Hotel Impossible - General Discussion

[tobeannounced]

Thanks, Lonesome Rhodes.  I always appreciate your contributions to this thread.

[brgjoe]

And I also didn't see why they couldn't have kept the restaurant/bar open at least part of the year.  Especially when it's brutally cold and dark up there during the winter months.  If I am a tourist, I'd much rather eat/drink there at the hotel than venture out in the abysmally cold Alaskan winters.

Just hire competent help to make sure the restaurant are run efficiently and are capable of complying with local health codes.

I get why AM wanted to see the pool open.  When I was a kid, I enjoyed playing in the pool.  So I am sure it would attract some tourists with kids.  But would it make THAT much of a difference when all is said and done?  At least to the point of the (no doubt) large expense to get the thing up and running once again in the first place. 

[seacliffsal]

Re: the Anchorage episode.  I agree that if I was staying there I would like food and beverage.  Isn't that one of the characteristics of a hotel over a motel?  Not only would it be dark and cold in the winter, it looked like the hotel was in an isolated area of Anchorage and it may not be quick and easy to get food (especially breakfast!).  Helicopter rides are way more expensive; I took a similar tour that landed on a glacier-AMAZING!  The $59 may be just a quick city tour and it may be based on a 3 or 4 person minimum.  However, they could develop a menu of tours and prices.  I also think that the heated, indoor pool would be harsh.  I personally don't like swimming in indoor pools, but in many areas of the country, an indoor pool is what they have due to weather considerations.  If they could fix it for a fairly reasonable cost I think it would bring in some families and could justify a slight increase in room costs.  Whenever I would travel with my nephews (I don't have children of my own) when they were young I would always book a hotel with a pool as it would guarantee a fun activity (cause I would also take them to museums, etc., so pool time was a reward...).  

[auntjess]

I'm enjoying the Hotel Impossible: Showdown, rather like a Four Weddings for hoteliers.
Anthony only does a voice-over as host, but it's interesting to see the hotels that are obvoiusly well-loved by these owners.
It's on Monday nights, and my DVR seems to be picking it up.

[jumper sage]

I agree.  I just caught the Sturgis episode and loved that the 3 hotels were clean and seemed to be well run.  His tweaks did make sense.  I am back in.  I also caught the mini (half-hour) episodes where he goes to 5 star hotels and then gives one employee $5000 super tip.  Nice to see such luxury.

[auntjess]

I skipped the half-hour ones, DVR scheduling conflict I think.
Also, didn't interest me as much.
On the Stugis ones, I really hope that the young couple do get to refinance, but wondered, because that couple knew what they were doing when they set up the original terms.

[spiderpig]

Re: Sturgis episode.

Cedar Wood Inn Tree House.  Want!  Want!  (That whole property looked wonderful and I liked the owner. Hope they're doing better.)

[jumper sage]

Fire Island - that was one gross hotel.  Bathroom sharing and the bathrooms were on par with a gas station.

[auntjess]

Yes.  I wonder if the Fire Island owner really did have an epiphany, because if so, he seemed to have the resources to redo it.
 

[tobeannounced]

I really wish Anthony would do more shows like the Sturgis one.  I really am not interested in these hotel owners who are just doing the show because they want some freebies.  And the Sturgis show was refreshingly void of drama.

[tabloidlover]

I really enjoyed the animal rescue place.  I would love to see him re-visit it in a year or so.

[spiderpig]

DVR cleaning time.

Fire Island.  $1500 a night for the renovated suite?  Um, OK. 

The five high-end resorts:  I felt sorry for the highlighted individuals who didn't get the $5K.  I'm happy for the winners, but I didn't understand the point of the whole thing since they're all apparently stellar employees.

More like the Arkansas animal refuge (worthy cause and unique venue) and less of Fire Island types who run dumps and are looking for handouts.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

The best HI shows are those where the owners have real means to actually make a go of it - such as the animal rescue place.  I call BS on never finding out the real reason for the adults-only policy and on the young lady happily losing her position.

Tent city with outdoor facilities?  Uhm....no.  

I loved the resort eps.  The one in Cabo bugged a bit as AM lost it over the personal assistant sleeping close by.  ALL of those assistants do that!  He does not work 24/7/365.  My favorite moment was the chef feeding the pelicans and such after he dressed the fresh fish.  

Fire Island ep was a farce.  That AM chose to stay told me all I need to know about him.  

The woman with the Lexus SUV and failed fire systems (Alaska?) was an all-timer.  Again - absurd that AM even bothered with her.   

[jumper sage]

What no discussion on man bun?  I hate when I don't remember to add a couple of minutes to the dvr to see if they made out or not.

[spiderpig]

4 hours ago, jumper sage said:

What no discussion on man bun?  I hate when I don't remember to add a couple of minutes to the dvr to see if they made out or not.

My Inner Mean Girl saw Man Bun and immediately thought "Olive Oyl".

The post-credit comments said Judith was renovating all the rooms, that she'd stepped down from day-to-day responsibilities, and that she'd taken the creepy little statue home with her.

[auntjess]

That was quite a leap, from housekeeper to manager, but I assumed that Anthony must have talked with her a lot more than we saw.  But on the show, it seemed like she got the job because she painted the room.  And not everyone who can paint could do the Cornell course.

I've never been in that part of the country, but those caves were beautiful.

[Nanu160]

I didn't know that NeoNazis were sporting Man Buns these days.

[DoctorK]

I didn't see or hear any indications of his political orientation, but that man-bun was really something else. I couldn't help picturing what it looks like when he undoes the bun and all that long thin hair drops over the shaved sides. Don't try this yourself, either the hair style or picturing it.

[speac]

Hopefully the man bun with a fade style will quickly pass out of vogue.

[spiderpig]

I have to admit, I am fixated on his ties.

They look expensive and are always perfectly knotted.

[spiceman2017]

I enjoyed this show and wanted to know when will this show return?

[ActionComics25]

On 8/1/2017 at 4:45 PM, spiceman2017 said:

I enjoyed this show and wanted to know when will this show return?

The new season started this week, I'm excited to hear what people think of the first episode!

[surveyandprotect1]

Just watched first episode of new season. 

 

It feels like they moved so far away from the original concept of the show.

 

The show has turned into Bankruptcy Impossible. 

 

Where is the full room inspection? Where are the one-on-one interviews with staff? Where are the teaching moments?  Where are the altercations? Where are the local experts?

 

Its more of a ......here is a bunch of free stuff, a room template and a written manual......now go learn how to be better yourself oh and I found a buyer for your junk motel!

[brgjoe]

Agreed.  I feel for the owners who are inbetween the proverbial rock and a hard place.  Though they didn't seem to empathize with their staff very well.

But I really wish they would go back to the original format where they would inspect rooms, talk to the owners about what they are doing wrong and how to improve and actually, well, rescuing the hotel for their original owners.  Even though I know in the pat the owners would still sell anyway.

It's just so depressing when they are just fixing it up just for someone to swoop in and buy it and make all the necessary changes themselves.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

This is truly a Hotel Impossible.  Ownership will change.  No saving it.  So much for the reason the show exists.  I still enjoyed it.

The best part, as usual, is when the willfully clueless Simon Legree owners get taken to the proverbial woodshed by the staff.  That wife is a piece of work.  

I'd argue that the makeover room was in the best condition of any ever used on this series.  It appeared spotless and the bathroom, with the brief glimpses I caught, was darn good.  There was no need to re-design a thing.  Any cash used to do so would be a colossal waste, given the structural repairs needed.  Notice we never did see any improvements to any facade/facing despite AM's direct request for such?

This is the first ep in forever where AM did not delve into the rate structure of the property.  I'm betting they were getting top dollar relative to area comps.  

Hatteras came through virtually unscathed in the 2017 hurricane season.  But, the climatic trends are not good.  Who is gonna buy that joint with the hyper-restrictive federal rules as to rehabbing the waterline?  Dude is delusional if he thinks he is gonna walk away with over $2 million in compensation.   

Finally, I would dearly love to know how the debt committee approved the described vacations taken by the debtors (owners).  Clearly, we were not given the whole truth of the situation.

[spiderpig]

When did they film this?  There were about 3 people on the beach, and the property showed no signs of occupancy.  Most of the show was about refinancing.  About as interesting as watching a fax machine print out investment offers from Nigeria.

Sorry, Anthony.  Cape Hattaras has a history and I'm sure the beach is gorgeous, but this property might as well have been on an offroad of Route 666 in West Bunghole, Name-Your-State.

[LizDC]

7 hours ago, spiderpig said:

When did they film this?  There were about 3 people on the beach, and the property showed no signs of occupancy.  Most of the show was about refinancing.  About as interesting as watching a fax machine print out investment offers from Nigeria.

Looks like it was filmed in Aug. 2016.

http://www.obxconnection.com/outer-banks-forum/forum-thread.aspx?Thread=87431

Edited October 8, 2017 by LizDC

[NowVoyager]

Watching a new episode (S8/Ep9) about a hotel in Kentucky near a Noah's Arch replica (?) tourist attraction. Bed bugs! Toxic mold! Gross pool! Inexperienced general manager! Sketchy contract! I'm exhausted! There's no way this hotel can survive. No matter how much the older owner cries.

[spiderpig]

This was one bizarre episode.

From what I could see, there's absolutely nothing around the property except that strange walk-through ark.  You could view the entire thing in - what? - two hours?  Then what?  At one point Anthony mentioned that a clean, upgraded room could bring in $200.  Really?  Then there was Anthony's usual preoccupation with the swimming pool.

I Googled the property and it is now part of the Magnuson Hotel group.  Since the episode was filmed over a year ago, I wonder what happened to the guys.  The closing credits were vague.

[SanDiegoInExile]

Not sure what to think about the Sunrise Inn. I scrolled back through their Facebook page, which is loaded with pics of gorgeous rooms and a disclaimer from August 2016 to disregard all reviews prior now that they are under new ownership (presumably this means Weepy Gay Man and his stoic Hotelier Husband).   There are pics of the new lobby/breakfast area. They are ranked #1 on Tripadvisor (of three properties).  The website is pretty plain and has this notice:

Sunrise Inn is not affiliated with the Ark Encounter and is Independently Owned and Operated by Locksmith Hospitality, LLC. 

The web is loaded with articles about the financial boondoggle that the Ark is, along with rebuttal articles screaming Fake News and Secularist Lies.  It apparently costs $40 to tour and has a Dinosaur Exhibit, since we all know that Noah saved two of them <gag>.  Attendance was projected to be 4M+ and they drew roughly 1M in their first year, which isnt all that dreadful.

https://www.sunriseinnky.com/

https://www.facebook.com/sunriseinnky/

Still I wonder whether the clientele for Noahs Ark would knowingly stay at a hotel owned, operated, and managed by a gay couple.

[aliya]

So they leased the building and were going to do all kinds of upgrades to a property they don't own? They read (but obviously didn't understand) the lease provision that could leave them out in the cold after all their work?  What. the. heck. Anthony must have felt sorry for these guys not to just walk away. 

I think Anthony was obsessed by the pool because it was nasty to look at, a breeding ground for insects, a danger to guests, etc. You'd either have to cover it over or fix it so it could be an attraction for the hotel. And yeah, the 'manager' didn't know what she was doing. The guy tells her about all the problems and her first question is about the permit, rather the cost of repair. 

I belong to a fairly conservative religion and  I still can't see why I'd go to visit an ark. In Kentucky. Out in the middle of nowhere with no other tourist or cultural attractions. I'm going to go out on a doctrinal limb and say there were no dinosaurs on the ark.  I think they said the woodwork was done by the Amish, and I saw a lot of Amish walking through, so that might be interesting to look at, I guess.

[califred]

@SanDiegoInExile I had the same thought about people religious enough to visit an ark staying in a hotel owned by a gay couple.

 

i wouldn't go visit an ark, especially with dinosaurs but I'm not conservatively religious.

[speac]

I wonder how long ago the Kentucky show was recorded.  I  imagine now those lease holders/owners would love for the owner to take that place back now.  None of the local businesses have seen any of the promised economy grown that were made by the developer.  

[auntjess]

OK, i've read the comments for the new season, and I feel safe in removing this show from "series record."
I am curious if any of the designers we knew were there.
 

[BengalKitty]

I don't understand how these guys leased this hotel without doing a complete walk through of ALL the spaces and have a building inspector inspect.  It would have been cheaper than the $50,000 dumped into this.  At the very least maybe they could have negotiated better terms.

And that Ark is quite the controversy in the area.  Sounds like the owner is out to milk every discount and incentive from the local community.  Including not paying his fair share of taxes for the increased police and fire personnel.  And he doesn't hire locals.  You have to fit the religious ideology to work there.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

AM came with new levels of BS on this centennial ep of HI.  His priority cards were a farce.  If y'all think in his business he puts things that are entirely out of his control at the very top of his concerns and priorities, I wanna play poker with you!  Remember alllllll the wailing and moaning he has done throughout this series about guest safety being Job 1 through Job 1,000?  So, because the lessees actually came up with the proper weighting of the issues when AM whipped out the cards, AM went for the BS and created heat where it did not exist.  It may have been the low point of this entire series.

Then he doubles down by insisting they go to friends and family to sink more dead cash into a lease he just said was horrible, on top of the impossible nature of what would be required to rejuvenate the property.  Another new low, almost immediately after the other one.

Why was AM excoriating the GM for using basic survival and common sense by keeping quiet when the new lessees were making capital decisions?  What a jerk he was to her.  He knew full and da*n well that she had no standing to tell those fools what was what.  His later acknowledgement that none of this was her fault only condemns him.

$200/night rate?  Huh?  The lies in this ep?  I just can't.

If this is the trend, Noah way is it worth watching this season.

[SanDiegoInExile]

8 hours ago, speac said:

I wonder how long ago the Kentucky show was recorded.  I  imagine now those lease holders/owners would love for the owner to take that place back now.  None of the local businesses have seen any of the promised economy grown that were made by the developer.  

The show was dated 2016 in the credits.  I sorta recall during Anthony's chats with WeepyGuy and StoicHotelier that they had been in control for a "couple months" and that one of them mentioned taking over "in August".  That led me to think that the show was taped in October 2016.  The August date coincides with a Facebook post from August 2016 mentioning new ownership. There is also an August posting that highlights the new signage.  The climate/trees sorta looked early fall-ish.  Plus, Anthony's plans focused on getting the motel perked up for "next summer", meaning the summer which just concluded.  I did notice in a recent tripAdvisor review that the pool was still not operational.  

[SanDiegoInExile]

1 hour ago, Lonesome Rhodes said:

$200/night rate?  Huh?  The lies in this ep?  I just can't.

Hotel website seems to quote rates in the $80-$120 range.  Attendance at the Ark has been roughly 50% of projections, so that's not helping.  I think the town is only 40 miles from Cincinnati, so there really is no reason to overnight locally, unless you need two days to explore cheesy dioramas of Noah feeding the dinosaurs.

[aliya]

On 10/11/2017 at 0:17 AM, Lonesome Rhodes said:

Why was AM excoriating the GM for using basic survival and common sense by keeping quiet when the new lessees were making capital decisions?  What a jerk he was to her.  He knew full and da*n well that she had no standing to tell those fools what was what.  His later acknowledgement that none of this was her fault only condemns him.

$200/night rate?  Huh?  The lies in this ep?  I just can't.

If this is the trend, Noah way is it worth watching this season.

Doesn't he always go after GMs who want talk up to owners, tho? I'm thinking of the guy out in Utah (tho there must be more), at the Shakespeare festival city. I don't think that was the only one.

And $200 a night? In KY? Nope.  I kind of forget what the place looked like, but wasn't it like a motel? Don't people stay in motels because they are inexpensive? I stayed in one once because I needed to be near the airport for an early flight after an out of town interview. I'm a single woman and was really scared having that door right to the outside and being right on a busy street. I don't care how much it costs, I'm staying in a regular hotel with hallways and security. I'm sure stuff happens in nice hotels, but I couldn't get over the door and big window being right there for anybody to break in.

I'm sorry; I'm still shaking my head over the fact that these people leased that mess of a hotel. Jeez Louise.

[surveyandprotect1]

This second episode was also just as bad as the first. 

 

Why is production picking truly impossible projects?

 

I think Anthony totally missed the mark on this episode with advice.

 

Why would an expert suggest dumping money into a leased building attached to a failing business? Makes no sense.

 

I would have suggested to break the lease and leave ASAP......Hand that garbage dump back over the owners and walk away. The best thing these two idiots lessees did was NOT buy the building! And he's suggesting they buy it??? Walk away!!! Run!!!

[SanDiegoInExile]

Episode Three for this season appears to be Cambridge Inn in Palm Springs CA.  I've actually stayed at this divey property (cheap rates), though its been about 5=6 years.  Property looks decent from the outside, and it wasn't that horrid, just lots of deferred maintenance and aging decor.  On subsequent PS visits, I thought this property had been re-branded as a chain property (Travelodge?).  It's now called De Los Reyes........

[spiderpig]

Another episode, another dump.

So Hoda graduated from Oxford-er-Manchester and worked for a president and a shoemaker.  OK.

No matter the price profile, I'm horrified that a property would admit on camera to giving master keys out to all their guests.  WTF???

Ruth and Isaiah seemed earnest enough.  Presumably Hoda is off somewhere beating puppies and kittens with a stick.

[NowVoyager]

Just watched the Palm Springs episode with the beautiful but clueless owner. Smh. She has $90,000 in capital to invest & she picked this dump?!? The property is in shambles... Her staff is either also clueless/inexperienced or uncaring/above it all... Giving Master key cards to the guests??? Whaaaaat! I may never sleep well in a hotel ever, ever again... That business with the land lease was ridiculous--- the one potential investor couldn't stop himself from laughing. At least Anthony offered the owners & her staff educational materials, but I doubt they will use them.

Soo--- is this the theme for the new season? Hopeless properties that are beyond saving?

[surveyandprotect1]

This episode was better. 

 

The room inspection came back!

 

Why did they show the beginning of the staff meeting and then never went back? I understand Anthony got sidetracked but did they just forget to edit the second part back in?

[walnutqueen]

At this point, it is no longer an "impossible" enterprise Anthony magically saves, but a sinking Titanic he's throwing deck chairs off.  May as well be Hopeless Hotel.

Let's get back to helping a shaky business, rather than flogging a dead horse.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

The ep did get back to more basics, but in the end it was indeed, hopeless.  De loss was enormous.

I love the irony that the big fix actually undertaken by the owner was the pool just a week after AM went berserk about spending money on a pool when so many core issues existed.  How much would the laundry fix have been?  Many thousands and absolutely required.  AM never spoke of it after showing us the dude coming back from the laundromat.

The owner seemed nice and decent.  She was also a straight fool.  How much money would y'all guess she burned through on shopping and trips prior to buying the joint on a whim?  No doubt she came from money.  Why didn't AM tell her to go to her family for cash like he did the idiots last week?

[tobeannounced]

Cambridge Inn was a weird episode. Did they ever say why they were in such trouble? They didn't have much to say about the rooms except for what Anthony planted during the inspection test. They didn't even bother to decorate one or suggest a plan to upgrade them going forward. They didn't say anything about the rates or the occupancy. All I got was the owner bought it on a whim and didn't have the money to sink into it to keep basic maintenance going.

And like the Noah's Ark episode, how do these owners who have only been on the property a couple months get on this show so fast? I would think there would be quite a lag between when you apply and they actually are able to schedule filming.

[SanDiegoInExile]

I guess we are done.  Three new episodes (taped ages ago?) and the show is off the schedule again.  Made it to 101 episodes, based on what AM said in last week's show.  

[Sir RaiderDuck OMS]

According to my Hulu Live TV guide, there are new episodes scheduled to air on 10/30 and 11/6.

On this last one, Hoda was awful: blaming the guests for everything and saying she's too good to sit in on staff meetings. And who in the blue hell thought it a good idea to hand out master keys to the guests???

[SanDiegoInExile]

Looks like the show has lost its primetime slot.  Someone on AM's Facebook confirmed 9AM Monday is the new timeslot.

PrimeTime is all "Bizarre Foods".