Vienna Inn - Hotel Hell Update - Open or Closed?

Hotel Hell Vienna Inn

In this Hotel Hell episode, Gordon Ramsay visits Vienna Inn in Southbridge, Massachusetts.

Vienna Inn is an Austrian themed hotel owned and run by couple, Jonathon and Lisa Krach.

The inn is an Austrian themed hotel and restaurant.

The inn has gained a reputation amongst the locals and none will come to the hotel or restaurant.

They bought the inn in 2000 and rumours have been spreading that they hold adult parties in the basement.

The staff state that the couple are not the gracious and charming hosts that they seem to be.

Melissa also says that Lisa is an emotional person who gets upset a lot.

They also feel Lisa isn’t authentic and she never means it when she cries.

The couple also have a lot of arguments where their screaming gets heard in the dining room.

They also smoke and drink in the bar and have created an unprofessional atmosphere in there, drinking with customers.

Gordon arrives and is surprised to see a dead cat and a cabbage at the front door.

He was also appalled to find that the staff buy their own costumes at around $300 a piece.

Lisa admits that buying the hotel was her husband’s idea and she was against it as they had two young children.

Jonathan is half Austrian/Polish and cooks in the kitchen, while Lisa is American and runs the inn.

There is a dead mans violin on the dining table and the hotel is very cluttered with odd decorations, including a picture of a Prussian murderer.

Gordon is taken up to his room and he finds a rocking chair which Lisa claims is the first piece she ever refurnished.

Gordon is then served a boar appetizer that is under seasoned and has soggy bread by room service.

Lisa tells Gordon that she is responsible for designing the hotel rooms and the dining room.

The bedroom is dated and has a locked closet in it that he is unable to use.

Gordon finds out that is for Lisa as she has no room for clothes in her own bedroom, which is connected to Gordon's room.

Gordon sits down to order food from the German menu and orders the scallops, beer battered sauerkraut and vegetarian mushroom crepe.

The Scallops are cut up, rancid and taste terrible and the sauerkraut is dated.

The Mushroom crepes are a mess but the edible flower decoration on the dish is delicious.

Gordon asks the waiter why the hotel is declining and she says it is due to disorganization and unclear and inconsistent orders from management.

She says the worst thing Lisa has done to her is smack her on the back of her head in front of the customers.

He calls on Jonathan and Lisa and tells them the hotel should be labelled prehistoric as the rooms are shoddy and the food are terrible.

He advises them to close the inn as Jonathan's heart clearly isn't in it and Lisa's head is in the clouds.

Gordon has heard that the basement of the Inn is used for wild adult parties.

He decides to venture down there but he only finds a wine cellar stocked with expensive wine and a mineral spa.

Gordon arrives to see an evening service and it is a disaster.

Food sits on the top of the pass as their timings are off and they are serving two day old chicken to customeres.

Gordon inspects the kitchen and finds that there is meat stored in the fridge that shouldn't be together and some old food that needs to be thrown out.

Gordon calls the couple outside and tells them the whole operation is screwed.

The kitchen is shocking, food is left sat on the line and the meat is cross contaminated.

Gordon walks off leaving an argument outside and Lisa heads straight into the bar for a drink.

Gordon tells them that he has never met a couple so undeserving of his help.

He tells them to pack a bag and get out of the hotel for the night.

Gordon calls a staff meeting and discovers there are rude text messages that the staff have been sent by the owners.

There is no payroll system and when the staff asks for their salary their cheques are refused by their banks.

The staff are often then given small amounts of cash instead of their entire paychecks.

They also tell Gordon that they’ve never had a staff meeting in the hotel.

He then calls the owners to meet with the staff and they tell them their complaints.

Gordon brings in locals who had visited the inn before for feedback on the inn and restaurant.

One customer complained that they had raw scallops and found it overwhelming with all of the clutter.

The uniforms were seen as revealing and unnecessary by many of the customers.

They had all heard that it is an adult hotel and as the spa and massage rooms have been misunderstood and rumours have started.

Gordon brings in a sommelier, Dave Foss, to help them sell wine and there are makeovers in the rooms and dining room.

The staff were also provided with new uniforms and the restaurant has a new menu.

There is also new system to help with the hotel’s operational needs and so that customers can book online.

Lisa starts to make negative comments and doesn’t seem happy with the changes that have been made.

While it was time to relaunch, Lisa starts meddling around, acting over the top.

Jonathon gets lost in the kitchen and Gordon angrily tells Jonathan to focus and take charge.

The service has fallen apart and food is coming out at different times.

Gordon asks them to be honest if there is anything they don't like.

Lisa tells him she is surprised how he only renovated one room.

Gordon tells them the show isn't a makeover show and the rest of the work is for them to do.

After he leaves they should continue his changes throughout the inn.

He also states that Lisa sounds ungrateful for what has been done.

Gordon tells them that he arranged for a new stove to be installed and the engineer came.

But he had to leave because he was going to shut the place down as it is on the verge of running illegally.



What Happened Next at Vienna Inn?


Shortly after Gordon left Lisa and Jonathon reverted straight back to the old Vienna.

They changed the decor and took all of the clutter back out of storage.

They went back to the old menu and as a result their reputation has remained the same.

Reviews on Trip Advisor and Yelp are suspiciously different to the portrayal of hotel on the show both before and after Gordon's visit, with a solid 4.5* on both Trip Advisor and Yelp.

Vienna Inn closed in November 2017.

It closed after the hotel suffered from a fire that caused around $75,000 of damage.

The hotel was sold for $30,000 in 2018.

Vienna Inn aired on May 31 2016, the episode was filmed in November 2015 and is Hotel Hell season 3 episode 2.


Read About More Hotel Hells

Next episode - Town's Inn

Previous episode - Angler's Lodge

23 comments:

  1. Yes it was bizarre alright.

    Thought it was silly that Gordon would be critical of a menu that contained the names of German dishes in what is meant to be an Austrian restaurant.

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    Replies
    1. You actually CAN have the menu in English with Austrian food.

      What's the point of dishes that hardly any guest can pronounce? Or do you go to a local Chinese place and order in Chinese?

      Delete
    2. When I go to a French restaurant, I order foi gras. I guess you go to the same place and order "faith fat".

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    3. Lol, Faith fat is not the literal translation here :)

      Faith fat : foi grasse
      but : Foie gras : Fat liver

      Foie with E is liver, Foi with nothing is faith
      There you go, but funny .
      there you go :)

      Delete
    4. You are aware that in Austria they speak German, right?

      Delete
  2. I am also deeply suspicious about the reviews on Yelp and Trip Advisor. Like stated above, if they were getting scores of 4.5 and 5 why did they even dream of going on the show?!

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  3. I am also deeply suspicious of the Trip Advisor and Yelp reviews. If the restaurant scores are 4.5 and 5 why would they even dream of going onto the show?!

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    Replies
    1. I was thinking the same thing.

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    2. People actually pay money for good reviews. I'm almost 100% sure that's what they've done.

      Delete
  4. This show was so crazy I checked Yelp and travelocity myself for clues. Reviews are mixed but over all positive. Their good nights seem to be good but their bad nights, oh boy. I think these people are con artists who tried to scam the show into giving them a free makeover of their entire inn. Their servers are pretty but they have tits for brains if they accept a job that requires you to buy a 300 dollar dress for the privilege of waiting tables and begging, mostly in vain, for your paycheck. If you can afford a fancy dress then you don't need a job as a waitress. I would quit on the spot if my boss told me the day I was hired I would need a 300 dollar uniform out of my own pocket and I would refuse to allow my daughter to work there. Wanna wear a uniform? Go get a job at the food court in the mall. This couple is a pair of narcissists and they're lucky to have gotten anything. Probably the only reason Ramsey didn't walk off the set is that he was locked into working with this couple. He can be a generous guy when he feels someone deserves it.

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  5. This inn is just weird. It's not Austrian. It's some weird mishmash of German, Austrian and Swiss stereotypes.

    The decor is bad enough. A really terrible painting of the emperor Franz-Josef, then some random Prussian family in a corner.

    The flags on the entrance are wrong. Red-white-red is fine, but the one with the eagle is the state flag, flown by the Austrian government. If I see that flag on a house, I assume that an Austrian politician is an official state guest.

    The "uniforms" are another mishmash of pseudo-Germanic clothing. None of it is authentic. None of it is even remotely Viennese.

    When I saw the menu on the show I went "WTF!" a lot. Bismarck Herring (simple pickled herring, which has nothing to do with Austria) and Königsberger Klopse (really just normal meatballs) is bad enough, but when I saw that this guy has Wienerschnitzel with red cabbage and Spätzle, I almost lost it.

    A "crumb carpet" ("Bröselteppich", a slang word for Wienerschnitzel in Austria) with red cabbage and Spätzle?!

    Nobody does that!

    Traditionally the Wienerschnitzel is served with potato salad, but fries are very common these days, too.

    This whole place strikes me as if someone saw too much Sound of Music and those terrible Sissy movies from the 50s. It's cliche, it's absolutely not authentic. Austrian people would be offended by this.

    The owner's claim that he's half Austrian means absolutely nothing. Obviously he didn't grow up in Austrian culture, otherwise he'd know that Wienerschnitzel with red cabbage and Spätzle is basically heresy.

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  6. I don't even know where to begin. The way she treats her staff is utterly appalling. Smacking that poor girl? Horrendous. Gordon did nothing but expose just how ungrateful and cruel that woman is. Not only did she complain about everything, but the way she spoke down to her husband made me sick. It's clear why he isn't happy and with her barking down his back and screaming and faking her tears I would be drained too. She needs serious help. You need to also learn how to treat your staff with more respect. If I had been working for them at any point I certainly would have unloaded already and reported them. I'm hoping they get shut down due to their rude nature and cruel treatment towards staff. I'm almost certain the person who changed everything back was Lisa. Get a grip. You wasted that amazing mans time and essentially spit in his face after he bit his tongue to try and salvage your pathetic excuse for a hotel.

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  7. they have blocked all visitors posts on their Facebook age

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  8. It smells a lot like a Amy's Baking Co. story here. The owners are missing a few screws!

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  9. What a troll and so fake she is ungreatful Mr ramsey should of packed his team and left her

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  10. apparently the owner wrote her own 5* review on Yelp

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  11. The positive reviews are all bought.

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  12. As a native from Austria I am really annoyed by this episode. The hotel and the menu have nothing to do with Austria - Before and after Gordons's makeover! The "Dirndls" and the "Lederhosen" the staff weared are just some phantasy things but not authentic Austrian. The whole episode is such a disaster for Hotel Hell and Gordon. Every native from Austria will be annoyed when watching this episode!

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  13. Just watched this episode, how this place is still open is quite shocking.

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  14. All the reviews before and after the show are largely positive.The majority are positive and have been posted over a number of years. That makes it unlikely that they were brought reviews (as one commenter claimed.)

    I didn't think that the food or decor looked half-bad. Normally enjoy Ramsay but he was nit-picking here. I read a Telegram interview where a staff member claimed that they did buy their costume but in reality, it came to less than $10. The owners themselves refer to the show as "creative reality" rather than accurate.

    Can't help but think that the owners agreed to appear on the show in exchange for the renovations. That's how these things work - you appear on the show misrepresented as a caricature and in exchange, they renovate your hotel. I enjoy Ramsay's shows immensely but I don't believe that they accurately portray the bulk of the hotels or their owners. It's entertainment.

    I noticed that the episode didn't include the usual shots of the diners praising the new menu. Maybe because they didn't enjoy it? That could be part of the reason that the inn returned to the original menu.

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  15. I've read a number of the 4 and 5 point reviews. To anyone used to fact checking, they ring alarm bells steadily after the first three or so. Almost all use the same few descriptive words, they almost uniformly capitalize dish names as if pulling them straight off the menu, they are almost all over the top positive, etc etc etc. The few reviews that actually come across as the usual mix of review "types" are almost all low rating reviews.

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  16. Although a bit cluttered, I liked the old decor alot better...it was interesting and cozy. The new decor was boring and looked too modern/ same sortnof decor everyone uses now and copies.

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