hello i hope you're having a wonderful day today welcome to the film insight channel
for today's video we're going to discuss some of the most delusional owners
to be featured on hotel hell be sure to stick around because it gets crazy juniper hill in
chef i'm making a change on 21. write it down don't tell me just write it down
for the very first episode of hotel hell Gordon Ramsay journeyed to the quaint little village of
windsor vermont where he would attempt to rescue the historic juniper hill inn from financial ruin
he would meet some of the most morally bankrupt owners from hotel hell today you will hear a tale
that includes owners stealing tips from an old lady a pretentious man getting insulted in his
country mansion underpaid staff and finally said pretentious man getting the shock of his life
when he discovers an embarrassing truth but first the in where all this would happen
the juniper hill in it was a hotel with a rich heritage it was built in 1902 and had
dined two u.s presidents theodore roosevelt and woodrow wilson it was styled as a country mansion
sitting on 14 acres of land overlooking the town of windsor and the connecticut river valley the
inn boasted 28 luxurious bedrooms two grand dining rooms 15 fireplaces and other grand niceties the
owners were a gay couple robert dean the second 47 years old and arie nikki who was 58 years old
in september 2005 robert and his boyfriend arie bought the hotel and the surrounding 14 acres for
1.6 million dollars from robert and suzanne pearl they had grand ideas of what this hotel could be
and this was reflected in the kinds of exorbitant prices they charged the prices may be a little bit
high for locals 350. two night minimum so that's seven hundred dollars a whopping three hundred and
fifty dollars per night a price the locals thought was snobbish robert loved to wine and dine with
his friends in the hotel for free he was using the juniper hill inn as his own private clubhouse
and now he and his boyfriend were losing 200 000 a year but robert loved the impression he was making
he loved looking rich the guests that we don't want here are people who don't have a lot of money
in his words the guests that we don't want here are people who don't have a lot of money you can
see why Ramsay would later call him a pompous [ __ ] well then you pump as [ __ ] excuse me
don't talk to me about it what's wrong with it as for arie the business was sucking him dry he'd
already sunk one million dollars into the hotel from his severance package and retirement plan
robert worked as a part-time antique dealer and he'd surrounded himself with his antiques
in fact when Ramsay walked through the door he was astonished at the place which he said looked
more like a museum than a hotel the antiques on display included strange sculptures fine china
and cabinets silverware an ancient telephone a weird tissue box some native indian horse thingy
and so much more at the same time the couple also lived in a 100 000 rv probably because they
couldn't bear to mingle with the staff who they treated like peasants oh and that rv according to
robert it wasn't an rv but a motor home because rvs are for poor people what a douche the hotel
was losing money at a rate of fifteen thousand dollars to twenty thousand dollars a month
and was sinking fast but ramsay was here and he'd attempt to save the flailing juniper hill inn but
first he'd have to experience what the inn had to offer so he could fix it the accommodations and
food ramsay thought the rooms were splendid he wouldn't change a thing except for that first
room he was given this is a beautiful room but why is that smell i mean seriously it it does smell
[ __ ] that one stank like raw sewage if you're a fan of hotel hell then you know how rare it is
that ramsay finds a good room in hotel hell but they were still too expensive at 350 a night how
much this room goes for 350 a night 350 a night for room that smells of [ __ ] the food though was
a disaster to begin with the end served no lunch and secondly what it did serve was too expensive
well we actually don't serve lunch normally we don't actually serve lunch no the restaurant is
closed for lunch yes a three-course meal cost 59 with a 15 surcharge coming to a total of 74.
ramsay was appalled it's these kind of prices that have given juniper hill a reputation
for being snobbish ramsay ordered some crab cakes lamb and dessert and the whole meal was bollocks
the michelin star chef thought the crab cakes were testicle-sized and tasted soapy next was
the lamb and the way robert narrated it you would have thought it was the height of fine dining
rack of lamb encrusted in macadamia nuts fresh herbs and a little bit of dijon mustard it's
served with a honey vinegar reduction it was crap Ramsay found it cold in the center not cooked
properly and it tasted like a mouthful of sugar the dessert arrived cut in half because the other
half would go to another guest imagine that paying 74 to get half a dessert testicle-sized crab cakes
and crappy lamb robert was shortchanging both his staff and paying customers robert was a stingy man
the dessert though was quite nice Ramsay liked it but it wasn't made at the juniper hill inn
it was bought from a supplier Ramsay called in the chef julian jones i've just spent seventy
four dollars for three plates of absolute dire dated [ __ ] food and naturally he went to town
on him talking about how he just spent seventy four dollars on dire dated [ __ ] food i didn't
know that he paid for meals at these places there is honestly a lack of communication often
sometimes when i'm in the middle of doing breakfast service for the 10 people that we
randomly get i get five texts from him asking me a question this led to some finger pointing between
robert and his chef julian an argument that would be drilled down to the fundamental issue
of low pay and late payments you won't believe how cruel and uncaring these two were robert was out
here living his own version of keeping up with the joneses yet they couldn't even afford to pay the
staff they withheld paychecks from the staff for weeks and even went so far as to steal tips from
a 70 year old woman and everyone working there and if that wasn't enough the pay itself was peanuts
one of the staff was barbara a 70 year old lady who introduced herself as a cougar with
a crush on gordon and to be fair she was aging gracefully you'll be shocked to hear what they
were paying this nice respectable old woman six thousand dollars a year i don't even know how
that could happen because it's not even close to minimum wage next was the head chef julian
he was earning 400 a week before taxes and when confronted about these shocking salaries in a
staff meeting that ramsay called robert had the goal to say they don't have to work here
ramsey went ballistic when he heard that how dare you you disrespectful disgusting man he
ripped into robert telling him he wasn't the lord of the manor nor was he the great gatsby he was
just a pompous [ __ ] i i disrespectful disgusting man they don't have to work here i don't think you
realize how [ __ ] lucky you are robert was pissed off and he replied with the most nauseating excuse
me you'll ever hear go on then you pump as [ __ ] excuse me don't talk to me what's wrong with it
but Ramsay like in classic hell's kitchen shouting matches cut the man down to size this exchange was
the episode's highlight as we finally saw robert get put in his place but they saved the best
for last remember those antiques they weren't just at the reception robert was holding them
down in his basement his upstairs office and he had at least four containers worth of antiques
what is it with these hotel hell owners and hoarding here was the master plan that robert and
Ramsay thought might just pan out they would sell these antiques which robert estimated were worth
three hundred thousand dollars and voila enough money to keep them going for at least 18 months
and pay the staff they could buy some time with the money so things were looking salvageable
or were they you'll be pleased to know that robert's delusions would soon be unravelled
Ramsay called in the head auctioneer from bonhams to get robert's junk valued you won't believe what
happened next the head auctioneer amy came in and nonchalantly called robert's junk an accumulation
and not a collection have here doesn't read as a collection to me it's kind of an accumulation
and then she put the nail in the coffin with the valuation 25 000. say that again 25 000. 25 000
all this all this what a joke his precious ornaments trinkets and whatnot were not even worth
the bother of auctioning for amy she wouldn't take them what you have here doesn't read as
a collection to me it's kind of an accumulation there are a lot of copies of things or if they
are of the period they're supposed to be there are condition issues robert had been cut down
to size again it had cost more to store his junk accumulation than they were worth he was stunned
and viewers were happy that this unpleasant human had finally got his comeuppance but in a confusing
turn in the show robert suddenly became nice he vowed to listen to the staff and pay them
he would be more considerate lower his prices and welcome the locals and the staff were also
in on it suddenly they too loved robert i had my pitchfork ready for nothing all this time there
would be no lynching but at least arie was showing some promise he yelled at sarah the innkeeper
because she tried to keep his dog away from the dining room even though that was her job but even
he would apologize to sarah and everything was great again i felt a bit cheated well
at least harry nicki was sent to jail in 2015 for assaulting a law enforcement officer where he may
or may not have received a lynching of an entirely different kind with everyone suddenly happy
ramsay began his renovations he transformed the great hall using some of robert's fake antiques
into a spacious more gracious room he also removed the makeshift bar and created a new bar called the
blue bar in the second dining room the first dining room was also updated but the bedrooms
remained untouched as they were already splendid he also simplified the menu and got robert to
agree to lower the prices to attract more guests it was all very nice and everyone was happy well
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