In this Hotel Impossible episode, Anthony Melchiorri visits Caribe Playa Beach Resort in Patillas, Puerto Rico.
Caribe Playa Beach Resort is owned by George Engel.
The 32 room resort was bought by him in 1997.
Things got bad from 2006 onwards and he is close to losing it all.
Anthony has a problem getting there as the directions from the hotel confuse him.
He spends 3 hours trying to find his way to the hotel.
From the parking lot he gets a great view of the beach and the ocean.
The beach itself is filthy, not properly landscaped and has a dirty bin in full view.
The garden furniture is also covered in mud.
He finally enters the hotel and the deck looks great at first until he finds a rusty fan.
At the front desk he is confused as it doubles as both a gift shop and library.
It is also cluttered.
He is given a Deluxe room to inspect at a cost of $135 a night.
There are no security latches on the room doors.
The ceiling is falling apart, there is a lot of dust, the pillow has no case, the sheets are worn and there is hair on the bed.
The security problems continue as there are no phones or internet in the rooms.
He goes to the window and calls for him but no one hears him or comes to his aid.
Anthony sits with George and the General Manager Francis.
He is shocked to hear that George has had a long career in hospitality but the hotel is so bad.
Francis doesn’t say much during the initial meeting.
Anthony reveals he had the resort inspected before he arrived.
He plays the review for the duo and it is very bad.
Francis is full of excuses.
When Anthony starts attacking her competency, it is revealed that the duo are married.
Blanche Garcia is brought in and she is shown the tiny and cluttered front desk area.
Anthony wants the space opened up.
They find a sealed door that would work as an alternate entrance.
Blanche will be working on the reception area and a hotel room.
Anthony inspects the pool and is impressed with it but feels it is underused.
George admits there is no service at the pool despite there being a pool bar.
Anthony gives him the assignment of getting the pool bar operational.
George's son Jonathan calls Anthony off site for a meeting to give him some information.
He used to be General Manager but Francis frustrated him into leaving.
Jonathan felt forced to resign from the role due to her interference.
He doesn’t think she has the right qualities and interfered with his duties.
He believes their ideas are old and dated.
Anthony sits with George to tell him all he found out from Jonathan.
George admits Francis is not very good at her job.
He says that she was at fault for him leaving but admits that he wanted to keep the peace.
Anthony convinces him he needs to remove her from the role.
They invite Francis and George lets her go but Francis is upset and walks off.
Anthony tries to calm her down.
She complains without the cameras that she does too much work so the problems are not her fault.
She finally accepts after both Anthony and George explain.
Anthony leaves them to check on Blanche.
The sealed door has been opened up and work in the room has begun.
He leaves her to work and links up with a professional to set up their communications infrastructure including the internet.
After this he checks on the couple again and Francis is better and goes home.
George and Anthony get some candidates to interview for the GM role.
They are thrown into the deep end by inspecting a hotel room for problems.
Phase 2 of the interview is a question and answer session.
After deliberating they choose a winner, William.
He already has a task of working with George to properly set up the pool area for a party to launch the space the following day.
William is happy to hit the ground running.
The next morning and final day, there are projects on the go.
The renovations are being done by Blanche in the room and reception area.
The pool party are organising the pool.
The communication team is also working on their set up.
George and Francis are present and Anthony apologises for upsetting her the day before.
By sundown the family are shown the new front desk area that has been decluttered.
It has also been opened up so it is exclusively for greeting guests.
They love it all and Blanche has a surprise of her own as she had created a separate room for the library.
They are shown the newly renovated room.
Francis loves it so much and she is excited about it being used.
The room is bright and airy .
There are brand new sheets donated to them for all the rooms.
Anthony points out the brand new telephones, also donated for free and the triple lock on the hotel room door.
The pool area now has the bar properly set up and has guests having a fun time at the party.
William went above and beyond and delivered on the project.
Finally, Anthony shows them their new website with proper directions so no one gets lost.
What Happened Next at Caribe Playa Beach Resort?
Months later, their revenue is up 16%.
The trial period with William did not work out but a replacement has been found.
Caribe Playa Beach Resort is closed.
They closed in 2017 due to damage caused by Hurricane Maria.
They never reopened following a temporary closure as their insurer did not pay out enough to repair the damage.
Instead, they started renting out a smaller holiday home.
Reviews before the closure were mostly positive.
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