Hotel Hell – Season 1 Finale – Recap – The Roosevelt Inn

In the season finale of Hotel Hell Season 1, “The Roosevelt Inn,” Gordon Ramsay pays a visit to The Roosevelt Inn—which is located in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho. This country inn used to be an elementary school—the owner of the hotel, John Hough, was a student here. There is one big issue: John and his wife, Tina, are in $1.1 million in debt. Will John & Tina lose their business, their home, and their marriage in one big swoop?

Find out here:

If you missed Episode 5, you can read my recap here:

John and Tina Hough have lost an astounding $1,100,000 in only 13 years in the hospitality business. Wow. That’s just a shocking number. My question is: Have they been able to pay their staff on time (within these last few years)? The Roosevelt Inn consists of 16 bedrooms and old school tables, desks, and chairs. “Who wants to live at their old school? It’s like getting a detention that never ends,” said Ramsay. I completely agree.

Tour of River Rock Inn:

• Exterior: Moderate – The exterior of the hotel seemed very outdated. I’ve given it a “Moderate” rating simply because it isn’t falling apart at the seams.
• Interior: Poor – It wasn’t a pretty sight to see. It seemed like a mixture of a library and a courthouse.
• Ballroom: Poor – It didn’t look like a wedding venue. There was no furniture inside the ballroom, and the decor was very dated.
• Bedroom: Very Poor – The sheets haven’t been washed in a long while. There were also dust mites on the walls and on the carpet floors. “It’s like somebody threw a strawberry milkshake all over the place!,” said Ramsay about the pink decor.

It costs $319/night to stay at the Roosevelt Inn.

John Hough or Sherlock Holmes?:

John Hough likes to play dress-up once a month. They’ve made it a monthly tradition to solve the Sherlock Holmes Murder Mystery. John usually sits in the common area reading a book, while his wife, Tina, works her butt off in the kitchen. Tina dresses up as Little House of the Prairie and John dresses up as Sherlock Holmes. Their adult children are upset that their mother works 3x harder than their father does.

The Ballroom Gets No Lovin’:

John and Tina added a ballroom/wedding venue in an effort to gain revenue from hosting weddings at the hotel. They spent about $52,000 redecorating this room, but they have yet to host a single wedding.

The ballroom also smells of wet dog because there are two dogs living inside the room. The potent smell is enough to scare the guests away.

Ramsay Confronts John:

Ramsay: “This whole thing (playing dress-up) was put together for your fantasy! Do you have any care in the world, apart from yourself?”

John: “When you get a Psychology degree, you can come and talk to me.”

Ramsay: “Man up and act responsible.”

John: “Just talk to my hand!”

Ramsay: “You’re not 10 years old. You need to start growing up, and stop running away from the truth.”

Dinner Time:

None of the food is made in-house. John & Tina do not have a head chef. I’m not surprised by that since they’re in $1.1 million in debt. They purchase frozen & processed shrimp and salmon (most likely for money-saving purposes). John also had trouble boiling a soft-boiled egg.

Upset with Ramsay’s criticism, John said to Tina, “I want him to fall into a very deep pit, so he can’t get out!”

The Roosevelt Staff Get a Wake-Up Call:

Gordon Ramsay invited guests (whom have stayed at the hotel within the past six months) to reveal their true feelings about the Roosevelt Inn. The guests didn’t like the decor nor the food. None of them would return to this country inn.

Then, Ramsay asked Tina, John, and all of the guests to come take a look at the bedsheets. Ramsay used a black light to reveal years of bodily fluid stains left on the bedsheets. These stains were worse than those of the River Rock Inn!

Ramsay’s Interior Designers Re-Decorate the Roosevelt Inn:

Gordon Ramsay’s team of interior designers have modernized the inn. Everything is now fit for the 21st century. They also bought fresh food and $50,000 worth of silverware (simply as a gift for John & Tina).

John & Tina Hough also hosted their first wedding for a new bride & groom!

That’s all for Season 1. Thank you for reading my recaps! Very much appreciated.