Hotel Impossible

                     With all the business makeover shows I watch, I am starting to wonder if I want to go anywhere.  It seems as though no one can run a business.  I know this is not true, but it sure feels that way with so many shows taking over businesses and redoing them.  After watching many shows involving salons, restaurants, and bars, I have moved onto hotels with the show Hotel Impossible.  The newest season started the other night.  I was very excited when I started seeing the commercials advertising new episodes.  It is a show I enjoy watching, even if some of the places scare me a bit.     

                Anthony Melchiorri is the host of Hotel Impossible.  An hotelier, Anthony goes into struggling hotels and figures out how the owners can improve their business.  From what I have observed, one of the biggest reasons for lack of success is cleanliness.  Some of these places are so incredibly dirty.  It can really make me squirm at times when I see what Anthony uncovers.  There is so much dust and dirt, plus a lot of other things I do not particularly care to mention.  Then there are things that are just plain falling apart.  None of it is what I would want when staying in a hotel.

                Another problem Anthony frequently runs into is poor management.  This happens in two different ways.  In one the management itself is the problem.  The do not care or choose to ignore problems and situations.  On the other side are those who do care but do not really know what they are doing.  In either case Anthony can get frustrated very quickly.

                While Anthony deals with the business side of things, he has a designer remodel a guest room, and whatever else Anthony wants redone.  The remodeled room serves as the template for the owner to move forward.  Something I really respect about the designers is they do not change the essence of the hotel in their remodeling.  If the hotel is historical, they keep it that way instead of turning it modern.  Lodges remain lodges.  It is very nice to see the designers enhancing instead of eliminating the character of the hotels.  I wish I could say the same for houses, but those are different shows and have nothing to do with Hotel Impossible.  

                Unfortunately for Anthony, the problems never seem to end.  He is always finding something else that needs to be fixed.  Far too often what he keeps running into is the owners and management.  They do not want to listen.  When I see Anthony fight these people, it makes me wonder, why did you call him?  They knew when contacting the show that Anthony would come and change things.  If you do not want change, why bother with the show?           

                In the end the remodel is revealed and Anthony finishes providing his advice.  The viewer is then told how the hotel is doing, which I absolutely love.  Some of the hotels have even gotten an additional episode where Anthony returns a year later to see how things are going.  I wish there were more of those episodes.  So far I have only seen two.            

                Having never worked in the hotel industry, I find it fascinating to see the behind the scenes workings. It gives me a whole new appreciation for what people must go through in order to run a successful hotel. There is a lot of work involved and whoever takes it on must have a lot of heart. Without it I do not know if they will ever succeed.