“There are spirits here.” – T.J.
Located in Woodbury, Connecticut, Gordon Ramsay tells us that the Curtis House Inn is “the state’s oldest inn,” opened way back in 1736.
It has been owned by the Hardisty family for the last 60 years, and is currently run by Chris Hardisty and his sister, T.J. Brennan.
The first thing that T.J. tells us is that the Curtis House Inn is haunted. I expected this to be a snarky joke of some kind, relating to how the place is “cursed,” but she’s absolutely serious. We’re talking plates flying off of tables, and of freshly made beds being ruffled only moments later.
“There are spirits here,” she adds.
Speaking of low spirits, the inn is not doing well financially, leaving the Hardisty siblings $100,000 in debt.
Adding to the drama: Chris and T.J. don’t get along at all. We see Chris calling his sister a bitch in a short clip, but I was mostly distracted by how hideously crowded their shared office is. It’s not quite in Hoarders territory, but it’s not that far off, either.
“Another woman who doesn’t listen to a f—ing word I say,” the portly Chris adds.
Meanwhile, multiple staff members think that T.J. is a tough, uncaring boss while Cheyenne Harper, the prep cook, says of Chris, “He’s just a fat, lazy slob.”
One of the other staffers adds, “We’ve lost a lot of customers because of management.”
We then see a quick montage of unhappy inn guests and diners that’s well summed up by an older woman proclaiming, “Everything sucked.”
When Gordon Ramsay arrives, he meets Shirley “Babe” Fish at the register and learns that the Curtis House Inn is not at full capacity.
In fact, Ramsay is the only registered guest at the moment.
Gordon then quickly diagnoses a number of antiquated and dumb policies, such as the fact that credit card information of inn guests is written down by hand in a ledger that sits out on the front desk (begging to be stolen by some bad actor).
Then Ramsay finds out that he’s staying in Room 16 – not to be confused with Room 237 from The Shining – that has “a ghost in it,” according to Babe.
We also learn that the ghost is named Betty, and that she enjoys playing “a little bit of havoc with” the inn’s guests.
“She’s definitely there,” she adds.
When Ramsay visits Room 16 with Babe, he quickly finds very real world issues, such as:
- An actual footprint on a pillowcase
- Dead bugs all over
- The bed’s canopy is super broken
Creepily, we then see Ramsay get locked in Room 16, so perhaps the better analogy is another Stephen King adaptation: Room 1408.
The inn’s restaurant is crowded, perhaps because it’s Mother’s Day. Karen Moreira is a server and Chris and T.J. Hardisty’s niece, and she corroborates that her aunt and uncle’s lack of communication is part of what’s ruining business at the Curtis House Inn.
Karen warns Ramsay that the crab cakes are “hit or miss,” and when they arrive on Ramsay’s plate, both taste them agree and agree it’s a total “miss.”
“Holy s—,” Gordon adds for emphasis.
A fellow diner tells Ramsay that she didn’t enjoy her meal either, that “everything feels institutional, you know?”
Not a ringing endorsement.
Ramsay then remarks about the fried calamari: “That’s limper than my grandad’s dick.”
Karen seemed to enjoy this joke for what it’s worth.
The burger, ordered to be medium rare, is mushy and raw under a pile of weird looking mushrooms.
Ramsay then heads to the kitchen to meet Chris Hardisty, Cheyenne, and the rest of the kitchen staff. After hanging out for a bit, Ramsay rightly notes, “I’m surprised that none of you asked how my lunch was?”
“You don’t care,” he then observes of Chris. And then, later: “You cook like you hate the place.”
“To say that you don’t have any foundation,” Chris then tells the camera, and then makes a loud snorting sound.
It’s funny when Ramsay says “goodnight” to Betty that night, but not nearly as funny when we’re treated to seeing our guy’s bare bottom as he heads into the shower the next morning. This isn’t the first time this has happened on Hotel Hell, and I can only imagine that this is done in an odd attempt to titillate the female demo (or any others who might somehow enjoy this)?
Ramsay calls a staff meeting and tells the team that it’s “shocking” that Chris and T.J. have no communication with each other. The staff then piles on about how poor the management is and how the siblings “don’t give a s—” about the Curtis House Inn’s success.
“Both of you are sleepwalking to disaster,” he tells the inn’s co-owners, before encouraging them to head to their office to try and work things out.
Right after this, a long-time staffer quits over the “toxic” working conditions. This is followed by Chris screaming at his sister that she’s a “psycho f—ing bitch.”
Ramsay then directs Chris and T.J. to a room upstairs, where a taciturn group of guests await – sort of horror movie-like, in fitting with the ghostly theme of this Hotel Hell episode –to tell the Curtis House Inn owners how terrible the accommodations are.
It’s hilarious when one woman talks about how the sheets don’t “look like they have been changed,” with the unspoken implication being changed ever. And that’s before she gets to talking about finding a skid mark(!!) as well.
It’s so lame when Chris responds by saying that he’s never received feedback like this before and “I wish I had.”
Later, Ramsay pays a visit to Chris and T.J.’s elderly mother, Trudy, who says she doesn’t understand why her kids can’t get along. It’s here where it hits home that the Curtis House Inn has been in this family for 60 years, and how these kids are fumbling its legacy.
This leads to an intervention of sorts – a Hotel Hell staple – involving Trudy, Karen, and the rest of the staff.
“It’s awful, something has to change,” Karen tells Chris and T.J.
After a lengthy session along these lines, Chris and T.J. tearfully agree to commit to “family first” and work together to turn things around.
Speaking of tearfully, that also applies to the staff’s reaction to the Curtis House Inn’s renovation, which includes a spruced up lobby and upgraded digital check-in system. And then the true upgrade is the vastly updated guest rooms. I also enjoyed seeing “Betty” stitched into a throw pillow.
The restaurant menu has also been overhauled, Gordon Ramsay-style, which features specials such as Grandma Trudy’s crab cakes.
On relaunch night (at least), T.J. and Chris figure out how to work together to get guests to their rooms and diners served successfully in the restaurant.
I’m not sure if it’s needed at this point, but Ramsay brings in a “paranormal expert” to check out the supernatural doings at the Curtis House Inn, which leads to the inn getting inducted as “a member of the Haunted Connecticut Tours.”
Things end on a positive note, with Ramsay telling Chris and T.J., “Don’t let 60 years of hard work disappear.”
Hotel Hell, “Curtis House Inn”: is it still open?
The Curtis House Inn was eventually sold in 2018, and is known today as the 1754 House.
Some stats and info about Hotel Hell, “Curtis House Inn”
TV SHOW – Hotel Hell
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 2, Episode 7
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – FOX
EPISODE DESCRIPTION – Gordon visits Applegate, Oregon, to try to rescue the failing Applegate River Lodge. Despite being over a million dollars in debt, the owner, Richard Davis, is more interested in smoking cannabis than he is in fixing the problems of this family-built inn.
GENRE – Docuseries, Office Culture, Trashtastic TV, Reality TV
CAST – Gordon Ramsay