In this Hotel Impossible episode, Anthony Melchiorri visits The Dream Inn in Daytona Beach, Florida.
The Dream Inn is owned by Cindy and John.
They bought the hotel in 1992 and it coasted until 2008.
Their son Jody is the GM but the hotel is in trouble.
Anthony arrives and can instantly see the wear and tear.
The exterior is painted a putrid yellow.
It is so offensive that the community has complained about it.
The city issued an ordinance that no one else in town can use that colour on their buildings.
The landscaping is also bad and there is bird muck on the centrepiece sculpture of a dolphin.
Inside the reception there are dolphins everywhere from motifs to murals.
Jody introduces himself as an owner but he is in a t-shirt.
He complains that they do not have enough money to hire front desk staff.
Anthony calls for the other owners and decides to check out the pool area.
It is mostly unsafe and washed out.
Anthony sits with Cindy and John.
They explain it is their nest egg and only source of income for two families.
Cindy has been sick with cancer and has been in remission for less than a year, leaving it all to Jody to manage.
Anthony finds out Jody has a vision but is overruled by his mother in making decisions.
Jody says he does not like people and that gets Anthony angry, especially with Cindy trying to put words in his mouth.
Anthony visits one of the rooms and it is messy.
There is a note for a $25 charge for guests who leave dirty dishes behind.
The carpet has stains, an ugly bedspread and there are worn pillow cases.
On the balcony there is an overflowing ashtray.
All this spoils the great view of the beach that the room has.
Anthony brings in Blanche so she can get started early.
She is shown the pool area and the lobby to work on.
Anthony leaves her to assess what needs to be done.
He meets with Courtney the housekeeper who works alone to clean too many rooms.
She is forced to cut corners to be able to complete all the rooms.
Anthony does the maths and throws out the blanket.
He discovers that Cindy micromanages, even though she has been away and sick.
Anthony runs into one more staff member, who also does everything from cleaning the pool to weeding and working the front desk without a uniform.
The major complaint is the colour of the hotel and Jody’s personality.
Anthony asks Jody about all he found in the hotel room.
Jody explains the sign for the clean dishes is because he hates cleaning dishes.
Jody is defeated, saying all the problems are his fault but he still wants to run the place.
He does not push his mother because of her diagnosis.
Anthony faces the number 1 problem, which is the ugly colour.
He finds a contractor who needs 2-3 weeks to completely repaint the property but Anthony only gives him days.
Anthony gets professionals to clean the carpets in all the rooms so they smell better.
Blanche is overseeing all the renovation work and she wants to remove the centrepiece of the dolphins.
They defer to Cindy but Anthony and Blanche say it is up to Jody.
Jody still deferred to Cindy and she appears and makes the decision.
Anthony takes Cindy to the side and is straightforward with her telling her to step back and let Jody be the GM.
Anthony tells the family their paint will be changed.
Cindy is made to ceremonially paint the new colour as a form of acceptance.
A team of 10 painters show up to start the work but hours later a storm rolls in.
It stops Blanche’s work and the paint is washing off.
Once the rain clears they get back to work.
Anthony takes Jody to interview a front desk person who loves interacting with people.
Jody makes his first solo decision to hire a good candidate.
Jody has set up a housekeeping schedule for Courtney.
Anthony reminds him he needs to hire someone to help her.
Anthony meets with the staff and presents uniforms to them along with name tags.
They love it and are appreciative.
The last surprise is some new bedding for all the rooms in the hotel.
Blanche is working fast due to the time they lost because of the rain but then the sun is too much and Blanche is close to fainting.
She is taken into a room to cool down and rest.
Her team keeps at work and the front desk area is shown to Jody first.
It is white, clean and a lot more inviting.
The family are then shown the pool area that has been upgraded with new colours.
There are some cabanas that Cindy says that she will never get up from.
Blanche feeling better meets the family.
Anthony reminds Jody that he has a great hotel right by the water and he should not blow it.
The family are then shown the rest of the property.
The colour is now appropriate and the logo has been updated.
Cindy loves and approves all the changes.
Jody gets to work while the parents go for a walk on the beach.
What Happened Next at The Vermont Inn?
Months later, the Inn became one of the top 25 hotels in the area.
Jody hired a cleaning company for the guests dishes.
The dolphin that was removed is now in Cindy’s house.
Jody was glad for the shows help, including a $25,000 makeover.
Occupancy had increased by up to 50% and business had improved.
They had began offering wedding services.
Dream Inn is open.
The hotel was sold in December 2021 for $2.4 million.
It was bought by AmeriVu.
Reviews are mostly positive.
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