Original subtitles

- I've spent the last decade

tackling struggling restaurants.

You're screwing the business.

You can't even cook a fucking burger in there.

Fuck off.

Ding, ding, round fucking two.

But now I'm taking on an even bigger set of problems.

I'm checking into "Hotel Hell."

Oh my god.

My head is spinning.

I'm gonna be staying in America's worst hotels,

so you don't have to.

- I'm not sleeping here,

we're checking out. - No way. This is bad.

- This is the mattress cover.

(guests exclaiming)

Fuck me, it's like being in Danny Devito's house.

Look at this shower.

Help.

(Gordon banging)

Let me out.

Tonight, I'll be trying to bring a haunted hotel

back to life.

- There's a little girl who supposedly haunts the hotel.

(girl giggles)

- Shit.

The hotel's ex-military owner-

- I'm the owner and I'll say that's how we're gonna do it.

- Runs the hotel like a dictatorship.

Oh, you're like a little fucking Hitler around here.

- Dammit, he's wrong.

- Can I save a marriage in crisis

and rescue a hotel on the brink of disaster?

- We're gonna make it go or we're gonna shut it up.

- Sell the place, sell it,

'cause this is madness.

(upbeat rock music)

This is the historic Cambridge Hotel in Upstate New York.

It's set in stunning countryside,

a few hours drive from Manhattan.

The hotel has 16 bedrooms and a large restaurant,

and has had its doors open for almost 150 years.

- Welcome to the Cambridge Hotel.

- Ex-military man and local lawyer, John Imhof,

persuaded his family to help him buy the hotel in 2007.

- I remember sitting in my hot tub,

smoking a cigar, drinking bourbon

and life was good.

And I wanted to take my wife someplace nice for dinner.

So I said to her, why don't we buy the Cambridge Hotel

and then we'd have a place to go.

- He must've hit me at a weak moment,

because I said sure.

- [Gordon] With zero hospitality experience between them-

- Which one is 827?

I don't know the numbers.

- [Gordon] The hotel currently falls shockingly short

of guest expectations.

- It's dingy. - It's nasty.

- And there's hair all in through here.

- [Male Guest] All over these pillows.

- [Female Guest] It'd be nice if we had a remote control.

- There's just gobs of hair.

- We've had remote controls since when, the '70s?

- I'm not sleeping here,

we're checking out. - No way, this is bad.

- When I bought the hotel, I didn't intend

to be a hands-on owner.

But I am always at the hotel doing something.

One person has to be in charge.

- Get 84 emails, 70 from John.

John is a control freak.

- How we doing on that chicken?

- Working hard.

- [John] We can do better, chef.

- I'm ready to murder him.

With this menu, there's a lot restrictions to it,

our budget's really tight,

the creativity's kind of gone out the window.

- Britt, all the rooms clean?

- Yeah, all the rooms coming in.

- I am currently the general manager.

- I'll finish this up.

- But John takes away my control.

I have no control.

- [Gordon] But General John's hands-on approach

isn't working.

Nobody wants to stay and the hotel is losing

thousands of dollars every month.

- John wants to put every penny that we have

into this hotel and that is something

I am no longer willing to do.

- We are $750,000 in debt,

but failure's not an option and I don't intend to fail

at the hotel.

- [Gordon] Unless I can fix things and fast,

John and Tina will lose their business and their home.

- If Gordon Ramsey can't fix us, who the hell else can?

(dramatic music)

- Wow, the real sense of grandeur.

Definitely some history here.

Cambridge Hotel, established 1885,

home of pie a la mode.

I've been across America,

I did not realise it came from here.

Morning.

- Good morning, welcome to the Cambridge Hotel.

- Good to see you.

Gordon, and your first name, sorry?

- My name is Brittany, I'm the manager.

I have you in room 117.

That is $105 during the weekday

and $135 on the weekend. - Okay.

- I think Gordon's first impression of the hotel

is going to be, what the fuck are these people doing?

- The Cambridge Hotel, R.I.P, seriously?

- [Brittany] Yes.

- It's died, you mean?

- No, rest in peace is the ghosts that live here.

We are haunted.

- Oh, come on.

- There's a little girl who supposedly haunts the hotel.

Alice.

- Alice?

- Alice.

- [Gordon] Oh my good god,

she looks like something out of "The Exorcist."

- [Brittany] She was four years old in 1913.

- [Gordon] When she died?

- I believe in ghosts at the hotel.

I absolutely believe in them.

Gonna go up the stairs.

- They're creaky as well.

And, oh god.

Are they the owners?

- No, I don't know who they are,

those have been here.

- This place is littered with freaky pictures.

- [Brittany] Yeah.

- [Gordon] What's upstairs there?

- [Brittany] That is our third floor.

- Why is that roped off?

- [Brittany] Because it is not accessible to our guests.

- Is that where the ghosts are?

- Well, that's where people say they are.

If he goes up on the third floor,

he is going to freak out.

This is your room.

- Oh my god, bloody hell.

Look at the wallpaper.

What's the post up there?

What is that?

- Just there.

- So there's no handcuffs.

- No.

- No, okay.

So it's not a sex thing.

- (laughs) It is not a sex thing.

- It's a really weird thing to have in the bed.

- I know.

- Oh shit, oh shit.

(lamp rumbles)

- Well. - Shit.

- Welcome to the Cambridge Hotel.

- Thank you.

Christ almighty, I am not gonna forget this day in a hurry.

Horrible linen, rough and nasty.

Holes, look at that.

And the bed doesn't even fit the base.

Honestly, I've seen better linen inside hospitals.

Horrible.

My bedroom is dated and uncomfortable.

How could anyone think this was good enough

for paying customers?

- Bye bye.

- [Gordon] Can I meet the owners?

- Yes.

I'll be right back with the owners.

- Look how dead they are.

- Gordon, this is Tina and John Imhof.

- Tina, nice to see you.

- Nice to see you. - Gordon.

- Nice to meet you, sir, John.

- Likewise, good to see you both.

It's quite amazing when you drive up

and you see the sort of statue of the building.

- Yes, sir.

- [Tina] Isn't it beautiful?

- It's stunning, until we get inside.

(Tina gasps)

- Hotel experience prior to this was what?

- Very, very little.

- No, none.

- None.

- So year one, what was the profit?

- We lost about $350,000 the first year.

- Year two?

- $250,000.

- Profit?

- Loss.

- Loss?

So we're in for $600,000

within 24 months of business.

Who's funding this?

- Well, my mom and dad have put in-

- Us.

- Several hundred thousand dollars.

- Wow.

- Our children.

- Our children.

- Your children? - Yes.

- Shea has put about $25,000 on credit cards.

- Shea is your?

- [Tina] The oldest daughter.

- Your oldest daughter, right.

- The chef's significant other.

- Okay.

- And so my youngest daughter

just lent us $10,000.

- Your youngest daughter?

- She's in college.

- Is your house on the line next?

- Yes, it is up for sale.

- And we would live here.

We would move onto the third floor.

- Where do you draw the line

and say stop, this is not working?

You're standing there like proud cock,

very confident, very happy,

and like nothing's gone wrong.

But taking money from your daughter

that hasn't even started one foot

on the path of her career? - I would never ask her.

- I believed that we would be able to turn it around.

- I know, but John, I'm sorry,

your parent's money, your family's money,

your daughter's money.

- I do have a positive attitude.

- There's a difference between sounding positive

and sounding full of crap.

- He doesn't know me and he doesn't know the situation.

I'm a military guy,

I'm not gonna take Chef Ramsay's bullshit.

- [Gordon] I've just met the owners

of the struggling Cambridge Hotel

and discovered they've borrow money

from their kids to stay open.

- I do have a positive attitude.

- There's a difference between sounding positive

and sounding full of crap.

Unbelievable.

Tina, how'd you manage?

- I don't know how I manage,

and I was very close to running away several times.

- Wow, seriously?

Unreal, thank you.

- I've been frustrated for years

with him not listening to me.

When somebody doesn't listen to you for a while,

you just give up.

- What is it about John that's driven his wife

and potential guests away?

I need to watch the general in action.

(vacuum whirring) (playful music)

What are you doing with a Hoover?

Welcome, nice to see you,

sorry about the owner walking through with a Hoover.

Are you joining us for a sleepover

or are you joining us for dinner?

- Dinner.

- Excellent. - Dammit!

Cambridge Hotel, how may I help you?

- [Gordon] John keeps himself constantly busy,

but he's busy doing all the wrong things.

His non-stop fussing and fidgeting

is killing the hotel's atmosphere.

The tables in the bar might be clean,

but I've got an eerie feeling

the food's gonna be filthy.

Only one way to find out.

- Hello, sir.

- How are you?

- Good, my name is Phillip, I'll be your server.

- You wanna?

- Thank you, I'm a little nervous.

- So am I.

What would you recommend?

- Well, the soup du jour today is a vegetarian lentil.

- Vegetarian lentil? - Yep.

- And what was the soup du jour yesterday?

- It was also the vegetarian lentil.

- Oh, so soup every two days?

- Actually, it's longer than two days.

- I'll go for the pork and beans.

Duck confit. - Yeah.

- And pie a la mode.

- Okay. - Okay, I think we're done.

- [Phillip] Okay, thank you.

- Thank you very much, Chef.

- Thank you.

- Chef order's up.

- [Rich] Okay, thank you.

Get them going brother, get them going.

- I think that Gordon is gonna love the food.

Chef Rich is great.

We put out excellent food.

- [Rich] The Chef.

- Wow, look at that.

- This is the pork and beans.

- Holy mackerel.

(suspenseful music)

It's cold in the middle.

Both of you, yeah, just touch the meat there, please.

- Ice cold. - That's it, touch that.

- [Brittany] Ice cold.

- I can see why we've got R.I.P on the front

of the fucking reception.

- Those are two medium rares, right, Scooter,

chuck them in the oven, please.

- [Phillip] Chef, ice cold in the middle.

- Tell him it's a sous-vide product,

we cook it to order.

- It disappoints me a little bit

that we are boiling in bags,

putting stuff in the microwave.

I wish we could actually cook with fresher food.

- The duck confit, and Chef said the pork and beans

was a sous-vide product and it's cooked to order.

- Sous-vide?

Oh, cooked in a bag?

- Yes, they're frozen.

- Frozen? - Yes.

- And this plate is frozen?

- I think that's a sous-vide product as well.

- Do we have anything that is homemade?

Are the apple pies made here?

- The apple pies are made here.

- Okay, can you hurry up with the desserts, please?

- Sure thing. - Thank you.

So far, everything has been terrible.

Surely, the hotel's signature dish is gonna be better.

How is the apple pie?

- We just told them we don't wanna complain anymore.

- I'm sorry.

But this is the home of Apple Pie a la Mode.

- But if it's the home of Apple Pie a la Mode,

it should be really bad ass.

- Stay away from it.

- It looked like there was vomit on the top of it.

I'm bringing it home for my dog.

- [John] Okay.

- Wow.

(dramatic music)

- Pie a la mode, Gordon.

- So this is it, this is the famous-

- That is the pie a la mode.

- Shit, this plate is absolutely roasting in the centre,

has it been microwaved?

- It has.

- The apples are raw.

If there's one thing I was expecting,

was a decent apple pie and that is gross.

I need to find out who's responsible

for the terrible food here.

Hello.

- If Chef Ramsey criticises Chef's food-

- Where is Chef?

- I think Rich will blow up

because Rich does take things personally.

- I don't know where to start, to be honest.

What the fuck is going on?

- Well, tell me what you didn't like.

Can you be a little bit more constructive?

- Shall we start from the pork and beans?

Stone fucking cold.

- It's a sous-vide product.

- [Gordon] So you don't even cook that?

- No, it's a sous-vide.

- No, and can you cook?

- Yes.

- So why buy that in?

- Price.

- You buy a store bought frozen piece of pork,

boiled in a bag, and serve it to me

stone cold in the centre.

You're not even cooking.

So you're just too lazy to do it.

- That's not true, I am not lazy.

- This menu could be run now without you being here.

- Yes, it's the way I designed it.

- It's the way you designed it,

so you are lazy then?

- I'm not lazy.

If Gordon calls me lazy one more time,

it could cause a problem.

Might be going back to Britain in a body bag.

(dramatic music)

- I just tasted the food at the Cambridge Hotel

and it was awful.

I think it's because the chef is lazy.

But he's adamant he's not.

That menu stinks of laziness.

- I'm not lazy.

I'm her 80, 90 hours a week.

- Yeah, you can't call yourself an executive chef, come on.

Do you know it's store bought?

- I did.

- Why would you employ a chef

that two thirds of the menu is store bought?

- I think Gordon believes that I'm incompetent

in running a hotel,

but what I'm doing is right.

- Your hotel became famous for this apple pie, right?/

And this is the dish that is trying to stop

your house being put up for sale

to keep this place kept up.

What I'm trying to say

is there are so many basics wrong,

I could fucking cry.

I could seriously cry. - [Tina] I could cry too.

- And look at the apples.

Look, the apples are raw, not even baked.

I could scream when I see that.

This was invented here. - I'm not happy.

- There's thousands of restaurants across the globe

that have copied what you originated.

Have you any idea how lucky you are?

And it resolves to that?

Soggy, undercooked, soaking wet piss pie.

Can I have a quick word with you

for two seconds, please? - Sure.

- [Gordon] I'm struggling to understand

what's going on here.

I need to hear a woman's perspective.

- John is smart in what he does as a lawyer.

He's awful here.

I can't get it in his head.

- But between the two of them,

they're about to take your fucking house down.

- I know.

Him and John go back and forth.

When I give suggestions, it's pretty much,

you know, and then it's pushed aside

and then John is making decisions.

- You're about to lose your house.

- I know!

And he says, we are going

until I haven't got another penny to put in it.

- [Gordon] He's never run a business before.

- No, and he's never done anything in his life

but be a lawyer and a soldier.

That is it.

- He may have won lots of battles,

but he's fucking definitely losing this way,

let me tell you.

- Finally, a stranger is seeing what I've been seeing.

And I'm hoping that John is gonna take something from this

and either we're gonna make it go,

or we're gonna shut it up.

- I've seen about as much as I can stand at this hotel.

The outdated rooms, the cheap linens,

and the prepackaged food.

How have things got this bad?

I've got to get some answers.

What's wrong with this place and who's to blame?

- The problems here is that we have to ask

to do something.

We're not aloud to make a decision,

we're not aloud to make a decision.

- General manager, executive chef.

- We have to run everything through John.

- What?

- We have to have meetings. - John's a lawyer.

Why'd do you have to ask someone

that doesn't know how to run a fucking bath,

let alone a hotel?

- That's what he wants. But he's took over more control,

that's when I put up my hands.

Okay, you wanna run it, you run it.

- It's fucking soulless.

It's littered with shit antiques that are broken.

It's got horrendous pictures

all over the fucking place.

Disgusting rooms, food that comes out of a fucking bag.

- I don't control any of that stuff.

I'm not making decisions.

I told Rich that I thought we should cut our food costs.

- Have you got the respect from the owners

to do your job properly, yes or no?

- No.

- I have absolutely-

- Can she talk?

- I definitely do not make the decisions

that I think I should be able to though.

- She's telling you that,

and that's what the problem is.

It's not the fucking ghosts, John,

that are scaring the regulars away, it's you.

A chef needs to be a fucking chef

and the general manager needs to general manage.

- I'm not a micro-manager.

- When we first started this place and the ideas I had

were all shot, shot down,

that's the kind of stuff.

- Now it's coming out.

You've handicapped the chef,

the general manager's dysfunctional,

and you're calling all the fucking shots.

- I'm not calling the shots. - You're a lethal weapon.

- You may think that-

- No, I don't think that, I fucking know that.

You just heard from your wife,

your general manager, your chef.

- That I'm controlling?

- Over controlling, you're like a little fucking Hitler

around here.

And if you don't stop doing what you're doing,

you'll lose your family and the business.

(dramatic music)

I've finally got the truth at the Cambridge Hotel.

You're like a little fucking Hitler around here.

The place is sinking because John the owner's meddling ways

have made everyone's jobs impossible.

- I'm not a micro-manager.

- They're not puppets.

They're your team and if you don't stop

doing what you're doing,

you'll lose your family and the business.

Work it out, Your Honour.

I'm going to bed.

Goodnight.

(Gordon sighs)

- This is all stuff that I've been trying to get across

to John for 20 years.

- What's the matter?

(Tina groans)

- What's the matter?

Seriously?

- Yeah. - What's the matter?

- With you, right now, you have a headache again or?

- I've had it.

I have had it.

I was feeling squashed.

I don't have to feel that way anymore.

I'm not gonna feel that way anymore.

- Bedtime, and I'm not looking forward

to sleeping in a haunted room.

I've never seen such a delusional owner

and staff that are so desperate to do their jobs

and now I've gotta sleep in this.

Christ almighty.

(bed bangs)

Oh fuck, what was that?

This bed is so uncomfy.

What is that noise on the stairs?

(girl giggles)

Alice.

I had a sleepless night and believe me,

it wasn't a ghost that kept me awake.

It was something far more frightening.

Time to give John and Tina a wake up call.

After you, please.

- [Tina] Hi, guys.

- [Guests] Hi.

- These are the guests that have been staying in the hotel.

I've asked them in my room this morning

to help you understand how difficult

it has become for guests to actually stay here.

Who would like to go first?

- I took a shower this morning

and used what I thought was a clean towel,

and there was hair in the towel.

- The bed itself was actually very uncomfortable.

(guests agreeing)

- And the pillows.

- Yeah, we left our room last night

and couldn't lock our door,

so we had to leave our hotel room door unlocked.

- Hand on hearts,

how many of you would return here?

(guests disagreeing)

Anyone?

- Not unless you pay me to stay here.

- John and Tina, are you aware of so many problems

inside these rooms?

- Some of them we are aware of, yes.

- [Tina] Some of then, yeah.

- But what I'm more pissed off about than anything

is that last night, I went downstairs,

in fact let me show, it's easier if I do it this way.

I forgot my toothbrush, I went down to the car,

and I cannot believe this.

Just watch carefully.

I went outside,

so I stepped down the stairs,

and all of a sudden, damn, I've locked myself out,

and I've got no keys to get back in.

The bloody front door is not locked at night.

(guests conversing)

Now there's no night porter,

there's no security, and then shock horror

I went behind the reception desk

and every one of your keys is hanging,

replicated, in the pigeon box.

- Wow. - That's terrible.

(guests groaning)

- Duplicate key for every room.

Credit card details, personal cell numbers,

it's all there.

- That's really scary. - That's scary to think about.

- Why is the door not locked?

- There's no good reason.

We haven't locked it in a long time, no.

- No, about two years.

- In this community, you've had eight major burglaries

in the last 12 months,

three registered sex offenders locally in this community.

I mean, how does that make you feel

that we were sleeping in this hotel last night

and each and every one of us was vulnerable.

- That's not okay. - So irresponsible.

- Thank you. - Thank you, guys.

Thank you all.

- Can you stay here with me,

and ladies and gentlemen, thank you.

John and Tina have broken the first law of hospitality.

Keep your guests safe.

John's so busy interfering with other people's jobs,

he's lost sight of what really matters.

I'm not joking around on the burglaries.

- Oh, I know. - The sex offenders.

Your reputation could be over in seconds

on one instant in this hotel.

Because you're not gonna walk around this town

as a prosecutor, a chief lawyer,

and then be responsible for a serious rape

taking place inside here.

Wake up.

You're running a business, not a courtroom.

And they're here for an experience,

not a fucking sentence.

Sell the place, 'cause you're not fit to run it.

Sell it, 'cause this is madness.

Sell it, and keep your house.

(Gordon sighs)

(dramatic music)

I've just discovered that John has lost sight

of the big picture at the hotel.

The bloody front door is not locked at night.

And his incompetence is putting the guests' safety

in jeopardy.

- That's not okay.

- If John doesn't change his interfering ways,

he and Tina will lose their home

and be forced to live in the hotel's top floor.

It's time to find out what it's like up there.

(dramatic music)

Hello, anyone there?

Hello?

Oh, shit.

Bloody hell.

Who in the hell put this here?

This really is Hotel Hell.

Oh my god, what happened to her hands?

This place is genuinely disturbing, freaky.

The top floor's no place to live,

but I've got a plan.

If I force John to see different things could be here,

maybe he'll get the message.

So I'm gonna need Brittany's help.

If we can prove to John and Tina,

if you take charge and you hold those reins,

that you can make money for this hotel, trust me,

they back off and you step up, okay?

- Yeah, absolutely, I hear you.

I'm hoping to prove to John that it can be busy,

it can be fun here.

Tonight, we are serving.

We are doing a bar night.

- Oh my god, this is terrible.

We're not a rowdy, kids doing shots, going crazy bar.

- There's a party, party, party.

We're gonna do drink specials.

We can get people in the rooms.

A ladies night tonight.

Have to pack the place.

Thanks, bye.

This is the first step to change.

- As last minute preparations take place

in the bar and the kitchen,

there's a new energy in the hotel.

This is Chef Rich's chance to prove

that he can cook with fresh ingredients,

nothing out of a bag.

Please, no preheated, all fresh, yeah?

- All fresh. - Great.

Rich, it's your responsibility to teach these guys

how to cook.

- Absolutely.

- Not to reheat.

Is that right, Scoot?

Yeah. - Absolutely.

He's just out of culinary school.

- Oh, good man. And who inspired you to be a chef?

- I had relatives everywhere pushing me

to join the culinary field,

because I wasn't physically able

to do any other things,

like sports and stuff.

- What's the disability?

- I've had two heart surgeries and two back surgeries.

- How old are you?

- 19.

- You move fast, that's a big asset.

And you haven't been taught properly yet, have you?

- No. - That's incredible.

So what do you wanna be when you grow up?

- I would like to have my own bakery

and be a professional executive pastry chef.

- [Gordon] Wow.

- [Rich] We're ready to roll.

- [Gordon] Brittany has gotten the word out

that she's in charge tonight.

And people are flocking in to the hotel.

- There you go.

Okay, let me ring them up.

- Ladies night is going really well tonight.

There's a mixed crowd of ages here,

and everyone hanging out together and having fun.

- What can I do to help you? - Nothing, get out.

Out!

- Night's going great,

but I don't think John quite understands

how important nights like this are,

because I don't think this guy gets the message.

John, I wanna show you something, come with me.

That thing spooks me every time I come in here.

Here's the situation.

Downstairs, currently there is a buzz

and that got put together by your general manager, Brittany.

That's her vision, but if you carry on

running the Cambridge Hotel the way you have been,

this is what you're gonna have.

This is what's your destiny, this, on your own.

So stay up and sort of enjoy your surroundings.

I'll come and get you when I'm ready.

- All right.

He's so wrong.

He has no clue, and I'm thinking when he comes back up

he's gonna ask me what did I learn

and I'm gonna say I really didn't learn anything.

It's locked, dammit.

(woman screams)

- [Gordon] I've locked John, the hotel's interfering owner

on the top floor.

I need to demonstrate to him

how well the hotel can run without him.

- I'm not happy sitting there waiting,

because I know my guests are downstairs

having a party and I kind of felt that I needed

to be downstairs.

Gordon wants me to sit up here

and think that he's all right about this stuff

and dammit, he's wrong about me being a control freak.

- [Gordon] With ladies night in full swing,

Chef's fiancee and John and Tina's daughter, Shea

arrives to join in the fun.

- Hey! - Hi, Momma.

- I think she's my last chance of getting through to John.

Hi, Shea, how are you?

Have you got one minute, 30 seconds?

Excuse me, thank you.

Time's running out for you dad

and for your mother, and for their house.

I can't get through to your father.

I asked him to go upstairs

and just sit and ponder and think

that this is your future.

And if you think he's ready to change,

by all means, bring him down,

and if he's not, I don't care.

Keep him out of there and keep him up there.

- Hey, Pops. - Hey, Shea.

- [Shea] What's going on?

- I'm just up here sitting down and waiting.

- Waiting?

- To go back downstairs.

- I think the point was to try and visualise

what could potentially be the future.

- Oh, no, I've been doing a lot of thinking too.

Yeah, I've been doing a lot of thinking.

I thought my role was about the same all along.

- I feel like it's changed a lot.

And I think a lot of it is a fear of trusting.

You don't have to be here all the time.

When was the last time you say down at home

and had a dinner with Mom, you know?

- Yeah, I feel guilty when I'm not here.

- Do you know what's going on downstairs?

- No.

- It's awesome.

There is a restaurant full of people

that are thoroughly enjoying themselves.

It's hopping.

And it's working without you.

- Yeah, yeah, I'm getting it, okay?

I mean, it's gonna be tough for me

to back off of the working.

- I think it's important for you.

I think it's important for you and Mom.

- You know, you make a good point, Shea.

- I think you would be able

to spend more time with your granddaughter.

- Oh, I'd love that.

- It's possible.

You don't want this to be your future.

- No.

- [Shea] You don't wanna live here.

- No, I don't.

- You have to commit to change.

- Yeah, yeah, I understand.

If Mom will put up with me being home more.

- Love you. - I love you too, Shea.

It's an epiphany.

I've just now realised my control

is what's dragging the hotel down.

Now I need to make a change in order for my personal life

to improve and for my business to get better.

- Good job, you're doing great.

- Thank you, thanks.

- Tonight has been a real success.

Seeing Brittany in charge and Rich cooking fresh food

gives me real hope.

But is John capable of letting go?

My goodness, it feels weird,

it's sounding so quiet now, right?

All right, well done, behind the bar,

well done in the kitchen, Scooter, well done.

Ladies, great, I mean you couldn't get a seat at the bar

within 20 minutes.

That's how it should be.

How much did we take?

- Just under $1,400 in two hours.

- $1,400.

- In two hours we made more than the last four Wednesdays

or four Thursdays combined.

- John, you spent the majority of the night upstairs,

how was your night?

- It was a very good night, actually.

- In what way?

- My daughter Shea opened my eyes to some things.

I'm here every night because I feel that I need to be here.

That that is my role as the owner to wave the flag

as a military term.

But when it came from Shea,

and she said, you know Dad,

I know how hard you work,

and I promised I wasn't gonna tear up,

and this all happened without me,

you trust your subordinates.

As a commander, the most important person

you have are you NCOs,

and Chef and Brittany are my NCOs.

- I can't tell you how good it is to hear that

'cause you're a fucking tough nut to crack.

(group laughing)

'Cause we have got one hell of a day tomorrow.

But I need everybody, everybody at their best.

All right, good job, well done.

- Great job, Britt. - Thank you.

- What a day.

I'm hoping that John has finally got that message,

but is it all lawyer crap?

Tomorrow we'll definitely find out.

Oh god, it's freezing.

Coming up, I drag the Cambridge Hotel

into the 21st century

and one of the hotel staff gets some shocking news.

My design team worked all night

to bring the hotel into the 21st century.

Now it's time to reveal the new Cambridge Hotel

to the staff.

Good morning.

- [John] Good morning. - John, how are you feeling?

- I can't wait to see what you've done in there.

- Right, you ready to go in?

- Yes!

- The only way we're getting in is with this, a key.

Let's go.

Let's go.

The door is locked so your guests can sleep

safe and sound.

Come on. - Unlocks, good, good.

- All right, come on upstairs.

I'm hoping that you'll love my room.

I think it's absolutely gorgeous.

- Oh my god, look at the floor.

Taking the carpet out and putting the flooring in

absolutely transformed it.

- The wallpaper was expensive.

In order to enhance it, we worked with it.

So we got the back drapes above the bed,

we have this amazing new floor,

perfect furniture that fits the room.

We've upgraded every room with brand new linen and towels.

$75,000 worth of linen.

- Oh my god.

- We could have never afforded that,

that is so wonderful.

I feel kind of like a kid that comes down Christmas morning

and there's so many things under the tree

that you're in overload.

I can't really comprehend everything yet.

I mean, I'm just kind of looking at saying wow.

- [Gordon] Ready for one more room?

- [Tina] Oh my god, I don't know if I can take it.

- Wow.

Wow.

- I can't wait to actually show a guest upstairs to a room.

I love it. - I love it, I love it.

- There's one more little thing

I wanna show you downstairs, come with me, please.

In the 1890s, the Cambridge Hotel gave birth

to would famous pie a la mode.

And I think that dish can put the hotel

back on the map today.

Something I thought was a huge miss opportunity,

I've been working on an amazing, very special

apple pie recipe that I'm gonna give to you,

that you own, and it becomes the best apple pie in America.

And on the back of that,

we've transformed this room through here

to the A La Mode Room.

Come through.

Morning, everybody, how are we?

(guests conversing)

(Tina gasps)

- We can sell our own pie that's homemade,

that Gordon is giving his recipe for, oh my god.

- This hotel invented pie a la mode,

and the ice cream is made fresh here

with a brand new ice cream maker

and it's locally sourced cream.

- [Brittany] I can't wait to try it.

- Come with me, please.

Enjoy the apple pie, nice to see you.

Please, come through.

Beautiful pie a la mode.

Dig in, dig, in, come on, guys.

- [Tina] If anybody wants this, you better get on it.

- Oh my god, that's awesome.

- [Gordon] The world famous Cambridge Hotel

Apple Pie A La Mode.

- That is the best crust I have ever had on a pie.

- Welcome to the Cambridge Hotel,

we now have the best apple pie a la mode in,

I'd say the world.

- People are gonna be excited.

- Scoot, what do you think, bud?

- I'm shocked.

- You're shocked?

Are you happy?

- I don't know what to say.

- Don't get upset, buddy, what's the matter?

- I'm so happy.

- Oh good, I'm happy too as well, you know that, okay.

Come on, buddy. - Thank you.

Seeing how much he changed the hotel

was very overwhelming.

I can feel a change.

I'm a lot more inspired.

Right now I feel like I can accomplish anything

in the kitchen.

- I am proud now.

There's a new pride in me to say this is where I work.

- Time to go. I never thought I'd say this

but I'm actually quite sad to leave this place,

because no longer is John in denial.

He can now stand back and watch his team

run the Cambridge properly.

As I'm getting ready to leave,

guests are starting to arrive at the new hotel.

- Hello, welcome guys, how are you?

- [Gordon] And the biggest change of all

is not the decor,

it's the fact that guests are loving it at the Cambridge.

- This is beautiful.

- [Gordon] The restaurant is buzzing.

- The Cambridge burger with the pork belly.

- [Gordon] Guests are enjoying the new home cooked menu

that I put together with Chef Rich.

- Real good.

- It's good, yeah.

- And you better save room for the pie

'cause it's totally different.

- Who's trying the apple pie?

- [Gordon] And the hotel's signature dish,

pie a la mode, is a big hit.

- That ice cream is worth driving for.

- Fantastic.

- Great buzz in there.

I mean, it's electric and it's the sound

of the new Cambridge Hotel.

My only hope now is that they keep it up

and keep those customers excited.

'Cause when it's like that, it's phenomenal.

- Is that good?

Can I have a bite?

I think tonight went incredibly well.

The fact that I could stay and sit with Shea and Addison.

Bonk.

(Addison laughs)

It was really, really nice.

- Wow.

To see you smiling is incredible.

You know that? - Yeah.

- You light this place up.

But I don't want you living here.

- No, I don't wanna live here.

- I do not want you living here.

- I won't live here.

- [Gordon] Okay, tell him that.

- I'm not living here.

- [John] I hear you.

- Give him a hug, he deserves one.

He hasn't interfered tonight.

And you sat down and spent time with your granddaughter.

- I had a blast.

- My job is done.

Let me tell you, no longer R.I.P of the Cambridge.

It has a bright future.

Long live the Cambridge, right?

- [Tina] Long live, that's absolutely right.

- Goodnight, my darling.

- Before Gordon came, I didn't know where to go anymore

with the hotel.

And getting Gordon here and having him show us

what the problem was,

now I can see that things can be fixed.

- I will tell you,

Colin Powell says, "Optimism is a force multiplier."

I'm optimistic.

- Stay optimistic,

but don't get too involved, okay?

- Okay.

- [Gordon] Look after yourselves.

- Thank you very much.

- Stay together.

- Thank you, thank you, thank you.

- Before I leave this place,

there's one more person I want to talk to.

Well done, big man.

So you've got three more years left at college, right?

- About four.

- Okay, hear me out, okay?

I want you to keep in touch with me.

- [Scooter] Okay.

- I'll give you my email address,

'cause I want to finance those next four years

in college personally and help you, okay?

Do it for you and keep that dream alive

one day of owning your bakery,

and then when you're bakery's open,

all I want back is loaf of bread, okay?

- It's pretty unbelievable

that he's gonna be able to finance my four years of school.

- Well done, good job.

- Thank you so much. - Well done.

- I can't wait to finish school

and pay him off with that big loaf of bread.

- You have an amazing pair of hands,

and I love your smile, don't stop, okay?

And God help you if you fail that college.

- Thank you.

- You won't though, I know you won't, well done.

- Thank you so much.

When I go to school, I'm gonna push myself 200 times harder.

I'm gonna show Gordon what I can do

and how fast I can do it.

- Good night, well done.

Take care. - Thank you.

- Well done. - Thank you.

- Good job, man.

Awesome job.

- Hey, you deserve it. - Definitely.

- What a week, what a place.

Now whenever I see a la mode, I know where it started.

- [Girl] One Potato Two Potato.