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Celebrating 1,000 NCIS-franchise episodes

S03.E06: Brick Hotel

OnceSane

By OnceSane
in Hotel Hell [V]

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BusyOctober

BusyOctober

In what world was that woman a therapist for children??  I know there were no kids on the premises, but Verindar's personality seemed so devoid of empathy or warmth with the adults so I can't imagine she can flip a 180 and be someone with whom children would be comfortable sharing their troubles. 

The Gordo Gross-O-Meter really got a workout tonight.  I thought the thing would start vibrating and smoking with quadruple digits flashing.  

I looked away for a few minutes at the end, so I may have missed it...how did the make over for the Stuart Little breakfast nook come out? 

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aliya

aliya

I kinda liked the Stuart Little breakfast nook. If you've ever been to Ann Arbor, MI, they have 'fairy doors' all over town.  It's quite cute and I had a nice time roaming around checking off the doors I found.  If they had a few of those little nooks in the hotel and kept them up/decorated for different holidays, it might be OK. And yes, I'm weird.

I would have liked GR to have done something with the housekeeper, considering how dusty and dirty the place was. If they didn't have a routine, he should have provided one, like Anthony does. Other than the owner being a pain in the kitchen, I didn't notice GR saying anything negative about the cooking. Maybe he didn't need to do anything but clean the kitchen (did they even show that?)

Fairy Doors

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The Crazed Spruce

The Crazed Spruce

3 hours ago, Surrealist said:

YES! 

Gordon brought out the bacteria reader, and it hit 5,000!!!!!1q!!!!!!!1!1!!!!

;-)

The only thing that would've made it better was if he'd crushed the meter in his bare hand while screaming that. :)

40 minutes ago, aliya said:

Other than the owner being a pain in the kitchen, I didn't notice GR saying anything negative about the cooking. Maybe he didn't need to do anything but clean the kitchen (did they even show that?)

Well, the onion soup was bland, the crab meat in his sandwich came out of a can, and I don't think he even got past the idea of a "cauliflower steak", but yeah, he mainly focused on the poor maintenance.

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LittleIggy

LittleIggy

My father was a hotel manager (I grew up living in hotels) so I know how hard it is to run a hotel, especially one with a restaurant, competently. That's why it kills me when people like Verindar and her son buy a hotel "as an investment" having no experience in the industry. 

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Surrealist

Surrealist

39 minutes ago, The Crazed Spruce said:

The only thing that would've made it better was if he'd crushed the meter in his bare hand while screaming that. :)

I thought his veins were going to explode out of his head. 

He was extra red in this episode. 

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spiderpig

spiderpig

1 hour ago, LittleIggy said:

My father was a hotel manager (I grew up living in hotels) so I know how hard it is to run a hotel, especially one with a restaurant, competently. That's why it kills me when people like Verindar and her son buy a hotel "as an investment" having no experience in the industry. 

I worked in the travel industry for 40 years, and running successful hotels and restaurants is extremely demanding.  I have nothing but respect for professionals who manage and work at quality properties.

(you know where I'm going)  Mama had no  business running a hotel.  From what we saw, she had no business being a child therapist either.  Her son seemed sympathetic and capable, and the show had to tie everything up in a neat bow, but I'm just not buying Mom's miraculous transformation.

Loved the look of the hotel though.  I like how Gordon chooses old, historic properties...whereas Anthony Melchiori keeps going to cheesy dumps.

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Snarklepuss

Snarklepuss

(edited)
5 hours ago, spiderpig said:

(you know where I'm going)  Mama had no  business running a hotel.  From what we saw, she had no business being a child therapist either.  Her son seemed sympathetic and capable, and the show had to tie everything up in a neat bow, but I'm just not buying Mom's miraculous transformation.

I'm not buying any of the transformations this season.  Miraculous and preposterous!

Mr. Snarkle said he heard her say she "lost her practice" regarding the child therapist gig.  Wonder what happened there.  Sounds like she's a real loser.

The hotel itself inside reminded me of Fawlty Towers.

Still hating the long drawn out owner-therapy and 4 minutes of actual renovation with no new menu instruction.

Edited by Snarklepuss
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aliya

aliya

7 hours ago, The Crazed Spruce said:

Well, the onion soup was bland, the crab meat in his sandwich came out of a can, and I don't think he even got past the idea of a "cauliflower steak", but yeah, he mainly focused on the poor maintenance.

Jeez, missed that.  Cauliflower steak is a big thing on veg*n sites. Don't like cauliflower enough to try it.

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Gregg247

Gregg247

There were plenty of reasons to blame the owner for that place, but I also blame the Housekeeper for how dusty/filthy everything was, and the chefs for the disgusting kitchen.  The owner may call the shots on the food that gets served, but I'm sure she never told these employees "Don't you dare clean your work space up!".  The dust, grease, and mold everywhere showed dereliction of duties by the owner AND those employees.

Last week, the bacteria meter hit 800 gordons.  This week, it was at 5000 gordons!  That sounds high (in the absence of any kind of reference scale, that is).  How many gordons does that thing read if he swabs something outside, like a driveway or a car or something?

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Major Bigtime

Major Bigtime

6 hours ago, TDT said:

I was wondering what the heck was up with all of the "artistic" slow-motion shots lol..

I actually liked that, since the food sucked, the kitchen was filthy and filled with grease, so it was almost as if they were trying hard to make the chefs look good. Oh....but wait....they aren't chefs, they said. LOL!! I felt bad for those guys.

Snarklepuss, yes, she did say she LOST her practice. I wonder how many traumatized kids are running around because of her?

I liked the pre-visit meeting with the former employees. And again, I want to know who called Gordon to come help.

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Jersey Guy 87

Jersey Guy 87

25 minutes ago, Gregg247 said:

There were plenty of reasons to blame the owner for that place, but I also blame the Housekeeper for how dusty/filthy everything was, and the chefs for the disgusting kitchen.  The owner may call the shots on the food that gets served, but I'm sure she never told these employees "Don't you dare clean your work space up!".  The dust, grease, and mold everywhere showed dereliction of duties by the owner AND those employees.

 

After they did the makeover and they were walking through the hotel the housekeeper said something like "I can't wait to come to work in a clean hotel."  All I could think was isn't that your job to make sure the place is clean?  It's not her job to fix the window that's been broken for years but dusting every now and then?  That's on her.

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spiderpig

spiderpig

If you're bored and want to Google, try Verindar Kaur Newtown,Pennsylvania.  Maybe it's a common name in that area, but you come up with social worker, dental employee, real estate agent and entrepreneur.  Also BBB complaints against Brick Hotel.  Rated F.

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LittleIggy

LittleIggy

This was from May 2016 on TripAdviser: "First time in years that I visited the brick Hotel and restaurant. Boy has this place changed and not for the better. What a cluster fub. The wait staff is very lacking but I can see why. I watched the owner berate them in front of customers. She strikes me as a little off balance. No wonder she cannot keep decent help. I asked our waitress about this and she told me she was deathly afraid to say anything. I felt bad for her, I thought she was going to cry. As far as the food is concerned that is also mediocre. No wonder this place is rated is rated so low on TripAdvisor. This is my last time here and my advice is go somewhere else."

Yeah, Verindar has changed...not!

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Snarklepuss

Snarklepuss

5 hours ago, Jersey Guy 87 said:

After they did the makeover and they were walking through the hotel the housekeeper said something like "I can't wait to come to work in a clean hotel."  All I could think was isn't that your job to make sure the place is clean?  It's not her job to fix the window that's been broken for years but dusting every now and then?  That's on her.

I actually have some sympathy for the housekeeper.  That place is obviously way too much responsibility for one person to clean effectively.  The rooms were decorated overly fussy with tons of throws, curtains and crocheted canopies, plus wood moldings with nooks and crannies up the wazoo.  I think someone in that housekeeper's position would have given up trying to keep up with it all by herself long ago.  Plus the owner probably didn't want to put up the scratch to clean things that needed professional cleaning or replace things that needed replacing.

*Sigh*, as someone who has mostly been the only one cleaning my own house since 1980, I guess I have a perspective on this.....

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aliya

aliya

8 hours ago, spiderpig said:

Call me naive (pause while you all call me naive), but doesn't a cauliflower steak seem like a plateful of bland?  Colorless, tasteless, texturally nothingness.

Naw, they usually look pretty nice.  I sent you a link to a pic.

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MelissaMinion

MelissaMinion

13 hours ago, Gregg247 said:

Last week, the bacteria meter hit 800 gordons.  This week, it was at 5000 gordons!  That sounds high (in the absence of any kind of reference scale, that is).  How many gordons does that thing read if he swabs something outside, like a driveway or a car or something?

Ha! I love it. I wonder what the highest number of Gordons we'll reach by the end of the season?

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spiderpig

spiderpig

5 hours ago, Snarklepuss said:

Get this - Verindar is listed in LinkedIn as a professional realtor at Keller Williams real estate in the Philly area since 2005.  She lists the Brick Hotel as her "former" occupation.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/verindar-kaur-46b26431

Just how many "careers" does/did she have?  What, if anything is legit about her?

Con Artiste Extraordinare. Have you ever seen more beaten-down employees on a reality show?

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HurricaneVal

HurricaneVal

22 hours ago, Snarklepuss said:

Plus the owner probably didn't want to put up the scratch to clean things that needed professional cleaning or replace things that needed replacing.

Yes.  This.  We saw her micromanaging the kitchen.  There is every likelihood she's been micromanaging the one single houskeeper we saw.  Depending on how busy the hotel is--which it looked like not at all--the housekeeper was probably hopping busy just to do the basic housekeeping in the rooms like changing the sheets, scrubbing the toilets, wiping down the counters, and running the vacuum over the visible floor areas.  They did say the turnover rate was astronomical there (gee, wonder why?), so all that filth and neglect in the common areas might not even have started with that one housekeeper.

I also suspect that because of how the owner was, If you are her employee, you do exactly and only what she tells you to do.  No more.  No less.  No deviations.  OR you'll get yelled at.  Though, it sounds like you'll get yelled at no matter what, but I can certainly see how they would want to minimize it.  Like the kitchen staff who said they mopped and cleaned "the line" but not behind and under the fryer or ovens--the implication being that they weren't told to do so.  I think you could see it in their eyes that they knew it needed doing, but were constrained from doing it because of fear of the owner. 

I don't understand how anyone could work under those constant emotional combat conditions, but you gotta do what you gotta do.  People need money to live, and sticking it out in an awful job like that may be the only choice some folks have. 

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silverspoons

silverspoons

In graduate school I worked for the telephone company mostly doing programing of new orders for small to medium size businesses. I had no idea that so many motels were owned by families from India. The states I programmed for which were more rural, it was over 50% (current studies say 40-50% of all US motels are owned by family's from India). These accounts were the most difficult I had to deal with. When I would go on site, these owners would think they had the best product but it was a dump. I was grossed out just going to locate wiring but I always felt so bad for the yellow page rep who would get chewed out because it was the fault of the ad that the motel was not getting business. It was always someone's else fault. I was so sick by what I saw at these motels that when we drive across 1-80, we don't stop, just switch off drivers and drive straight through because I won't chance staying at these places(1-80 between CO and OH are full of these motels).

I understand that the ownership trend by families from India started because it was a way for a wife to work but still be around her kids and ensure their proper education. It is also common like we saw in this episode for the son to be educated and have a good career but be expected to still invest or work in the motel industry. I can understand  Venirdar buying a motel and thinking it was going to just get business because that is the feeling I got from the Indian owners I met. If a property already had a good reputation or a certain chain then the motel should sell itself FOREVER in the same way you bought it. I usually just did my job but one Days Inn was so gross, I commented on the carpet and curtains because my clothes got filthy in a hotel room looking for wiring. The owner admitted the carpet and curtains were 25 years old or more and made it clear they would never get anything new. It was all properties make money , you pay for them once and you put no more money into them, just get money out.

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dbell1

dbell1

I haven't been to The Brick Hotel in a long time. I don't think I'll ever go there again. It used to be a nice place. Tuned in just to see the episode. That said, this comes off as stilted, and scripted. Verindar should not be allowed in public. Ever. 

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backformore

backformore

On ‎6‎/‎29‎/‎2016 at 8:18 AM, spiderpig said:

Call me naive (pause while you all call me naive), but doesn't a cauliflower steak seem like a plateful of bland?  Colorless, tasteless, texturally nothingness.

Coated with parmesan cheese, galic and bread crumbs, cooked to get a little brown, and served with some kind of chutney or salsa, they're delicious. the trick is to make sure they get a little crispy.  Cauliflower is really healthy, and there have been a few newer ways to prepare it so that it's heartier and more filling.  SO the "steaks"  can be a side dish or a meat substitute.

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Julia

Julia

On 7/3/2016 at 10:30 PM, backformore said:

Coated with parmesan cheese, galic and bread crumbs, cooked to get a little brown, and served with some kind of chutney or salsa, they're delicious. the trick is to make sure they get a little crispy.  Cauliflower is really healthy, and there have been a few newer ways to prepare it so that it's heartier and more filling.  SO the "steaks"  can be a side dish or a meat substitute.

If you confit it first in olive oil, it's pretty good. Likewise, roasted with garlic, olive oil, anchovies/kalamata olives if it's vegetarian, and oregano and dressed with a lemon vinaigrette.

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connieinnc

connieinnc

11 minutes ago, OhioSongbird said:

I swear I got the Angler's Inn ep again last week.  Guy and sons built it by hand and 10 yr old died tragically.  I thought I saw a  thread last season for it but it's not there now.

Do I remember right?

I believe it was episode 1 this season

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