so many of these eps.

[tabloidlover]

Maybe I'm a sap, but I'm extremely hopeful she takes the courses and betters herself.  I realize they felt they needed to acknowledge Tim's death, but I wish we had a true update of the hotel.

[califred]

The crappy "owner" of this hotel has no business owning anything. I do think she was a figurehead for whoever actually owned the place.

How had the fire department not inspected in that long? How is this place still open?

[SpaghettiTuesdays]

How had the fire department not inspected in that long? How is this place still open?

I have no idea. I thought there were laws? The follow up did say they received tons of citations. I really hope people aren't staying there and the whole place is just buldozed. Not a healthy or safe environment for anyone. And when they added the security system, those shiny new cameras looked so out of place on the old, dingy, dilapidated building.

 

I also thought she was rather dimwitted that she thought her excuses of "I didn't know" would work. I can see how she might not know about the bees being as bad as they were, but I guarantee she knew about everything else. The mold thing was terrible. I don't see how anyone could stay there for more than a few minutes, let alone a week or whatever for vacation. I would've slept in the car over that.

Edited September 18, 2015 by SpaghettiTuesdays

[auntjess]

I don't see how people weren't sick more.
And even in Florida, they had to fix a shitload of things, which tells you how bad it was.
But the whole episode, I kept thinking that Mike Holmes should have been there, because the place would have either been evacuated until an abatement company had gotten rid of the mold, or the workers would have been wearing respirator masks.

[nottopbravo]

All I can say about the last episode is: Yay, Anthony !

[SingleMaltBlonde]

Q:  Were they "Killer Bee's" or do you have to have an allergy?  I wouldn't stay there...but a will call Hyperbole on the "Killer Bee's"

[hatchetgirl]

The 2 most recent episodes...

Ugh bed bugs! Criminey, what a nightmare! When AM said "what if a 5 yr old is shot?" And in thinking "what if she were raped!" No background checks? And how could they do that to the gm? What a huge mess.

That gigantic hotel in Orlando! Argh, mold, bedbugs and killer bees! Shudder. I knew that lady was lying about having millions to spend on the hotel. The ending notes reeked of payoffs.

[silverspoons]

Last night they showed the episode (Cedar city) my husband volunteered on. The episode events were shown out of order, most likely to create a storyline. I'm not sure why they had to do this. Basically several days before they started filming they asked for volunteers. There were ads all over southern Utah. We live about 60 miles from Cedar City and saw a local news website advertising for help and my husband drove up (honestly more to see how the show was filmed). My husband responded to the ad and he had a time early in the morning 3 hour time slot. The volunteers were there when Anthony arrived. He went and met with the owners and then met the volunteers. I didn't get that last minute meeting with the home builders association? By that time the volunteers had been working for 36 hours straight.

 

There were over 1,000 people volunteering including the local college sports teams and students (I'm surprised he focused on just Shakespeare festival when SUU, is a growing university and has offered out of state students in state rates which has brought students from neighboring states. Cedar City population is 29k and SUU has 8k students, many students looking at the college or families visiting the college need lodging). There was no surprise about the mortgage , that was a storyline. I was kind of sad they could not have shown a small city that has a growing college and a man that wanted to make the city alive again, instead of fake drama about mortgage or needing last minute help.. The owner, who I believe took on more then he could handle is SO right. Both St George and Cedar have nothing to do in their downtown. There is nothing for college students, kids, families, and I applaud his vision but it will likely never happen.

 

I didn't think the renovation except the lobby was all that good. I still would not stay in one of the rooms. I'll admit I'm a hotel snob and between Vegas and SLC there are not many hotels I would consider along 1-15. the hotel is still in a dead location, that is dark at night with not anything close, like food, entertainment, parks etc. The rooms are still basic. I know there is a market for clean basic rooms and a decent breakfast. The Shakespeare festival is only a few months of the year. That is why I thought he should have created family rooms for people traveling to see the college or going to the national parks. I have a son and a daughter and now that they are older, it is so hard to find a room or suite in Utah with multiple beds or 2 bedrooms. the Hyatt and Hilton built a lot of nice hotels in Northern Utah but almost all are king suites. Even the Marriotts have only a 3-4 rooms for families.

[nottopbravo]

Anyone catch the update at the end of the show?  I missed it.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Thank you, Silverspoons!  You totally confirmed my suspicions.  You also confirmed how fairly awesome the folks there are.  :)

 

I am sick of the trope, and the easy fix, that an updated web site is to this show.  What's next, a hamburger upgrade on the menu of the adjacent restaurants???  ;)

 

Other than the shenanigans of the volunteer timetable, the biggest issue I had was AM's constant harping about misplaced money on the public space as opposed to individual rooms.  What rot.  What a lie.  The labor alone for rehabbing even the 17 rooms would be crazy expensive.  Did you note he minimized the changes to the rooms?  Did he not touch the bathrooms?  Sure he didn't.  I saw brand new flat screen TVs, too.  Given the excellent result with the entrance and breakfast area, it was absolutely the correct place to begin the rehab.

 

Speaking of the bathrooms, when is the last time you saw him completely ignore them on his first look/inspection?  Why do you suppose he did that here?  Because he knew full well he wasn't going to do anything big to them.  Yet, he needed to present the rooms as Class A at the reveal.  I don't know how the bathrooms were/are.  I'd bet everything they were, at a minimum, dated as heck, badly needing new fixtures.  

 

I saw a few reviews on Trip Advisor and they were pretty good from folks who had a newer room.  Of course, they were selling the old ones, too, despite AM's admonitions.  They are rated horribly.

 

The update at the end said revenue was up 20% and the owners are optimistic they will be able make their mortgage payments.  

[Lonesome Rhodes]

The drunk ep in Hershey was actually one of the better intervention shows I've seen.  The drunk was refreshingly up front and honest about his lack of willingness to get sober.  Unfortunately, AM refused to accept truth and had to show us all how much he caaaaaaaares about evvvvvvvveryone.  I'll ballpark the giveaway by the rehab center at a minimum of $15K, more likely it was $25K+.  But, who gets all the credit in the eye of the viewer?  AM!

 

I smell something akin to the foul odor we learned about on AM's first day.  That property had to have some long term structural and maintenance issues.  The attention to landscaping and housekeeping was amazing.  What issues were there?  Outdated furniture?  That ain't it.  Rooms that clean in a charming property would not drive away business.   They pay for housekeepers but no desk personnel?  We were not given the straight deal on this one.

 

I'm ready for a good old fashioned HI ep.   

[nottopbravo]

This episode turned out to be a waste of time for everyone involved. 

 

Checking out of rehab early, and the new manager quits her job?   Well, at least Anthony tried.

[walnutqueen]

I feel bad for Grandma.  She deserves some peace.

[califred]

Was there an update at the end I missed? Him leaving rehab seemed obvious. My DVR cuts off the end of things sometimes

[walnutqueen]

Was there an update at the end I missed? Him leaving rehab seemed obvious. My DVR cuts off the end of things sometimes

 

The son left rehab a week early and returned to the motel.  The new manager quit the next day.

[psychoticstate]

I felt so sorry for Grandma and for Ian.  Both of them are suffering and Whitney is too far gone to care. 

 

Really too bad because this clearly was a well taken care of hotel/motel.  In fact, everyone seemed invested and concerned about it except for Whitney.  Grandma's best move at this point is either to sell it or get Whitney out of there and hand it over to Ian. 

 

I really liked what the designer did with the guest room and the lobby. 

[tobeannounced]

I was wondering about the grandson.  Anyone else think he went into rehab too?  Wonder how he's doing.  And can I say I just hate all the trumped-up drama (flinging roll-away beds down the stairs) and the utter indignation!!! over everything.  Simmer down, Anthony.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Great to see basic HI ep.  

 

Something which did not add up at all was that there is a profitable restaurant attached.  What were the financials related to this asset?  If it is profitable, that assessor is a moron.  Did the lousy owner still own and run the restaurant?  If he did, he would easily get a huge chunk of change for it.   He'd pretty much get his $2 million back.  Obviously, that hurts the narrative of desperation, eh?

 

There really is no helping someone who does not value the basics of fire safety and minimal levels of cleanliness.  

 

Joe is an interesting character.  He is a great example of what I have experienced as most who can overlook the most essential/bare bones ethos of doing the right thing when working for an owner or company who clearly has no interest in such.  It's a matter of integrity.  How many in Joe's position would do the honorable thing and walk away, and notify the city of the systematic negligence to maintain code?   It's not his fault that the owner would not or could not provide the resources necessary.  That is on the owner.  However, to perpetuate the fraud and continue to accept pay makes him culpable.  

 

AM was rightly hard on him, but for the wrong reasons - reasons AM did not dare address.  He went for the cheap and obvious, which is a chronic limitation of this series.  In any event, Joe was one of the most intriguing folks I've seen on this show.  I hope he is doing well. 

 

The reviews on Trip Advisor are mostly horrible for stays the past few months.  Joe was (is?) still the GM and he is still not empowered to do the right things.

 

Finally, it was a joke for AM to not make refinancing the debt at 30% the biggest priority of all.  Think of it.  30%!  He was demanding a significant increase in labor and material costs, along with the refurbishment of the rest of the rooms.  How was that owner supposed to make that work with no borrowing power and carrying a huge 30% note.  Talk about impossible!

 

We got a hint of what was up when the update said the owner took on more debt and fixed up another 40 rooms.  How could he do that if he already had debt exceeding the value of the asset and he was operating at a loss?  The answer is that we were not given the actual assessment of the entire property, restaurant included. 

Edited October 7, 2015 by Lonesome Rhodes

[zillabreeze]

 

30%!  He was demanding a significant increase in labor and material costs, along with the refurbishment of the rest of the rooms.  How was that owner supposed to make that work with no borrowing power and carrying a huge 30% note.  Talk about impossible!

While discussing those debts, right after the owner said "30%" he also said "paid Daily".  WTH?  Made me think AM was not joking about the mafia.  Something was up there.  It def was not a legitimate type of loan, but more like a loan shark.

[tabloidlover]

What in the everlovin hell was THAT last night?  I had all kinds of hope once it was agreed the daughter and son in law were taking over the business (legally), and the ending follow up comments stated the parents took it back????  And the kids now have to find jobs again?  That was horrible!  I didn't care for the lobby décor, but that's another story.

[califred]

The parents and daughter were horrible. The couple was really trying, I'm thinking if you know your family is that nasty at least one of you should keep your job.

The hotel still has the old name and lots of bad reviews. What vile nasty people.

As soon as he said he had issues with credit cards I assumed he meant from people disputing their charges.

[nottopbravo]

I thought this episode would turn out to be all kinds of wonderful until I read the after show credits.  What a tragedy.  They quit their jobs and now have to find new ones?  It would have been better for everyone if Anthony walked away as soon as he got there.

[walnutqueen]

I wonder how this all went down, since the daughter & SIL seemed determined not to quit their jobs and take over until the legalities of assuming ownership were sorted out, and checked by their lawyer and accountant.

[Chippings]

This one actually had me worrying about it hours later and today.  First, how was it prudent for the son-in-law (especially) to quit the job which was so specialized and for which he had to be highly trained, to go into something so entirely unrelated to his skills  - and to go into a 24/7 job, probably living "over the store", on the premises, with questionable income and a bundle of debt?   And why did A.M. so quickly let go the daughter who had actually worked there since her teens and had some minimal understanding of things, at least?  In similar situations he's tried some Dr Phil type mediation between family members at war.  This chick he just told  "See ya" and let her go.

 

And since the rooms were so yucky, why didn't we see anything about Housekeeping?  Why were they doing such a terrible job?   (If there was any Housekeeping -- ) 

 

And obviously whatever legal documents they drew up didn't hold water at all - or they never got them resolved.  All very odd.  I felt so bad for the daughter and S-I-L for such an imprudent decision, and why actually did A.M. let them do it?   

[aliya]

I thought for sure when they said they'd both quit their jobs that AM would suggest for 1 to keep a job, but no. Now they both are up a creek.  

 

Personally, I would have run as far as possible from the father and sister. To heck with having your own business. Get a franchise if you're that desperate. The parents and sister will run the 'gold mine' even further into the ground and they'll be lucky to sell it to some developer. Maybe that's what they're waiting for.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

At the end of the day, the exposition by the daughter in the restaurant was dead on, eh?  AM can try all he wants to reduce or minimize her, but she was the most sane and the most correct of them all.  Way more than AM, in particular.  She directly challenged AM's ability to red people and situations.  She called him out, to his face, and in the end he was proven the fool.  I loved it.

 

I am not happy, at all, with the new trick of showing renderings of possible improvements as actual solutions.  These are a farce.  

 

Other than the classic patriarchy in an Asian, or Islander, family we basically see on this show, there is almost always an option to sell explored.  Given the location, that had to be an option.  Had to be.  Why was that never juxtaposed against the couple's huge risk?  What could the parents have netted?  

 

No shock that the naive youngins got taken by the rotten elders.  Did they ask AM to look over the terms to make sure they would not be taken as they were taken?  If not, why not?  Why didn't AM, the most caring and smart reality host of all, volunteer to act as an honest mediator who would refer the terms to an industry lawyer friend and financial guy?  

 

Then, of course, is the whole question of why TPTB agreed to this hopeless cause to begin with.  Less than $100K cash on hand, and no obvious borrowing capacity/ability?  For a place that messed up?  If this had been the type of hopeless cause they went with in the first season, they would never have been renewed.

 

Oh well, at least we had the classic story telling in this one:  The fool/clown/joker was the one telling us how it really was.  All the protagonists were the true fools.  

[califred]

The daughter who was so nasty actually posted on a comment on Anthony's Facebook and says that sis and BIL never quit their jobs.

Also, the hotel is up for sale.

[auntjess]

If the parents were able to reclaim the hotel, then I'd fault the lawyer who wrote the contract.
 

[Lonesome Rhodes]

If the parents were able to reclaim the hotel, then I'd fault the lawyer who wrote the contract.

 

Fault?  He did a great job.  The parents' lawyer wrote it and well maintained their (wholly misguided) interests!  It's the couple who screwed up.  Did they even bother to have professionals review it?  If they did, were they well advised that the parents held such a trump card?  

 

Or...the couple played it all very, very smartly.  They made a big effort to help the family and came off very well for doing it.  Did they decide that they weren't going to truly take on the project without first testing the parents' commitment to letting go?  I really do hope the couple got out with a bare minimum of cost and exposure to liability. 

[bluepiano]

At the end of the day, the exposition by the daughter in the restaurant was dead on, eh?  AM can try all he wants to reduce or minimize her, but she was the most sane and the most correct of them all.  Way more than AM, in particular.  She directly challenged AM's ability to read people and situations.  She called him out, to his face, and in the end he was proven the fool.  I loved it. 

 

Exactly. She kept telling him that her sister and brother-in-law had never worked a day in the hotel in their lives and didn't know jack, but Anthony had to keep insisting that he was a great judge of character. It was really clear that his opinions were based entirely on surface appearances. The older daughter was somewhat crude in her language and manner, and had tattoos, so Anthony chooses to believe the pretty Yuppie looking daughter and her Yuppie husband. (There was some real anger and resentment in this family. I'm guessing maybe the younger daughter got sent to college while the older one had to stay home and help run the hotel. She made a comment about all the 5 star hotels her sister had gotten to stay in). Also, Anthony was clearly pissed that she refused to fawn all over him. "Do you know who I am?" And her response was, yeah, but I'm not impressed. Priceless. Anthony's large ego was on full display in this episode.

 

And dog surfing? Maybe the dumbest thing I've seen on this show ever. Anthony says, "who wouldn't want to see their dog doing this?" And I'm thinking, me, because that poor wet dog looks miserable. People are going to choose a hotel so that their dog can get surfing lessons? Really Anthony? A hundred years in the hotel business and that's the best you can come up with?

 

I'm catching up with past episodes from this season on demand, and the show really seems to have jumped the shark. Too many episodes with bed bugs (yes, we know they're a major hotel issue, but that doesn't mean we need to see them in graphic close-ups. Yuck). Too much family psychodrama. The episode with the alcoholic intervention was uncomfortable to watch, and it seemed that Anthony was goading Whitney to get him drunk on camera. Not cool. If you look up that hotel on Trip Advisor, they have mostly very positive reviews, and Whitney, supposedly a hopeless drunk who doesn't give a shit, personally writes intelligent, thoughtful responses to each review. Which makes me suspect that what we saw in the episode was not the true situation. What a surprise.

Edited October 23, 2015 by bluepiano

[auntiemel]

I felt for the older daughter. Chris, I believe her name was. Yes, she was crude and hot-tempered, and should *not* have been dealing with guests. However, she had clearly been pitching in to help her overworked parents for years while the polished, stylish sister was nowhere to be seen until there was a payday in the works (in the form of ownership).

Then, all of a sudden, it's "Oh, Erica! You're so brilliant! You're so impressive! Thanks for coming in and saving the day!" That attitude came from both the parents and Anthony, and it was flaunted in Chris' face as if she should have gotten on board with it, as well. And when Chris got (justifiably, in my opinion) angry about being cut out of the operation that she had given hours, blood, sweat, and tears to--everyone acted as if she was crazy. Erica even got that condescending "OK, weirdo...what's your problem...?" look on her face as she said, "Chris, what's wrong? We have a plan for you..." as if it's completely out of line to be furious that your entire family has been plotting behind your back to boot you out of the family business.

Was Chris crude and not well-suited for the hotel business? Undoubtedly! Should she have been treated with a lot more respect for the years of service she gave her parents when Erica couldn't be bothered? Also, yes, undoubtedly.

If that episode was the movie Bridesmaids, Chris was the Kristen Wiig character and Erica was the Rose Byrne character, for sure. The parents were Maya Rudolph, I guess? Or the hotel was. :)

Edited October 24, 2015 by auntiemel

[Kromm]

Has Danielle been on this show before, or is she new to HI? This show really does treat HGTV Design Star as the farm team. :)

Does it?  Blanche was only on Design Star for ONE episode. If anything, her getting the job on this show was despite Design Star, not because of it.

[auntiemel]

I didn't mean that literally, as if the casting directors of Hotel Impossible are actually watching old episodes of Design Star and looking up phone numbers. It was a joke based on the fact that so many of these designers have been on Design Star in the past, however much of a coincidence it might be.

[rehoboth]

Wow, this was a very unsettling episode.  It all came to too neat a close which unraveled within a month apparently.  Such a shame that a place with a priceless location can't make a go of it.  But it's very tricky when family is involved.  How do you fire your daughter/sister who was clearly not suited for the service industry?

 

I don't blame AM for this.  I think he gave Chris (older sister?) as much respect as she gave him (which was not much).  I think if you ask someone for help and thousands of dollars of materiel and guidance then that person deserves your respect.  The older daughter was correct that it was in her father's nature not sit at home and it is probably his inner wish to die in that chair.  Between the lines, I think the mother wanted the younger daughter and her husband to run the place but did not know how to manage the family dynamics.

 

I was shocked when the SIL wanted to give up being a nuclear engineer to manage a seedy motel,  more so because of how young he is.  I don't worry about them "losing" their jobs; they are both government workers and their old jobs probably were not even filled yet.