Gurney's Inn - Hotel Impossible Update - Open or Closed?

In this Hotel Impossible episode, Anthony Melchiorri visits Gurney’s Inn in Montauk, New York.

Gurney’s Inn is owned by the Monte family.

They have owned the hotel for over 50 years.

Montauk is three hours east of New York City, on the tip of Long Island and 20 minutes from the Hamptons.

Montauk is a great place for fishing, charter boating, and surfing.

One of the best-known hotels in the area is the Gurney’s Inn.

The Gurney’s Inn is a 109 room beach resort with a full restaurant and spa.

Summertime rates for the rooms start at $420 a night.

Gurney’s Inn Resort and Spa has been the place to be in Montauk since the 1920s.

Today, there are 43 other hotels within ten miles of Gurney, all competing for the same business.

Gurney’s has not been kept up with the pack.

It has been a family run business since their uncle Nick Monte bought the hotel in the 1950s.

Phyllis Monte says that the hotel was just a small country inn when Nick bought it.

She says that it would be sad to see the hotel go.

Chip Monte hopes that Anthony can help them because they really need it.

The view of the beach is amazing from the hotel and there is valet parking.

There are a lot of easy fixes that can be done including repainting.

Anthony walks into the gift shop thinking it is the front desk.

He asks someone where the front desk is.

Anthony says the property has great potential, but it seems like nobody cares.

He sits down with the Monte family to get their perspective on what is going on.

Phyllis says they need to work on bringing in younger clientele, which has been a struggle.

Anthony found reviews online and he presents these to them.

Paul responds to reviews sometimes but it seems like he doesn’t take it to heart.

The staff knows nothing about the resort.

Anthony says that they can’t charge so much with how the hotel is right now.

Candice says she knows there are some issues with the hotel.

Anthony says the service at the restaurant is terrible.

The server kept licking his fingers.

Paul believes that the staff he hires are the problem.

Anthony says that it’s the lack of training and accountability.

Paul thinks that Anthony came on a little bit too strong with this.

Anthony walks around the property and walks into the lobby.

He says it looks like someone’s basement from the 1970s.

The ceiling is leaking.

The hotel rooms don’t have bed bug marks, which is a good sign.

The toilet in the room is disgusting.

Anthony checks out how the housekeepers clean the rooms.

The air conditioning filter is dirty.

The housekeepers don’t have a cleaning checklist.

The hotel was last renovated in 1976.

Paul says they are somewhat in a transition period and he is resisting change.

There is a lot of clutter in the lobby.

Anthony finds out that on the last day he will be here, there is booking for a wedding.

Anthony talks to the staff about their uniforms.

The bellman didn’t greet the guests when they arrived.

Anthony pulls him aside to talk to him.

He says that he was busy and missed one little thing.

Anthony has seen enough to know that the staff isn’t getting guidance.

Anthony asks Paul to set up a meeting with the staff.

Anthony discovers that the hotel has a gym.

Paul has yet to show up to the meeting.

Anthony goes around the hotel to find Paul.

It takes a while, but Anthony finally finds Paul.

Paul isn’t putting in the effort to be a manager.

Anthony meets with Chip to discuss the issues with the restaurant.

The interactions between employees is not good.

John is Phyllis’ husband and runs the front of house at the restaurant.

Chip says that John wouldn’t have a job here if he weren’t family.

Anthony meets with John.

John’s responsibility is to run the restaurant and says the restaurant is in danger.

Anthony tells John about the issues he’s noticed with the restaurant.

John says discipline and improvement does not come easy.

Anthony has a meeting with John and the staff.

His designer Karen has come up with a great idea for the lobby.

Anthony thinks he hired the wrong guy for the construction work.

Anthony walks into the spa and is in shock.

The spa is beautiful and clean.

The spa is a different world from the rest of the hotel.

It is clean and the staff are on point and in uniform.

As Anthony is leaving, there is an unhappy customer.

A customer is upset he’s being charged a service fee since he is not a guest at the hotel.

The worker handling the situation says that it’s their policy to charge that when you aren’t a guest at the hotel.

The guy says that he is not paying it and he will call American Express to cancel it.

Candice tells the guy the same thing but offers a free facility fee for the day.

Anthony says that Candice handled the situation perfectly.

Anthony asks Candice why the spa is doing so much better than the rest of the hotel.

It’s clear to Anthony that Paul is the problem.

Paul thinks that Anthony’s style is too strong for this area.

Paul continues to make excuses.

Anthony meets with Bill and Karen.

Anthony says that Paul needs to put his ego aside.

Anthony heads to the restaurant to see if it has improved.

The restaurant staff looks great.

Anthony tells Paul that he needs to improve or else the hotel will not be successful.

Phyllis appreciates Anthony for what he’s done because she has been trying to tell Paul the same things for years.

Anthony thinks that Candice should be Director of Operations.

Paul says he has considered this many times.

Anthony shows the newly renovated lobby to the family.

They are amazed.

What Happened Next at Gurney's Inn?

Since Anthony’s visit, Paul has expanded Candice’s Role.

The Montes reported their most profitable summer ever.

Gurney's Inn is open.

The hotel underwent a renovation and was renamed as Gurney's Montauk Resort and Seawater Spa in 2015.

Reviews after the show were mixed until they renovated.

They are much improved since the renovation as many complaints were of the dated rooms.

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