Anglers Lodge - Hotel Hell Update - Open or Closed?

In this Hotel Hell episode, Gordon Ramsay visits Angler's Lodge in Island Park, Idaho.

Angler's Lodge is owned by married couple, Dave and Dede.

Dave saw a piece of land next to one of the best fly fisheries in the area.

He decided to buy the land and started building a lodge.

He thought he could fly fish alongside running the business, which worked well back when they started the business back in 1999.

Their son Zach is also the general manager and talks about his experience growing up in the lodge.

He started out doing the dishes and waiting tables as a kid.

When the lodge opened, it was fully booked every single night.

Business was going so well that they were ready to expand.

But sadly, in that summer, they tragically lost their 10 year old son Dalton.

Dede immediately stopped working at the lodge leaving Dave alone at the lodge.

Zach says that was how Dave coped with everything.

The business has slowed down to about 25% of what it was before the tragedy.

Gordon arrives at the lodge and he describes the place as gorgeous.

He is greeted by Savanna, the owners daughter who tells him that the place was built by Dave.

Gordon meets with the rest of the family and finds out that the lodge was booming when it opened.

There was a two hour wait to eat in the restaurant but after they made changes the customers declined.

Gordon is shown to his room by Sam and finds a stain on his bedding.

He comments that the view is breathtaking but the room is depressing and the pillows are uninviting.

He pulls out the filter of the air con unit and finds it caked in dust.

In the restaurant Gordon meets with chef Gina who tells him that the place has staffing issues and Zach comes in late to work every day.

Gordon was served wings with homemade barbeque sauce and to his disappointment, he finds out that the chicken wings are frozen.

The rib eye is soaked in alcohol and overcooked and the rice served with the curry is mush.

The trout has multiple sauces, has not been scaled and is the worst trout Gordon has ever seen.

Gordon is shocked to discover that Dave and Dede dislike Gina's food but that they take what they can get when it comes to Chefs.

Gordon tell Dave that they cannot keep changing chefs every year as they do.

Gordon tells Gina that her dishes are bad but Gina replies that she uses the ingredients that Dave asks her to use and she’s tied to the recipes.

He finds out that there is no interaction between Gina and sous chef Art in the kitchen.

Gordon tells them he is amazed that they are still open as no one is thinking long term about the business.

He tells Zach that he shouldn’t be in the restaurant as he isn’t invested in the business.

Gordon arrives to watch a dinner service and is shocked to discover a collapsed cheesecake in the fridge and a server chewing gum.

He finds out Zach mostly works at the bar even though he is the restaurant manager.

The chef and the sous chef don't say a word to each other and Gina refuses to allow the other kitchen staff to do their jobs.

Dave and Dede ignore the problems and Zach doesn’t know how to take command.

After the dinner service, Gordon meets with the owners and the chefs and gives feedback on his room and the food.

Gordon finds out that the menu was written by Gina and that she has more freedom than she said she had earlier.

He also finds out that Dave tries to keep the costs low and this is effecting the quality of the food.

Gordon meets privately with Dede and he finds out that Dave is scared of his family losing everything if anything happened to him.

Gordon tells Dede that Dave needs to accept that he can’t continue the way he has been doing.

The next day, Gordon meets with the owners and staff and tells them the feedback from the people in the community.

Most of the feedback centers around Dave’s attitude as one says that he doesn’t make them feel welcome in the lodge.

The locals feel like they have been pushed away by the owners, they don't know how to deal with customers or care about the customers but they are willing to come back.

Dave said he tries to be friendly with people but Gordon says that he comes across as controlling and assertive.

Gordon takes Dave away to the car to have a chat, asking the cameras to leave them alone.

They talk about Dave's negativity and the initial lack of support from the locals,

He says there is a lack of staff commitment and he talks about how he dealt with the loss of their son.

Gordon then tells him that he can’t show emotions and that he has to let people see his big heart.

Gordon meets with the couple and shows them memories of when they built their lodge and of their family to remind them of why thy built the place.

Gordon's team gives the lodge a big makeover in the rooms, more rustic with light colours on the walls.

Gordon has created a new menu and trained the staff to prepare them for the relaunch night.

He has also invited the locals back to rebuild their relationships with the locals and get their reputation back on track.

A food critic has also been invited to the relaunch night in the restaurant.

Gina struggles to read the orders, fails to communicate with the staff and refuses to allow the sous chef to dress a salad.

The kale salad for the food critic is sent out but is intercepted by Gordon, who tastes it and finds it not good enough.

He tells Gina to step back and Art to take over.

More bad dishes are sent by Gina and Gordon tells her to take her apron off and go home.

Art takes control of the kitchen and there were no complains in the kitchen as everyone was very happy.

After the dinner service, Gordon introduced Emily to work with the family for a month as a consultant as she knows the business inside out.

Gordon then asks Dave to take Dede and have dinner together, something they haven’t done in a long time.

The locals enjoy the food and Dave and Dede are all smiles, toasting the new lodge as Gordon leaves, or attempts to but struggles with his hire car.

What Happened Next at Anglers Lodge?

After the show was filmed in October/November 2015, the family embraced the menu changes and was excited for the future.

They reveal that their passion is rekindled for the lodge.

They have since added cabins that are available to be hired out.

Trip Advisor reviews are mixed since Gordons visit and Yelp reviews are mostly positive.

Planning a visit to the hotel? Check out their website for further information.

Anglers Lodge aired on May 24 2016, the episode was filmed in November 2015 and is Hotel Hell season 3 episode 1.

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